The story will be linear at all, but we are working on an open gameplay through the missions. So that the player is able to search for several items. Also there will be a little squad which can be instructed by the player. We are working on a system where the player has the option to say "supporting marine please go to the 1st floor and search for items" aso. That makes the gameplay very open but the story is going to be linear.

Videos and demos will be out if the game is ready to release those files.

Sorry if I didnt get the conversation right and I know that im not part, but I
would like to add something to the whole shader thing: A game doesnt need shaders,
shaders dont help the game that much, for an example take the beauty of project
offset and then put it in a game where you have to look around with the arrow keys
because the coder is too stupid to program mouse controls, nobody would play it, but
tons of people would buy it. People that like video games dont care about graphics
that much, more on gameplay and thats what I need. And for a game wiith A6 that is
pretty sweet there and I love the look! I mean look at Counter Strike 1.x, it is
totally out dated in graphics and there is still I dont know how many people playing it!
Shaders do help the atmosphere and sometimes the look etc. But at this point you
dont have to use shaders often, true you should use normal maps a lot because they
have better results in performance than a high detailed model. One good example
is the "Sneak Peak 2" that Offset Software gave us as a demo video for their
current project (working title). They had just a flat cube as a floor and at he
beginning it looked like a high detailed model with all kinds of tiles! But it
was just a normal map applied to it and thats the way to do it. But over
everything in an indie game comes the fun in gameplay, usually Indie games dont
have the quality to be called AAA or AA but some of them can be A, rated by
graphics, but people, if you are working in a non commercial or a small commercial
team then look that your game is fun or intense and addicting, like
CounterStrike: Your Girlfriend wants some special attention in bed but you just
cant stop playing, thats how most people feel, but I still like sex more than
games Bad example I know but Counterstrike makes a lot of money and it is
just addicting even though there is not much to it, only good graphics and fun
gameplay!

A) Games need shaders.

B) Half-Life 2 had used shaders in some areas, in future versions shaders will be much more wide-spread. You have to remember the extensive physics in the game did not give it the extra horsepower to per-pixel light the entire levels.

C) To make an successfull FPS game your going to need the entire levels per-pixel lit, or, make up for it in content(I mean physics, object littered levels ect.). The only way I can see a commercial FPS without per-pixel shaders for everything is very large outdoor areas. But if your starting your game now then it's smart to have that per-pixel lit as well.

D) You'll need shaders as an option in most other generes past the FPS.

E) Quake4 had low res-textures. The future will be per-pixel light with higher res textures, realtime shadows, ect. basically what's rendered with the help of the Sphere engine(minus the physics, A6 physics are not the quickest if you like stability, never tried Newton so cannot comment there).

In my game I decided not to go with per-pixel lighting for the full scene due to speed reasons. This is an outdoor kart racing game with very large racetracks. Karts contain A.I, weapons, ect. Currently I have a slew of options for graphics. In the shader department I've got bloom, multi-texturing, all the powerups, water, skies, vegetation, screens, set peices, and various weapon effects. The game also runs on low end computers due to the options(4 major graphics options). My nearly identical FFP effects run slower than their shader counterparts. Either way, shaders arn't toys, they really affect the lighting in your game and make everything more "dynamic". And they will change your art direction, so it's best to plan ahead and have all your options in place before you do the art.

@K_Erkelenz

That's why I still play old SNES games!

Compared to today they can get no points in grafics (but nevertheless I like them) but they are fun to play and are still played even 10 or 15 years later.


@William

That's maybe right for commecrial AAA (I start hating that expression) titels made by big companies, but we aren'T talking about a commercial project here.
Were all more or less hobby programmers around here, we don't/ can create the next DOOM or whatever.

Don’t look at the technology behind the game!
If it looks good and fells good... what else do you want? it can contain as mush or as little shaders as... i don’t know.. but it does not matter.. how the game feel and how it looks when its ready is the only thing that matters. The graphic should not be taken out from the judgment of the game BUT the technology behind the graphics should!
Where do you all want to take this conversation? :P

I don't think we should make this a spamming thread. If F.E.A.R is working on your pc or not has nothing to do with the topic. We should come back to the game itself and not just talking about the way of technology or how to run another game on my pc. Also the question is: why are we talking about? shaders or not, Alienpac Software already decided to use those technologies for the game. We also work with Zbrush for really high res models to create really good normalmaps. But the process of game development is still running, the game is not ready yet these are only the first impressions.

Hi there,
Just to get the point, I want my levels with loads of shaders but Ive had conflicts of opinion as to if it works well in GS. The best thing is for me to test Matts engine in the level I am making. It is great that people like Matt and Triple x are forging ahead with great add ons.

Its hard for me as I am an desinger/3D artist so I have to learn the programming terms.

One point is I am really keen to talk about sebcrea, is your idea to use zbrush
after your low res models are in place to create normal maps.

That is exactly what I want to do, make an initial prototype level without normals and shaders then add in and assess performance etc.

I work in 3DS max 8 and will shortly buy zbrush for its modelling capabilites.
A lot of artists say its best to make the high res version first.
Im from the side where I prefer to make a sound low res version in max then import it into z brush and develop it as high res for normal maps.

Im sorry im mentioning other programmes but I think its relevant to my use of GS to create realtime levels.

For example, I made a dam level last year, the models are low res. I would like to think I could import them into brush then start to paint on all the cracks, bricks etc. Then use that as the normal.

So my strategy would be to make the low res test level first then add the shaders. Shoot me down in flames, im open to criticism and learning. Ive worked in 3ds max for 6 years but im new to realtime engine work since last year.......

Anyway, its all good to see good work being made in GS.
James.

Those shots are phenominal. I have been wandering around this forum for years, but it is very rare that I post.

This is easily some of the best work produced for gamestudio, period. What is impressive is the fact that shaders aren't applied, and it still looks great, so if and when you decide to impliment them with noise, normal, or bump maps it can only get better. Recently I have noticed many sub-par UVs with specular shaders applied, and personally I think this is unimpressive, very ameture. It is always useful to start with a well-made base texture.

In reguards to the other tangent this thread has gone to: I think it's insane to imply that for a game to be successful a game needs to be loaded down with shaders. There is deffinately a fine balance, and I think there will always be a place for the texture artist in the gaming industry.

It's hard to argue with the many AAA titles released last year with little to no shader support. ie God of War for PS2, Metroid Prime 2 Cube (these are commercial games). Sorry to throw another log on the fire.

I HATED Fear, it worked grat on my computer but I hated the overall gameplay...