Heavy Rain - nice virtual actor teaser shots

Titanio

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These grabbed my eye over on GAF. From TVG:

Heavy_Rain_77297.jpg


Heavy_Rain_77298.jpg


http://www.totalvideogames.com/news/TVG.Triple-Tap:_Tease_12565_5475_0.htm

During the interview with Cage, he let TVG in on some golden nuggets of information about the studio's current title under development, Heavy Rain. We were also lucky enough to receive a couple of exclusive screenshots of the game's "real-time virtual actors".

Cage also remarked on his different experiences in developing Fahrenheit and his current project, Heavy Rain: "Multi-layered plotlines are a pure nightmare to write. The writing of Fahrenheit has been incredibly difficult and painful for me, as I was writing a new format in its most complex dimension. My current project has been easier to write, which was a relief, as it means I start to have a better understanding of this specific form of interactive writing."

Unfortunately, Cage wouldn't go into details about Quantic Dream's enigmatic title for the PlayStation 3, saying only that gamers should "Expect to be surprised."

Crossing fingers for more next month.
 
Yer they dont show the mouth, that was where I noticed lighting problems in the casting demo...

Yer the game will be like your playing an action/thriller type movie...
 
Isn't that level of detail wasteful in anything but cutscenes simply because in game especially if it's an action game,will you even be able to see or focus on that and be close enough to see that kind of detail on a characters face from a distance?
I seems that at some point our ability to render amazing levels of detail may surpass our ability to accurately convey that detail to the gamer sitting looking at a display.
 
unlike other games? (Crysis :) )
The first part is hard to argue with but come on now.

IMO it doesn't "live up"/"shine up". And why hide the mouth and the chins which are important if one is going to showcase face animations?

IMO I was far more impressed by Crysis eye movement and soft-flesh lids demonstration.
 
IMO it doesn't "live" up. And why hide the mouth and the chins which are important if one is going to showcase face animations?
Maybe, just maybe because of the same reason games aren't shown before they are shown?
Of course it's always possible the only thing they can do is that, and they are stupid enough to claim otherwise (which isn't really uncommon practice).
 
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Maybe, just maybe because of the same reason games aren't shown before they are shown?
Of course it's always possible the only thing they can do is that, and they are stupid enough to claim otherwise (which isn't really uncommon practice).

I am basing my opinion on the shown techdemo video. Of course it can get better but until then this is the only video out (besides the older ones).
 
It is very nice, particularly the reflections on the eyes.

However I must note that a lot of the realistic feel comes from the dynamics of the movement, which is the result of using mocap - it keeps all the tiny nuances of the actor's performance and that's pretty hard to reproduce using manual, keyframe animation.
But the rig itself is not realistic enough, there's too much movement around the eyelids, particularly the inner corner of the eyes, and the brows don't have the feel of bone under them, it's more like the entire head is soft and rubbery.

This over-the-top approach might be better though, particularly from a distance, helping to sell the performance, but it sure is far from realistic. So I'm cautiously optimistic here, they have the best intentions and very high quality assets, but as their first tech demo has already demonstrated with those scary lips, it is very easy to ruin everything with a few simple mistakes...
 
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