Here's a taste of what graphics will be like with some upcoming titles.
Nivida just released a human head tech demo...
Basically their tech demos are used to showcase their hardware capabilities, demonstrating what computer graphics is capable of with current graphics hardware. Usually these are very impressive, but none have really blown me away. Except for this one:
http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_humanhead_videos.html
This is a video captured from a real-time environment created by Nvidia, and details the (not-so-distant) future of gaming graphics. Basically, today's computer hardware is capable of producing this level of quality in a real-time environment. Now all we have to do is wait for it to be adopted by game engines.
Discuss!
-Cub. =o)
Nivida just released a human head tech demo...
Basically their tech demos are used to showcase their hardware capabilities, demonstrating what computer graphics is capable of with current graphics hardware. Usually these are very impressive, but none have really blown me away. Except for this one:
http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_humanhead_videos.html
This is a video captured from a real-time environment created by Nvidia, and details the (not-so-distant) future of gaming graphics. Basically, today's computer hardware is capable of producing this level of quality in a real-time environment. Now all we have to do is wait for it to be adopted by game engines.
Discuss!
-Cub. =o)
Gaming? How about real-time generative film making? Geese that's spectacular none-the-less. Soon we can start making Bond movies with the young Connery once again 
I am usually impressed by the nvidia graphics - but show me a clip with at least ten characters fully dressed and animated with this realism, and then I'll really be ready to discuss
Thanks for the 'heads-up' though
Bests, Rockefeller
I am usually impressed by the nvidia graphics - but show me a clip with at least ten characters fully dressed and animated with this realism, and then I'll really be ready to discuss
Thanks for the 'heads-up' though
Bests, Rockefeller
"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do"
"ERROR: Error Code Does Not Indicate An Error"
"ERROR: Error Code Does Not Indicate An Error"
Hey if they were able to bring Hitler back to life in that documentary that was made a few years ago I don't see why not. And now that we've got voice altering technology you could pretty much get anyone to do the voice acting and sound exactly like him... Of course there is the ethics of the whole thing..
Yeah, I'm still waiting for games with the level of realism that nVidia demos of three years back showed. There's a lot more horse power required for a running game than just rendering a few models, unfortunately. Furthermore, game developers will always aim at the mid-high end and build in scalability for older hardware, so they're never gonna go full out with he lastest technology. 
Thats so kool to look at.
It so reminds me of the early days of color monitors when u would get a IBM computer with all the trimmings and a 256 color display whoohoo u got a nice demo disk schowing of all the nice grafix it could produce. Sadly the only program able to show u those nice features was the demo disk itself for the rest of the programs took years to start using fancy colors.
It so reminds me of the early days of color monitors when u would get a IBM computer with all the trimmings and a 256 color display whoohoo u got a nice demo disk schowing of all the nice grafix it could produce. Sadly the only program able to show u those nice features was the demo disk itself for the rest of the programs took years to start using fancy colors.
Impressive though the direction is, there is 1 thing I miss about 1990's gaming and that is the primary commitment to gameplay. I know this may be an unpopular thing to say, but i've never been a bigger fan of PC gaming than the 1990's. The 21st century has done some very cool things which will burn an image in my mind forever, but it all began in the 1990's for me.
The market seems to simply want bigger, bolder, better graphics to make use of their hardware. I kind of feel the finer details of games including story, character and dialogue have gone missing amongst all of that. Whatever happened to the adventure elements of the Indiana Jones games such as dialogue scenes and multi-path options? I'm talking about games like Tex Murphy and other interactive adventures which put the player both in the game and on the movie set. I'm talking about immersive titles such as The Last Expess or Blade Runner where the outcomes and story really made the player think about the long term effects of their decisions. I also speak of the characters such as George Stobbart and Nico from Broken Sword 1 and 2 (the last two have been a crime against the series).
I could go on and on and on, but I won't for two reasons. One, you've most likely sat through enough AND two, you've all probably discussed this at length and think it all anyway making what I have to say nothing new.
*sigh* I know ,i'll get off my soap-box. I'm 22 going on 43. I'm convinced, i'm already PC's grumpy old man.
The market seems to simply want bigger, bolder, better graphics to make use of their hardware. I kind of feel the finer details of games including story, character and dialogue have gone missing amongst all of that. Whatever happened to the adventure elements of the Indiana Jones games such as dialogue scenes and multi-path options? I'm talking about games like Tex Murphy and other interactive adventures which put the player both in the game and on the movie set. I'm talking about immersive titles such as The Last Expess or Blade Runner where the outcomes and story really made the player think about the long term effects of their decisions. I also speak of the characters such as George Stobbart and Nico from Broken Sword 1 and 2 (the last two have been a crime against the series).
