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Games... I dunno...


Jason

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I was just looking around at all the hot games and great new cards out there and I really don't know... It really is not convincing.

I had a sudden anxiety that with Maya and XSI being very cheap and aimed at the games market, that there would be a ton on really spectacular games out there with tons of people with great tools to make 'em. I had a fear that they'd be catching up with the features industry, but now I think I may be wrong. Even the headliners like DOOM3 and HL2, the animation is really not good and not convincing in the slightest. Even in the cinematic sequences (not the pre-rendered stuff), the motion is wooden and silly and the models low-poly, all rendered with terrible looking lighting models. Heavy textures and no fine displacement - just some bad bump.

I've seen the tech-tests of some of the cards and so on but the games don't have the finesse to make it work.

Which games are the most impressive to you?

My current vote is still with SplinterCell: Pandora Tomorrow.

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Today's games suck!!!

It's sad but I must agree, having highend 3D app they should make better games but maybe they think: best game=best graphics, this is a misconception.

For me number one are such games: SuperMario64, ChronoTrigger(Snes), MGS1(PS2), Heart Of Darkness(incredible game, incredible!!!).

I think good game is like a bottle of wine. I mean these titles like SuperMario, are older games but I play them few times a week and I love them all time coz they are so cool, did I mention I play PacMan from SuperNintendo.

In these days I don't see many interesting games and PC games really suck!!! I remember, not many years ago, PC adventure games like KingQuest or Beneth a Steel Sky or Indiana Jones they were so incredible(did i mention I have them :) . Look at today's games, I don't see many interesting titles.

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i really like Rise of Nations (demo) but i dont think that counts ;) i was fairly impressed by the demo movie for Everquest 2

agreed, and its not just better game making tools but look at the hardware the games can be made for. the games aren't hundreds of times better than they were 12+ years ago on a 1mb 16-bit amiga but the hardware is :)

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I loved Far Cry, both from a graphical and gameplay standpoint. The sheer amount of polys and textures rendered on the screen just dropped my jaw (and, they just look so good). The water shoreline effect (on "Very High") actually shows water rolling in and out, complete with foam. No fancy shaders, just textures, but very effective. Almost makes you want to stop and pitch a chair & cooler on the beach.

The facial animation on the characters is just laughable, though. The character animinations themselves are about average for a game, though there's lots of little touches that aren't overused like most "unique" animations are (a guard smacking a fly, fishing or having a smoke - in fact, they're so underused that it's easy to play the entire game and not see one).

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was a great return to those older adventure games, though it's a bit slow in the beginning and it took me a while to get used to the controls. The facial animations here were some of the best that I've seen in a 3D game, but it's been a while since I've played it, so they could be downright crappy by now.

Doom3: I found Doom3 to get repetitive pretty quickly after the opening sequence (which was very well done). Wall into dark room, monsters jump out at you; dispatch, turn around & shoot the one sneaking up behind you, continue (and it's not very difficult on the default setting - I'm about 5 levels in and haven't died once). At least it's faithful to the old Doom!

Everything's either metallic or wet-organic in that game, so it's extremely bump map and specular-heavy. It's the sort of game that screenshots don't do justice - a lot of the effects just can't be captured in still very well (heat haze, eerie fog, realtime moving shadows). If they ever post a demo, it's worth taking a look at.

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The best game I've played in recent memory was Prince of Persia. It rocked! And the sequel is coming out soon, so I'm gonna get that too :)

Not only were the graphics and animations pretty good, but the story was excellently done. In my opinion if the story really draws me in and gets me involved, then I'm willing to overlook the graphical flaws that it may or may not have.

Marc

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One of my favorite game of all time is Panzer Dragoon Orta for the xbox it had a great story, the game play is awesome and the game as a whole is novell. I have to agree with Marc if the story is well told and draws me in then the graphics does really matter as much.

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And besides, DOOM3 always looked like a great technology test to me. Now all we need is for someone to take the engine and make an actual game out of it.

