Unreal 3 engine videos ( New content )

pogonip · Mar 2005

So,there is some stuff from the old Unreal 3.0 tech demo but there is also some new footage , especially in video 4 when the car drives through the city . Oh my f-ing christ when the camera pulls up over the buildings it looks like a Squaresoft final fantasy cinematic shot...only f-ing real time !!!

truly amazing like when I first seen the footage from Doom 3 and almost shit myself

http://www.1up.com/do/download?cId=3138759

edit* do any of you EPIC guys know if there will be a high res CLEAR version of this tech demo from GDC ??

johnwoo · Mar 2005

Wow!!

....what can I say...absolutely...totally...f'ckin...impressive...especially the 4th video demo....the detail in the environments, the whole scope of the level...I think I broke my jaw after it hit the desk...hats off to Epic...stunning engine capabilities....good find pogonip btw...

Kevin Johnstone · Mar 2005

According to http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/03/09/news_6120126.html there will not be video. Which is a shame as you'd go nuts for the ambush scene first talked about above. Our ingame quality is higher than most rendered cinematics these days.

I expect the ambush scene will turn up soon on shakycam though so grab it when you can.

ElysiumGX · Mar 2005

Wow. Just wow.

adam · Mar 2005

DUBYA
OH
DUBYA

WOW.

Video 4 was just so amazing, I can't describe it. I absolutely cannot WAIT to see games that utilize this engine.

Half-Life 2 ain't got shit on video 4.
Seriously fucking impressed here.

Sett · Mar 2005

I love the cloud shadows drifting over the roofs in the last one.

I hate to keep beating this drum but- what is being done about the game play? Ok a million polys, physics, shaders,dynamic lighting but what about the game play? You play Call of duty where you are so tight with your pawn. Then you play an Unreal engine game and it feels that you are controlling a young adult behaving most inappropriately . I know that I'm not alone in this opinion. Please, please, please tell me that some work is being done in this area.

NoSeRider · Mar 2005

Was Demo 2 an in game Particle/Physics system?

Not certain if was in game or not? If these are in game physics and particle systems they seem more advanced then HL2.

Kevin Johnstone · Mar 2005

I'm telling you nothing! Much more fun to watch you blow a gasket heh

Nose: everything was ingame

NoSeRider · Mar 2005

I've noted alot of companies are showing interest in Zbrush modelers.

Since alot of companies use the Unreal Engine, I'd imagine this will increase the Zbrush demand in your portfolio.

Kevin Johnstone · Mar 2005

Sett:On reflection I've considered that you might have a serious , mature and balanced point you wish to make about the gameplay, rather than just posturing rhetoric on a messageboard.

If you do want to communicate ideas and opinions about how the Unreal gameplay is weak and could be improved constructively, then email CliffyB and Steve Polge as they are the designers at Epic and as such they are the people that have the power to change things.

I'd probably rephrase the retarded child description if you want a response from them though

ElysiumGX · Mar 2005

[ QUOTE ]
I know that I'm not alone in this opinion.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're not. But realize that these companies are showing what is possible with new high end game technology. Any arguement about gameplay is a losing battle...I know. In the end it's the same FPS from 8 years ago, with a new shiny coat of paint. It's what drives the video hardware market. And it is impressive. BUT...it's the companies that licenses the engine, and the mod communities that have the possibility of turning it into something creative. Realism alone won't make a game fun, because...well, reality isn't fun.

oXYnary · Mar 2005

I liked unreal game play! (grabs rattle, and sucks thumb)

KDR_11k · Mar 2005

That Kismet stuff sounds like it would benefit gameplay.

gauss · Mar 2005

people, we are very fortunate to have professionals who continue to enrich our community. if Ror or anyone else at Epic wants a liberal dose of whining, they've got their own official messageboards providing more than ample supply.

Sett, Elysium, keep it to yourselves or follow Ror's suggestion. the videos and this thread are about demonstrations of graphics of the Unreal 3 engine, it's not about gameplay. i don't want to see any more posts on the subject in this thread or deletions will occur.

ScoobyDoofus · Mar 2005

I'd really like to get my hands on that real-time shader editor. That looks cool. The Nvidia CG toolkit was just too techy & dry for me to want to get into.
Shader programming is not over my head, just not compelling enough to invest free time into.

Slayerjerman · Mar 2005

Meh, all hype. Im no longer impressed until i see the shit first hand on my own machine. Not some jacked-up mega server. If it looks good and runs good at home, and the game play is decent, then i'll be impressed.

