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GTA IV to use Table Tennis 360 Graphics engine

BrandNew said:
...Isn't that what he just said? Both Zelda's are using the same engines I assume, that's why they're so similar. But with GTA IV, it's just using the same assets as the Table Tennis game, not the fullout game engine.
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Err, no. Assets include such things as the models, textures, and any other specific data created for a game. They aren't going to share assets. An engine does not include any asset data.
 
An Engine is the technology used to draw graphics to the screen and the management of art and code assets. You could use Unreal 3 and make a game that looks like an N64 title if you wanted or you could go totally balls out and have it run a 1 frame a second. Hardware and game scope remains the limiting factor.
 
I though this was already known. Before the game came out IGN (I think) had an article stating that this engine would be used in future Rockstar 360 games.

Speevy said:
I read this a while back. The Table Tennis characters are really detailed so the game should like very nice.
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*cough* scale *cough*
 
How could anyone possibly think that you will get the same quality characters in GTAIV as Table Tennis? Unless you want only 1 or 2 people on the street at the same time :lol
 
Speevy said:
I mean, obviously GTA isn't going to PLAY or feel like TT, so if there's not the same amount of detail in the characters or environments, what's the point in telling people it's the same engine?
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As others are saying, the Engine has very little to do with the content of the game. The engine is the underlying technology on which the game is based. The way it handles code and memory and stores data and all that.

Doom 3 and Quake Wars use the same engine(well, the engine is based on the same technology), yet they are extremely different in scope. Just because games use the same engine does not mean the games are similar at all.

Think of it sortof like this. I use Firefox to browse the net. THat's kindof my net browsing engine. However the sites I go to tell the engine how to display the content. I could go to a plain text on white background site, or some fancy shmancy flash animated site, and they'd all work fine because Firefox, my "engine", knows how to interpret the code that's being sent to it. Thats basically what game engines do.

Hopefully that helps.
 
I think I understand.

I guess I was confused because 3D Zeldas maintain a fairly rigid adherence to their formula.

So Rockstar could make a game like Warhawk with this engine just as easily as one like GTA?
 
Speevy said:
I think I understand.

I guess I was confused because 3D Zeldas maintain a fairly rigid adherence to their formula.

So Rockstar could make a game like Warhawk with this engine just as easily as one like GTA?
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It depends on the flexibility of the engine. They seem to have built this engine not only to play games like Table Tennis, but to be able to accomodate large scale open world games such as GTA. I'd assume then it's flexible enough to handle games such as Warhawk, but not knowing the constraints of the engine I can't really be sure. Assuming the engine was extremely flexible, however, yes, it would be possible.
 
Kolgar said:
So does this mean X360 is the Rockstar's lead platform for GTA IV?
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Given that it will probably use Vista shit in it for the PC, might as well be the lead platform, since they already have RAGE on 360 in a commercial product already.
 
Most North American developers use PC as the engine core. If they are organized, whatever they write for the PC ports across to the other Skus.
 
I want to know what the **** "press time" for a website is supposed to be?

You're on the web, Gamespot. That means that you can hold off on posting something until you get confirmation. Please don't be stupid.
 
Size, scope, scale, interactivity, level of detail, number of NPCs, etc, etc taken all into account...still have to wonder how it looks since all games aren't created equal even if it's the same engine, a confined tennis game to massive city wide action free for all is a pretty massive difference. Sounds like a solid foundation though.
 
WiiDSmoker said:
since when did table tennis look good???
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It's always looked great. There's not a ton of variety to its graphics, but the detail and animation found in the characters along with subtle touches like cloth movement, hair, and sweat forming makes for a very polished visual experience. In addition, all stages (which include pretty much just a table and an empty room) are well lit as well, for what it's worth.
 
I was under the impression rockstar confirmed this awhile back when they mentioned all future "nexgen" stuff would use the same technology as table tennis... or something similar to that atleast. So basically cutscenes will likely look as nice as table tennis with your character and NPC's being super detailed but the actual city will likely look closer in quality to something like saints row... atleast that's about my current expectation level.
 
Maybe the city of GTA IV could be the bodies of the table tennis players all linked up. You'd be an ant right out of the hood... See where I'm going people?
 
Liquid said:
i hope it doesnt look the same. the one thing cool about GTA is its UNrealistic look. If they make it look real i ain't buying it. Maybe more realistic environments but i think realistic looking characters would ruin the feel of the game.
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Agreed, I'm all for more realistic environments, but I think real looking faces would be an unnecessary stomp on a now classic trademark of the series. I can't wait to see a much more detailed version of that cartoonish Style.
 
