Heavy Rain: New Screenshots and development footage*

[ultragpu]

http://i39.tinypic.com/295r146.jpg
I'm not convinced that the lighting was downgraded. Different yes, but not any worse. Actually if you look here they still use the same lighting model.
http://www.cynamite.de/_misc/galleries/detail.cfm?pk=1502&fk=115498&opv=gal&page=4&order=&aid=0

 

[ShadowRunner]

Graphics. The shading, lighting, modelling, animation, etc...

The QTE gameplay doesn't seem very engaging either.

Did you see the scene in the club?

Nothing about that looked average to me.

I think maybe the junkyard scene just wasnt the best to show off the game with everything else i have seen looks great, where this scene looks just very good.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

The QTE gameplay doesn't seem very engaging either.

Well they're not really QTE's, at least not as I understand them, as QTE's are just a linear set of buttons to press at the right time, whereas here the system presents you with options based on previous decisions.

I think this will succeed or fail on how emotionally engaged the player is. If you feel scared with the killer threatening your character, the decision making process will be very involving. If you're emotionally detached, it'll be a series of broadly-spaced button presses just to see what happens next. This is in stark contrast to typical games where the involvement is either intellectual, selecting what move to make where like a puzzler or strategy, or a test of hand-eye coordination and motor skills, with lots of active button pressing. I can see it might work, but I don't know if they'll pull it off or not. The dubious acting and atrocious lip-syncing have me doubting the immersion will be strong enough.

 

[PhilB]

Game looks amazing (graphics wise). I share the concerns that others have though (i.e. voice acting is horrible, and the motion acting isn't so hot either). I still don't know if this game looks fun, but I still have to see more before I make a final judgement.

 

[-tkf-]

When It Rains - it Pours

I REALLY hope that it won't be turned into QTE button fest.

Video looks to bright, even the interview has blow out whites (or what should be whites but the color is off).

 

[L. Scofield]

Did you see the scene in the club?

Nothing about that looked average to me.

It did to me. I mean, sure there's lots of characters there but all of them are low detail. No complex lighting or anything special.

 

[patsu]

Where is the club scene ?

 

[L. Scofield]

Where is the club scene ?

I watched it on Gametrailers.

 

[ShadowRunner]

It did to me. I mean, sure there's lots of characters there but all of them are low detail. No complex lighting or anything special.

If thats classed as average then i need to play the games you've been playin!

EDIT: Scene in question

 

[Zaphod]

Maybe we're looking at something like a madlibs conclusion? Get player decisions/deaths and just plug in the results

Anyone ever play the old Sierra adventure The Colonel's Bequest? 20 years old, and still hardly surpassed in narrative sophistication. I certainly believe the madlibs approach can work if there are enough (if only subtle) differences to award repeated playthroughs and they don't make it too obvious that "all paths lead to Rome", so to speak.

 

[_phil_]

The mud ground for example has 3 procedural imput for deformation :2 procedural NM textures for rain impact ,one for mud parts and one for water pool parts both writing into the Diffuse ,normalmap and reflection of the ground material.
On top of that ,a procedural texture is generated at bone contact (foot ,body parts ,anything that touch the ground will create a deformation in the mud and spawn a particle system (with dynamics) that project some mud that can end on the character clothes.
Textures are all high quality.Not a blurry one .
Not that bad.

Characters head have a really good skin shader,and a system to spawn 2d and 3d wet effect.
I know Both scenes have more than 20-30 dynamic lights.The engine supports 6-7 types of lights that can even project videos or procedurally generated textures.

 

[patsu]

Ahem... that's why developer input is needed.
I usually can't notice many of the details without developers' help.

The mud ground for example has 3 procedural imput for deformation :2 procedural NM textures for rain impact ,one for mud parts and one for water pool parts both writing into the Diffuse ,normalmap and reflection of the ground material.
On top of that ,a procedural texture is generated at bone contact (foot ,body parts ,anything that touch the ground will create a deformation in the mud and spawn a particle system (with dynamics) that project some mud that can end on the character clothes.
Textures are all high quality.Not a blurry one .
Not that bad.