Though I do give mad props to them for having the ability to create such beauty. Im just jealous

Kevin Johnstone · Mar 2005

Guass: I appreciate the words but honestly, its their right to whine and posture and I accept that. Truth be known, I personally am not interested in 99% of FPS games because I find them a bit stale and derivative; if I had my way I would shake things up plenty.

However, I am mature enough to have rationalised that despite my own preferences, there are many thousands of people who love FPS just how they are and we have the sales figures here to back up that notion.These people do NOT want to see our franchise radically altered.

In the same way, I love Soul Calibur and Diablo and when anticipating the next iteration of the franchise, I hope they don't alter it too much, I just want more content.
I don't want SC 3, I want SC1.3, I love it as it is and only want cosmetic changes and upgrades to the established features and feel of the game.

These are the rules that apply to all franchises, whether they are movies, games or music, if we like it, we want more of the same, if we don't like it, we try a different franchise

I don't mean this as a big cup of STFU, I sympathize with those that want for change, but when the sales figures prove that something is not broken, companies would be shortsited and ignorant to decide to give things a complete overhaul.

And they would be gambling with millions of dollars.

I hope this makes the situation clear for people, these ARE simply the facts of life when it comes to making commercial products.

iMag · Mar 2005

On a slight side note (unreal engine 3 related news)

http://www.xsibase.com/news.php?detail=1305

Collaboration between Softimage and Epic

oXYnary · Mar 2005

Can I ask. Was that a pre "run through"? I have heard of demo's *cough*HL2/Doom3/Halo2*cough* before doing this. In fact I heard directly from developers mouths that this is sometimes used earlier in a engine or games development when showing off.

I mean that it wont change my mind that the tech is good (looks like Myst realtime). But It seemed too "presetup" to be a live realtime. It's nothing to be shamed about. Plenty of companies do it. I just wish they would be up front about it.

adam · Mar 2005

If you look close enough at the video's you'll see a guy sitting at a computer in the bottom left of your screen. I'm assuming he's the one doing the moving around and interaction with the engine.

pogonip · Mar 2005

Man why do people always got to bring up gameplay . I hoped more people who get a little inspired seeing next gen stuff but all people do is bitch .

Slayerman wtf are you talking about ?? Not impressed ?? Why are you in games again .... They said it was running real time . They are selling the engine to an assload of developers including Microsoft studios and Bioware so I really doubt they are using a " jacked up mega sever " ..probebly more like whatever the top end card is right now . Like a Radeon x850 could probebly run the game and by the time the game is coming out that card will be affordable

ElysiumGX · Mar 2005

[ QUOTE ]
Collaboration between Softimage and Epic

[/ QUOTE ]

YES!!! WOOOOOOO!

Just to add clarity to my previous post, there is a difference between an engine and a game. There is no information of a game being developed on the Unreal3 engine that we know of, other than the one epic obviously has up there sleeves in order to show off this engine...and the MMORPG that we're hearing about. I for one have no complaints so far as to what this Engine is capable of.

MacD · Mar 2005

Just don't forget that gfx and an engine like this /can/ actually improve the gameplay experience! Just imagine what you can now do: Thief-like games, or NWN where you can actually climb up a building and see the entire city spread before you: shoot a rope down to the building a couple of blocks down, and rappel into your target, or maybe hop into a microlite and fly onto a rooftop....tech like this makes gameplay like that possible. And you can bet your arse that some developer, somewhere, will utilise the tech to do something kickass like that

MoP · Mar 2005

It's making me salivate even more than I did at the last video. Awesome technology and artwork combined for a stunning overall effect.
I can't wait to play around with this sort of stuff myself!

Slayerjerman · Mar 2005

Dude, Unreal3 looks no different than HL2 to me. And that shitty projection screen in the video hardly did justice to the detail the game probally has.

And you can bet your ass they are running that shit on some serious hardware to make it look good. Of course they are, they dont want their demo studdering so they probally got a quad proc machine with some super highend video card(s). Wouldnt be surprised if they were running dual SLI nvidia cards in that box.

What I am saying that machine isnt your run-of-the-mill PC.

Daz · Mar 2005

I'm assuming that you're kidding or trying to troll, but If you think that the technology and the Art on show in there is on a par with HL2, you'd better book yourself some time with an eye doctor.

Bloodybuggeryhell is all I can say after looking at that stuff. I envy you guys playing with that tech Ror.

