There's a lot going on behind the scenes in games these days. Between background updates, mandatory installs, and whatever it is that games do when they're suspended, it's easy to forget that modern software has to manage many tasks that most people will never know about.

Much of this "unseen" work comes during load times. While players faced with a static screen take a brief break to run to the bathroom or grab a bite of whatever food is nearby, the game chugs along in the background, getting things ready to play. The length of the load times depends on the game, but almost every title has them. Usually, load screens are little more than minor annoyance; sometimes, however, they overstay their welcome.

Bloodborne, for example, has some pretty lengthy load times. In fact, the takes so long to load that many players are discussing the loading times rather than them game itself. Regardless of how good Bloodborne is or how people choose to play it, the loading times are a huge mark against From Software's latest game. Just what is Bloodborne doing while people are staring at a title card?

GamesRadar reached out to a few of the game's developers and asked them about the game, and their explanations were quite revealing. Specifically, Bloodborne completely resets the world during loading screens, right down to the books that players knocked over and the pots they rolled through.

As one of GamesRadar's sources put it:

It certainly seems to reload the entire environment. If you die without taking a single step, you'd expect less time [to load] needed than a 30 minute adventure.

I can't imagine reloading enemies alone taking that long, but piles of books, barrels and such, are all back in their original state too [when you restart]. These all have physics, but [are] probably 'sleeping' until you get near.

Another reason for the loading delays? Textures, especially ones of the hi-res variety. Bloodborne has a lot of unique locations, and they all have detailed buildings (some with interiors), walls, stairs, and more. All those textures need to be loaded in to memory. Otherwise, players would see textures popping in and out. The resets also help eliminate bugs and glitches. Believe it or not, resetting Bloodborne's world after a player's death prevents things from getting worse.

The devs agreed that there's a way to make the reset process faster, but right now, they're sticking with the method that takes the fewest risks.

Reasons to do a complete reload: you're certain everything works should something have bugged out on you. You begin with a clean memory slate, since you don't need to play it safe. Basically, it's the easy and safe way.

From Software and Sony are well aware of the long load times, and have revealed that a patch will improve things. They haven't announced when the patch is set to roll out, however, so Hunters still have 40 seconds (minimum) to reflect on what got them killed. Perhaps during that time they'll remember to read some of our guides.

Are you still playing Bloodborne? It's certainly not for everyone, but those that get into it? They're really into it.

Source: GamesRadar