Factor 5 shows its first PS3 game

[hey69]

must say it looks awesome . for what you can see actually, there isnt that much to see .
nice they start there trailer with

you can watch the trailer here
http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/761/761161/vids_1.html


there is also a higher res version out on another url but lost it.

 

[Farid]

I like the fact that they went with a complete muscle simulation for the animation of their models.
There's not much to say other than that, seeing that they showed too little footage.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It was dark! I can barely see anything on these camcorder grabs. Apart from use of LOD (lots of dragons) looking bumpy I didn't notice anything else like full muscle animation. Presumably skin deformations like that are handled by Cell. Sharing the vertex data over the FlexIO? Or pretty comfortably performed with traditional techniques?

 

[EndR]

Factor5 does good gfx, problem is that gameplay is lacking. Turrican is still their "funniest" game...

will be interesting to see what they can muster out from PS3..

 

[cthellis42]

Interesting, but... as already stated, there's not much to go on. Except to say that everything looks very finely waxed, so I certainly hope they tone down that shine!

 

[Shifty Geezer]

As all we saw were dragons, if they were going for a smooth shiny look it's okay. As long as not everything is shiney, that's an art direction I don't mind. It's when the trees and faces are that shiny I cringe!

 

[cthellis42]

I know dragons are fantastic creature and such, and it was raining and all... but even so there were still just shots (like the "snout cam" in 0:25-0:27) that show a pretty rediculous degree regardless.

 

[pc999]

Well, they did a hell of a impressive job with StarWars on GC, I am really interested in their next gen gfx.

 

[Evil_Cloud]

Factor5 does good gfx, problem is that gameplay is lacking. Turrican is still their "funniest" game...

will be interesting to see what they can muster out from PS3..

The Star Wars Rogue Squadron games were good gameplay-wise if you only look at the flying parts (the rest, I agree, was mostly average to mediocre).

Lair seems to focus on flying dragons, so I have some faith in Factor 5's capabilities. I do wonder wether there will be only dragons in the game, or not. They could create a Panzer Dragoon-esque title with 200 dragons instead of just one, fighting an evil machine empire.

 

[cthellis42]

Why is it, anymore, than machines are always evil but dragons always end up on the good side? Weren't dragons always the typical fantasy uber-baddie?

 

[overclocked]

It looked great, now as the SW fan i am hopping that the next trailer shows a couple of Y-wings shooting down the dragons..

 

[cthellis42]

See in Star Wars it's the machines that are good and the dragons that are... erm... used to scare away Sandpeople! Plus, the machines are also bad.

...dammit!

 

[overclocked]

Nah the ties scream of evil
Also dont forget the importance of red/green light..

 

[Evil_Cloud]

Why is it, anymore, than machines are always evil but dragons always end up on the good side? Weren't dragons always the typical fantasy uber-baddie?

Well everything is better than Hobbits...

And I think the logic behind machines being evil is that they are always bound to malfunction some day, making them evil. (heck, even my own pc is evil, it makes so much noise I need to use something to squize the case ).

 

[cthellis42]

But the machines bring you tons of free porn, so offhand I'd think people would put that bonus above the "malfuctioning" side-effect. I mean, even if they do destroy the Earth, at least we can be well-spent before we go!

 

[passby]

I think Metropolis is one of the few movies where the machines are good, and humans are bad.

 

[PeterT]

I love the video. Up to now the most exciting next-gen clip for me personally was the water demo (I have an interest in machine vision), but this takes the crown. It's not nearly as innovative, but I absolutely love dragons. An average game with dragons >> a good game without . And these are the most impressive realtime dragons I've ever seen.

Now I'd like to know what kind of game this will actually be...

 

[Evil_Cloud]

HIGHLIGHTS:

* Intense highflying action
o Aerial based combat rather than Melee, or guns/shooting
o Special fighting moves

* Enhanced technology
o Physical modeling of environments - Real world forces such as wind and the effects of gravity on various masses.
o Algorithmically created Unit Behavior - Algorithmic behavior description allows for non-scripted character and object motion. Objects interact with each other based on their behavior description, rather than on pre-programmed functionality.
o Photo Realistic Environments -Environments are photo-realistic and highly interactive, using a variety of hand-built and algorithmic construction techniques.
o All new outdoor engine for more expansive environments.

* Detailed story and character progression
o Dozens of intriguing characters and personalities
o A heroic story of revenge and redemption

I found an even greater evil than machines cthellis42, being 3DO's Dragon Rage (the highlights above come from that game). It's a description that could fit Lair though.

 

[overclocked]

Where was that info from, very intersting..

 

[Guden Oden]

Two common problems with fantasy dragons, that this game replicates as well:

*Wings are too small compared to body.
Reason birds can fly at all is because their wings are huge compared to their body - pluck away their feathers, they're really quite small.

*Legs too friggin big and heavy.
Again, look at birds. Very little meat - or anything else for that matter - on bird legs, and for a reason too. Heavy legs = back heavy = dragon would hang vertically in the air. Also, a long heavy tail at the end doesn't exactly help with balance either...