TomDunne · Mar 2005

[ QUOTE ]
Dude, Unreal3 looks no different than HL2 to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Either this is deliberately exaggerated hyperbole or you watched this videos with your eyes closed. Seriously, if you can't see the ways in which this work surpasses HL2, you've got to have the high definition video game content equivalent of color-blindness.

*edit*

Dammit, Daz played the faulty eyeball card before I got mine posted.

Kevin Johnstone · Mar 2005

Daz: I reckon you'd take to our tech like a duck to water, you do have more hi poly experience than myself for instance; but aye, it's a lot of fun, cinematic quality ingame assets all the way

Redlemons · Mar 2005

[ QUOTE ]
Dude, Unreal3 looks no different than HL2 to me. And that shitty projection screen in the video hardly did justice to the detail the game probally has.

And you can bet your ass they are running that shit on some serious hardware to make it look good. Of course they are, they dont want their demo studdering so they probally got a quad proc machine with some super highend video card(s). Wouldnt be surprised if they were running dual SLI nvidia cards in that box.

What I am saying that machine isnt your run-of-the-mill PC.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd agree with you if they were releasing it tomorrow, gameplay and all, and expecting it to run like that on our PCs. But isn't the point that this is the next generation engine, the stuff we'll play on the next generation video cards?

Just as with any other engine demo in the past ten years, they show this to us on what is now a gazillion-dollar computer system, but by the time there are games utilizing it, and it's available on the shelves, the hardware able to run it will be just within our price range, or perhaps just out of it.

Are they all new videos? I'm sure I've seen a couple of them before. The vehicle/city one was new to me and yes, words can't describe how awesome it looks. As far as gameplay is concerned, I don't see how that's relevent. The guys making the engine aren't too fussed about making a game out of it right now, what I'm sure they're doing is setting it up so that others can make any sort of game they want.

TomDunne · Mar 2005

Hey, ror - I don't mean to get into specifics, but is this stuff actually being run on some prototype hardware that consumers don't have yet? I generally hear that sort of claim made when some incredibly advanced graphics demo is making the rounds, but at the same time I've never actually heard of any artist I know developing on hardware better than my desktop system. I'm just curious as to whether hardware manufacturers actually give unreleased next-gen hardware to studios to develop their tech. It wouldn't shock me if this were so, what with the Nvidia and ATi logos appearing before various games, but maybe you can confirm that

Slayerjerman · Mar 2005

Vermillion/Daz. Its obvious your a fan boy of the tech. How about instead critising my "eyesight", pay attention that there is already tech out RIGHT now that is as good as what was being demo'd. -Atleast visually

I seriously doubt if you had the EXACT same demo level in U3 engine and HL2 engine or even D3 engine that there would be too much a difference. Espeically on that overpowered machine they were running it on.

And you know what, your obviously too star struck by "shiney new tech" to even understand what OXY said about that looking "too pre-setup to be realtime". Its no secret game companies over hype their product by making it look better/run better than it really does or ever will.

So before you start talking out your ass again about "my eyesight" why dont you instead keep that shit to yourself and let the rest of us have our opinions.

*edit*
For the record that video looked like shit. Not the demo, I am talking about the video that was shot off the projector displaying the demo.

I already said the demo was pretty good looking.

Kevin Johnstone · Mar 2005

Verm:Theres a couple of people in the office with prototypes but generally we are using the regular Nvidia cards with 256mb on em and the game runs ok.

It aint as fast as it needs to be yet, but it never is at this stage. I think I'm on a 2.8 GHz cpu with 2gb ram, this is more for max and zbrush than running the game or the editor.

I think that last time around we were closer to needing a powerful machine to demo, but we're not really that reliant on this now.

I don't make any more money by lying to you!

Slayer: heh, you don't know what you are talking about.
I do, so I can say without fear that you are very wrong, theres no technology out there that can equal UE3's visuals or ease of use atm.

But if you want to talk like you know something, go ahead; I own HL2, Doom3 and I work with UE3 every day so I can make an educated comparison.

What Valve and Id accomplished with their technologies were each, respectively very good games and incredible visuals, but their engines cannot come near to UE3 yet, nothing can just yet, thats why people who have seen the tech in person are so excited.

Of course, theres no reason to expect you will beleive this. Recently on the game illuminati board there was a thread damning and mocking Epic and stating that they could not possibly get these visuals running on a standard PC.

It was a very similar thread to one that ran years ago when the last big iteration of the UE2 technology was in production.

I expect the same opinions will be expressed when UE4 is in production. Epic always makes incredible technology, they don't constantly reinvent the gameplay wheel, but they always deliver fantastic technology despite people being sure it can't do it without trickery.

