[url]http://www.jamesbambury.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/unreal3_0002.wmv [/url][url]http://sanbjoe.home.online.no/nv40/unreal3_0002.wmv[/url]
I think they are the same video.
its pretty amazing stuff.
I totally agree.
Games don't need stories. They need to be fun, and a good story does not always equal a fun game. In fact, a lot of games that try to tell a complex story end up frustrating the player with long non-interactive cinematic sequences removing the player from gameplay. Over time, we'll learn how to tell in-depth stories while remaining completely interactive and fun. Some games do better then others (Max Payne for example).
Note: I'm not flaming story-based games, I just think that they should have their place alongside other genres that don't require stories.
The quote I found interesting was something like "we were getting two to five frames per second til we got our hands on (whatever video card this is selling)". Sounds to me like you would need to buy a new PC the day you bought the game just to run it... they may as well bake the engine into the hardware.
I think it was good at showing what we can look forward to in term of graphics in future games.
From and developer point of view, things are looking very crazy in term of the amount of time it will take to make this kind of stuff. And are starting to look at ways to speed up the art pipeline. One good thing is that it means that people are going to have to start taking the industry more seriously because there is going to be less room to make bad games.
A lot of bad games are that way because of the budget they have, by they were able to make a game that looks about at good as some of the top games (to the average person) and they would sell copy because of this, now they are going to look a lot worst. But maybe the user base of game will get bigger give this developer a big budget and it will be all right. I personally hope that all these carp maker developer die. I know this sound like I hate small developer, not so I hate game developer that take a deal knowing that the game is going to be crap. And maybe the larger pipeline will do that. Oh if you what to know why I hate bad games so much, they are a waste of my time :)
You still have to optimise the crap out of any engine, code, maps and models to get the best out of it, and it is still far quicker to make a low poly model.
Mind you the character models you see in that video are only 15,000 polygons, so a low poly model is still necassary. The source models are a few million polygons, they are used to make the normal maps, which are projected onto the low poly model to give the "apperance" of a much more detailed mesh.
If anyone is interested in the details and pics on Unreal 3, [url="http://www.unrealtechnology.com/html/technology/ue30.shtml"]check this page out[/url].
i just saw this thread,
and from my limited point of view im actually exited in the new directions that massive budget games presents,,
it totally free's the indie developer from even attempting to compete with the visual quality of the larger scale "blockbuster" games and lets them concentrate on getting there cool gameplay and artistic interaction happening.
just like the way south parks visuals suck, but the stories are sooo hilarious...
the indie developers market will get more and more varied,, let the larger companies have there ball and play with it.
frankly it gives me the freedom not to be expected to compete with the larger companies and consumers are more willing to look into more artsy or different styles, ideas, etc.
and for technology's sake,, everyone in the world needed to buy a pc, not for games but for wordprocessing,, its just that loads of people love to upgrade there hardware to play the latest games,,
what happens to the massive amount of people who cant afford a new pc? do they just not get new games? me thinks not,, i think there is being a large shift in average to lower end consumer ideals.
all of the ubove is only my opinion and not based on any facts whatsoever, please ignor me at will..
I must say, graphics are impressive but what about sound?
Im still waiting for a game where you can basically chat with the bots/AI etc... for example you say 'Hows life?' and the bot replies 'Pretty good, wifes nagging me though... i need to bring in a few frags to support the whole family though' [:p].
None the less i must agree, yes it is impressive but i must admit i am not as excited over things like this anymore. There is always something better then the next best/big thing.
quote:Originally posted by tbag:
i must admit i am not as excited over things like this anymore
hmmpf..
A few people have been like that now.
I just don't understand how any gamer can not be impressed by the next best thing.
For me, the next best thing has blown me away my whole life. When I saw the first screen shots from the mega drive, the 386, the quake engine, the playstation, the N64, the PS2, and so on, (BTW, no particular order or importance with that list!), I was very excited, about as much as I am over this really. And I think I'll continue to be blown away by the next best thing well into the future, when game technology is at a level that we can't even imagine at this point (like tbag's example of super intelligent AI, or voice command stuff like in [url]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1770[/url] thread originally by Makk.
I think this just goes with being a gamer, and I think deep down, every gamer is impressed with the new technology, regardless of how cool they pretend to be about it. [:P]
Come on, admit it people, your mouth dropped when you saw this, didn?t it?! Then you quickly recomposed before anyone saw you and did the old: " *shrug* er, yeah, whatever. Looks okay?" [:D]
yes its parrallax mapping, which modifes the UV mapping + normal mapping.
i think the new technology is great. But what tends to happen is you either get gfx or game play rarely do you get both.
plus this technology isn't so out of reach for any one.
these days it seems like any man and his dog can make a fairly good engine.
Yes palantir, i dont understand it either....I think E3 time in the most exciting time of the year. Ive spent the last few days downloading movies off IGN, watching them(some a few times) and shaking my head with a big grin on my face, especially at STALKER, HL2, Resident evil 4, Silent hill 4, ZELDA, and many more. And i did that last year, and the year before, and the year before that....etc. Its brilliant.
How can ppl not get excited about it, especially other ppl who love and play games like i do...I kind of feel sorry for them, they are missing out somehow.
Supagu - cant agree with that statement about every man and his dog being able to create a fairly good engine. It takes a shitload of work, dedication to even get an engine to a satisfactory level, let alone it being cutting edge and groundbreaking.
Palantir - agreed on that, alot of people it seems just hide the fact that they are wowed, and if they truly arent wowed, they probably arent, or shouldnt be trying to get into the industry at all.
Im constantly wowed by new tech, and how fast it moves, the mind boggles at how a developer must not only keep up but defy the laws of time by taking in the concept that there UBER new title wont be released for 18-24 months from the start of prodcution, remembering 2 years in the life of computer tech is a lifetime.
Alot of work goes into making sure the title comes out the other end , and is compatible with the latest version of direct x etc for pc - or at least the graphics and gameplay is passable, and not substandard. Sadly if a new release game hit the shelves i IMMEDIATELY pick it up and look at the back to check out the screenshots - if the graphics looks shit, in my mind its pushed to the MAYBE pile.
Here is an interesting read or you, an interview with Tim Sweeney from Epic Games: http://www.beyondunreal.com/content/articles/95_1.php
And you better start saving that cash if you want to play, you'll see what i mean from this snippet:
"Basically DirectX 9 cards will be minimum spec, so any DirectX 9 shipping today will be capable of running our game, but probably at reduced detail. If you only have a 256 meg video card you will be running the game one step down, whereas if you have a video card with a gig of memory then you'll be able to see the game at full detail."
Thats right, thankfully only one gig of memory and you can play it at high settings folks! [;)].
quote:"Well, we are aiming at the kind of PC that we think will be mainstream in 2006."
2 years from now, the kind of hardware needed for this stuff will be pretty stnadard. Most gamers today (at least the people who have an income) run systems powerful enough to run the next wave of powerful games (stuff like UT2004, Doom3, HL2), it's pretty likely that in 2 years we'll have enough power to run the new games that come out then.
It's not like you have to suddenly upgrade to a system with 1 gig of video ram (are those even available yet?) tomorrow - this stuff is still a few years away. By then it will be standard and affordable
[:)]
I know you mean well when you seem to equate a good story with a good game, but games are *interactive* and don't neccessarily require a good story to be an excellent game.
In defense of doom3, according to carmack at GDC2k4, the tech has been basically finished for a while, they've been spending the 9-12 months (?) or so actually making a good GAME.
CYer, Blitz