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[WarlockSyno]

In this video:


The visuals look beautiful when they're close up, from far away, it's another story.

While Outerra looks very beautiful from afar, and looks well from close up, could it look this good?

You guys seem to have Outerra very well optimized with the LOD. Just wondering if it could happen.

[Edding3000]

i dont like the closup graphics at all! bad texturing and ugly billboarding of grass!

[WarlockSyno]

They're not the best. But the Outerra team seems to know how to make anything beautiful.

[Timmo]

One things for sure, if they keep dropping leaves at that rate, those trees will be bare very quickly!

Id also say that their definition of 'flying from space' is a little different to Outerras!

[cameni]

We definitely want to enhance the visuals for FPS views. In coming months expect updates with 3D trees, shrubs, grass and other ground litter that will greatly enhance the closeups. We just have to make it work across the whole detail range seamlessly.

[molnibalage]

We definitely want to enhance the visuals for FPS views. In coming months expect updates with 3D trees, shrubs, grass and other ground litter that will greatly enhance the closeups. We just have to make it work across the whole detail range seamlessly.

Is it possible to reach the smae detail for an FPS / RPG game where the used terarin is about 10-20 sqmiles or much smaller, and for a sim that requires tens or thousands? (My guess is not.)

Sould be this the goal?  (My opinion is not.)

Does this mean that the modularity of enginge will support the different goals?

BTW nowadays the GXF requirements are to overrated. I prefer in every game the avaiable feature on physics modeling. For ex. I do not care about more detailed tress than current. I prefer if a game can modeling as many tings as possibble for a game. Here are some exmple.

FPS

- All item and model can be damaged or penetrabel if a weapon is strong. It is quite funny when empty barrels are blocking any bullet fro any waepon. Ect. Penetration model.


RPG

- Physics model should enable more flexible storyline. For. ex. a damaged can be repaired if the storyline requires, items can be destroyed but not scripted event. Complex mechanics have to be modeled for enable tricky traps lock, and other mechanisms. More or leass same as for penetration model. Your action have to carry meaning for environent.

Fligt sim and combat sims

- Ever main thing should be modeled at least a primitve way. RCS dependenvy by direction and AC type, uique data for every vehicle. Ground clutter modeling for radar and IR seekers, weather daytime / effect on AI eyball and your padlock, ECM, countermeasure modeling, radar mode, modeling, basic aerodynamis effect, ect.

[ZeosPantera]

The graphics look very cartoony. Putting alot of "stuff" in a scene only looks good if it looks natural. The colors and movement of everything in that engine looked like it was meant for WOW or some improbable space shooter on an alien world.

[cameni]

Is it possible to reach the smae detail for an FPS / RPG game where the used terarin is about 10-20 sqmiles or much smaller, and for a sim that requires tens or thousands? (My guess is not.)

It has long been deemed possible with the use of procedural techniques, and we are on the path to prove it. The terrain is already refined down to centimeters, there's and extra effort to model asphalt thickness on roads; everything goes in the direction of making a believable world that is true from space as well as from the ground view.

Sould be this the goal?  (My opinion is not.)

I assume this assertion comes from the viewpoint of a flight simmer, because it basically says you don't care for the detail that you won't be seeing. Though even within the flight sim community there are some who want to experience a multisim - for example getting to an airport on a bike, landing in a meadow, and generally enjoying the environment even when outside the plane. Other game types mostly welcome the ability to zoom from ground to space; it has been the dream of many. The biggest problem will be the content - game studios employing armies of designers and modelers will have a problem filling the world up using their old approaches.

Does this mean that the modularity of enginge will support the different goals?

See, it's mainly a terrain engine, or a world rendering engine should we invent a new category for naming its capabilities. Nothing prevents it from being used in those different types of games. Of course there's additional work involved because of that, but we don't want to make just a flight sim engine, or just a large scale FPS/RTS/whatever engine.

The truth is we initially didn't even consider it for flight sims, and the reaction of flight sim community and the state of the terrain in flight sims surprised us a bit too.

[C. Shawn Smith]

The truth is we initially didn't even consider it for flight sims, and the reaction of flight sim community and the state of the terrain in flight sims surprised us a bit too.

An interesting tidbit of information.  What sort of applications were you originally looking at, if you don't mind my asking?  Was it just the "thrill," so to speak, of creating a world simulator?  Or did you guys have something specific in mind as to the direction?  I know there are a few developers working on creating a procedural world simulator (it seems a LOT of this interest came about after SPORE was release), but too few of the projects have this level of detail or, rather, attention to detail.

You've posted on your blog on occasion that your work is from a programmer's perspective, not an artist's, but with all due reverence, what you are doing IS art .  And it's probably suited better for a separate thread, but what exactly is the breakdown on "tasks" for you and Angrypig?  What does everyone specialize in?

[cameni]

I'll redirect my reply to the "introduce yourself" thread, as it fits there better.

[razgriz 53992]

We had a massive dumping of snow today, and I now can't wait to see snow and weather in Outerra (not meaning to sound demanding, I'm just commenting that it'll be awesome when it is integrated). If, like you have mentioned, snow is a 3D object and thus can have varying thicknesses and tracks, that'll just be

And trees. Snow accumulating on trees. And building roofs! That can be then knocked off and melts gradually.

Bugger. I've done it again. Thing is, once you start thinking about the potential, you're on a roll. Sorry guys- please don't feel pressurised or anything at all, I'm not trying to be inconvenient, just embracing what is a brilliant engine.

[cameni]

You had a massive dumping of snow and you can't wait for the snow in Outerra? Weird one, weird. I thought in UK you've got enough of snow already

Oh we don't feel pressurized .. we are aware of the potential and often drift in thoughts too far ourselves. Alas, we are also aware of the amount of work

[C. Shawn Smith]

Alas, we are also aware of the amount of work

Waiting for the 2011 videos to appear, with all new stuff  Imagining 3d trees being integrating by the first quarter (no pressure, Angrypig , and maybe climate data.  After that, I can't even begin to contemplate the possibilities

[razgriz 53992]

You had a massive dumping of snow and you can't wait for the snow in Outerra? Weird one, weird. I thought in UK you've got enough of snow already

You can never have too much snow. We get snow for about half an hour a year usually, this is unusual, but the landscapes are so picturesque that it would make Outerra look beautiful.

[flightmaster]

You had a massive dumping of snow and you can't wait for the snow in Outerra? Weird one, weird. I thought in UK you've got enough of snow already

You can never have too much snow. We get snow for about half an hour a year usually, this is unusual, but the landscapes are so picturesque that it would make Outerra look beautiful.

You make it sound as if Outerra isn't beautiful