A new mod for PS4-exclusive The Order: 1886 addresses several key issues with the game that were originally included as part of its artistic direction. When The Order: 1886 was originally released in 2015, it was seen as pushing the PS4's hardware in exciting new ways. At the time, the decisions to cap its frame rate at 30 FPS and letterbox the visuals at a 2.40:1 aspect ratio were frustrating but accepted as limitations of the hardware. Luckily, we have mods to help fix those things.
Prominent PS4 homebrew modder illusion, also known as illusion0001, has endeavored to offer alternative ways to play The Order: 1886 via a newly released patch. In a blog post describing their efforts, illusion detailed several changes that they made. The first raised The Order: 1886's frame rate from 30 to 60. The second, which took a bit more digging, altered The Order: 1886's base resolution from 1080p down to the 720p or (1280x535 with letterboxing).
The shift from 1080p down the 720p was necessary in order reach a near-stabled 60fps in the first place. After all, 30 FPS wasn't just an artistic decision for developer Ready at Dawn. It was also a technical one. In the process of making this change, however, illusion also found something else that's interesting. The Order: 1886 apparently also had a 4K mode written into its source code. illusion says they aren't sure if it works, but they enable the path in their mod so PS4 Pro users could try it out.
Lastly, illusion tackled The Order: 1886's unique letterboxing. The rare aspect ratio was said to be used as a creative decision by Ready at Dawn, but many guessed it was because The Order: 1886 wasn't able to run at a stable 30 FPS otherwise. illusion's findings contributed to that skepticism, showing that removing the letterboxing caused a performance drop. They didn't describe whether it dropped below 30 FPS or if it couldn't reach 60 FPS while at 720p, but it was enough for illusion to keep letterboxing for their mod demo.
Essentially, illusion dove into The Order: 1886 looking to experiment with the game's resolution and frame rate. In doing so, they were able to create a near-stable 60 FPS mode running at 720p (or, more accurately, 1280x535 due to letterboxing). In their experiments, they also tried removing the letterboxing, but it was just a first pass.
Modder illusion has shared their The Order: 1886 patch code for those running PS4 homebrew to play around with. It should be clear that this patch hasn't been fully tested, but is more of an experiment to see what can be done with The Order: 1886. Still, for everyone else, it's exciting to see what The Order: 1886 might look like with these types of changes. It may also help encourage a potential re-release of The Order: 1886 on PS5 or PC, too.
The Order: 1886 is available now on PS4.