Unreal Technology site updated new screens and tech...

[Intel17]

http://unrealtechnology.com/html/technology/ue30.shtml

Directional Light Mapping enables the static shadowing and diffuse normal-mapped lighting of an unlimited number of lights to be precomputed and stored into a single set of texture maps, enabling very large light counts in high-performance scenes.

Hmm, going back to the old ways of light pre-computation Epic? Interesting...
Also, notice some of the new screens on the site, they look pretty good, but I don't know, some of them look pretty...average.
The renderer doesn't seem to be spectacular in itself. It's more the artwork that makes it look kickass.
What really excites me the most with this engine are the tools! They look godlike!

 

[bloodbob]

Sounds like something similar to HL2 lighting ( which almost everyone hated).

 

[Ostsol]

I believe it was the dynamic portions of HL2's lighting that people hated. The glitchy shadows, for example. The static lighting is what made the game look as good as it did.

 

[Blazkowicz]

lol.. a new meaning to "spaghetti code"
http://www.unrealtechnology.com/screens/kismet_1.jpg

 

[KimB]

Hmm, going back to the old ways of light pre-computation Epic? Interesting...

All iterations of the Unreal engine have used pre-computed lighting in some form.

Sounds like something similar to HL2 lighting ( which almost everyone hated).

Doesn't sound like anything like what HL2 was doing to me.

 

[Killer-Kris]

lol.. a new meaning to "spaghetti code"
http://www.unrealtechnology.com/screens/kismet_1.jpg

It is nice to see visual programming starting to go mainstream!

 

[bloodbob]

Sounds like something similar to HL2 lighting ( which almost everyone hated).

Doesn't sound like anything like what HL2 was doing to me.

Well hl2 had directional pre-computed lighting and well now U3 has

Directional Light Mapping enables the static shadowing and diffuse normal-mapped lighting of an unlimited number of lights to be precomputed

so I fail to see whats different.

 

[Kanyamagufa]

I couldn't find the new screenshots.

But after going back and looking at those outdoor shots again (Windmills...), I think I would agree with you.

I'm sure the engine is capable of producing everything we want it to, though.

 

[Richard]

The tools look great, I just wish UE3 would do away with that subtract then build requirement of the level editor.

Some new screenshots:

Big one: http://www.planetunreal.com/images/screens/gow_051405.jpg

 

[Dave Baumann]

It looks like that during the XBox 360 launch stuff they may have pre-announced the first title Epic will do on the UE3 engine:

http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050523/gallery/index.html

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

There's also this info for the first PC game (codenamed Envy). Unsurprisingly it's initially titled UT2007.

 

[Intel17]

Actually Gears of War and UT2007 will both be shipping on PC and Xbox 360!

Great, huh?

 

[AlNom]

So much for the Unreal Championship line of titles

 

[Ostsol]

Who knows? Maybe Epic's planning on merging concepts from UC and UT.

 

[AlNom]

mm........I dunno about melee combat and flipping around like maniacs on PC... I don't think the control is there for that sort of gameplay.

*shrug* I could be entirely wrong of course

 

[JD]

My god it takes a bit to read thru their marketing lingo. Anyways, I think they're doing the same thing as valve did. Local lighting comes into place when you're playing in a dark environment and since we can't do global illumination in realtime yet we have to reserve to precomputed lighting. PRT and its variants might offer us some interim solution but it's only diffuse lighting model that lacks specular which both epic and valve are going for.

 

[Luminescent]

Yeah, but supposedly the reality renderer was able to combine its per-pixel specular local solution with its diffuse PRT solution for even deformable objects. I hope Epic incorporates something like this in UE 3.0.

 

[KimB]

Since they're not calling it PRT, I'm still willing to bet it isn't. Specifically, PRT can take a while to compute, and, as I've stated previously, one of the things that Epic has previously touted about their engine was the fast level compile times. therefore I think it's likely that their directional lightmapping will be nothing more than high-quality soft shadowing using a PRT-like algorithm for the final render in-game.

 

[JD]

Also, that diagram pic, it reminds me of uml tools and number one problem with them is lack of screen realestate. Also, it takes a lot of time to navigate these charts like zooming/panning them into view, etc. Also, when you're looking at the screen you want to hide irrelevant info and so you're constantly manipulating zoomed out elements that are illegible. I don't think they can separate it into pieces and work on each piece individually. It's more like a uml class diagram where you really need to see it all and how it fits together because looking at it by piece doesn't make sense. Anyone seen doxygen docs? Messy, the links seem to be the problem as well as organizing something and then later injecting new thing into it and reorganizing it again.

 

[Fodder]

The tools look great, I just wish UE3 would do away with that subtract then build requirement of the level editor.

But that's the best part of Unreal! :?

Perhaps if you've been using more traditional editors for years it could be a pain, but speaking as a level editing newb, I found it far easier to get stuck into UnrealEd than Radiant or Hammer.