Red Dead Redemption 2 sets its prequel narrative within a fictional America in 1899, where players traverse harsh plains, settlements, and bayous on their way to their destinations. Campfires may be constructed on a whim in the open world for players to craft consumables or eat cooked food. Cores for health, stamina, and Dead Eye are then micromanaged through item consumption. Environmental factors do not play as big a role on gameplay, but are impactful for creating an immersive open world in Red Dead Redemption 2.
Between industrial regions such as Annesburg or Saint Denis, Red Dead Redemption 2 players have spent thousands of hours exploring America's rugged heartland. Red Dead Redemption 2 features great visuals throughout its environments, whether overlooking a winding canyon or peering upward at snow-capped mountains. Weather only affects gameplay with regard to how the player chooses to dress their character, with many clothing options available in Red Dead Redemption 2 to accommodate warm and cold weather. Either way, one fan's work toward creating time-lapses in open world games has inspired them to capture these environmental details in Red Dead Redemption 2.
GAME-LAPSE captures an impressive 120 hours of Red Dead Redemption 2 using time-lapse photography. GAME-LAPSE has chosen to feature the game's dynamic skies and weather patterns for the time-lapse, focusing the camera's angle upward as the player can be seen resting at a campfire. The camera's angle frames a number of features that can be watched distinctly as the time-lapse advances, such as a few trees in the foreground, a locomotive train along an overpass bridge, and clouds that loom over a body of water. The body of water alone showcases remarkable reflections of the clouds as they pan across the sky.
From torrential downpours to starry skies, dense weather patterns can be seen transitioning throughout the Red Dead Redemption 2's day-and-night cycle. The game transitions between sunlight and moonlight hours on an accelerated basis. For example, players can experience multiple day-and-night cycles transitioning during a single game of poker, where sunlight and moonlight pours through the windows at the saloon in Valentine. The acceleration lets players experience these dynamic environmental changes more frequently, and the recorded time-lapse celebrates those changes in Red Dead Redemption 2.
Because GAME-LAPSE chose to feature such a lengthy period of time in-game for their time-lapse, fans are able to watch meticulously for details in the environment that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. As Stelus42 notes, the trees will respond to the wind and blow in that direction. GAME-LAPSE responds to this fan, stating that the same effect occurs with smoke that is billowing from a fire. Fans also acknowledge that this time-lapse was recorded on PC, which may further complement Red Dead Redemption 2 with higher resolutions and other graphical enhancements.
Red Dead Redemption 2Â is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.