Number of posts : 10794 Location : Singapore IGN[Game NickName] : Ashura/Iori Yagami Current Status : Busy at Work Registration date : 2008-03-31
Subject: Atom Technology: The Gaming Revolution Wed Aug 03, 2011 9:37 am
When we say next-gen it is generally a minor graphical upgrade and some smoother animations. In the larger scope of things these aren't really next gen titles but more polished and refined current gen content. This content is the best we can get though, and we probably give developers more credit than they deserve. You may look at some of the current graphics and say "that is so realistic", but after the following video you will not be able to look at games the same. Do not say I didn't warn you, as this video will show you what the (very) near future holds.
Rendering objects in science and medicine is generally done so with virtual "atoms" rather than polygons as it allows us to see a more realistic model. This technology is very primitive and doesn't allow for many objects to be rendered on the screen together, it is useless outside the confines of these particular uses. That is until a technology company from Australia decided to improve this technology, and allow an UNLIMITED number of atoms on the screen at once. This essentially means that objects in the game are built from virtual solid matter rather than wireframe models. Every tiny crease and minute detail can be replicated in a video game, this means your video games can look EXACTLY like real life.
What you just saw wasn't a graphical masterpiece, but like he said; they aren't artists. If non-artistic programmers can achieve this level of detail with the technology they have developed, imagine what large budget development houses could do. With the ability to scan objects from the real world to in-game, and have them almost literally impossible to tell the difference; now that is next-gen. All this is claimed to be able to run at 20fps on an average gamer's machine, but can achieve much higher and smoother results on high end builds.
The SDK for this is released in a few months, and it will be interesting to see which developers decide to experiment with this. This gets my imagination swimming, and I start to wonder if this could have an impact on MMOs. Can we move away from the hitbox, smoke and mirror effects wrapped around current MMOs today. Everyone cried innovation with the "what your weapon hits is what you damage" approach, but it is merely hitbox collision smothered in animations.
This sort of breakthrough boosts other sectors; developers might start looking into utilizing this technology with physics and recent improvements in video game motion-capture technology. The results could set a new standard for video games, and essentially make the games we play today the equivalent of the first DOOM for this generation and the ones to come.
MMOs and gaming as a whole could be on the verge of undergoing a huge change, this all depends whether the technology proves to do what it claims or not. The best part of this technology is that it allows for conversion of current polygon models to the atom technology, essentially allowing developers to convert their current games into better looking replicas. Could the future hold an ArcheAge that is even more beautiful? Developers may no longer have restrictions, say goodbye to having a Draw Distance.
Hoolilol Captain
Number of posts : 236 Location : Macedonia IGN[Game NickName] : Hoolilol Current Status : Moody Registration date : 2011-07-20
Subject: Re: Atom Technology: The Gaming Revolution Wed Aug 03, 2011 10:22 am
I watched this and this is a real breakthrough...but also i read somewhere that this is fake or something idk I hope its not lol
kawainu Captain
Number of posts : 365 Location : Argentina IGN[Game NickName] : kawainu Current Status : Normal Registration date : 2010-01-31
Subject: Re: Atom Technology: The Gaming Revolution Wed Aug 03, 2011 10:46 am
If this isnt vaporware and it is the real deal then its great news for game developers but all we have r 2 videos and a lot of criticism. It's too soon to know if this is true or not. Now if they show up next year with at least an alpha version of their software and they prove its processing-friendly to the point of being usable by ppl in the game development sector and not just the military or medical labs then we might end up playing the most realistic-looking games ever. The 1 thing that is worrying me is animations. They r supposedly working on a solution since skeletal animations would deform anything into a creepy unrecognizable thing and keyframe animation would be impractical. In the best case scenario we could get games with realistic static scenarios and objects and poly-based char models. In the worst case scenario we r not gonna get anything and the australian government wasted 2 million dollars on them xD
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Subject: Re: Atom Technology: The Gaming Revolution