Terrain Engine and Skeletal Animation

Terrain Engine

Next up was the terrain engine that Brandon Reinhart mentioned in his .plan last week. True to his word, we didn't get a single screenshot of the new technology to post. Apparently they want to wait "until it looks better than Halo" - we think it might already be there. That is to say, it was breathtaking.

The demonstration involved a woodland area, with lots of trees with real, polygonal leaves. We were informed that no level of detail optimization was implemented, which was surprising because of how many trees were in the area and how far out the horizon stretched. If anything, the demo underscored how hardware transform and lighting can really affect the way outdoors scenes are depicted. No more moonscapes! It's also notable that the engine utilizes height maps to render the actual terrain, instead of plain polygonal meshes. Height maps are useful because they can be added and subtracted from one another, meaning that the same engine can be used to create caves and allow for deformable terrain.

Slated for completion in 2001, Epic's terrain engine assumes that most people will have a video card with hardware transform and lighting. The minimum spec they're aiming for will be 3dfx Voodoo 3 or cards with similar power. Technology marches on…

Epic Streetfighter?

Next up, we were treated to the new skeletal animation system. Again, very impressive stuff from Epic - the UT models they showed us were doing some very complex and impressive martial arts moves, including a variety of jukes and roundhouse kicks. James commented later that they looked fluid and natural enough for Epic to make a fighting game. Unreal Tekken anyone?

Zooming in on the faces, Epic showed how the complex bone structure of their characters' heads allows them to easily and naturally simulate emotions and facial expressions. These new extensions to the Unreal engine should definitely help them keep pace with the newer technology out there.

While these were only technology demonstrations, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Epic will be able to leverage their hard work in their next title. Slapping it all together, can we expect to see an outdoor shooter with exquisitely animated characters, and highly detailed terrain? The prospect should have any FPS fan's mouth watering.