John Carmack and QuakeCon

[ProjectX]

definitely

[Mandrake]

From a game players view, epics, gears of war has to have the best graphics I've seen to date.

[ProjectX]

They say UT3 will have better graphics or at least it will on the PC, then again they say PC Gears of War will have better graphics too.

[Oshyan]

Well, in the end all you can say for certain is that UE3 has good tools, as you've apparently used that. Overall I still think the basic engine capabilities of Cryengine 2 are a bit beyond, but the editor may be another story. Built-in assets aside - as I don't think that's much of a valid *criticism* of an engine - it at least appears that the editor for Cryengine 2 will be very capable and easy to use. But interiors do not seem to be its strength. Then again neither do they seem to be Rage's strength where, from what I can see, most such modeling is done externally. Cryengine 2 at least has the modular system going for it. But again it all really remains to be seen. Fortunately we ought to know a lot more in a few short months...

In any case going back to the original subject, I still think Cryengine 2 shows a much better idea of what a relevant UI *to TG users* might be in the future. It includes fairly sophisticated terrain editing (volumetric, with overhangs and caves), complex texturing including tiling and procedurals, atmospherics, clouds, sophisticated vegetation/populations, etc.

- Oshyan

[FrankB]

Well, it's a bit OT, but I'm really sorry that 3D engines such as crytek's are only used in shooter games.
I am fascinated by the graphical gaming experience in those 3D shooters, but I decided not to play them anymore due to the violence involved. (I simply can't afford to sacrifice my credibility in front of my kids, by leading by a bad example - firing frantically at "people" while telling them this is a bad thing to do).

I recently read, that in germany, no shooter game was among the top ten games with regards to copies sold. If that's true, I'm wondering why game makers can't think of more non-violent game concepts, using their awesome 3D technologies. A shame, really.

Cheers,
Frank

[rcallicotte]

FrankB,

Good point.  Imagination would make all the difference.

[Matt]

At this year's Siggraph I heard stories of one visual effects company putting the Cryengine (presumably Cryengine 2) to the test in a non-realtime pipeline. Not necessarily for final film-quality output, but the potential for rapid prototyping of environments and rendering them at near photorealistic quality is very impressive.

Re. megatexturing, while that technology on its own may not be enough to form the basis of a next-generation editor/engine, being ahead of the curve in one fundamental area could be a good thing when Id are finally in a position to combine it with all the other technology which which is seen in competing editors/engines.

Matt

[ProjectX]

Well, in the end all you can say for certain is that UE3 has good tools, as you've apparently used that. Overall I still think the basic engine capabilities of Cryengine 2 are a bit beyond, but the editor may be another story. Built-in assets aside - as I don't think that's much of a valid *criticism* of an engine - it at least appears that the editor for Cryengine 2 will be very capable and easy to use. But interiors do not seem to be its strength. Then again neither do they seem to be Rage's strength where, from what I can see, most such modeling is done externally. Cryengine 2 at least has the modular system going for it. But again it all really remains to be seen. Fortunately we ought to know a lot more in a few short months...

In any case going back to the original subject, I still think Cryengine 2 shows a much better idea of what a relevant UI *to TG users* might be in the future. It includes fairly sophisticated terrain editing (volumetric, with overhangs and caves), complex texturing including tiling and procedurals, atmospherics, clouds, sophisticated vegetation/populations, etc.

- Oshyan

Yeah you make a good point there, there's no real way of knowing until all three games hit the shelves, although they might release sandbox 2 (is that what it's called?) early to the modders like they did last time, and you can already buy and download Unreal Ed 4.0, so a decent editor comparison for those too might come sooner than we think. I desperately hope Crytek have got their engine together at last, but history makes me doubt it.