Tim Sweeney on new tech.

grimstar · 24th Jan 2004, 01:00 AM

Took a few snips from the Tim Sweeney interview in the Feb issue of atomic (Aussie mag):

Atomic:

What can you tell us about the key technologies that the next Unreal engine will be focused on?

Tim:

We already have polygon count where it needs to be. We're going to be focusing on per-pixel rendering and getting the quality of each pixel on screen as high as possible. So there's a bunch of different technologies there: dynamic shadowing technology, stencil buffer and shadow z-buffers. But the whole idea is that every object in the scene should cast realistic shadows with respect to every light source in the scene, and every pixel you see should illuminate properly that way. Of course that's easy to say and there are some solutions for that, like stencil buffering. But to do that properly you really want fuzzy shadows everywhere because most light and most environments are quite diffused and if you look around you very seldom see a really sharp shadow edge somewhere. So a huge amount of effort and processing power goes into implementing fuzzy shadows effectively in real-time. That's been a significant part of our R&D right there.
The other thing is techniques for encoding, when we talk about textures in the past we meant basically a 2d map containing RGB colour. And now a texture really means that plus a normal map depending on how bumpy the surface and how it’s locally oriented, as well as secular maps and seeing how glossy the thing is at each point.

Atomic:

When you say fuzzy shadows, that's what you demoed at the NV30 launch?

Tim:

Yeah, it showed basically the technique we're using. Of course it only showed it on one character and now the tech is scaling to really large scenes as we have some pretty good stuff up and running. DX9.0 is really the minimum spec there. We're essentially releasing a game in two years that's really going to bring existing computers to a complete crawl. You know, going back to the days when a new game came out and a lot of people really do have to upgrade their hardware to play it well.

Atomic:

To concluded, what can we look forward to from your next generation engine?

Tim:

Massive improvement in the realism and quality of scenes with realistic fuzzy shadowing. Incredibly detailed characters - like characters that, if you at and compare them side by side to our existing characters in detail, you might say they're a hundred times more detailed. A lot more use of physics in environments - not to create contrived puzzles but just in a natural way with all objects interacting physically. That's really just talking about the engine and not our game, which we aren't talking about yet.

Sparky · 24th Jan 2004, 02:44 AM

Thanks for the info, Grimstar.

Jaxter · 24th Jan 2004, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky

Thanks for the info, Grimstar.

you don't read atomic!? thats just un-australian!

Wowbagger · 24th Jan 2004, 04:05 AM

Nice

Didnt like to hear this tho since i just ordered me a new PC

hat's really going to bring existing computers to a complete crawl

Juguard · 24th Jan 2004, 04:08 AM

sweeet, Unreal Engine ownz

Jaxter · 24th Jan 2004, 04:24 AM

yeah here's hoping they can do better than cupe maps this time

Ulthar · 24th Jan 2004, 05:21 AM

does anybody have this movie from nv30 launch ?

Mr.Magnetichead · 24th Jan 2004, 06:22 AM

Hey Grim, it's Grim.

Mr.Magnetichead · 24th Jan 2004, 06:26 AM

BTW on teh Article.....

W00T UNREAL WARFARE!

TossMonkey · 24th Jan 2004, 08:00 AM

Damn... wish I could read the whole interview... bloody aussies.

Toolvana · 24th Jan 2004, 12:10 PM

Quote:

We're essentially releasing a game in two years that's really going to bring existing computers to a complete crawl.

I guess this means we can expect Unreal Warfare sometime in 2006? Or maybe 2005 considering that interview might have been done at the end of 2003...

Thrawn70 · 24th Jan 2004, 12:25 PM

No no no, Toolvana, two weeks!

*Prophetus* · 24th Jan 2004, 01:39 PM

See, in a recent Proph's Chronicle (slap me for the pimpage) I told you people to start saving your money

. Of course, the subject was targeted at us geeks who love to upgrade everytime something new comes out.

Yep, 2005/06 is going to be expensive.

Doc_EDo · 24th Jan 2004, 02:49 PM

Great news!

Quote:

and every pixel you see should illuminate properly that way

Yay, no more static mesh crappy lighting!

Lets hope in 2006 Unreal engine will finally have bump mapping.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ulthar

does anybody have this movie from nv30 launch ?

Yeah I'd like to see that too. Anyone, please??

*Prophetus* · 24th Jan 2004, 02:57 PM

Going to be very nice, indeed. Maybe see realistic damage on objects, instead of decals. Real bullet holes, dents and stuff. Ouch...that's going to kill the frame rates.

