Getting excited about Unreal Engine 3

Latest works by souri
  • Rewriting old player movement code

    In my first and previous post in this game dev log entry, I had written that I wanted to do a game which was a collection of simple retro games. Unity released a new major release (2019.3) while I was putting the initial project together, and I…

  • Working on a small game to showcase the Devlog

    Well, I'm making a game . I'm spending the next few weeks on making a small game to showcase the gamedev log feature on tsumea where any member can create a game entry and other members can post journal posts with art, music or just development…

  • Just a test 2

    Just a test #2. Still working on the new section.

  • A long, long time ago, I was a pixel artist

    So, I got a Commodore 64 when I was in the 4th grade. It came bundled with a Rolf Harris picture building program on casette tape which never loaded properly but from what I could tell by its box cover, you could build pictures from a selection…

  • A time for change

    Yes, the site looks very different and I've had to prematurely switch to this new theme that I'm working on for a few reasons, the main one is that changing certain aspects of the site to fit the new theme will affect how the old one looks for…

  • Some of my olddddd work

    (this is just a test, please ignore this entry)

    Here is some of my old work.. the first pic is of a 3d model of a human head I was working on about 2 years ago in 3dsmax, using nurbs. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't model a head with…

I currently work for

Submitted by souri on
Forum
General Chat

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=7189

It's sounding pretty cool! Apart from the snazzy graphics, there's visual scripting / requiring little programming, seamless worlds / background loading etc. They're going to be showing some more of it at the GDC, so looking forward to it!

Submitted by LiveWire on Wed, 09/03/05 - 1:22 AMPermalink

i like games that stream in their loading. as pretty as some of the newer games look it's a pain in the arse waiting half an hour for them to load.

Submitted by mcdrewski on Wed, 09/03/05 - 1:36 AMPermalink

The visual scripting stuff sounds fantastic - but I'm always skeptical of tools that claim to simply programming immensely. They always need to hide huge numbers of details from you - and especially where performance is involved this just moves the problems from the development phase to the testing and debugging phase.

Joel Spolsky describes it as[url="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.html"]The law of Leaky Abstractions[/url], one of the most succinct explanations I've ever read.

Submitted by lorien on Wed, 09/03/05 - 4:04 AMPermalink

I find truly visual programming environments (like JMax http://freesoftware.ircam.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=14) more frustrating than productive. I've just spend so long coding... Loads and loads of musicians really love them though.

I think the point of scripting in games is to give more expressive power to the people who need it eg designers and sound designers, and tools to make programming easier for content creators are likely to lead to better games.

That said there is a line to be drawn between what gets done by professional programmers and what gets done by others, and imho a large part of this line is determined by performance requirements.

This is actually one of the core points in my masters thesis.

Submitted by souri on Wed, 09/03/05 - 10:36 PMPermalink

Visual scripting in Unreal Engine 3 seems to be for setting up gametypes and shaders etc, stuff that should be handled by artists and designers anyway. You programmers get to concentrate on AI and other nasty heavy programmer stuff. [;)]

Submitted by ScORCHo on Fri, 11/03/05 - 11:03 PMPermalink

I would say those first things with the characters, texture and lighting that were show about a year ago were impressive...but this is just mind blowing stuff! when this comes around i might actually give Unreal a chance....and I cant wait to see what else will be made with this engine either...

Submitted by Kalescent on Fri, 11/03/05 - 11:50 PMPermalink

Scorcho : Neverwinter Nights 2 Maybe [:P] *hopes*

Submitted by ScORCHo on Sat, 12/03/05 - 1:05 AMPermalink

HazarD: I was actually thinking with that whole city shot...along the lines of Elder Scrolls V :)
But yeah with this kind of power i can just imagine how much detail could go into games like neverwinter nights.

Submitted by MoonUnit on Sat, 12/03/05 - 6:00 AMPermalink

thats looking really neat, itll be great to see where developers take that. ive actually got my fingers crossed for a platform game with clever puzzles of some kind after seing that demo video of the series of physics demonstrations that ended with the car explosion.

Submitted by souri on Fri, 18/03/05 - 7:33 AMPermalink

Hey, check this out..
quote:
COLUMBIA, SC ? Interactive Data Visualization (IDV) today announced that SpeedTreeRT?, its hardware independent foliage solution, has been integrated with Epic Games? Unreal? Engine 3. Unreal Engine licensees will now have access to SpeedTreeRT?s advanced content creation options, enabling them to quickly and efficiently populate game environments with highly detailed trees and foliage.

SpeedTreeRT delivers low-polygon, highly realistic trees and plants, with adjustable wind effects, seamless LOD transitions, and a library of hundreds of tree models from more than 100 species. SpeedTreeRT also includes SpeedTree CAD, which will enable Unreal Engine licensees to create and edit animated trees in real-time.

SpeedTree technology has also been integrated into the Unreal Engine?s decolayers, so forests can be painted directly onto the terrain, eliminating the need to place trees individually. Although the trees appear at unprecedented detail, thanks to the efficiency of the SpeedTree technology, any foliage will have a minimum impact on frame rates.

