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During Microsoft's keynote speech earlier this morning, there was morenews than just the extension of the XNA platform and the beginning ofZune gaming. Amidst the rumors of a Microsoft takeover of Epic, thepresident of Epic Games, Dr. Michael Capp, and technical director TimSweeney came on stage to showcase some of the new technologies of theever-evolving Unreal Engine 3.
Using Gears of War as a testing ground, Sweeney took thecrowd through some impressive visuals that the engine can now produce,all the while coyly hinting that these types of improvements could becoming to gamers in the form of Gears of War 2. MarcusPhoenix and a variety of cut scenes were taken from the original titleand used to demonstrate the improvements to the engine.
Sweeney showcased the ability of the engine to display large numbers ofcharacters by generating a high-density horde of 100+ locusts on thescreen at once. The stream flowed through the levels without a hitch inthe framerate. As Sweeney pointed out, this was a huge improvement overthe five- or six-character mobs from the original Gears of War.Perhaps most impressive was the new soft-body physics engine that wasproduced in cooperation with Ageia. This was shown in a vicious battlebetween Marcus and an oddly disturbing "meat cube," which rolled andreacted to Marcus' actions convincingly.
Other notable improvements include an advanced lighting engine, whichoffered a significant amount of additional shadowing and layeringtechniques, improved liquid dynamics for better water interaction, anddestructable environments.
Now that Gears of War 2 has been officially announced,it's quite clear that Epic has a number of new tools in the toolkit towork with for the new title. The company ended its showing byreaffirming its dedication to Microsoft platforms.
At the GDC (Game Developers Conference) 2008, Epic Games, creator of Gears of War and Gears of War 2 showcased a tech demo in which they demonstrated new features of the Unreal Engine in Gears of War. These new features included Ambient Occlusion Technology (that vastly improves the lighting effects in the game), Dynamic Water Effect Technology (that creates more life-like looking water both in the way it looks and in the way it reacts to movement), Improved "Matinee" System (that is used to create in game cinematics), Soft Body Physics Technology(which improves textures for different substances in the engine, in thedemo a large piece of flesh was shown that reacted very realisticallyto the player) and destructible environments. One of the most markedfeatures to be showcased was the introduction of High Density Crowds which saw literally hundreds of locusts running through the Gridlock map from the original Gears of War. The introduction of this technology could allow larger battles in Gears of War 2.
Additionally there is now support for certain Ageia physics elementsand the potential for destructible environments - a section of woodenfencing was his example.
Tim Sweeney, Epic's answer to John Carmack, was also on stage toexplain some of the developments: "We've done significant work on thecharacter pipeline," he said. "There's much greater contrast in theshadows, much greater specular lighting...much more detail on thecharacter overall."
The demonstration then went on to show over 100 of the Locust enemycharacter models running around on-screen, as well as some of theenhancements that the company has made to water splashes and rollingwaves.
The keynote session ended with a short trailer announcing theexistence of Gears of War 2, and a brief appearance from CliffBleszinski, brandishing a chainsaw bayonet.
"Gears 2 is going to be bigger, better and far more badass than thefirst one," he proclaimed, adding that it was slated for release inNovember this year.