210°

Epic: Increasingly Lifelike Characters 'Key' to Next-Gen Leap

CVG: "Creating more lifelike characters that players connect with emotionally is the "key to further progress" as we look towards the next generation of gaming.

That's according to Epic's CEO and technical director Tim Sweeney, discussing how the technical advancements shown off in Epic's impressive Samaritan video will impact gaming in the coming years.

"I'm most excited about the ability for more realistic characters and movie-quality environments to enhance the player's emotional attachment to the game world," he told Game Informer magazine."

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computerandvideogames.com
Cyb3r4815d ago

I couldnt agree more with Epic on this one

badz1494815d ago

seems like you're not ready for next gen leap yourself. Gears is in no way lifelike! steroid arms lol!

AAACE54815d ago (Edited 4815d ago )

Seems like badz149 isn't ready to stop being a fanboy!

How can you say that? Gears is what is working this gen for them! I could see if the Samaritan vid looked like Gears, but it is almost the complete opposite!

Steroided arms? Have you seen Wrestling or Body building competitions?

It would seem stupid to have regular looking humans carrying heavy guns and going toe to toe with huge monsters. In the original concepts for Gears, the humans just look plain! So I can see why they beefed the guys up! Plus with the executions they perform, only someone with a lot of strength can perform those!

madjedi4815d ago

@ace bodybuilding competitions those seem about bulk and appearance not actual strength to me, thats why you have the worlds strongest man competition. I have yet to see any of those guys parading themselves around in a thong, like bodybuilders do.

I think it was on the science channel or discovery channel, called super human strength a guy weighing 180 pounds, bent a pair of pliers like it was nothing among other strong men performing acts of strength.

"It would seem stupid to have regular looking humans carrying heavy guns and going toe to toe with huge monsters. In the original concepts for Gears, the humans just look plain! So I can see why they beefed the guys up!" Yes a artistic or style choice i agree.

"Plus with the executions they perform, only someone with a lot of strength can perform those!"

Okay now your trying to apply realism and physics to a completely fictional and unrealistic scenario. You should have quit while you were ahead.

Everything about gears from the oversized locasts to the oversized humans and uber large guns and even executions are done strictly for appearance or style, leave reality of the equation.

badz1494815d ago

I just stated that it isn't, which is true and I'm a fanboy? did I say I hate Gears? I didn't!

EYEamNUMBER14815d ago

i have yet to see any game character that is even close to life like

qface644815d ago

life like = boring/dull if you ask me
that's just me though

VampiricDragon_4815d ago

i completely agree. realism is pretty much ruining games as it is........

Rainstorm814815d ago (Edited 4815d ago )

i think the perfect mix is a blend of cartoony character models with real life features. As you said qface real life is boring, it only works for certain games (military FPS, Driving games..etc).....If you look at the top graphical games this gen majority went in favor of cartoony characters than photo realistic looking characters.

IMO graphics are good now the key is Resolution, Animations and AI....IMO....Better looking graphics should be a given

DelbertGrady4815d ago

Imo L.A Noir comes closest this gen thanks to its face animations.

AAACE54815d ago

So far, the Uncharted characters were the closest I have seen to performing realistically!

I would love to see what Rockstar could do with tech like this!

@qface64...lifelike is only dull/boring if the developer doesn't have the imagination to make it entertaining!

Another problem that happens is studios have people who see things differently and its hard to get everyone on the same page.

Rainstorm814815d ago

"So far, the Uncharted characters were the closest I have seen to performing realistically!"

Exactly and those characters are fairly cartoony in comparison to characters on COD or Crysis. The Cartoony art style mixed with real life features is the best way to go as Uncharted 2 has shown

Jezuz4815d ago

i play games to escape reality

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4815d ago
RedDead4815d ago

"I'm most excited about the ability for more realistic characters and movie-quality environments to enhance the player's emotional attachment to the game world,"

Getting kind of annoying, graphics aren't this^^^ important. Emotional attachment doesn't come from how anything looks. Try making a good character. It's like Rpg's, mgs for example or any previous game that can make you feel happy or sad just don't exist too him. Previous generations have more games with this attachment he is talking about. Graphics play a minor role in this aspect imo.

Wow I typed this before I read the article^^^ And after reading it turns out he is literally disregarding other games which have succeeded in this area.

gamingdroid4815d ago

There are games that are purely for fun and then there are those that are intended to invoke emotions. Bioshock was a immersive and scary game for me. From a technical standpoint it didn't have the greatest graphics, but it was one of the best games I played this generation.

