PC Perspective's John Carmack Interview: GPU Race, Intel Graphics, Ray Tracing and Voxels and more!

I just got a chance to sit through PC Perspective's John Carmack Interview: GPU Race, Intel Graphics, Ray Tracing and Voxels and more!

For anyone interested in gaming and the future of gaming technology this is a must see!!

"Now to things of recent debate – infinite detail engines. He first clarifies that voxel engines and infinite detail topics are not the same thing and should not be treated as such. Carmack then states he believes “procedurally generated detail is usually not what you want.” A discussion that has been around for over a decade, truly useful procedurally generated content has never materialized though the ability to easily and efficiently manage the real data that you do create HAS. My favorite line? “Proceduralism is just a truly crappy form of data compression.” He continues to state that infinite detail isn’t really what’s important to future game development and instead we should be focusing on the “broad strokes” of artistic visions and build on them. “If you take uninspired content and go look at it at the molecular level, it’s still uninspired content.”

Also head on over to PC Perspective for a full transcript! 
   

Death of the GPU as we Know It?? Re-post from March 19 2008

This is a re-post from March 19 2008 on my old site www.tkarena.com.

Unlimited Polygons A Reality?

Well actually that sub-title is a white lie to get your attention. But don’t be too angry. What this article is about is something even better than unlimited polygons, it’s about unlimited voxels.

The legendary games programmer John Carmack, in an interview on PC Perspective in mid-March 2008 , spoke of a new technology he is working on:


“It involves ray tracing into a sparse voxel octree which is essentially a geometric evolution of the mega-texture technologies that we’re doing today for uniquely texturing entire worlds. It’s clear that what we want to do in the following generation is have unique geometry down to the equivalent of the texel across everything.”

Kind of a slim Friday update this week...

STAR WARS: The Old Republic Fan Friday

URL: http://www.swtor.com/news/news-article/20110812-0


With each Fan Friday, we feature creations from some of the clever members of the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ community. This time around we’re shining the spotlight on some of the incredible artwork done by our fans.

Be sure to check out this month’s Fan Site Spotlight where we talk to Chimaera, a great French site dedicated to bringing you the latest from The Old Republic. Also, we compiled a number of images from the “Return” cinematic trailer for you to download and use as your desktop wallpaper.

Read more…

Euclideon's Unlimited Detail in SWTOR or Another MMO?

As some of you may have seen I interviewed Bruce Dell on behalf of [H]ard|OCP and the video was published on Wednesday. I’ve had a couple of friends ask me whether Bruce’s Unlimited Detail technology would be viable for games like SWTOR. I have no doubt that the technology would improve games like SWTOR

but it’s far too late to make these ground breaking changes for that game, but they are working on technology that enables them to convert polygons into their engine, so conversions might actually be possible in the future. If this technology eventuates, it’s will make amazing changes to open world games. Read on

Euclideon's Unlimited Detail in SWTOR or Another MMO?

As some of you may have seen I interviewed Bruce Dell on behalf of [H]ard|OCP and the video was published on Wednesday. I’ve had a couple of friends ask me whether Bruce’s Unlimited Detail technology would be viable for games like SWTOR. I have no doubt that the technology would improve games like SWTOR but it’s far too late to make these ground breaking changes for that game, but they are working on technology that enables them to convert polygons into their engine, so conversions might actually be possible in the future. If this technology eventuates, it’s will make amazing changes to open world games.

In the demo, I found in excess of a hundred different items but yet people all over the net are criticizing the demo because it looks repetitive. I guess people just aren’t used to seeing that much information on the screen at once. 

If you go into WoW or and look at the zone Nagrad, for instance,

you can only see a max of three different tress in one scene, if that. There is far less detail and variety in WoW than in the Unlimited Detail video, and there will be less variety in SWTOR as well.

Euclideon are in need of a good map maker for their future projects. I look forward to seeing some well constructed maps to explore. You don’t realise how important view distance is until you get to experience something like this demo in real time. I watched the RAGE trailer this week after seeing Euclideon’s demo on Monday, and the graphics in RAGE looked horrible in comparison.

Having seen Euclideon’s technology first hand, now I feel like someone who got to see Blu-ray backs in the 80s, but then left stuck with VHS. Imagine standing in a world with this view:

This island was built to look like their logo and you are literally a pin-prick on the logo. each color is a major item like the purple dot is the elephant the light green is the cactus etc.  

This map would be as large as all of WoW … old and expansions put together. And there’s no loading between zones. This shot is looking over an area  the size of just 1 letter in the logo name.

Euclideon & Unlimited Detail - Bruce Dell Interview

[H]ard|OCP is proud to present this full feature video, behind the scenes interview I did with Bruce Dell, the founder and CEO of Euclideon and the original creator Unlimited Detail technology.

