Far Cry (360) interview

[pipo]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=62565

And so we turn to the Xbox 360 version of the original Instincts, which uses the same technology we'll see at work in the 360 Next Chapter (keep up at the back). The Xbox Next Chapter has looked good up to this point - slightly jagged on the utterly monstrous Samsung LCD TV some poor sap's hauled into the hotel room we're in, but still incredibly detailed for an Xbox game, full of life and with the same warm, sun-soaked atmosphere of Instincts. Switching to the 360 version is like putting on your glasses in the morning: it brings the world into sharp focus. At 720p, you can appreciate the outline of every leaf, every blade of grass. Arguably this is a bit of a problem - it can look a bit plastic - but it's very dense and persuasive, and Helias says the team's still working on the shaders.

You can see right the way off into the distance too, peering across canyons. Foliage becomes a bit simpler as you look further ahead, but there's still time. "We're still working on the vegetation to make it more interesting visually," says Helias, noticing our gaze. The overall image is fantastic though, and reminiscent of the PC version. Plus, it's all at 60 frames per second, even now. The water, in particular, is fantastic, and as you crawl up the opening beach level with the tide the sand looks wet. "We really worked on the water to make it as realistic as we could. The game is better in terms of detail even than the PC, I think. On the water, we have an oceanographic algorithm for waves; we think it's the most realistic it can be right now." As he speaks, waves lap up against the side of the boat - the boat's wake is quite simple at the moment and it doesn't bob particularly, but this will likely change.

"We changed the engine to use the three cores, and we use them around 90 per cent of the time, which is how we are able to reach the 60 frames per second. We are still working on the shaders though, we've redone every filter in the game to make them really work on HDTV."

What's it like working on Xbox 360 then? "It's difficult, particularly when you are using the three cores; we have broken a lot of stuff in the process of getting it like this!" Helias chuckles. Perhaps so, but there'll be plenty of people who appreciate the effort.

 

[London Geezer]

Are they using their new engine? Cause that is one sweet looking engine.

 

[!eVo!-X Ant UK]

Are they using their new engine? Cause that is one sweet looking engine.

Id say a tweaked version of cryengine 1 IMO

 

[London Geezer]

Id say a tweaked version of cryengine 1 IMO

I want information, not opinions.

 

[GB123]

Um the first paragraph say's uses the same technology.

 

[London Geezer]

Um the first paragraph say's uses the same technology.

You mean this:
And so we turn to the Xbox 360 version of the original Instincts, which uses the same technology we'll see at work in the 360 Next Chapter (keep up at the back).


Not sure what that means to be honest, that's why i asked. Doesn't sound like "using the same technology as CryEngine2" or whatever they called it.

 

[!eVo!-X Ant UK]

I want information, not opinions.

Well why dont you look at the screens for your-self, does it look like cry engine 2??

Answear : NO

 

[AlNom]

Looking forward to just walking around the island in HD.

Thanks for the link, pipo.

 

[pipo]

Thanks for the link, pipo.

No prob.

 

[Sis]

Well why dont you look at the screens for your-self, does it look like cry engine 2??

Answear : NO

If I'm not mistaken, that would be more opinion. What you need to understand about l-b is that he is a lover of hard facts.

 

[London Geezer]

If I'm not mistaken, that would be more opinion. What you need to understand about l-b is that he is a lover of hard facts.

Now that was totally uncalled for!

Anyway, yeah from the pics it looks a bit crappy, so i hope it's the first engine and not the new one...

 

[pc999]

That it is a good way to try the HW before making a real game to it, anyway i is a nice add as it probably will be >1/2 of normal price.

 

[Sis]

Now that was totally uncalled for!

Ahem. Yes, yes, it was. But oh so funny .

 

[czekon]

5 new screens

 

[dukmahsik]

looks pretty good

 

[London Geezer]

Definately the first engine.

 

[czekon]

imo they used engine from xbox far cry:instincts a custom engine made by UBI

 

[Evil_Cloud]

IMO, doesn't look much better than what you would get from a high-end PC running Far Cry. It looks better, but I'd rather see a next-generation title, rather than a graphical update. Like so many titles, this seems more like a placefiller, an extention of the previous generation, rather than something 'next'.

 

[czekon]

well i'm not so sure if it looks better, i think is on the same level as PC version. Too bad there is coming a lot of ports with small cosmetic changes.

 

[Luminescent]

IMO, doesn't look much better than what you would get from a high-end PC running Far Cry. It looks better, but I'd rather see a next-generation title, rather than a graphical update. Like so many titles, this seems more like a placefiller, an extention of the previous generation, rather than something 'next'.

Remember that for the 360 and upcoming consoles, previous gen visuals are considered to be those produced by their predecesors (i.e. xbox, ps2, etc.), not high end pcs of late or the pc platform in general.

In addition, I bet the pixel shading employed by the 360 version is of higher complexity than the original far cry's even if it can be rendered on a high end pc at > than 1280*720 res.