So increasing graphic fidelity is hardly what I would be looking for in next generation games. Rather increased story telling techniques, story depth and game play mechanics is what developers should strive for!

Blad3star4815d ago

I agree.

I rather them work on an engine that only takes a quarter of the time to make an AAA game. I hate waiting 2 to 3 years for a game.

Rainstorm814815d ago (Edited 4815d ago )

Damn 2-3 years isnt bad thats avg dev time...

what do you want a new game every year via COD , Madden, Assassins creed?

now those 4-5 year projects, they aggrevate me..

Blad3star4815d ago (Edited 4815d ago )

@Rainstorm - I would love a new IP every year and would like to play a new Gears every year as long as the keep each game fresh and different from the last one. I play games for the single player and dont go online at all so when I pass a game I want more of the single player.

COD and Madden is a sad case of the same BS every year and nothing changes.

I also hate 4-5 years projects and hate when they announce the game 5 years before the release date -_-

Infernostew4815d ago

Not necessarily. I'd much rather have a game that focuses on art style than trying to make things more lifelike.

WildArmed4815d ago

+1
Photorealism shouldn't be the goal.

Art style is much much much more important.

gypsygib4815d ago (Edited 4815d ago )

I'd like to get out of the middle east and US cities. Games used to take you to fantastic new worlds that never existed or no longer exist, now it seems they always take you to New York, Iraq or equivalent or a jungle.

More games need to make environments instead of trying to recreate them. Shouldn't artists have more imagination.

madjedi4815d ago

Well it has to be a environment that is first habitual to humans/other life forms, second locations in the game are dependant on the story and time frame. Some times it's easier to copy a real life city than design it from scratch.

And if the game is based on real life events/reality ect cod/battlefield it is a given that you will have common regional locations or environment types that have to be believable/realistic.

Actually i found the jungles in killzone 3, to be very interesting.

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70°

Fortnite maker's appeal in Epic vs Apple case smacked down by Supreme Court ruling

The Supreme Court seems to have given it's final verdict on Epic and Apple's legal battle in the US.

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videogamer.com
220°

Epic win: Jury decides Google has illegal monopoly in app store fight

Three years after Fortnite-maker Epic Games sued Apple and Google for allegedly running illegal app store monopolies, Epic has a win. The jury in Epic v. Google has just delivered its verdict — and it found that Google turned its Google Play app store and Google Play Billing service into an illegal monopoly.

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theverge.com
gold_drake196d ago (Edited 196d ago )

oooo shiiiit
well, there ya go

but i think the biggest issue are the judges in these cases.
most of them have no clue about all them things.

ii wonder what the judge will decide Epic actually "won" or what the out come is.

Petebloodyonion195d ago

Why are you saying the judge have no cases?
I think the judges shows lots of clairity that in a duality market (APPLE and Android) there's no competition when both are already agreeing on the price.
Do you think there would be deals if Wallmart was the only store where you could buy food?
How would the argument of "but there's competition between Cookies and cereal brands" would hold up when Wallmart could decide that each provider must pay a 30% comission just to display product in store?

There's already tons od laws to make sure that there's not only 1 physical store brand and that store owners can't be in cahoot with competition in order to fix price so why would this be different for Virtual storefront?

gold_drake195d ago

i didnt say that.
read properly next time.

and the digital market is more complex than supernarkets.

Einhander1972195d ago (Edited 195d ago )

"Do you think there would be deals if Wallmart was the only store where you could buy food?"

This isn't even the same types of argument, you have a variety of different devices you can get content on, like Apple pr Google or PC or consoles, all these things plus more compete with each other.

The only winner in this decision are Epic, Microsoft and other people who are already rich. All these greedy companies are using the law to steal profits from each other and it's going to be the consumers who pay more.

All these devices we use are heavily subsidized by the profits these platform holders make from selling peoples products. If you think Epic is going to start charging less for their MTX now or whatever your crazy, consumers are not going to get anything back from the winners here. All consumers get is the privilege to pay more for devices.

Edit:

"Wallmart could decide that each provider must pay a 30% comission just to display product in store?"

Walmart does take a cut of every sale in their stores....thats how they make money. They also sell shelf space, the products that are are in the center instead of the top or the bottom pay to be there and to have higher visibility and easier access. They also sell access because obviously they don't have enough space for every brands products.

Using your Walmart analogy, how long do you think Walmart would stay in business if they just let anyone walk into their store and sell things without helping to pay for the upkeep of the stores and other costs? They wouldn't that's why things don't work like that.

That is what Epic wants, they want to use these devices with out paying to help maintain them.

