Killzone 2 pre-release discussion thread

[Love_In_Rio]

What are contact shadows?

the shadows under the sandbags, or the shadows of the arms over the body of the soldier are a example of this:

Basically are the shadows that objects produce over other objects they are in contact with ( so they are called contact shadows ). Generally the most obvious place to see them apart from the self-shadows in bodies are the contact of objects with the floor.

 

[PalmiNio]

Maybe you are right and everything is related to the new look that that level has now. In that level in particular i prefered the grittier look that had before.

But anyway the new contact shadows are top notch, and are everywhere!.

His ear has been downgraded

But who cares, the graphic is absolutly amazing......i'm sold

 

[davygee]

The game looked great when demonstrated at E32007, it's amazing to see how far it's come since then. It is miles ahead of the competition, and now seeing the SP campaign for the first time in 6 months, it's looks even better.

One other thing to notice is apparently, the version shown in the videos are months old and seeing as there is another 2 months before releasing, there could be a good bit of optimising yet to come.

All in all, it's looks fantastic!!

 

[Neb]

the shadows under the sandbags, or the shadows of the arms over the body of the soldier are a example of this:

http://i38.tinypic.com/2pynw5y.jpg

Basically are the shadows that objects produce over other objects they are in contact with ( so they are called contact shadows ). Generally the most obvious place to see them apart from the self-shadows in bodies are the contact of objects with the floor.

Isn't that regular self-shadowing?

 

[ultragpu]

regular self shadwing doesnt project your own shadow onto another person's body but only yourself, hence the name self shadowing i guess. For contact shadow the objects will cast shadows to each other where apropriate, say given a clsoe enough distance.

 

[Neb]

Oh, Interesting. Didn't know this was that common. I thougth it had something to do with "volume" shadows and how they interact with and objects edges to give a SSAO look with volume where the objects meet each other.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

regular self shadwing doesnt project your own shadow onto another person's body but only yourself, hence the name self shadowing i guess. For contact shadow the objects will cast shadows to each other where apropriate, say given a clsoe enough distance.

I guess that's an interpretation. However 'contact shadows' typically refers to ambient occlusion around objects in contact. In this case, soldiers and furniture should have a soft, dark patch underneath them where they touch the floor. This is essential for good, convincing composition, but is sadly lacking in a lot of games. I haven't scrutinized this latest KZ2 media, but a movie on GT just now didn't have these contact shadows, and the floor under objects remained uniformly lit. With everything else the game does right, this does stand out rather, and it would be very nice to see it included.

 

[Antan]

"I haven't scrutinized this latest KZ2 media"

Pull yer finger out Shifty!

 

[Love_In_Rio]

I guess that's an interpretation. However 'contact shadows' typically refers to ambient occlusion around objects in contact. In this case, soldiers and furniture should have a soft, dark patch underneath them where they touch the floor. This is essential for good, convincing composition, but is sadly lacking in a lot of games. I haven't scrutinized this latest KZ2 media, but a movie on GT just now didn't have these contact shadows, and the floor under objects remained uniformly lit. With everything else the game does right, this does stand out rather, and it would be very nice to see it included.

If you can see the boss video. Here is where contact shadows are more evident: look at the pikes or cables on the floor.

http://www.gamersyde.com/stream_9627_en.html

 

[Terarrim]

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/43389.html

Link to tech interview @ GG.

 

[JardeL]

IGN Preview

There's much more to the Killzone 2 engine than deferred rendering and screen passes; in fact, Arjan mentioned that every composite that is rendered within the game is placed solely upon the SPUs to lock in the framerate at a solid 30 FPS. During small battles, one or two SPUs will pick up a majority of the action, but during heavy firefights with large explosions and numerous characters onscreen, all six SPUs will pick up the load and balance everything accurately. Surprisingly, even within the heaviest firefight onscreen, Arjan pointed out that the largest load on each one of the SPUs didn't exceed 60%, which ensured that the framerate remained consistent throughout the game.

6 SPUs confirmed ... So they managed to divide up the work to 6 SPUs at %60 instead of 4 SPUs at %100 ?.. Maybe this has helped them to achieve solid 30FPS ..

 

[GarretASUS]

6 SPUs confirmed ... So they managed to divide up the work to 6 SPUs at %60 instead of 4 SPUs at %100 ?.. Maybe this has helped them to achieve solid 30FPS ..

Seems they did change. Because originally they were only using 4 SPUs.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

If you can see the boss video. Here is where contact shadows are more evident: look at the pikes or cables on the floor.l

I see 'em there, but these are on static geometry and are likely baked. Are there any vids of mobile soldiers with contact shadows?

 

[2real4tv]

Some more tibbits on the preview build:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13868502&postcount=6205

 

[RudeCurve]

The floor texture on the troop carrier during the convoy intro is higher resolution now vs the older E307 intro. That and the higher polygon head models makes it look better than the older build. Not really sure if the polygons in the bodies are the same or higher/lower.

 

[DieH@rd]

Just saw Tech & Audio vids @ gametrailers. Very impressive.

 

[-tkf-]

Joystiq Hands on preview:

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/04/hands-on-with-killzone-2s-single-player-campaign/

 

[MJP]

I'm not seeing any contact shadows in any of the vids or screens, at least not for dynamic objects. The shadows in the screen that Love_In_Rio posted just look like regular shadow mapping to me.

 

[Turok]

Damn, this game looks amazing, but I'm hesisant to call it above and beyond what we have on consoles today. It seems to me that a lot of its WOW factor comes from extremely clever implementations of DoF, motion blur, and really bright lighting that contrasts with the environment. I really want to get my hands on this and ogle every little detail though.

 

[Shoujoboy]

I heard this game is native 1080i is that true ?