Characters head have a really good skin shader,and a system to spawn 2d and 3d wet effect.
I know Both scenes have more than 20-30 dynamic lights.The engine supports 6-7 types of lights that can even project videos or procedurally generated textures.

Does it use a deferred renderer ?

EDIT: Scene in question

Thanks for posting. I'd like to see more of the girls. Am curious whether a more realistic pr0n game can be built convincingly. I actually have no idea why people zero in on the lighting instead of the girls (Where is the jiggle physics ?)

 

[Delta9]

If thats classed as average then i need to play the games you've been playin!

EDIT: Scene in question

That looks awesome

Loving the atmosphere the game has and the CSI feel.

 

[ultragpu]

The mud ground for example has 3 procedural imput for deformation :2 procedural NM textures for rain impact ,one for mud parts and one for water pool parts both writing into the Diffuse ,normalmap and reflection of the ground material.
On top of that ,a procedural texture is generated at bone contact (foot ,body parts ,anything that touch the ground will create a deformation in the mud and spawn a particle system (with dynamics) that project some mud that can end on the character clothes.
Textures are all high quality.Not a blurry one .
Not that bad.

Characters head have a really good skin shader,and a system to spawn 2d and 3d wet effect.
I know Both scenes have more than 20-30 dynamic lights.The engine supports 6-7 types of lights that can even project videos or procedurally generated textures.

Awesome, are you one of the Heavy Rain Dev Phil? Sounds like you're a shader programmer.

 

[-tkf-]

If thats classed as average then i need to play the games you've been playin!

EDIT: Scene in question

I agree that scene looks pretty fantastic, even when watched in that horrible compressed fashion.

 

[_phil_]

Awesome, are you one of the Heavy Rain Dev Phil? Sounds like you're a shader programmer.

no , i'm freelance game artist and i know a lot of people at QD.All their graphical tech (whole engine ) is completly integrated in Maya so it's 100% artist driven.

 

[joker454]

Hmm, this game looks really interesting to me. I'm a huge fan of point and click adventures on PC, and this looks to be a fully 3d detective adventure with multiple outcomes and QTE to force split second decisions/branching plot lines. Very cool. Hopefully they can get 20 or so hours of play, if so I think I'm in.

 

[the ignoramus]

I still dont like the junkyard scene and the way it's presented. And my god, I hate the VA and dialogue. It wouldnt really disturb me if this wasnt such a story driven game, but there is a lot of emphasis being put on conversation. I expected the VA to be somewhat credible. These actors sound like they're reading from a goddamn stone tablet in the middle of a rehearsal.

 

[obonicus]

I sort of wonder if the FBI agent isn't a take on David Duchovny and his own lack of expressions.

 

[patsu]

Hmm, this game looks really interesting to me. I'm a huge fan of point and click adventures on PC, and this looks to be a fully 3d detective adventure with multiple outcomes and QTE to force split second decisions/branching plot lines. Very cool. Hopefully they can get 20 or so hours of play, if so I think I'm in.

They are not all QTEs though. Most are like contextual menus that appear when you're near to a useful object. If you miss the timing, the same option will pop-up again when the object swings by a second time, or when you approach it voluntarily. You may also be presented with an alternative game strategy during exploration (or as the situation evolves). Essentially, it should be more forgiving than *Quick* time event.

I still dont like the junkyard scene and the way it's presented. And my god, I hate the VA and dialogue. It wouldnt really disturb me if this wasnt such a story driven game, but there is a lot of emphasis being put on conversation. I expected the VA to be somewhat credible. These actors sound like they're reading from a goddamn stone tablet in the middle of a rehearsal.

The face is a little stiff. Heavenly Sword is still my all-time favorite for in-game acting. It's a little over the top, but very entertaining and engaging.