LogInInsomniac Games confirms that it is actually that fast.
Image credit: Insomniac Games
It's a widely known fact that players despise loading screens, The Sims 4 and Starfield developers can confirm it any second. And it often doesn't matter how short the screen is – its existence itself is enough to ruin immersion and displease fans.
When footage of the fast travel system in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 reached the internet, many grew immediately suspicious. You can move to any place on the map in about 3 seconds, which is unbelievably awesome, but you have to hold the button down and watch the process gauge fill up – this is actually supposed to give you time to make sure you haven't misclicked. But it made players think that Insomniac Games' upcoming adventure does have a loading screen, even if it's tiny.
One ResetEra user even asked the developers to add an option to reduce or remove the animation: "Many people think the actual loading is hidden during that time. I understand why it's there but it's always good to have options and besides we can easily go back to where we were even after a button press mistake on the map."
Insomniac's director of core technologies, Mike Fitzgerald, joined the conversation and replied that what players see during fast travel is a "hold-to-confirm prompt", which doesn't hide any loading screens. You can even check it yourself by looking at "how late it's possible to cancel it out."
"Last month I brought up whether we should remove the hold-to-confirm, mostly to address that accusation we were seeing. But it was correctly pointed out to me that having a confirmation window was important for player usability, which at the end of the day is far more important than Internet cred points (even though we love our Internet cred points)."
Image credit: Insomniac Games
Fans' disbelief is understandable: this travel speed in Spider-Man 2 does look too good to be true. But it looks like we've reached the times when such a smooth transition is possible.
"Tech talk often comes down to numbers: frame rates, loading times, etc.," Fitzgerald added on X/Twitter. "But if we do it right, our tech is more than that. It takes part in the storytelling, helping give players experiences they've never had and moments they'll never forget."
PlayStation 5 owners will see how unforgettable this experience is on October 20. Meanwhile, find Fitzgerald's response here and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.
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