Update 2:
direct feed trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSXyztq_0uM
Original:
some very pretty shots here, but im starting to think DICE might have stole their thunder
i REALLY wish Mass Effect 3 could get some of this graphical loving!
http://uk.kotaku.com/5774861/epic-says-this-is-what-next+gen-should-look-like/gallery/
Update:
Update 3:
direct feed trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSXyztq_0uM
Original:
some very pretty shots here, but im starting to think DICE might have stole their thunder
i REALLY wish Mass Effect 3 could get some of this graphical loving!
http://uk.kotaku.com/5774861/epic-says-this-is-what-next+gen-should-look-like/gallery/
Update:
Source: http://www.vg247.com/2011/03/03/epi...he-next-generation-of-gaming-is-going-to-be”/VG247 said:This is our proposal for what the next generation of gaming is going to be, Rein said as the demo began.
We were immediately introduced rain-spattered neon sign proclaiming powered by Unreal technology. The scene: a gritty, dilapidated cityscape. Its night time, and the streets are slick with rain. All manner of signs and electrical lights are reflected in the gloomy mix of rain and atmosphere thats pooled on the ground. Par for the course with modern games, though, right? Heres the thing, though: all of it honestly, actually no hyperbole looks like CG.
The whole idea behind this is to tell the hardware manufacturers that this is what you should be doing down the road, Rein explained while the demo rolled.
Next up, we were introduced to a trench coat-clad, cigarette smoking man who was attempting to break a chain with a welding tool. Shades of Deus Ex? You dont know the half of it. While the man did his presumably dirty deed, we were given a close up on his face, which was coated in tiny rivulets of rain. The man himself was expressive, his face subtly shifting and cringing as he focused on his work. Meanwhile, light from the welder reflected on his face, dancing about as the flame sparked and sizzled.
After the chains brittle links gave way, the man smoothly lit his cigarette with his welder. Then he heard something. Quickly scaling a nearby roof, he glimpsed multiple armor-clad soldiers kicking an elderly woman curled up in the fetal position on the ground. And thats when things got interesting. The man turned his skin into some form of hyper detailed rock craggy and detailed down to each individual pebble and leaped right into the fray. He proceeded to brutally punch two of the soldiers, shattering ones face mask and revealing a grimace that looked just about ready to collapse in on itself underneath. With those two dispatched, he shot the third straight through the head, leaving him slumped against a nearby billboard.
Next up, another celebratory cigarette, because why not? This guys so cool, cigarettes are afraid of getting lung cancer from him. But as he prepared to take another puff, a giant, house-sized Samaritan robot sneaked up behind him. He turned to meet it, noting its colossal size, and then did what any logical man would: turned to stone and started punching. End of demo.
Some things to note: this was only a tech demo not a new game. Not that wed mind if Epic made a Deus Ex-like action game, but we digress. Also crucial: Rein noted that the demo was running on three Nvidia GTX 580s. For the non-technophiles among you, thats off-the-shelf, readily available (albeit ultra high-end) hardware. You may very well own a similar configuration right now. Also, while the screens below are definitely indicative of what the demo looked like, they dont do the fluidity of movement, animation, and physics justice at all. Again, this looked like a highly choreographed CG movie, but in reality, many of those things were being calculated by robust physics engines. The Epic staffers running the demo then proved that to us, replaying the demo and detaching the camera, zooming in and out, and showing us how things looked with physics turned on and off.
At the end of the day, though, this isnt Unreal 4. Its still definitely Unreal 3, Rein was quick to clarify. He added, however, that if this were to be given a number, itd be Unreal 3.975. He also noted that this is a bigger leap than the one between Unreal 2 and Unreal 3 and it shows. On top of that, its versatile as all get-out.
Another thing thats awesome is that the engine now scales all the way from an iPhone 3GS up to next-generation hardware. That means you could theoretically make a game thatd run on every single one of these devices. Mobile phones to tablets to set top boxes, said Rein.
The coolest part of all? All this technology is in Unreal licensees hands today. When Epic updates, so does everyone else. The whole gaming industrys been sort of reluctant about a next generation of consoles, but Epic and the rest of the tech business have other plans.
If the next game consoles cant do this, well, Apple increased their iPad by nine times today, Rein said.
Them be fightin words, gaming industry. It appears, however, that Epic will be providing your most powerful weapon.
Update 3:
Source: http://www.develop-online.net/news/37203/GDC11-Epic-unveils-new-tech-demoDevelop said:GDC11: Epic astounds with new tech demo
by Will Freeman
GDC11: Epic astounds with new tech demo
Unreal Engine 3 video strives to set the standard for future hardware platforms
Epic Games has used its private GDC press conference to demo a stunning Unreal Technology demo that Mark Rein described as 'a love letter to hardware manufacturers'.
The 'Samaritan' video, with debuted just moments ago to a select group of gathered press, demonstrated what is achievable using cutting-edge hardware, the features of the current iteration of UE3, and some of the DirectX 11 UE3 features due in March 2011.
Focusing on cinematic intense visual effects as opposed to the procedural flexibility demonstrated in Epic's previous tech videos, the highly impressive Samaritan movie showcased Unreal Engine 3's artist driven features, including image-based reflection and improved bloom, along with Direct X 11 features such as sub surface scattering and dynamic tessalation and displacement.
"The whole idea behind this is to tell hardware developers and tell game developers this is what you should prepare for down the road," said Epic vice president Mark Rein.
"There needs to be mass market devices that can do this before too long."
While the demo was made by only three artists, one rigger, and a number of mocap artists, it did run on three graphics cards. However, Rein stated: "We suspect that with a little bit of optimisation this could even run on a single Ti500 card" [Nirolak's Note: I'm assuming they meant a single GTX 580 since the Ti500 is from 2005.]
Later Rein joked: "Tim Sweeney said that if we did version numbers for Unreal Engine this would be version 3.971."