Apos
Tank
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- May 14, 2003
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I thought we needed a thread to collect all the new technical information that we've learned since E3: official responses from valve only (them responding to emails, old information that now makes sense in light of HL2). We can keep adding to this thread as things go along so as to serve as a sort of collection of new TECHNICAL information (i.e., plot and gameplay stuff is for other threads: this is just about the engine, fixed bugs, etc.)
Also, this is NOT meant to be a speculation/discussion thread! Just the facts, ma'am.
Here's what I've collected so far.
-The strange "mistimed" events in the e3 demos are due to demo playback (which is NOT an accurate pixel or frame by frame representation of game events) rather than engine problems.
-Multiplayer physics is controlable at the object level: someone (mapmakers at the least, and maybe individual clients) can decide what objects exist server side, and which are client side effects only (confirmed by email from Gabe and Yahn)
-Bullet sparks showing through solid objects are on the list to be fixed (confirmed by email from Gabe)
-Enemies simply going limp when they die, making it hard in some cases to tell THAT they've died, is on the list to be fixed (confirmed by email from Gabe)
-Source's scalability in part relies heavily upon a LOD-based system. We can almost certainly assume that this is the system that Valve originally talked about developing for TF2: namely that it doesn't just scale down the complexity of wire meshes for distance, but also scales down complexity based on the number of models on the screen at once, the goal being to maintain a steady framerate at all costs. In multiplayer, distant player models will have fewer animation frames sent across the network to reduce lag: another type of dynamically scaling LOD system. (all first discussed by Valve years ago, and then confirmed by recent discussion at e3)
-At least some enemies can jump over gaps and climb ladders and other sorts of things to prevent the player from artificially getting to a place out of reach of your pursuers. This is most important for NPC characters: they want them to be able to stay with you for a long time, and when they are blocked from following, it's for a real story reason, rather than that they simply cannot follow your movements.
Next things are from the recent Gabe interview:
-Facial animation system is realistically "bounded" meaning that even though you can control various parts of it randomly, it still constraints things so that they and the transitions look believable.
-Characters have shaders on their teeth (to make them look shiny?)
-Music and ambient effects are now more dynamic, triggered by the player's actions rather than just walking through a "gate" that starts up a music track. They call it "soundscapes"
Also, this is NOT meant to be a speculation/discussion thread! Just the facts, ma'am.
Here's what I've collected so far.
-The strange "mistimed" events in the e3 demos are due to demo playback (which is NOT an accurate pixel or frame by frame representation of game events) rather than engine problems.
-Multiplayer physics is controlable at the object level: someone (mapmakers at the least, and maybe individual clients) can decide what objects exist server side, and which are client side effects only (confirmed by email from Gabe and Yahn)
-Bullet sparks showing through solid objects are on the list to be fixed (confirmed by email from Gabe)
-Enemies simply going limp when they die, making it hard in some cases to tell THAT they've died, is on the list to be fixed (confirmed by email from Gabe)
-Source's scalability in part relies heavily upon a LOD-based system. We can almost certainly assume that this is the system that Valve originally talked about developing for TF2: namely that it doesn't just scale down the complexity of wire meshes for distance, but also scales down complexity based on the number of models on the screen at once, the goal being to maintain a steady framerate at all costs. In multiplayer, distant player models will have fewer animation frames sent across the network to reduce lag: another type of dynamically scaling LOD system. (all first discussed by Valve years ago, and then confirmed by recent discussion at e3)
-At least some enemies can jump over gaps and climb ladders and other sorts of things to prevent the player from artificially getting to a place out of reach of your pursuers. This is most important for NPC characters: they want them to be able to stay with you for a long time, and when they are blocked from following, it's for a real story reason, rather than that they simply cannot follow your movements.
Next things are from the recent Gabe interview:
-Facial animation system is realistically "bounded" meaning that even though you can control various parts of it randomly, it still constraints things so that they and the transitions look believable.
-Characters have shaders on their teeth (to make them look shiny?)
-Music and ambient effects are now more dynamic, triggered by the player's actions rather than just walking through a "gate" that starts up a music track. They call it "soundscapes"
