Unreal 3 engine & Nv40 at GDC2004

[vrecan]

that sure is one ugly screenshot!

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I gotta say UT2k4 is pretty kewl. I like the new game formats and the game loads up quick.

I got one problem though. Once in a while I get a BSOD with the nv4_disp.dll error.

I was using the new 56.64 with whql from Official NVidia Site then tried the 52.16 and still got the error.

I even reinstalled the game.

US

 

[digitalwanderer]

As for the shiny heads on monsters, maybe they've got a problem with their oil glands?

No, no...that's normal once you get older and you start losing your hair.

 

[VFX_Veteran]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/03/24/news_6092217.html

The interior of the cathedral was stunning, since its brick walls looked as though each brick had been individually modeled. Up close, not only did the wall look like it had a protruding, textured surface covered with blemishes and scratches, but each brick looked like it cast its own shadow. However, this was just a technical illusion, because the engine uses an advanced form of bump-mapping called "virtual displacement mapping" to make the bricks look three-dimensional. When the texture was removed, it turned out that the wall was almost a completely flat surface.

Hmm did someone talk to Humus?


Apparently Sweety (thats my nickname for him.) Is doing what Carmack is doing: Retardedly high poly models downsampled then passed half a dozen times. 6 million poly's to 6000. Must look jaw dropping. The Doom 3 models are 250k polys to 3800 if I recall correctly.

Either way: This engine is going to be sex on wheels.

I think this engine is overhyped. The method you are talking about is already done in Farcry. It's called "PolyBump". Nothing fancy other than recording normals for a high polygon character and storing them in a map and used as a normal map for the low polygon character.

-M

 

[demalion]

Well, that particular effect is a bit more nuanced than the standard "Polybump" that was initially discussed for FarCry (I don't know if they use texture coordinate offsets in the final engine, though). It probably seems overhyped for a next gen engine because it was still new to the people seeing (Far Cry has just been released, after all).

There are other elements, like the lighting model and shadow rendering, that seem more like the real innovations and advance beyond what is in games now (and coming soon), but they are more subtle and harder to express (so aren't noticed or expressed as thoroughly as this aspect).

Another excerpt:

We were then taken inside the cathedral to see some of the advanced physics and lighting effects at work. A floating lantern, tethered by a chain, slowly traveled through the corridor, then bumped against the wall, causing it to sway crazily. The light from the lantern swung around due to each collision, and the shadows from the various objects in the room reacted realistically to the lamp's movements. As we saw, the engine's shadows also blur the farther they are from the light source.

I think there is quite a bit of complexity and achievement hidden in this description.

 

[VFX_Veteran]

Well, I'd like to see how much different it is over the basic Deus Ex 2 engine - which also using dynamic lighting and shadows for every model in the scene. To me, there are several issues that still need to be addressed in making realtime graphics a step closer to film-quality.

One of the main ones is the bump-mapping. For some reason, it just doesn't look right in any game that has it. Perhaps the bump textures are too low res and you lose the bump-mapping up close when mip-mapping. I also hate the excessive low polygon count in almost all models.

I can't wait for pixel-sized triangles in realtime or standard 1024x1024 texture sizes used for normal maps.

-M

 

[demalion]

Lighting/Shadowing:
A thread about an interview that touches on some details a bit more technically.

Adding Offset Mapping versus Bump Mapping alone:
Humus' demo, and an earlier discussion of the technique. This would seem like it might help to address your concerns about bump mapping you've seen, depending on what they are.
EDIT: Found your thoughts enumerated in another thread. I think the above indicates those concerns are indeed going to be addressed, the indication seems to be a decided move away from simplified lighting shortcuts.

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Pics of the thing : http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20040329/unreal.htm

 

[Laa-Yosh]

The monster looks like a high-res laser scan from the maquette on display - that'd explain the 6 million polygon objects used for normal map extraction. Also note the demo CD of XYZRGB near the maquette - that company has delivered Shelob scans for Weta to use on ROTK. It looks nice, but I guess the nice detail comes out on close-up screenshots.

The last 4 images aren't too impressive though. Maybe they aren't from UnrealEngine3? There seems to be some notes about Rightmark3D under those pics as well...

 

[Laa-Yosh]

I've got some help in translating the text under the monster images:

such a solid model -- high precision laser scanning -- carrying out -- 3D model -- building -- a multi-polygon 3D model -- changing -- final -- a detail -- a 法線 map -- dropping -- the number of polygons -- curtailment -- as for the process ...., 3DCG movie work is also performed In addition, the image shown here is unrelated to Unreal3 engine. Data of XYZ-RGB which offers now authoring of 3D model construction by process which was explained

So it looks like the screenshots are just XYZRGB demo material, however they should be representative of the detail in the UE 3 characters...

 

[vogel]

I don't speak Japanese though the only pictures showing anything related to Epic are the ones showing the booth and Andrew.

And as far as the screenshots on the previous page go - those aren't ours either.

I don't think there are any pictures showing our demo circulating on the web. *cheers*

-- Daniel, Epic Games Inc.

Pics of the thing : http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20040329/unreal.htm

 

[saf1]

I don't speak Japanese though the only pictures showing anything related to Epic are the ones showing the booth and Andrew.

And as far as the screenshots on the previous page go - those aren't ours either.

I don't think there are any pictures showing our demo circulating on the web. *cheers*

-- Daniel, Epic Games Inc.

Pics of the thing : http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20040329/unreal.htm

Daniel,

Is there any possibility of you providing a sample picture? Not sure how the conference played out - but if something was shown outside any NDA's - do you think you could ask a favor and post one?

Anyway - have a good one.

 

[vogel]

Sorry, no.

-- Daniel, Epic Games Inc.

Is there any possibility of you providing a sample picture?

 

[bloodbob]

Sorry, no.

-- Daniel, Epic Games Inc.

Is there any possibility of you providing a sample picture?

Well if its only hardware NDA reasons that holding back maybe a refrast screen?

Okay I'll shut up now :/

 

[Andrew Meggs]

The current scuttle-butt is that Troika has removed all multiplay from their game to make the ship date, though this isn't confirmed/announced yet.

I know I'm a little late to the thread, but...I'm the lead programmer on the project, and this is certainly news to me. We aren't PUBLICLY DEMOING any multiplayer RIGHT NOW. Work on our multiplayer gameplay is ongoing as I type this.

 

[indio]

I know this is off topic but I just want to say I really appreciate developer interest in these boards and please don't let individual rudeness drive you away.