Graphics

Awe Inspiring

The first thing you'll notice about Nocturne is its jaw dropping visuals. Rather than license some other game's engine for Nocturne, Terminal Reality chose to create their own technologies (yes that's plural) and build them into the game. Foremost among the "eye candy" is the impressive real time lighting and shadowing system that gives Nocturne so much of its eerie atmosphere. Nocturne uses real light sources in the game which cast shadows from objects dynamically. As the Stranger walks past a lamp you'll see his shadow bend and stretch depending on his position relative to the light. The shadows work with other characters and objects in the game too. Using the flashlight, you can rotate around objects and see how the newly cast shadows bend and change realistically. Seeing the game in still shots doesn't quite do justice to how impressive Nocturne's lighting is - it's something you have to see in motion to fully appreciate.

Your flashlight in action

Lucky your light was on

Terminal Reality didn't waste the amount of effort they poured into lighting. A lot of the gameplay design relies on dim and partially lit environments that can shroud the presence of monsters and other dangers. Luckily the Stranger is equipped with night vision in those chic goggles of his, but mostly you'll need to rely on your flashlight and find ways to turn on lights in order to find your way around the darker areas. Some gamers have complained that Nocturne's graphics are too dark; we've found that turning up the gamma can help a lot, or (as the developers recommend) simply playing in the dark with all the lights off. Any amount of glare on your screen is going to hinder your ability to see, so be warned.

More examples of light and shadow

These guys aren't too bright

Cloth modeling

One of the more unique technologies that Terminal Reality implemented in Nocturne is a cloth modeling system. This cloth modeler allows the game to show the Stranger's trenchcoat flap and sway around him realistically depending on his motion. Other items in the game, like cobwebs, curtains, and tapestries, take advantage of the cloth engine as well. The cloth modeler uses a mesh of vertices and "keeps track of weight, thickness, springiness, elasticity, wind area, moment of inertia, connected vertices, etc. for each vertex, then solves those equations in real time." Visually this results in vivid animations that look more lifelike because they're not canned and repetitive. You can never really get tired of watching the Stranger's trenchcoat. What's even more impressive is that the cloth modeler keeps track of the weight of the fabric. It's easy to notice that Svetlana's (another Spookhouse agent) silk cape billows in a much more flowy manner than the Stranger's heavier wool coat.

Svetlana's cape sways

Curtains use the cloth engine

You've got to move it, move it

Nocturne utilizes a number of other features for animation that make the game look smooth and lifelike. One of these features is interpolated animation. Older games would sometimes force one animation (say, the running animation) to complete its cycle before allowing you to do a different move (say, drawing your guns). This resulted in clunky and unresponsive control. Other games would allow you to do a different move right away, but would abruptly end the previous animation, which would cause "visual popping," a distracting graphic flaw. Interpolated animation allows for one type of animation to segue cleanly into another, solving both control and popping issues. In Nocturne, you'll see the Stranger run, jump, and pull out guns in a very clean, lifelike fashion. Nocturne also utilizes "inverse kinematics" to make item pickup more natural - check out our Nocturne interview for more on this.