Good news for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora players who find the game’s motion blur to be a bit too much! In a recent interview with Digital Foundry, the game’s Technical Director, Nikolay Stefanov, acknowledged player feedback and hinted at the possibility of a future motion blur slider.
Motion blur is a graphical effect that can make fast-moving objects appear blurry. While some players enjoy the cinematic effect it adds, others find it disorienting or nauseating. In the case of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, the motion blur was toned down from the trailers, but it seems it might still be too much for some players.
The Developer’s Response
When asked by the interviewer about the possibility of a motion blur slider, Stefanov said, “I think it’s a good idea. We can discuss with the designers and see if this is something that we can implement later. I think some people really enjoy motion blur. The funny thing about the motion blur is that our creative director, Magnus Jansén, he’s a big fan of Digital Foundry, so the moment he saw you talking about the motion blur he came to us.”
This is good news for players who are sensitive to motion blur, as it suggests that the developers are at least considering adding a slider. Of course, there’s no guarantee that it will be implemented, but it’s definitely a possibility.
Beyond Motion Blur
In addition to the motion blur discussion, the interview also went into detail about the game’s other technical improvements. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora uses ray tracing for stunning lighting, shadows, and reflections. The game also has a hybrid system that combines screen-space traces with world-space hardware traces and probes, ensuring high-quality visuals while optimizing performance.
The game’s vegetation is powered by Snowdrop’s improved GPU-driven geometry pipeline. This efficient approach allows for vast landscapes teeming with plants, with culling and meshlets keeping things running smoothly. Sound design also receives equal attention, with ray-traced sound propagation creating realistic occlusion and reflection effects for an immersive soundscape.
Overall, the interview is a great technical deep dive into Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. And for those who are concerned about the game’s motion blur, the news of a potential slider is definitely welcome.