Lore Aftermath - Now With HDR
by Logan Foster · 09/17/2008 (1:00 pm) · 12 comments
Lore Aftermath will soon be moving into a private (and eventually public) beta on InstantAction and as such I thought that I would take a moment to showcase a new gameplay video:
So what's cool and new in this video versus previous videos that we have shown of the gameplay?
HDR lighting and bloom is in. This is what is helping make everything not only look so nice and bright, but its also added a lot of additional richness to the game. The HDR actually only impacts the performance by a few FPS and will work with any SM2.0 graphics card (those without SM2.0 can have it disabled).
The MAV Shader. Part of the work that we did with the Hue shader tech that I previously showcased was a brand spanking new Pixel and Vertex shader for the MAVs themselves. While this was required to make the Hue Tech work properly, it also was something that we really wanted to do because the default shader that shipped with TGEA just wasn't making the MAVs look blingy enough. With this shader both the specular and normal bump maps are very strong and noticable without looking too pixelated and jagged.
Zoomed in shader. This effect blurs the screen from the center outward when you are zoomed in.
Damage shader. Another full screen effect which gives the look of an electrical noise on your HUD. As you get more and more damaged the effect will fade in and out faster to help further visually designate that you have just taken a beating. This effect was done very similar to how a Normal Bump works, we use the same type of bitmap to control how the distortion effect adjusts the screen moving pixel data in the XY.
Lots of cool weapon and damage effects. Cannons, lasers, artillery, missiles, rockets, auto cannons, the whole gamut of weapons is being showcased via the different configurations players have in their MAVs. Much of the cool weapon FX is done via a technique called "ribbons", which IMHO is way better than trying to do weapon projectile trails with particles (other games on IA are using this same technique).
Of course there are a lot of other cool things in the game that we haven't had a chance to show off yet, but we will soon. In the meantime we will see you guys on Instant Action soon, so keep your eyes on the lookout and make certain you do your best to let the IA crew know that you want to help test the game when its time.
So what's cool and new in this video versus previous videos that we have shown of the gameplay?
HDR lighting and bloom is in. This is what is helping make everything not only look so nice and bright, but its also added a lot of additional richness to the game. The HDR actually only impacts the performance by a few FPS and will work with any SM2.0 graphics card (those without SM2.0 can have it disabled).
The MAV Shader. Part of the work that we did with the Hue shader tech that I previously showcased was a brand spanking new Pixel and Vertex shader for the MAVs themselves. While this was required to make the Hue Tech work properly, it also was something that we really wanted to do because the default shader that shipped with TGEA just wasn't making the MAVs look blingy enough. With this shader both the specular and normal bump maps are very strong and noticable without looking too pixelated and jagged.
Zoomed in shader. This effect blurs the screen from the center outward when you are zoomed in.
Damage shader. Another full screen effect which gives the look of an electrical noise on your HUD. As you get more and more damaged the effect will fade in and out faster to help further visually designate that you have just taken a beating. This effect was done very similar to how a Normal Bump works, we use the same type of bitmap to control how the distortion effect adjusts the screen moving pixel data in the XY.
Lots of cool weapon and damage effects. Cannons, lasers, artillery, missiles, rockets, auto cannons, the whole gamut of weapons is being showcased via the different configurations players have in their MAVs. Much of the cool weapon FX is done via a technique called "ribbons", which IMHO is way better than trying to do weapon projectile trails with particles (other games on IA are using this same technique).
Of course there are a lot of other cool things in the game that we haven't had a chance to show off yet, but we will soon. In the meantime we will see you guys on Instant Action soon, so keep your eyes on the lookout and make certain you do your best to let the IA crew know that you want to help test the game when its time.
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#3
09/17/2008 (2:31 pm)
That looks totally crazy, Im so impressed. Great Job! 
#4
09/17/2008 (3:18 pm)
Wow! Looks nice, though at the risk of being shouted down from the rooftops ... I'm not a huge fan of HDR. 
#5
09/17/2008 (4:48 pm)
Damn.... 
#6
09/17/2008 (6:11 pm)
Looks great - can't wait to play it - Robot games rule! 
#7
09/18/2008 (1:47 am)
super cool....I like your robot game very much...can I playing this demo? 
#8
09/18/2008 (2:23 am)
I'm not a huge fan of HDR either, but these videos are so interesting to watch. Great art direction! 
#9
09/18/2008 (6:18 am)
Very awesome. 
#11
09/18/2008 (1:31 pm)
Looks nice. I wonder though, weren't you guys testing this other MMO game framework rather recently for Lore:Aftermath?
#12
No that's another project. Its based on the same universe that Lore is set in, but way way off in the future. So technicly the two are not related. The MMO work is its own thing as is the great work the team has done making the mech sim that you see here in Lore Aftermath, but thanks for noticing :)
@Everyone
Thanks for the comments. Its been quite the experiance learning TGEA and getting a game going with it (especially considering the significant redesign that went into making Lore Aftermath into a true mech sim). Look for more blogs from myself and other team members in the future as we talk more about the development of this product.
09/18/2008 (2:02 pm)
@DavidNo that's another project. Its based on the same universe that Lore is set in, but way way off in the future. So technicly the two are not related. The MMO work is its own thing as is the great work the team has done making the mech sim that you see here in Lore Aftermath, but thanks for noticing :)
@Everyone
Thanks for the comments. Its been quite the experiance learning TGEA and getting a game going with it (especially considering the significant redesign that went into making Lore Aftermath into a true mech sim). Look for more blogs from myself and other team members in the future as we talk more about the development of this product.
Associate Logan Foster
perPixel Studios
Aside from normalizing the lighting levels you will notice that the colors are much more vibrant and there are very subtle (but nice) light blooms (or glows) on bright objects such as the areas of the MAV where it is catching the lighting.