9 Pointless Details In Elden Ring That'll Blow Your Mind

3. The Overworld Is Always Rendered

elden ring
FromSoftware

This one is pointless because it doesn’t affect the way you play at all, but I think you’ll find it pretty mind-blowing anyway.

This little detail was also uncovered by Lance McDonald who revealed that Elden Ring always loads in a very low detail copy of the entire overworld at all times, no matter where you are. This is because the weather progression and timekeeping through the day/night cycle is handled by ensuring consistency across the entire map, so there must be some version of the overworld rendered at all times.

Though none of the actual geometry of the game is rendered in and this system uses as little RAM as possible, it’s still more than you might expect.

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Jess has been a journalist and content creator in the games industry for over 15 years and has been WhatCulture's resident Australian import and sorry cop since 2020, upping the quotient of swearing and apologising in WhatCulture Gaming's annual blooper videos considerably. She previously worked at GameSpot for 10 years, most notably hosting GameSpot News in addition to E3 live shows, and PAX panels. She regularly livestreams a variety of games on her 'jessmcdonell' YouTube and Twitch channels and hosts the 'Do It On The Day' podcast. She has won awards for her news and feature work in gaming as well as an accolade for her comedic writing (likely an admin error). She can be found on X at @jessmcdonell and Instagram at @jessicamcdonell sharing her current videogame fixations, industry insights, and videos of her cat, Karma.