Randy Smith Evergreen, the designer behind Thief and System Shock 2, thinks the graphics arms race should have ended 16 years ago with 2010’s Alan Wake.
“The fidelity curve has become outrageous,” he told PC Gamer. “It’s become a spectacle. I remember it was back when Alan Wake came out that I was like, ‘OK, this is relatively photoreal. I know 100% that I’m on a ferry. I see that I’m going to an island in the Pacific Northwest. Why do we need more graphics? Because they just cost a ton.'”
The Cost of the Fidelity Curve
Smith Evergreen, whose credits also include Dark Messiah: Might and Magic, argues that modern games have pushed past photorealism. High-fidelity graphics looked real, and then the industry decided lighting and reflections needed to look better than real.
Now most AA or AAA games feature ray tracing and a level of fidelity that most people can’t enjoy without DLSS trickery. None of it serves any practical purpose.
“I think Alan Wake is the fidelity everything needs to hit,” Smith Evergreen says. “Where you’re like, I get it. I get your vibes. I can tell what’s going on, and everything beyond that is gravy. Sure, would they prefer an immersive sim that’s got insane spectacle and gorgeous, Arkane Lyon quality vistas? Of course they would like that. But is it necessary for what you came to an immersive sim for? I’m not sure that it is.”
Immersive Sims Don’t Need AAA
That belief ties into a larger argument: immersive sims shouldn’t aim for AAA budgets at all. The audience, Smith Evergreen says, simply isn’t big enough to justify the cost.
“Like, you just have to put more money into them,” he said, “make a bigger and bigger immersive sim. It’s got to be AAA, and it’s got to sit right alongside Ghost of Tsushima and GTA 6, and it’s got to be a game that’s big enough to capture the public’s attention. But I think that might be a misread for the audience size of immersive sims.”
Spectacle and vistas are nice, but they aren’t the point.
A Fresh Look at Thief
The good news for fans of the original Thief: Nightdive’s remaster isn’t trying to chase that curve. Judging by what’s been shown so far, it looks a lot like OG Thief.
“I’m super excited to see what they do,” says Smith Evergreen. “Nightdive seems very trustworthy, very passionate. I like the projects they’re choosing to remaster. So that’s going to be awesome to see.”
He also says the remaster will feel almost like a new game to him, despite having designed the original.
“In a way, I’ll be able to play Thief again for the first time ever. I used to say that when I played Dishonored, that was the first time I ever played a Thief game. Because when you make a game, it’s just a totally different experience than having played it. But I feel like enough time has passed since I played Thief: The Dark Project that playing a remaster will probably feel very fresh for me. So I’m excited about that.”
What’s Next
A release date for Thief: The Dark Project Remastered hasn’t been announced yet. Smith Evergreen is currently working on a project that he says “you’ll hear about before too long.”
- Alan Wake (2010) — the fidelity benchmark Smith Evergreen points to
- Thief: The Dark Project — the original immersive sim being remastered by Nightdive
- Dishonored — the game Smith Evergreen says felt like playing Thief for the first time
Key facts box:
- 2010: the year Alan Wake released
- 16 years: how long ago Smith Evergreen thinks the arms race should have stopped
- Thief: The Dark Project Remastered: no release date announced yet
The interview covers a lot of ground, but the core message is simple. Graphics got good enough a long time ago, and everything after that is expensive gravy.
Source: pcgamer.com
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.