The engine seems very solid and handles lighting, textures and camera work very well. Not to mention the amazing cloth physics which could easily be scaled down to suit a GTA player character.

Anybody expecting character models in GTA IV to look like the ones in Table Tennis are dreaming though, unless GTA is going in a new direction and being set in an empty warehouse with only two characters at a time! :D

EDIT - Actually thinking about the "two guys in a warehouse" thing that would make an awesome Takeshi Kitano game.
 
I will be very dissappointed if the main characters of GTA4 doesn't look like the TT characters actually(in quality). And of course, while the two games will most likely share code, the GTA engine will just be so much more expansive and have a big amount of extra features and polish.
 
Wollan said:
I will be very dissappointed if the main characters of GTA4 doesn't look like the TT characters actually(in quality). And of course, while the two games will most likely share code, the GTA engine will just be so much more expansive and have a big amount of extra features and polish.
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Sadly this talk about engines only causes misunderstandings.

Now everyone thinks GTA4 characters will look like the characters from Table Tennis, but when you take a moment to actually think about it, the two games are in almost no form comparable.

They require to totally different sets of technology. Maybe some of the animationsystem will find it's way in GTA4, but the graphics will be totally adjusted to a free-roam world simulation experience, as opposed to a room with a table and two characters.

So 'same engine' is in reality only 'some shared graphics technology' with a radically different premise.
 
Seriously, I will get dissappointed if that's not the case as Im fully expecting the main(non pedestrian) characters of GTA4 to look that good only with a more stylished look(like the art).
Personaly, I don't think the TT characters look better than what we have been seeing for the last two years.

2006:

932239_20060411_screen003.jpg


2003:

maxpayne2_1.jpg



While there definetly is a difference between these two images, normal pcs of 2003 had no problem running MP2 with upto dozens of characters onscreen and alot of mayhem.

Rockstar North(I know they didn't have anything to do with MP2) shouldn't have a problem putting out graphics on the caliber Im talking about by next year on next gen consoles.
If they don't manage, I will find that surprising actually and dissappointing.
MGS4 for example have that GTA type expansive enviroment and those characters/everything is way beyond TT, yes they are the top developer of the milkyway but Rockstar should be able to match TT in an expensive enviroment I would think(again, I don't expect pedestrians all to look like that but the main characters/hencmen..etc).
 
The Max Payne 2 comparison, that's just silly. Polycount, texture resolution, shaders, physics, lighting and shadows are light-years beyond the MP2 models. Max Payne models had damn near everything "faked" that Table Tennis does realtime. Even the MGS4 models aren't as complex as those in Table Tennis, but again it is because there are only ever two Table Tennis characters on screen at a time.
 
Francias Castiglione said:
Even the MGS4 models aren't as complex as those in Table Tennis, but again it is because there are only ever two Table Tennis characters on screen at a time.
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*Can of worms* Facial muscles, wrinkles and individually rendered hair feel differently.

Anyway, Im reserving the right to be dissappointed about GTA4 graphics because Im expecting good stuff.
 
Wollan said:
*Can of worms* Facial muscles, wrinkles and individually rendered hair feel differently.

Anyway, Im reserving the right to be dissappointed about GTA4 graphics because Im expecting good stuff.
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The E3 trailer didn't look as complex as the TGS teaser. But that's another thread.
 
I think many of you are confusing what an engine actually does. Just because they used the RAGE engine to create TT, doesn't mean it's not capable of a variety of different games. One only need look at the HUGE variety of games other engines have been a part of. Don't get yourself mixed up mmmmmkay.
 
SolidSnakex said:
Get ready to be disappointed then.
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That's been the case with every GTA-esque game revealed so far. Either these types of games benefit the least from what the new hardware offers, or the developers aren't that good at utilizing what is available.
 
Good grief. Who said TT looks better than MGS? It looks a heck of a lot better (character model-wise) than Max Payne though.
 
Mooreberg said:
That's been the case with every GTA-esque game revealed so far. Either these types of games benefit the least from what the new hardware offers, or the developers aren't that good at utilizing what is available.
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They benefit alot, just not really from a graphics perspective when you compare them to games that aren't doing as much as they do. Like Merc 2, its not the prettiest game but with it you've got a game that's around the same size as San Andreas and everything in the world is destructable. There's no way that could've been done on current gens ystems.
 
Speevy said:
Good grief. Who said TT looks better than MGS? It looks a heck of a lot better (character model-wise) than Max Payne though.
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Big can of worms that person above seems to have started.
 
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