Ever wondered what’s under the hood of Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Nintendo Switch? Probably not, given the type of game it is, but that hasn’t stopped Digital Foundry from taking a look. To cut to the chase, the game renders at 1920 x 1080 in docked and 1280 x 720 while in portable. Anti-aliasing is “practically absent” from this new entry, so expect a few jaggies.
The frame rate is probably the most interesting detail. New Horizons runs at 30fps regardless of whether it’s in docked or portable mode. While there are few minor blips, it’s a relatively smooth experience. In this department, it’s outdone by its console predecessors. The GameCube version of Animal Crossing and Animal Crossing: City Folk on the Wii both ran at 60fps. The frame rate cut is tied to the visual upheaval, which Digital Foundry considers to be a worthy sacrifice.
The game is believed to be running on the same in-house EAD engine as titles like ARMS, Splatoon 2 and Super Mario Maker 2. As a result, it’s quite feasible that it’s making use of the same rendering technologies for lighting, shaders, and materials. Havok Physics have also likely been used, but appear to be put to minimal use in the game. There are also other effects like bloom and ambient occlusion, and pop-in issues seem to be a thing of the past.
Those are just some of the highlights, check out the video above for the full rundown.
https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/2020/03/...-horizons/