I could go on and on and on, but I won't for two reasons. One, you've most likely sat through enough AND two, you've all probably discussed this at length and think it all anyway making what I have to say nothing new.
*sigh* I know ,i'll get off my soap-box. I'm 22 going on 43. I'm convinced, i'm already PC's grumpy old man.
I agree with most of the comments here.
The texture and lighting is very impressive. But the head in the demo is essentially a dead head. That, however, is somewhat irrelevant.
Animation of the head and any subtlties of the surface contours is mostly a function of the 3D geometry animation, and not the texture/lighting. The demo shows that they can do the texture and lighting. Animation of the geometry is a separate issue.
I wonder about the eyes. In the demo they were conspicuously closed. Maybe lifelike eyes are still a problem. Don't know.
Even if it took too much horsepower to render animated heads in real time, developers could still use the techniques to make cut scenes with computer generated actors instead of live actors. Once they're made into a clip, they will run on anything.
The texture and lighting is very impressive. But the head in the demo is essentially a dead head. That, however, is somewhat irrelevant.
Animation of the head and any subtlties of the surface contours is mostly a function of the 3D geometry animation, and not the texture/lighting. The demo shows that they can do the texture and lighting. Animation of the geometry is a separate issue.
I wonder about the eyes. In the demo they were conspicuously closed. Maybe lifelike eyes are still a problem. Don't know.
Even if it took too much horsepower to render animated heads in real time, developers could still use the techniques to make cut scenes with computer generated actors instead of live actors. Once they're made into a clip, they will run on anything.
the great thing about the 90s games is how playable they still are today. i really liked the curse of monkey island - cartoon graphics will never go out of date so the game can still be played today without people thinking that the graphics are dated.
but saying that, those graphics were spooky. i was waiting for him to open his eyes
but saying that, those graphics were spooky. i was waiting for him to open his eyes
Demonlawyer wrote:the great thing about the 90s games is how playable they still are today. i really liked the curse of monkey island - cartoon graphics will never go out of date so the game can still be played today without people thinking that the graphics are dated.
Exactly! They're just as timeless as The Simpsons or Loony Tunes cartoons, they never date. Remember Day of the Tentacle? It's just gold. Lucasarts knew everything there was to gaming back then, they had the perfect approach.
Monkey Island is a really good example too. That's not to say i'm not open to new things, but when they dispense totally with the older elements, I tend to be disappointed. Games like Grim Fandango are a perfect example of how old style gaming can mesh with cutting edge technology. Even Half Life, while that's an FPS, there's no reason why an adventure game couldn't be build out of that FPS engine by removing the guns and retaining the graphics and roaming ability of the player.
Yeah I can't understand that either I mean I've seen RPGs and RTSs using things like Unreal so I don't see why it isn't possible.
But then they are really expensive to use so It'd be cheaper to build your own I bet and just get Nvidia to supply the uber graphics APIs.
That'd be nice.
And yeah DOTT was by far the most revolutionary game that SCUMM produced. It was the only game at its time to feature real-time cartoon (actual cartoon I might add) animation. Of course this was eventually redundant when games like Wing Commander 3 and UAKM came out. (around about the same time too) I've still got a demo disc with both UAKM and WingCommander 3 on it as New Release. (Wing Commander 3 has a huge section on the Making of WC3.. pitty UAKM didn't have this as it would have been cool seeing how they made everything.)
On the subject of uber realistic graphics. Say goodbye to actors for good now!
No more aging flesh. What an age to be alive lol.
But then they are really expensive to use so It'd be cheaper to build your own I bet and just get Nvidia to supply the uber graphics APIs.
That'd be nice.
And yeah DOTT was by far the most revolutionary game that SCUMM produced. It was the only game at its time to feature real-time cartoon (actual cartoon I might add) animation. Of course this was eventually redundant when games like Wing Commander 3 and UAKM came out. (around about the same time too) I've still got a demo disc with both UAKM and WingCommander 3 on it as New Release. (Wing Commander 3 has a huge section on the Making of WC3.. pitty UAKM didn't have this as it would have been cool seeing how they made everything.)
On the subject of uber realistic graphics. Say goodbye to actors for good now!
No more aging flesh. What an age to be alive lol.I don't mind CGI movies, I think in some games they work fantastically well. For instance, i've never been a fan of Final Fantasy, but the cinematics are just mind blowing and quite honestly a worthy replacement for FMV in games.
Don't get me wrong, i love where visual technology is headed, it's an amazing time to be playing games for that. But please, don't dispense with the ingrediants that made the games timeless too.
Don't get me wrong, i love where visual technology is headed, it's an amazing time to be playing games for that. But please, don't dispense with the ingrediants that made the games timeless too.
