Lost Coast is out

gauss

Fair warning, it is quite short. I wouldn't so much call it a level as much as about half a level with some really interesting tech bits, definitely worth downloading for the commentary!

That's right, commentary. Which Butcher Bay and I think a few others have incorporated, it's quite a nice feature, even demonstrating in the renderer specifically what's happening. It's mostly talking about HDR, of course, and the programming changes they've made to accomodate it, but there are also commentary bits on their level design for this map. And while it is short, it really rather nicely espouses what they're about... I really hope they continue to make commentaries for their game content and discuss design choices, it's really a great feature. Go ahead and play through the map first before using the commentary, you wouldn't want to spoil the very minor puzzle and whatnot.

Highly recommended download for people in the biz. I'm sure regular gamers will enjoy it too, but industry folks will especially enjoy the shop talk they've graciously included

Striff

I agree, the commentary was absoluty fantastic! Would like to see it in more Source games! How about that mosque? /drool.

oXYnary

Break out the windows facing the sun.. That really shows HDRL

adam

I AM DRUNK AS FUCK
RICHARD PANGBORN IS A DIRTY FUCKER

gauss

Mosque? That's a Byzantine Catholic church (Viktor Antonov even mentions that it's a Byzantine church). Islam does not allow for any sort of representative depictions of God, nor is there any altar used... nor would a mosque be cruciform in layout. I realize that there are many these days who would not willingly step inside a church or mosque, but basic identifications should still be possible eh?

As Antonov points out on the commentary, the church does make for an ideal showoff for HDR!

Brome: don't post drunk.

adam

SOZ JACK

aesir

Yea, this was a really fun tech demo. I was way more impressed with the HDR than I thought I would be. It added a lot to the atmosphere of the level, especially for parts like when youre shooting people above you on the cliff with the bright sky in your eyes. Defintely made it feel much more real.

I look forward to more games with this lighting.

Daz

Well, I'm a bit . Maybe I'd misunderstood, but this has been an awful long time coming and I was under the impression this was new content. Probably my mistake.
'tis very very pretty though and the commentary stuff was most interesting. The water is easily the most convincing I've ever seen and the addition of HDR is really something. Definitely took its toll on my system though. The fisherman is great, he looks substantially more detailed than HL2 characters, and looks to be much more cleanly made. Woulda been nice to see him self shadow though Still, the beginning there with the boats, reflective wet rocks, stunning water, amazing view and HDR, it has to be arguably about the most photoreal of any scene in a game that I can think of. Fantastic stuff.

gauss

agreed, daz.. i enjoyed it greatly but it would have been nice if they'd have given some indication as to the brevity of the "level". it's about a teaser length, really. they could have called it a tech demo or a teaser... even though the length of a "level" these days is tremendously variable, you've got to assume at least 30 minutes or more from start to finish, right?

and i've noticed that you're quite the fan of self-shadowing

_Shimmer

could someone post some screens of the level? I dont own HL2 and not want to look on the promo pics all the time.

skankerzero

Looked very nice.

I agree with Daz about self shadowing. It adds a nice dimension.

Also, just casting shadows to begin with would be nice too. The characters still didn't cast shadows on the envionment.

KDR_11k

So I take it it's not worth deinstalling 5GBs to make room for HL2?

Mark Dygert

I'll let you know how it goes, after I finish reinstalling HL2, patching steam, patching HL2, downloading the lost coast, patching lost coast, patching steam, patching steam again, and finally, giving up and going to bed.

Daz

Shimmer:

oXYnary

Whats really cool if you look close at the water there is a layer of oilish film

gauss

looks like Daz is about to get it from that headcrab in the last shot

eXpendabLe

Is it me, or did anyone else at E3 basically see this already? I mean, It was being shown off at the "Games for Windows booth" and being as short as it is.. I cant imagine it took them this long to release it. With that said, it was still nice commentary and a fun little HL2 flashback. I too think the church was the best part of the level.

Fuse

i've gotta say, that looks spectacular

gauss

exp: i agree, it certainly doesn't seem like it should have taken them this long, at least from the level design standpoint. but then it's a question of how many people were actively working on it at any given time. likely, most of the company is focused on Aftermath, the commercial add-on follup to HL2, with only a few level design guys working on Lost Coast to whet peoples' appetites for Aftermath.

Also, iirc with the release of Lost Coast i think the HDR stuff it shows off (previewed somewhat in DOD:S) is now available to the community to use in their own levels. could be wrong though.

Mark Dygert

I offically need new pants, and it was well worth the reinstall. But it was too short damn it! I'll just have to play thru HL2 again to get my fix.

adam

The commentary alone is worth the download - and I'd love to see *all* game companies do this with their titles. I especially like how the commentary takes over the game to help visualize what they're talking about.

Good show.

Justin Meisse

Doesn't Day of Defeat use some of these HDR lighting tricks?
It was pretty cool except I had to run it at 800x600

Here's something fun to do, get one of the canoes at the beginning, get in it and then shoot the front with the gravity gun while running forward, instead speed boat! Watch out for the killer eels though.

Jeff Parrott

I really liked this. Wish it was longer though. The commentary thing is great. I hope more developers really start doing that.

oXYnary

Dio

The tone adjustment that simulates the human eye, the volumetrics, the real-time baking of scenes for refraction mapping, and the blow-out effects are not just graphic enhancements but also all new gameplay elements. Six months from now I dont see many games being taken seriously without having these elements. Friggin awesome.
They should have labeled this a tech demo or at least a mini-level. Given the shortness at least they misled you into thinking you had completed it before you actually had.
I found a few obvious bad texture edges, such as the boulders at the start.
I hope they feel the commentary was apprceiated and worth doing again.

ElysiumGX

Holy cow. That was amazing! It was short, and intentional, so I hope they plan to release more content with this new tech, because it is awesome. Loved the commentary. Rock on Valve!

Thing to mention. The installer said I didn't meet requirements, but it was fine. Also mentioned that my drivers were out of date, which is incorrect also. I love Omega. :P

Major Clod

It looked great, but I still wish Valve would incorporate some better shadows! I'm not asking for Doom 3, but hell the characters never cast shadows on meshes, just the level geometry itself. Check out the fisherman when he's on the small pier at the start, no shadows.

I know the HDR looks awesome and all, but I really would like them to work on improving shadows a bit too.

Indoors especially, Shadows are always facing one direction. Hell, I remember Kingpin had shadows that oriented themselves based on the closest lightsource, that'd be enough for me.