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.