[url="http://www.idvinc.com/html/image_browser/UE3_images.htm"]Here's their website[/url]. You definately know it's a sign that times are a-becoming-quite-different when there are companies out there doing middleware for trees! (And they look great, btw)

Submitted by LiveWire on Fri, 18/03/05 - 11:08 PMPermalink

i've seen a bit of that speedtree thing and it sounds pretty damn good. bethesda are using it in elder scrolls 4 and thei're forrests look amazing. that's awsome news that it comes with UE3!

Submitted by MoonUnit on Wed, 30/03/05 - 8:20 AMPermalink

wows, cant imagine a massive frag match running with that kinda detail! but hell id like to see it happen :D

Submitted by Kalescent on Wed, 30/03/05 - 10:53 AMPermalink

PHWOOARRR! man I cant wait to start building some content for that engine.....

Posted by souri on
Forum
General Chat

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=7189

It's sounding pretty cool! Apart from the snazzy graphics, there's visual scripting / requiring little programming, seamless worlds / background loading etc. They're going to be showing some more of it at the GDC, so looking forward to it!

Submitted by LiveWire on Wed, 09/03/05 - 1:22 AMPermalink

i like games that stream in their loading. as pretty as some of the newer games look it's a pain in the arse waiting half an hour for them to load.

Submitted by mcdrewski on Wed, 09/03/05 - 1:36 AMPermalink

The visual scripting stuff sounds fantastic - but I'm always skeptical of tools that claim to simply programming immensely. They always need to hide huge numbers of details from you - and especially where performance is involved this just moves the problems from the development phase to the testing and debugging phase.

Joel Spolsky describes it as[url="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.html"]The law of Leaky Abstractions[/url], one of the most succinct explanations I've ever read.

Submitted by lorien on Wed, 09/03/05 - 4:04 AMPermalink

I find truly visual programming environments (like JMax http://freesoftware.ircam.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=14) more frustrating than productive. I've just spend so long coding... Loads and loads of musicians really love them though.

I think the point of scripting in games is to give more expressive power to the people who need it eg designers and sound designers, and tools to make programming easier for content creators are likely to lead to better games.

That said there is a line to be drawn between what gets done by professional programmers and what gets done by others, and imho a large part of this line is determined by performance requirements.

This is actually one of the core points in my masters thesis.

Submitted by souri on Wed, 09/03/05 - 10:36 PMPermalink

Visual scripting in Unreal Engine 3 seems to be for setting up gametypes and shaders etc, stuff that should be handled by artists and designers anyway. You programmers get to concentrate on AI and other nasty heavy programmer stuff. [;)]

Submitted by ScORCHo on Fri, 11/03/05 - 11:03 PMPermalink

I would say those first things with the characters, texture and lighting that were show about a year ago were impressive...but this is just mind blowing stuff! when this comes around i might actually give Unreal a chance....and I cant wait to see what else will be made with this engine either...

Submitted by Kalescent on Fri, 11/03/05 - 11:50 PMPermalink

Scorcho : Neverwinter Nights 2 Maybe [:P] *hopes*

Submitted by ScORCHo on Sat, 12/03/05 - 1:05 AMPermalink

HazarD: I was actually thinking with that whole city shot...along the lines of Elder Scrolls V :)
But yeah with this kind of power i can just imagine how much detail could go into games like neverwinter nights.

Submitted by MoonUnit on Sat, 12/03/05 - 6:00 AMPermalink

thats looking really neat, itll be great to see where developers take that. ive actually got my fingers crossed for a platform game with clever puzzles of some kind after seing that demo video of the series of physics demonstrations that ended with the car explosion.

Submitted by souri on Fri, 18/03/05 - 7:33 AMPermalink

Hey, check this out..
quote:
COLUMBIA, SC ? Interactive Data Visualization (IDV) today announced that SpeedTreeRT?, its hardware independent foliage solution, has been integrated with Epic Games? Unreal? Engine 3. Unreal Engine licensees will now have access to SpeedTreeRT?s advanced content creation options, enabling them to quickly and efficiently populate game environments with highly detailed trees and foliage.

SpeedTreeRT delivers low-polygon, highly realistic trees and plants, with adjustable wind effects, seamless LOD transitions, and a library of hundreds of tree models from more than 100 species. SpeedTreeRT also includes SpeedTree CAD, which will enable Unreal Engine licensees to create and edit animated trees in real-time.

SpeedTree technology has also been integrated into the Unreal Engine?s decolayers, so forests can be painted directly onto the terrain, eliminating the need to place trees individually. Although the trees appear at unprecedented detail, thanks to the efficiency of the SpeedTree technology, any foliage will have a minimum impact on frame rates.

[url="http://www.idvinc.com/html/image_browser/UE3_images.htm"]Here's their website[/url]. You definately know it's a sign that times are a-becoming-quite-different when there are companies out there doing middleware for trees! (And they look great, btw)

Submitted by LiveWire on Fri, 18/03/05 - 11:08 PMPermalink

i've seen a bit of that speedtree thing and it sounds pretty damn good. bethesda are using it in elder scrolls 4 and thei're forrests look amazing. that's awsome news that it comes with UE3!

Submitted by MoonUnit on Wed, 30/03/05 - 8:20 AMPermalink

wows, cant imagine a massive frag match running with that kinda detail! but hell id like to see it happen :D

Submitted by Kalescent on Wed, 30/03/05 - 10:53 AMPermalink

PHWOOARRR! man I cant wait to start building some content for that engine.....