I still don't get the skeletons with rocket launchers on their shoulders... :huh:

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I still don't get the skeletons with rocket launchers on their shoulders...

Old Quake 3 Arena players that stood too close when firing, I guess ;) They're irritating, since all the hit detection is done per-poly - and they don't need to be terribly precise in return. A good defense tactic, not having skin...

I will be very interested to see the games that come out based on the Doom3 engine (and there are several in the works). Id has a history of making so-so single player games with engines that have powered some truly great games. Though I must say Q3:Arena provided months of fun (before I draw down upon me torrids of flames).

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If we're talking about 3d hardware accelerated graphics, I think Doom III is pretty impressive. Not a game really but I always liked the 'nature' tests in the madonion benchmarks.

That most Squaresoft titles had amazing rendered sequences is out of question I guess and Blizzard usually did a pretty good job as well; in particular I liked the design here.

Overall however most impressive were the good old Lucas Arts Adventure times B) : Full Throttle, Monkey Island, Sam & Max, Indy etc. I always liked the gameplay & design. Most games nowadays seem to lack the passion these small teams had when working on their titles.

Jens

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Full Throttle, Monkey Island, Sam & Max, Indy etc. I always liked the gameplay & design. Most games nowadays seem to lack the passion these small teams had when working on their titles.

Oh my god, I forgot about these. They r of course incredible too :)

I just reminded: FinalFantasy VII, perfect story and first class graphics.

Are there any companies which use Houdini to make games???

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Games companies using Houdini? Few and far between but here is a partial list:

Namco in Japan. A small team still uses Houdini there.

Ludens in Japan. A small but incredible team of artists there. Lots of game videos were done there before game engines were used to render the in-between movies. ( I know they have a gamey name but I ain't no hard-core gamer)

EA-UK. They used Houdini for F1-2000 and F1-2001 for the playstation versions.

EA-LA has a cut or two for odds and sods

CAMF used houdini for a game last year. Graphics looked very good.

I am sure there are a few more.

The EA-UK F1 team was awesome. Built procedural race tracks directly from the dxf files of the actual tracks. It was just too cool therefore EA had to, oh well, I will not go there. :angry:

Should Houdini be used for games development? Absolutely. It is a perfect fit. Just not enough users getting trained up to make an impact IMHO.

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best looking game on the planet is EVERQUEST... j/k..

imo - doom3 was cool looking 3 yrs ago... but its kinda silly and BORING. as an aside, i was never really impressed with the bumps shown in doom3's sneak previews...

all said and done, crappy graphics dont count for much, gameplay seems to be 99% of the game to most ive talked to.. example: everquest, TERRIBLE graphics but gameplay HOOKED people to play for hrs on end.

idiots like me :whistling:

marc... skeletons with rockets, makes about as much sense as having to put your gun away just to get your 22nd century flashlight out.

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I enjoyed Knights of the Old Republic as well. I am looking forward to EQ II. The movies look nice, especially for a MMORPG. I was an EQ junky for a couple of years, but killed my account when I went back to school. LOL They are releasing it at the beginning of finals week. The box is going to sit in it's cellaphane wrapper for a week, taunting me while I try to get my final projects finished. How is that for cruel! Seriously though, I have to agree that the look of games has not improved nearly as much as I would have expected. However, I think that may change in the next two years. I do hope that the entertainment quality improves in the future. It seems that the fun factor has gone down in the industry in the last few years. I found myself becoming quickly bored with 2/3 of the games which I have purchased in the last 3 years and most of the ones that I have enjoyed weren't using "eye popping" graphics anyway.

Grav

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Duke Nukem Forever, FOREVER!!

A lot of new games, since Unreal1 have been a showcase for the new engine, and the game just happens to let you look at all its new purdyness.

With HL2's modability it should let it evlolve into a stunning work of art, esp when some of the movies start to come out.

Unreal1, Unreal2, Doom3, Far Cry, Q3 are mainly great engines with games attached.

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