Summary
By now, we should all know that game development for the majority of studios can be incredibly chaotic, especially during the latter stages. It seems likeFromSoftwareandBloodborne(PlayStation’s best game, fight me) are no exception, as it was recently revealed that the game’s HUB area, Oedon Chapel - specifically the chapel’s underground library area - was completely reworked just two months before the final build of the game was submitted.
This info comes from a new video bypopular FromSoftware creator Lance McDonald, who has managed to get into and explore Bloodborne’s Network Test and Alpha versions to see what changed over the course of development. It’s from tinkering around with these versions of the game that led McDonald to discover that the path leading to Oedon Chapel was different to what we know today, and that the chapel’s underground library didn’t actually exist.
Originally, FromSoftware had players open the gate to Oedon Chapel with a lever, walk through an unlit hallway, and then up a spiral staircase to reach the chapel itself. Later cosmetic additions, such as lights and caskets, suggested that this was the intended way in which FromSoftware wanted players to reach the area, but it ended up being reworked.
Why Did It End Up Changing?
There was one pretty big reason why this short section had to be changed, and that was because of the hardware limitations of the PS4. McDonald shows off in his video that the game would experience some really nasty pop-in problems when reaching Oedon Chapel if players sprinted through the hallways, with the PS4 struggling to load the area in time.
FromSoftware recognized that it had to force players to slow down, so it added a big ladder and a library for players to explore while the game loaded Oedon Chapel in the background. Likely to entice players to stick around and explore thoroughly, several notes were added to the library room with key lore details on them, though two of them were removed just two weeks before the game’s final submission. The one note that stuck around was a note referencing Rom, The Vacuous Spider.
While this isn’t explored in the video, it’s also theorized that this is why there’s a big chest next to the door leading up to Oedon Chapel that’s extremely difficult to miss, stopping players in their tracks once again to plunder what’s inside. Had the PS4 been a little more powerful, it’s entirely possible this little room underneath Oedon Chapel would have never been needed, and it’s a fascinating insight into how things like technical limitations that can shape the games that we love so drastically.
