Railway Empire is a business simulator along the lines of the Sid Meier's Railroad franchise. While the game may not be as expansive as even Sid Meier's Railroads! from 2006, it's still a joy to play especially on Xbox One. Instead of adopting a modern approach to the industry, Railway Empire focuses on 1830's America.
According to the Microsoft Store listing for the game, Railway Empire is Xbox One X Enhanced. However, no further marking on the retail packaging or detail in the description was provided. Did the game run at native 4K resolution, or did it utilize checkboarded rendering or an upscaling solution? We reached out to Kalypso Media and the publisher confirmed that the game ran at native 4K on Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro (PS4 Pro).
However, there are still differences between both versions. The developer utilized a higher quality anti-aliasing solution on Xbox One X when compared to PS4 Pro. In a recent interview with WCCFtech, the developer confirmed the difference.
Microsoft sent us a development kit for the Xbox One X very quickly, so we were able to add support in time for release. Truthfully, the hardware was even more powerful than we expected. For the... PC version, we added native 4K support – including a high DPI user interface and high detail textures for most objects. On the Xbox One X, we were able to implement all of this, rendering 3D scenes in native 4K with our maximum quality anti-aliasing solution at 30 FPS. So we are very happy with the results... On PS4 Pro we support native 4K rendering as well. In order to achieve this, we had to modify the anti-aliasing solution a bit to reduce the GPU load... On consoles, we hardwired the graphics detail settings so the game runs as good as possible at a steady 30 FPS.
It's awesome to see studios taking the time to utilize the Xbox One X to a greater degree even if it comes down to anti-aliasing. However, both console versions only run at 30 FPS. We would've loved to see a toggle for 1080p 60 FPS on Xbox One X. Playing a game at 60 FPS reduces input lag and improves controls.
Despite that, jaggy edges are a frequent problem on consoles so any technology that increases the anti-aliasing quality is appreciated. Hopefully game makers will continue to provide better effects on Xbox One X than the competition as they become more familiar with the hardware in the future.
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