Former Splinter Cell Creative Director Says Realistic Graphics Are Causing Problems for Modern Stealth Games

The erstwhile originative manager of 1 of gaming's astir influential stealth franchises, Splinter Cell, has suggested that advancements successful lighting and shadiness person made it much hard than ever for the fans — and creators — of the genre.

In an interrogation with FRVR, Clint Hocking, who was originative manager of 2005's Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, talked candidly astir however the much blase improvement methods really marque it harder to make the shadows needed for stealth games.

“I really deliberation 1 of the difficulties with modern stealth games is that the sophistication successful the rendering has made lighting truthful overmuch much realistic,” Hocking said.

“When you deliberation astir those aged schoolhouse stealth games due to the fact that of their baked lighting, the lighting is precise cleanable and readable and precise understandable for the player,” helium added. “But erstwhile you get into this diffuse and ambient occlusion and each of the worldly that comes with it, it gets precise hard to archer what’s light, what’s shadow, what’s dark, what’s safe, what’s unsafe and each of that stuff.”

The problem, Hocking said, is that realistic lighting systems, specified arsenic direction, tin beryllium hard to negociate erstwhile truthful overmuch of the gameplay requires players to huddle successful shadowy corners.

“Part of it is besides conscionable lighting direction,” Hocking said. "When you spell and spot a play connected a stage, the lighting is often ace dramatic. So, you tin bash it with existent lights. It’s conscionable that, you know, these places are often lit to beryllium precise realistic and not lit to beryllium aesthetic [for the purposes of] stealth gameplay."

It's a "tough span to cross," Hocking added, particularly arsenic "people successful the manufacture spent 20 years of their vocation reasoning astir however to marque things look much realistic."

Ubisoft precocious insisted its long-awaited Splinter Cell remake remains successful improvement contempt layoffs astatine the workplace moving connected the project. 40 jobs were chopped astatine Ubisoft Toronto, the institution announced successful February, arsenic portion of the ongoing propulsion to chopped costs that has seen thousands of employees depart implicit the past fewer years. In a connection sent to IGN, Ubisoft said that enactment connected Splinter Cell was unaffected by the redundancies.

The crippled itself remains firmly nether wraps without immoderate benignant of merchandise window. Still, immoderate affirmative quality emerged precocious past twelvemonth — erstwhile the remake's archetypal manager David Grivel announced helium had returned to recommence his relation aft leaving Ubisoft successful 2022. Here's hoping much emerges from the shadows soon.

As for Clint Hocking, helium near Ubisoft successful February having led enactment connected Assassin's Creed Hexe, the upcoming introduction successful Ubisoft's flagship bid that's acceptable to diagnostic a witchcraft vibe.

Vikki Blake is simply a newsman for IGN, arsenic good arsenic a critic, columnist, and advisor with 15+ years acquisition moving with immoderate of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's besides a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her astatine BlueSky.