Malekyth · Mar 2005

hehe, Slayer, how can you tell someone with an opinion about your opinion to shut up on the basis of opinions being sacred and inviolate? :P

I'm way too old and jaded and cynical and anti-fanboy to be blinded by patriotism about any company's tech ... but the new Unreal stuff blows its closest competitors away. I can't claim to have seen everything available right now, but at least when it comes to the tech I've seen first-hand, the obvious triad of UE3 vs. D3 vs. HL2, Unreal really is leading the pack.

pogonip · Mar 2005

ROR : I can't wait to see what ID software is going to do with there New engine ( expanded doom engine ? ) Just from what Carmack said in his keynote last year at Quakecon I think maybe you guys will be in for some serious competition in the visual dept . Though I think your tools will blow everyone away for a long time .

You know though as advanced as the physics system looks something is just not right . The weight of objects just does not seem right to me . However it's the closest I have ever seen . Do you know if the engine will be on display at E3 ( which I plan to attend ) ..if so do you know if it will be behind closed doors like everything else worth seeing

Sett · Mar 2005

[ QUOTE ]
Sett, Elysium, keep it to yourselves or follow Ror's suggestion. the videos and this thread are about demonstrations of graphics of the Unreal 3 engine, it's not about gameplay. i don't want to see any more posts on the subject in this thread or deletions will occur.

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe you are way out of line with this comment.

No rules were broken, threads offen go off on differnet tangents. I'm a hobbiest, I've spent allot of time & money learning the Unreal engine. This matters to me.

Perhaps my post was too eary in the thread.

TomDunne · Mar 2005

Thanks, ror. I thought that was more likely than Nvidia giving the entire Epic staff supar-sekret black box hardware to develop on. My rig is essentially the same as yours, except with an AMD64 cpu, and I can't imagine the average developer blowing budget on even more pwoerful equipment

[ QUOTE ]
ROR : I can't wait to see what ID software is going to do with there New engine ( expanded doom engine ? )

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, I had a premonition about this not long ago - a psychic glimpse into the future of gaming! id's next project will be made of dark, shadowy corridors that shift between gothic and space-age architecture, deftly rendered with subtle earth tones. The enemies will be hybridized critters, a combination of demonic horror elements and sci-fi technology. The player character will be a stylized man of mystery, a futuristic soldier crafted with cutting edge technology whom we'll know nothing about. It'll be fantastic, we'll have never seen anything like it!

Well, nothing like it except for every single game that id has made in the last 15 years.

Mishra · Mar 2005

looks good but i wont be seeing it that good, i'll be seeing it on doom 3 quality or thereabouts.

Kevin Johnstone · Mar 2005

Pogo: Aye, I fully expect id to come out with another killer engine, thats always been the pattern before. I always enjoy the spectacle of 'what next'.

Verm: Nice to read that someone is using common sense. Theres 512mb cards around and on their way for general use, but we're not that special that we've all got em

dammit...

skankerzero · Mar 2005

To tell you the truth, you can have all the tech in the world, and still have crappy art. When I look at that demo, I see great art foremost. The UE3 tech isn't really new, the artists are just using it extremely well. It's a bit sad to think that some startup companies think that just by buying an engine like this, it will make their game look better. Kinda like how Bloodlines looked compared to HL2.

Great demo though. The city scape looks great. Now, if only we can see a populated city, and not just detailed buildings. ;-)

Vermeulen · Mar 2005

I am really not impressed by the tech shown, its the art that is amazing. IMO, and what I have seen of the internet graphics community, this is not that impressive.

The physics have been done, the lighting of course has been done (i do not just mean the realtime shadows), and the detail in the models is not a huge leap. It has many of the same features as many of the currently indevelopment engines, and it really has nothing special, the difference about it is that it is complete and has good tools.

The art, and the style of it, is just amazing. It is more impressive than a most prerendered 3d movies.

"nothing like it except for every single game that id has made in the last 15 years." << they spent 5 years making doom3, and thats all you described. ID Software has a unfair rep as having no story, but you have to remember Quake2 had a lot of story for its time and Doom3 is ID's only single player game made after Half Life1.

Slayerjerman · Mar 2005

Ror: "Recently on the game illuminati board there was a thread damning and mocking Epic and stating that they could not possibly get these visuals running on a standard PC."

Thats what ive been saying. No doubt UE3 is amazing, ect..
I know for a fact over at GPG we have some incredible looking stuff, but you'd be surpirsed whats "faked" everyday.