I interview's Bruce Dell for a full look into the past, present and future of Euclideon and the Unlimited Detail technology.

The small company of only 9 people in Brisbane Australia, were in the news again in early August 2011 after having released a demo video to give their fans a one year update. This video received almost 2 million hits in the first 4 days.

Euclideon are a very secretive bunch who normally decline interviews, but the public outcry for them to respond to their critics has been so great that they kindly agreed to this exclusive interview, letting [H]ard|OCP in before, the say, they must get back to work and disappear again until they have a final product.

Please head over to [H]ard|OCP for all the info.

Diablo 3 Beta Test Key! I Want it!!!

Diablo 3 beta announcement;

Countless hours of consulting the ancient prophecies and poring over dusty tomes have resulted in the unearthing of new information about Diablo III. The upcoming Diablo III beta test will introduce a treasure trove of exciting new features, including a new Auction House that will provide a powerful new way for your characters to acquire the implements of war. Prepare yourselves!

With the upcoming launch of the Diablo® III beta test, the armies of the Burning Hells will march forth from their forgotten lairs to besiege the mortal realms anew.

To prepare for this renewed demonic invasion, the Blizzard Insider has secured an exclusive interview with Lead Content Designer Kevin Martens as he shares his thoughts and insight on Diablo® III's upcoming beta test. So read on, and prepare yourself for the next chapter in the Diablo® saga.

Insider: Aside from the story elements, how are you tuning the game's combat encounters?

Kevin Martens: We want the game's difficulty to hit a range of "peaks" and "valleys" as the player progresses from battle to battle. During the "peaks", the challenge level spikes and players will be tested to their limits. In the "valleys", the difficulty relaxes and players can build up their health and energy again. From a gameplay standpoint, valleys are important because they allow players to learn and experiment with their abilities without too much fear of failure or death. It's the skills and techniques developed during the valleys that enable players to survive the peaks, which tend to be much tougher encounters, like ambushes, large groups, rare monsters, or even bosses. The peaks will require players to think quickly, spend their resources carefully, and move around the battlefield to avoid getting surrounded. Read on

This week in gaming

Some of you may have seen some of the updates we've done over at swtorface.com. The site's really coming together and I must say that I'm extremely excited about the game. I am in the process of gathering all of the individual class information and putting it into an easy to read template to help you choose the right class for you.

The only real gaming I've done over the last week was to finish off Portal 2. I got just as much satisfaction from Portal 2 as I did Portal 1, and I loved Portal 1. Kudos to the guys at Valve.

I have been meaning to try and get back to Duke Nukem Forever, I just can't bring myself to go any further in it. Only being able to carry two guns at a time and the repetitive gameplay style, just doesn't cut it anymore. The game is true to its origins. I am looking forward to a LAN party where I can truly test out multiplayer on Duke Nukem Forever with some mates, but I don't think I'll be bothering to finish the single player version.

Weekend update: Comic con and Jedi Consular Class Video

Whoot! It's the weekend! In this week's Friday update we have:

Jedi Consular Records
Long hours of study yielded important Consular details: specializations, a new class video, and more! Check out our class info section for all the goodies!

OOOOO I'm so tempted to make my main a consular!

2011 San Diego Comic-Con Highlights

This little video gives us a closer look at what happened at Comic Con:

For those of you who weren’t able to join BioWare in San Diego, they have put together a highlights video to share the San Diego Comic-Con experience with everyone. BioWare and LucasArts thank each and every one of you for your continuing support and excitement for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™!

SWTOR Class: Jedi Consular

Please got to the new updated Jedi Consular here

VISIONARY, AMBASSADOR, SEEKER OF JEDI WISDOM

For more than 20,000 years, the Jedi Order has worked to promote peace and balance in the Galactic Republic, but each new day brings with it a new threat, promising to rip the Jedi and the entire galaxy apart. If the Republic is to survive, it needs leaders and visionaries; it needs the Jedi Consular.

Jedi Consulars channel the power of the Force for strength in combat and wisdom in diplomacy. Years of arduous training and meditation have sharpened Consulars’ minds to cut to the truth as cleanly as their Lightsabers cut through their foes. Whether unlocking long forgotten mysteries of the Jedi, raising armies to fight for the Republic or engaging in mortal combat with Dark Lords of the Sith, the Consulars’ deep attunement to the Force gives them all the power they need to rise to the occasion with poise and balance.

Intimate attunement with the deepest Force mysteries gives Jedi Consulars the insight and empathy to deftly handle charged conflicts that confound even the most cunning Senators and governors—but Consulars know when it’s time to talk and when it’s time to fight. When negotiations turn aggressive, Consulars demonstrate their gifts of foresight—anticipating and deflecting enemy attacks with fluid strikes from their dual-bladed Lightsaber.

Read on