Petebloodyonion195d ago (Edited 195d ago )

@Gold _Drake
Sorry bad writting from my part I meant to say Why do you think Judges have no clues?

@Einhander1972
Last I checked tons of small developpers and consummer association complained about the 30% tax cut that Sony Steam, Google, Apple are charging so why do you say only Epic benefit from that decisision is beyond me. Heck I recall this article making the headline recently
https://www.gamesindustry.b...

As for Walmart Upkeep, I would like to remind you that it's Wallmart and other store who need to cut in THEIR profit margin if they want to match price seen in other stores and not the other way around like in the digital market where Game publisher must sign price parity clause to please Google, Apple, Valve and Sony
https://www.linklaters.com/...
https://www.ign.com/article...

195d ago
Extermin8or3_195d ago (Edited 195d ago )

Thst isn the issue here. Thr issue ws the secret deals Google was doing to lower its cut for certain big apps publishers and only them and the fact that a requiremenf for said deals was nof helping epic games sefup its own mobile store.

Einhander1972194d ago (Edited 194d ago )

"Last I checked tons of small developpers and consummer association complained about the 30% tax cut that Sony Steam, Google, Apple are charging so why do you say only Epic benefit from that decisision is beyond me. Heck I recall this article making the headline recent"

Yes, yeah developers and other people who are selling things to you may benefit but the main benefit is these large companies who want to bypass fees.

But at the end of the day they are not going to start charging you less, they are going to charge the same but get more profits.

And the link you posted about the case against Sony is filed by Alex Neil a certified con artist who doesn't care about consumers they just want a huge personal payout.

And as for parity clauses again the money is going to come from the consumers one way or another, these people are fighting to take each others profits, if the parity clauses are blocked we'll pay more for hardware.

The idea that any of these changes are going to make things cheaper for the consumer are a joke, the only thing that changes is who gets the profits.

And as for Walmart, you missed what I was saying Walmart may lower the price on an item but they just charge the manufacturer of that item more to stock it on the shelves.

In some ways the digital stores are better because they don't charge an upfront fee to put an item on the store they instead charge a fee per sale. Which if they have to reduce the fee that charge for sales they would likely recoup that money by charging a fee to sell something on the ap store. Which also would benefit the rich companies over small developers who would be able to pay upfront fees that smaller developers may not.

Which is the reason Walmart only stocks the major brands and not a bunch of start up small brands, because the major brands can pay for shelf space.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 194d ago
1Victor195d ago

Don’t hold your breath yet there’s a long road ahead with the appeals process then the Supreme Court will have the last words and I don’t see this court going against the big corporations earnings.

I’m been known to be wrong some times and truly hope I am on this one

anast195d ago

The pot has been stirred.

Einhander1972195d ago

This is terrible news for consumers, while Epic and others get richer we'll now have to pay more for our devices.

ChasterMies195d ago

How? Android phones like Samsung Galaxy are not subsidized by purchases from Google Play Store. And Google can’t quit on Android because of how much money Google makes from Google search on Android.

Einhander1972195d ago (Edited 195d ago )

Google pays Samsung billions to have their store on Samsung phones.

Samsung also offers it's own store.

neutralgamer1992194d ago

Einhander1972

samsung has it's own store but how many know about that store? its like comparing MS store to other well known stores

GamerRN195d ago

So does this mean Apple also has a monopoly?

Plague-Doctor27195d ago

No. The cases argued were different.

Epic sued Apple for a monopoly over iOS. Apple said iOS competes with Android, MS, Nintendo, Sony, etc for Fortnite. Therefore there is market competition and no monopoly. The judges agreed.

Epic sued Google over a monopoly on android devices. Because Google was found to have shady deals preventing phone manufacturers from putting competing stores on phones as a default app, among other shady dealings, they found google has a monopoly on android marketplaces specifically.

Basically, Apple being a walled garden actually kind of protected them

ChasterMies195d ago

Android isn’t a walled garden tied to hardware like iOS. Android is like Windows or Linux for PCs. Any phone manufacturer can use Android and any seller can have their own store on Android. But Google used its muscle to tie up 90% marketshare for apps on Android. That’s monopolistic behavior.

Hofstaderman195d ago (Edited 195d ago )

Phil and slimey company sitting up and plotting.... expect to hear how Sony is anti-gamer for refusing to have GamePass on their ecosystems they may very well do this to avoid 2027 . I can imagine his email to Satya...."we got them" lol.

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80°

The Epic Game Store Has Two Freebies This Week

The Epic Game Store has two free titles they are giving away this week.

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terminalgamer.com
Minute Man 721206d ago

Got them both to play with my kids