The game is beautiful, but let's not overstate it compared to what a higher-end PCs can put out in comparison. The engineering is absolutely the centerpiece to the presentation here.
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GPU-based procedural placement in Horizon Zero Dawn
- Thread starter vivekTO
- Start date
The game is beautiful, but let's not overstate it compared to what a higher-end PCs can put out in comparison. The engineering is absolutely the centerpiece to the presentation here.
Dutch AAA studio catching up with German demoscene studio (Shin'en), always nice to see more use of procedural generation as a way to create varied environments.
Perhaps you need to actually read and watch the presentation. And I'd love for you to show me a picture from the game where the ridge wood has been generated in exactly the same place and exactly the same way as that from another player. You can't because, as anybody who has played the game will tell you, the resources are placed all over the place. The game even tells you ridge wood has higher concentrations near water (a clue related to the ecotope density map).
Unless of course you're saying the resource plants don't appear in the pictures taken by players or are not technically part of the foliage
Yup , instead of throwing random comparison just lets stick to the Topic. Or this will be another Horizon vs rest of the world thread.
Toni
Member
This is a poor hill to die on.
Well, play it and check the receipts
[/s] It looks good to me, imo, but it definetly does conjure up tech wizardry comparable to that pre-downgrade
Don't start this now please. Yes the game is great and looks amazing (Currently playing on it on the PS4 Pro) but let's not get ahead of yourself.Well, play it and check the receipts
Can you post the video from the slide, it is not working for me.Thanks
I'll Try later with the videos. till than Keep the sanity in here ok guys.
Lets not get ahead of ourselves. Horizon is a great looking game. Seriously cant say this enough. GG did a great job. Especially considering the tech they were working with. However the Tomb Raider effect* is very prevelant at times. In the Pre Downgrage footage of Witcher 3/Watchdogs 1 it was virtually nonexistent.
*Not sure if it has another name but the particle effects tend to focus on the foreground (for obvious reasons) which tends to create some dissonence between the foreground and background in situations with high amounts of particle effects. (WIND Rain ect) this tends to make the background look overly static and somewhat seperated from the foreground. Almost like actors peforming on stage in front of a painted sheet
GifGafIsTheBestGaf
Member
i remember in one of the interviews they mentioned GPU-based procedural placement, so this is what they meant
Perhaps you need to actually read and watch the presentation. And I'd love for you to show me a picture from the game where the ridge wood has been generated in exactly the same place and exactly the same way as that from another player. You can't because, as anybody who has played the game will tell you, the resources are placed all over the place. The game even tells you ridge wood has higher concentrations near water (a clue related to the ecotope density map).
Unless of course you're saying the resource plants don't appear in the pictures taken by players or are not technically part of the foliage
I'm willing to admit I could be wrong, especially as I haven't had a chance to play Horizon yet. However, based on the presentation, it's not unreasonable for me to expect that each player would see identical placement of foliage on their play throughs as the presentation discusses some of the things they had to avoid to ensure the generation remained deterministic.
Chris_Rivera
Member
Nice to see the GPU being used like this.
I have an SSD in my Pro, and this game loads so fast, it's crazy. Awesome game all around.
I have an SSD in my Pro, and this game loads so fast, it's crazy. Awesome game all around.
LordKasual
Banned
When i look at Horizon screenshots, i just ponder the sheer amount of time it would have taken the artists to place all those assets that way
Now it finally makes sense. Godlike tech
Now it finally makes sense. Godlike tech
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Star Citizen. You can play it right now. But that's a different topic altogether. This is some great tech.
1.21Gigawatts
Banned
I haven't seen an open world game on PC that has consistently as high quality texture work as Horizon.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Ah shit.
Darryl M R
Member
So every time I enter a certain area the assets like trees and rocks will be placed differently each time?
PLASTICA-MAN
Member
Different if you use the feature they developed to create the game or if they ever release a map editor but not different if you play.
This technique is purely to fasten development, not to see its effects ingame.
Ah shit.
I thought i read match making at first and was horrified.
FunkyDealer
Banned
THAT'S PRETTY DAMN COOL. THE RESULTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.
nycgamer4ever
Member
I know he sounds a little over the top but he is not entirely wrong. On my PS4 Pro with resolution mode enabled on the LG C6p it looks every bit as good if not better than my pc running Witcher 3 on max settings.
Primethius
Banned
This is a poor hill to die on.