As for the movie, wasn't it the one where the marines (from the UW pics) storm a bridge? In that scene, they come out of some hall way, onto a platform and start firing at the enemy across a short bridge. Then they shoot a swaying metal object located above the bridge, which falls down and destroys the bridge. I think it was that video.

*Raffi_B* · 24th Jan 2004, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prophetus

Going to be very nice, indeed. Maybe see realistic damage on objects, instead of decals. Real bullet holes, dents and stuff. Ouch...that's going to kill the frame rates.

As for the movie, wasn't it the one where the marines (from the UW pics) storm a bridge? In that scene, they come out of some hall way, onto a platform and start firing at the enemy across a short bridge. Then they shoot a swaying metal object located above the bridge, which falls down and destroys the bridge. I think it was that video.

Yeah, I remember this. GDC Tech Demo I think.

Here's the link to the newspost, but the link to download the file is dead.

http://unrealops.com/modules.php?op=...rticle&sid=305

EDIT: I found it!!111

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nzone_m...eal_media.html

*Prophetus* · 24th Jan 2004, 03:20 PM

Sweet, I was hunting for it too. Good job!

Radiosity · 24th Jan 2004, 03:38 PM

Hehe, that's a kickass vid. The fight between the two guys at the end where he pulls the guy's arm off and starts beating him with it is priceless

Slartoff · 24th Jan 2004, 04:05 PM

No no no... that GDC movie, while spiffy-looking, is not the one they mentioned in the article. The NV30 launch video showed a marine walking through a torch-lit cavern. The clip from the Unreal engine in the NV30 launch vid showed much better graphics than the GDC vid. I'll see if I can find a link to the NV30 launch video.

*Raffi_B* · 24th Jan 2004, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slartoff

No no no... that GDC movie, while spiffy-looking, is not the one they mentioned in the article. The NV30 launch video showed a marine walking through a torch-lit cavern. The clip from the Unreal engine in the NV30 launch vid showed much better graphics than the GDC vid. I'll see if I can find a link to the NV30 launch video.

I only looked for the vid Proph was talking about. I've never heard of this NV30 launch video... good luck with finding it

24th Jan 2004, 01:00 AM	#1
grimstar Join Date: May. 27th, 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 178	Tim Sweeney on new tech. Took a few snips from the Tim Sweeney interview in the Feb issue of atomic (Aussie mag): Atomic: What can you tell us about the key technologies that the next Unreal engine will be focused on? Tim: We already have polygon count where it needs to be. We're going to be focusing on per-pixel rendering and getting the quality of each pixel on screen as high as possible. So there's a bunch of different technologies there: dynamic shadowing technology, stencil buffer and shadow z-buffers. But the whole idea is that every object in the scene should cast realistic shadows with respect to every light source in the scene, and every pixel you see should illuminate properly that way. Of course that's easy to say and there are some solutions for that, like stencil buffering. But to do that properly you really want fuzzy shadows everywhere because most light and most environments are quite diffused and if you look around you very seldom see a really sharp shadow edge somewhere. So a huge amount of effort and processing power goes into implementing fuzzy shadows effectively in real-time. That's been a significant part of our R&D right there. The other thing is techniques for encoding, when we talk about textures in the past we meant basically a 2d map containing RGB colour. And now a texture really means that plus a normal map depending on how bumpy the surface and how it’s locally oriented, as well as secular maps and seeing how glossy the thing is at each point. Atomic: When you say fuzzy shadows, that's what you demoed at the NV30 launch? Tim: Yeah, it showed basically the technique we're using. Of course it only showed it on one character and now the tech is scaling to really large scenes as we have some pretty good stuff up and running. DX9.0 is really the minimum spec there. We're essentially releasing a game in two years that's really going to bring existing computers to a complete crawl. You know, going back to the days when a new game came out and a lot of people really do have to upgrade their hardware to play it well. Atomic: To concluded, what can we look forward to from your next generation engine? Tim: Massive improvement in the realism and quality of scenes with realistic fuzzy shadowing. Incredibly detailed characters - like characters that, if you at and compare them side by side to our existing characters in detail, you might say they're a hundred times more detailed. A lot more use of physics in environments - not to create contrived puzzles but just in a natural way with all objects interacting physically. That's really just talking about the engine and not our game, which we aren't talking about yet. Last edited by GrimStar; 17th Sep 2004 at 02:40 AM.