So I am sorry if I am skeptical of your or Epic's claims its the "best game engine ever". I know hype when I see it.

Oh and thanks for pointing out UE3 is running on hardware the "standard consumer" does not yet have. Thats another point I was trying to make is that Devs always have better than current market hardware, so anyone saying "omg look how well it performs" should really take in consideration this fact. Sure you dont "ALL" run the top end stuff, but I'd bet a pretty penny that demo was running on a pretty hot box.

I really liked what Vermulean said.
Looks pretty, keep up the good work.

JKim3 · Mar 2005

AFAIK, we don't know when a game using this engine will come out, or what hardware the "standard consumer" will have when one does come out.

I don't think you mentioned this, but did you do any of the assets we see there, Ror? If so, can you point them out?

skankerzero · Mar 2005

Well, of course the object of a demo is to show what's included with the engine so you can sell it. It's also smart to plan ahead for hardware that will be out when the game comes out.

The beauty of this engine is that it's all there for you in a nice package. All you need to do is buy it and have art to back you up.

ElysiumGX · Mar 2005

[ QUOTE ]
Oh and thanks for pointing out UE3 is running on hardware the "standard consumer" does not yet have.

[/ QUOTE ]

like i said...

[ QUOTE ]
It's what drives the video hardware market.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sure my current hardware could run it, and there are always options to turn some effect down a notch. And the engine is still a year away, which leaves plenty of time for a hardware price drop. I should also point out, the "standard" consumer doesn't know what a video card is, but a "gamer" will upgrade.

DH_ · Mar 2005

ror are you able to say how long you guys are spending per character, on the production aspect. is it taking a month to do the highpoly/lowpoly/texturing for the average humanoid character?

James Edwards · Mar 2005

I'm definitely interested in the new tools. It really sounds like more and more control is being put directly into the artists hands and to me that is what is most impressive here. The vids looked great all around. I am jealous that Unreal engine licensees will be working with this tech.

TomDunne · Mar 2005

[ QUOTE ]
"nothing like it except for every single game that id has made in the last 15 years." << they spent 5 years making doom3, and thats all you described. ID Software has a unfair rep as having no story, but you have to remember Quake2 had a lot of story for its time and Doom3 is ID's only single player game made after Half Life1.

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't say one word about story, it's not relevant to how id's games look.

I was making a joke, and thus the smiley, but if you want to disagree with me, that's cool. Illustrate your points, though. Look at Doom1-3 and Quake1-3. Which one didn't have a combination of earthen/medieval and futuristic level design? Which one didn't include freaky demon/alien and technology hybrids among its character designs? Which one didn't have a playable model of some sci-fi armored space marine?

Toomas · Mar 2005

I wish Blizzard would buy U3 engine and make Diablo 3 with it

Daz · Mar 2005

[ QUOTE ]
Vermillion/Daz. Its obvious your a fan boy of the tech.

[/ QUOTE ]

Annoying.

I have never bought an Unreal game in my life nor any product made by Epic. So I'm a fanboy huh?

I was commenting on what I saw, and comparing it to what I know and understand about the technology behind the industry that I have worked in for a third of my life.

I take it back sorry. There is nothing wrong with your eyesight. If you can't see from watching these videos ( crappy quality or no ) what puts this FAR ahead of Half Life 2 in terms of technology and Art content, I can't convince you otherwise. Nor do I want or care to.

PaK · Mar 2005

Jerry you're just displaying your ignorance for everyone to see mate.

There is no way HL2 even comes close to doom3 tech let alone Unreal3. I have seen this tech up close and personal, and even had a chance to play with it a bit. It's ever bit as good as it seems, and it was running on a high spec machine that is commercially availiable (as Ror pointed out)

I saw this in the summertime too....so I'm sure the tech is better and the machines always onky get faster.

Unreal 3 can do displacement which no mainstream engine has even announced other than Epic's as far as i'm aware.

So yeah, wrong on all counts. Except the personal opinion parts ofcourse

-R

Kevin Johnstone · Mar 2005

sheesh, getting nasty and ignorant in here, surprisingly moreso amoungst parts of our professional contingent... well, maybe that isn't anything new.

Moving on

No , none of my assets were in the demo.
Yes characters are taking about a month to build hi poly, low poly, unwrap, process,texture, rig, get it ingame, get materials on.
Its a lot of work but you cant fault the end result when you see it in the flesh and realise how much you get for free.

Gwot: Yeah, Kismet is what artists have always wanted, gameplay designed with a GUI flowchart

Unreal 3 engine videos ( New content )

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