Tech5 is the only significant innovation in game engine technology since UE3 came out years ago. Other engine developers will be playing catch-up in the next 4-5 years, after that point we might see some new developments. I think Valve might be working on something with adaptive mesh subdivision, but i might just be remembering a tech demo i saw somewhere.
I remember when TF2 was still supposed to be a realistic military sim, circa 2001, they were going to use a technology from Intel that involved level of detail stuff or something like that. I recall seeing a screenshot from the game that was a close up on some soldier’s head and it was really detailed for the time, quite hi-poly. When I saw that for the first time, my jaw almost hit the floor.
Not the same thing AFAIK, what I’m remembering is some tech stuff from GDC 2008. Adaptive subdivision doesn’t necessarily make things more detailed, it makes them “smoother.” It’s fairly interesting but not on the same level of technological innovation as Tech5’s streaming content, if Valve is even working on it anymore.
Yeah, I know what you’re talking about, I just remembered about that interesting bit of trivia.
Anyway, I hope Valve’s next engine or major update removes the loadings between chapters. Even if they make the initial loading longer, I’d rather have no more loadings after that.
Have you ever modeled anything before…
To be honest I love the Source engine. It is perfectly balanced and won’t kill your computer or turn it into a microwave. It will run at 60 FPS maxed out on average modern-day computers. Plus the water effects are very nice. The textures are a bit pixelated though, but not very much. I never liked Crysis’s engine very much. It looked a little nice but it seemed to be all about Crytek’s e-penis, so I’m not too excited about running Crysis 2.
Don’t worry about Crysis 2, It’ll run on anything because its a generic piece of shit now.
lol its supposed to run better than warhead.
the crytek engine is actually pretty scalable (not as much as source of course)
It annoys me to read comments on other sites where people write that the Source Engine is old, although it gets updated for every new game by Valve. But the people (especially 11 year old kids who already got a pc) don’t realize it. Many think that Valve uses a new engine because of the Portal 2-Videos.
What I mean is, the people only think it’s a good engine, if it gets a new number at the end of the name, every time, a new game comes out.
So the people will still bet on Cry-Engine, cause it still looks better and has a higher number than the Source Engine. The fact, that the Source Engine needs lower hardware than the CE doesn’t affect it that much. And a new Source Engine 2 might comes out when the new console-generation is coming. Maybe 2012
Finally I got some competent answers…
Edit: I’m a Source games fan
I’m a source game’s fan as well.
But engines, pfft, quake 1 engine is best. Without it source wouldn’t be around, muthafuckas.
There’s plenty of Portal 2 screenshots around, if you want to know what the next update to Source is going to look like. It’s still well behind Valve’s competition. Although I’ve always said it’s the art direction that matters and not the engine tech, look at how boring 99% of Crysis is.
mattemuse it’s not about Portal 2 or Ep 3 it’s about HL 3, Portal 2 is an update of 2007 engine because every HL series have his own, it’s about a distinct version not updated.
that`s up to the mappers,and it would mean more lag
But that’s the thing. We can’t talk about an engine that doesn’t exist or has been announced yet, let alone compare it to an already existing one.
All we can do is speculate and we’ve already done plenty of it.
I don’t mean making one huge map. I mean finding a way to load the maps in the background without having to interrupt the game with loading screens.
Uncharted, for example, apart from the initial loading, doesn’t have any mid-level loading for the whole game. You can basically play the whole game from start to finish without loading screens between chapters.
It would be great if we could play Episode 3 or Half-Life 3 without loadings between chapters.
edit: ah fuck, sorry about double post.
redacted
The oldest game that I can think of that definitely streams the level off of whatever (disc in this case) is the first Medal of Honor. The levels were pretty big, and the PS1 had like, no RAM. If you use the wireframe cheat, or just open the disc cover while playing, you can see where the seams in the levels are.
It would be nice if Valve would do something like that, or go a step further and do what Gears of War or (apparently) Uncharted 2 did and just not stop to load after the initial load. The question is, how much work would you have to put into it to get it to work on an existing engine? Would it just be easier to throw whatever functions are needed for levels out and start from scratch? I personally don’t mind a loading screen every once in a while.
this technology is not yet present in source,developing it is probably not a priority for valve,loading times are too rooted in the half life experience to be dropped,dont you love when you beat that difficult part and the get your ego boosted by an onscreen message saying:you
ve come over a challenge.
I never associated the loading screens in HL with overcoming challenges. They’re short enough that they only serve the purpose of loading the next .bsp. What truly indicates me that I’m making progress is when the name of the chapters show up. As far as I’m concerned having no loading screens in the middle of the would only enhance the experience.