K9 Krew Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 (edited) Perhaps the most obvious technical upgrade visible in the trailer is the real-time lighting and shadows. Now, seeing as this is a next-gen title we're talking about, one might say this feature is a given. However, after experiencing and modding the GTAIII Trilogy, I think this deserves a lot more attention than it will probably get. In every title since GTAIII, all the environmental lighting has been done by pre-lit vertices. For those not technically inclined, this basically means the highlights and shadows were painted into the models, then multiplied all together to roughly match the time of day. While the results looked good at any given moment, as time passed by things just didn't seem alive. With real-time lighting, on the other hand, the "living, breathing city" concept of GTA has just gotten a whole lot more dynamic. Another possible no-brainer for a modern title is normal mapping. But considering the history of somewhat blocky peds in the series, and if this is what we think it is, it is a welcome change. If you look closely around the arm and face of this ped, you can see that the lighting appears to be smoother than the actual polygonal mesh. This trick is done by creating a smooth, highly detailed version of a 3D model, rendering a texture which stores the vertex info, then applying it to an optimized version of the model. The end result is a more detailed model with a much smaller file size. Which of course is a good thing when you've got a dozen or so on the screen. It also looks as if both peds in the picture have individual fingers. One of the most annoying and downright bizarre things about the series has been that it's seemingly inhabited by an army of clones. Granted, San Andreas fixed this a bit by adding tons of different peds, but nevertheless, one would always run into the same person in the same clothes over and over again. Day after virtual day. Hiding amidst the time-lapse portion of the trailer though are clues that this may be about to change. To the left are a series of screenshots from the trailer showing an otherwise identical person wearing mixed and different color outfits. If you go through the trailer frame by frame, it seems that there are a bunch of other peds wearing random outfits. Yes, it is possible that they are four unique ped models. But after the player clothing options in San Andreas, it's only natural that Rockstar North expand this to peds. And if that's really the case I would expect the variety to grow even more as the game draws closer to completion. Here is a article posted at GTA4.Net. Edited April 1, 2007 by Wu-Zi-Mu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandora Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 You just quoted something... Anyway, the new real-time lighting feature is great. Makes everything much better. Especially in that glas type of building. There you really could see the rays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artur Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Yes I agree. The lighting looks great in GTA IV. It brings so much "life" to the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cloud' Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Do you think it will be the same at night with the Moon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTAPlayer Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 The lighting in GTA IV is amazing, it's a really huge difference compared to the past GTAs, looking amazing you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K9 Krew Posted April 1, 2007 Author Share Posted April 1, 2007 Do you think it will be the same at night with the Moon? Yeah i think they will make it looks all good and do you reckon they will have stars in this game?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cloud' Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Hopefully, that would add a nice touch to the game and spruce up the sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandora Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Do you think it will be the same at night with the Moon? Well the lighting looks similar to Crysis so probably yes. Wonder how that looks.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K9 Krew Posted April 1, 2007 Author Share Posted April 1, 2007 but crysis is based on a tropical island i think the lighting and shadows wouldn't look the same compared to a big city Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandora Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Yeah, but it uses the same way of lighting stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K9 Krew Posted April 1, 2007 Author Share Posted April 1, 2007 Yeah i guess that is true, but did you read the part about the skyscrapers and how they all have a seperate lighting thing which makes it look alot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandora Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 No, but there is a difference for shadows. Like buildings would get a different shadow then vegitation what would have a more soft shadow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K9 Krew Posted April 1, 2007 Author Share Posted April 1, 2007 oh, wel okay , well what else is ther to say about the lighting except that it is AMAZING Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_91 Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 The lighting is excellent but I think it will not be as good as in natural gameplay. I could be wrong but I just have a feeling it won't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surrealistic ArtSweet Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 you know what? this gives me an opinion+idea! maybe in the next trailer, we get to see the city at night, and observe how good it will be yeah, the lighting looks very cool, like one of those movies Brian De Palma made... i think it is called the black dahlia... but i don't... nah.. i'm just kidding, i love all de palma's work, did any of you guys saw the movie? the lighting looks just like this game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeAtH Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Looking at pics makes think that game size is 5-7gb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris82 Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 The game is gonna be more than that dude, Half-Life 2 was around 4GB and the textures weren't even really high-res. But anyway it's about damn time we get some decent lighting. Claps for Rockstar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandora Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Looking at pics makes think that game size is 5-7gb That's not even 1 gig more then San Andreas. I reckon it being 10 gig for the PC version, or at least 9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandora Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Looking at pics makes think that game size is 5-7gb That's not even 1 gig more then San Andreas. I reckon it being 10 gig for the PC version, or at least 9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now