24th Jan 2004, 04:05 AM	#4
Wowbagger Curing the infection... Join Date: May. 20th, 2000 Location: Sweden Posts: 601	Nice Didnt like to hear this tho since i just ordered me a new PC hat's really going to bring existing computers to a complete crawl __________________ FCE2 - Respawn Inc.

24th Jan 2004, 04:08 AM	#5
Juguard The King Is Dead, Punk Rock Lives! Join Date: Nov. 30th, 1999 Location: Tustin CA, USA Posts: 554	sweeet, Unreal Engine ownz __________________

24th Jan 2004, 06:22 AM	#8
Mr.Magnetichead Banned Join Date: Nov. 17th, 2002 Location: London 1905 Posts: 969	Hey Grim, it's Grim. __________________ I can't be a legend yet. I'm not dead.

24th Jan 2004, 06:26 AM	#9
Mr.Magnetichead Banned Join Date: Nov. 17th, 2002 Location: London 1905 Posts: 969	BTW on teh Article..... W00T UNREAL WARFARE! __________________ I can't be a legend yet. I'm not dead.

24th Jan 2004, 02:44 AM	#2
Sparky Retired Administrator Join Date: Dec. 6th, 1999 Location: Australia Posts: 5,871	Thanks for the info, Grimstar.

24th Jan 2004, 04:24 AM	#6
Jaxter I just f**ked your girlfriend Join Date: Feb. 6th, 2001 Posts: 64	yeah here's hoping they can do better than cupe maps this time

24th Jan 2004, 05:21 AM	#7
Ulthar Registered User Join Date: Jan. 24th, 2004 Posts: 1	does anybody have this movie from nv30 launch ?

24th Jan 2004, 08:00 AM	#10
TossMonkey brown bread? Join Date: Sep. 4th, 2001 Location: Great Britain. Posts: 6,031	Damn... wish I could read the whole interview... bloody aussies. __________________ All those moments will be lost, like tears in the rain. Time to die. PSN: Fifth-Elephant Quakelive: FifthElephant

24th Jan 2004, 12:25 PM	#12
Thrawn70 Hang-around Join Date: Jun. 11th, 2002 Location: Unknown Regions Posts: 537	No no no, Toolvana, two weeks! __________________ B.A.N. - BuFers Against Nerfing Fragaholics' Playground Forum

24th Jan 2004, 01:39 PM	#13
Prophetus Administrator Join Date: Dec. 4th, 1999 Location: ...standing behind you... Posts: 3,090	See, in a recent Proph's Chronicle (slap me for the pimpage) I told you people to start saving your money. Of course, the subject was targeted at us geeks who love to upgrade everytime something new comes out. Yep, 2005/06 is going to be expensive. __________________ Logic separates us from animals. Reasoning by emotion makes you an idiot.

24th Jan 2004, 02:57 PM	#15
Prophetus Administrator Join Date: Dec. 4th, 1999 Location: ...standing behind you... Posts: 3,090	Going to be very nice, indeed. Maybe see realistic damage on objects, instead of decals. Real bullet holes, dents and stuff. Ouch...that's going to kill the frame rates. As for the movie, wasn't it the one where the marines (from the UW pics) storm a bridge? In that scene, they come out of some hall way, onto a platform and start firing at the enemy across a short bridge. Then they shoot a swaying metal object located above the bridge, which falls down and destroys the bridge. I think it was that video. __________________ Logic separates us from animals. Reasoning by emotion makes you an idiot.

24th Jan 2004, 03:20 PM	#17
Prophetus Administrator Join Date: Dec. 4th, 1999 Location: ...standing behind you... Posts: 3,090	Sweet, I was hunting for it too. Good job! __________________ Logic separates us from animals. Reasoning by emotion makes you an idiot.

24th Jan 2004, 03:38 PM	#18
Radiosity Minty Fresh! Join Date: Jan. 3rd, 2003 Location: UK Posts: 2,213	Hehe, that's a kickass vid. The fight between the two guys at the end where he pulls the guy's arm off and starts beating him with it is priceless

24th Jan 2004, 04:05 PM	#19
Slartoff Death delights me. Slartoff! Join Date: Nov. 1st, 2003 Location: NH Posts: 123	No no no... that GDC movie, while spiffy-looking, is not the one they mentioned in the article. The NV30 launch video showed a marine walking through a torch-lit cavern. The clip from the Unreal engine in the NV30 launch vid showed much better graphics than the GDC vid. I'll see if I can find a link to the NV30 launch video.

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