Eh, Horizon looks better than any TW3 I've seen or played (official, not mods). Including the final retail TW3 maxed out which is how I played TW3 (ultra at 2560x1440).
There's stuff in TW3 that still schools Horizon but as an overall product, it looks better than TW3 pre and post downgrade.
Edit: Not to mention that it just feels more impressive because the combat pushes things that I don't think TW3 came close to replicating (e.g. Thunderjaw and two Ravagers going toe to toe).
Darryl M R
Member
I see. Amazing tech. I can't wait to see what comes out next from GG
hamdammage
Member
Another important thing to note is that the Horizon team only had 4 artists working on the environments. 3 people for for the assets, and 1 person to create their ecotopes.
That's crazy for an open world game of that size.
That's crazy for an open world game of that size.
Sword Of Doom
Member
I wonder if the day/night cycle is screwed up though? Dusk/Dawn don't last long and the shift to night and day is jarring cause it happens so quickly. I was hoping they would address this in a patch.
Otherwise it's a very impressive game. I took a screenshot yesterday and it looked like concept art when I was looking at it. I do wish I could play it on my pc though at 60fps. It's a solid 30 but it's still 30
That's amazing
Otherwise it's a very impressive game. I took a screenshot yesterday and it looked like concept art when I was looking at it. I do wish I could play it on my pc though at 60fps. It's a solid 30 but it's still 30
That's amazing
Wishmaster92
Member
The polygon count in each scene is insane!
PodcastFips
Member
What's up with all the caps-lock posts on the first page?
I think people are confusing using procedural generation to create and populate the world during development versus having it create a random landscape for every person who plays.
They laid out the basics of the landform then allowed the engine to 'fill' the world according to the formula laid out. No trees type A below height Y, no bush type C above Z height, no more than 3 type C bush per 4 square meters, etc...
This kind of thing isn't really new, it's been used for a lot of MMO games in the past. It's just being used a lot more effectively these days.
TheRealTalker
Banned
flipping through it makes me wonder how this stuff can easily lower the burden on hardware while still pushing for such detail heavy graphics
no wonder the game has a stable frame rate
no wonder the game has a stable frame rate
Primethius
Banned
Title was originally in all caps.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Nah motion matching. Basically the future of game animation since it worked out incredibly well for For Honor. The fact that they're researching it is good news. According to their slides the reason the climbing is so limited was due to the tools they were using.
Just a reminder what Witcher 3 looked like in early footage. Remember the Witcher 3 devs simply couldn't get the game to run at that visual fidelity. Horizon looks good, but not that good. You see that fur? That draw distance/LOD? The water? The lighting? They were all way ahead of a shit ton of games running in realtime let alone ones that have realtime day/night cycles and not baked lighting.
Primethius
Banned
Yea I see the fur. I remember all the TW3 downgrade footage as I was one of the more prominent dudes in the downgrade threads on GAF. But fur tech (alongside other things) alone doesn't define a games visual prowess and make the comparison moot.
TW3 was downgraded and I still played the retail version maxed out downsampled. Even that version improved back to pre-downgrade isn't enough for me to put it over Horizon. Some aspects? Sure. Some aspects of TW3 pre and post downgrade absolutely school Horizon. But overall? Nah, not for me. I'd take Horizon in a heartbeat.
Sora the Cat
Member
I read all those posts before posting and still don't get it. Is it something that the devs used to build the world more easily or will the world have random assets here and there every time you play?
There are conflicting posts:
After reading a little I think I agree with PLASTICA-MAN.
This is correct, fyi loads of games use lighter versions of this kind of system to varying degrees, though this is one of the most comprehensive I've seen.
I think maybe 2-3 posts in this entire thread seem to understand what the talk is about heh.
PLASTICA-MAN
Member
Watch the 6 videos in the ppt presentation and you will get it.
Tallshortman
Member
Possibly unannounced since it may not have been ready for other first party games until deep in horizons dev cycle.
No. Instead of placing every tree 'by hand' the engine fills up the world through a set of definitions that the designer wants that area to look like.
Vinsanity.
Member
So is the world different for each of us?
Procedural generation doesn't mean random generation. The same process will yield the same result.
No Man's Sky had some procgen sounds too, but that kind of stuff already existed in the 80s (in the same way that proc gen terrains did). A lot of procgen tech existed long ago, then kinda went away as team grew bigger and could afford artists and designers, then came back again as workload outgrew teams again.
Except what you can play right now looks nothing like Horizon.