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[Pedigree Chum]

FN PS3 Tech Demo:

http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/748/748455/vids_1.html

FN3 X360:

http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/766/766603/vids_1.html


Just wondering what your thoughts are and what you believe the strengths and weaknesses are for each. I find that the animations in particular are much better in the Tech Demo than what we're getting with FN3, they seem to have scaled that back to some degree. Also the animation on the faces during the fight is nrealy non-existant during gameplay in FN3, you only really get to see them in the replays. FN3 OTOH has better character models IMO with better lighting and shader effects. But the animations and lack of "oomph" to the punches in FN3 really takes away from the overall look of the game when you're playing it.

BTW, this isn't some PS3 vs. X360 thread, I'm just comparing a near final game to a what was shown as a representation of FN on PS3. For all we know FN4 on PS3 might look more like FN3 than the tech demo they showed at E3 2005.

Lets try and keep this civil please.

 

[Solo]

Civil went out the window when you put a "vs" in the title.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

Civil went out the window when you put a "vs" in the title.

It is a boxing game after all

Oh, and shouldn't you base a thread on the original post and not just the thread title?

 

[Lord Error]

If PS3 was out today, and this game was released for both consoles, it would look basically identical on both. It's EA, let's not be kidding ourselves. Any differences between that tech demo and the actual playable demo are due to it being much further down the development line now than it was 9 months ago.

The most I expect in terms of improvement from EA on PS3 is fpr games to have better framerate, no skimping on aniso filtering support and things like that.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

its EA so both games will look the same. Its just that the more powerful console version will have less features.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

Part of the issue is the fact you're dealing with canned animation--the tech demo is essentially a prescripted realtime cinematic. I have no doubt you might see stuff like that in the final for FN3 on the 360, but comparing it to gameplay doesn't really seem quite fair.

I thought the dude from EA actually controlled the boxers on screen? Or was he just manipulating the camera?

 

[Kasra]

Here are some pics for easier comparison:


Playstation 3 tech demo:

Xbox 360 real time:

 

[Suikoguy]

Nah, I'm pretty sure he was just controlling the camera . . .


. . . did you just get banned? o.o

No, his tag is just currently "banned"

 

[Pedigree Chum]

Nah, I'm pretty sure he was just controlling the camera . . .


. . . did you just get banned? o.o

Nah, that's just my tag. Click on it for a surprise!

 

[Pedigree Chum]

Kasra, I don't think that's right. The tech demo didn't have models that looked that good, the looked more like the ones from the bottom screen (which IMO doesn't really look like the X360 version, it looks much better as far as lighting and shaders go).

dat's some funny shit

anyway, the animation in the cinematic is a bit too long to be effective in gameplay, I think. Also, the 360 version looks far more polished/complete at this stage. I aggree with what was said earlier--I have no doubt both versions will look identical.

Yeah, that's what I'm expecting too. Its a shame too cause the animations in the tech demo are incredible, but they probably wouldn't work too well in real-time gameplay (controls wouldn't be as responsive). That said, I hope EA works on the impact of the punches (during gameplay) in respect to the facial animations and the weiight behind punches...its a bit weak in the demo of FN3.

 

[nubbe]

What did that EA rep say in the 1up interview during the zero event?

Something like... Don't make the games look totaly awesome right away, you need to upgrade them to make people keep buying it.

Yeah...

 

[SolidSnakex]

dat's some funny shit

anyway, the animation in the cinematic is a bit too long to be effective in gameplay, I think. Also, the 360 version looks far more polished/complete at this stage. I aggree with what was said earlier--I have no doubt both versions will look identical.

They aren't even the same game so i'd hope they wouldn't look the same.

 

[RumFore]

I think he is mistaken with those shots. The XBox 360 is the top one because thats pretty much how the game looks for me.

 

[Haklong]

He was moving the camera. That tech demo was all motion captured and played back like the MGS4 footage. And just like that footage he moved the camera around to show that it was real-time. He did not play the game. I think it would be hard/expensive/time consuming to have perfect transitional animation for a boxing game. Maybe with each iteration they will work on it until 2008 we will have the perfectly animated boxing game. But for now I don't see the animation being THAT smooth. Animation will be a development issue. And like that last generation I don't see a lot of developers going all out in that regard.

 

[DSN2K]

Here are some pics for easier comparison:


Playstation 3 tech demo:

Xbox 360 real time:

nice try. :lol

 

[Pedigree Chum]

He was moving the camera. That tech demo was all motion captured and played back like the MGS4 footage. And just like that footage he moved the camera around to show that it was real-time. He did not play the game. I think it would be hard/expensive/time consuming to have perfect transitional animation for a boxing game. Maybe with each iteration they will work on it until 2008 we will have the perfectly animated boxing game. But for now I don't see the animation being THAT smooth. Animation will be a development issue. And like that last generation I don't see a lot of developers going all out in that regard.

I hope they do find a way to include amazing animation in games without it hampering playability. Poly counts, textures, shaders, lighting will continue to improve but without good animations it can sink the realism that many devs are aiming for.

 

[TheDuce22]

That bottom screen looks nothing like the 360 demo.

Edit: I dont know how you expect perfectly smooth animation to not have an impact on gameplay. When you block instead of immediatly putting your hands up you would have to wait that half second for the "better" animation to finish. Same with punches and dodges.

 

[DSN2K]

completely changed the tone of the HDR from the E3 build, looked alot better before.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

completely changed the tone of the HDR from the E3 build, looked alot better before.

I disagree, from a visual standpoint I love the look of FN3. Its got a very "CG" look to it, which IMO is more visually pleasing than the bland look of the tech demo.

 

[Blimblim]

That bottom screen looks nothing like the 360 demo.

Edit: I dont know how you expect perfectly smooth animation to not have an impact on gameplay. When you block instead of immediatly putting your hands up you would have to wait that half second for the "better" animation to finish. Same with punches and dodges.

Well, they should be able to use procedural animation to create a real transition between the two positions, just like it would be in real life.
I'm quite sure this will come in the future iterations of the game.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

That bottom screen looks nothing like the 360 demo.

Edit: I dont know how you expect perfectly smooth animation to not have an impact on gameplay. When you block instead of immediatly putting your hands up you would have to wait that half second for the "better" animation to finish. Same with punches and dodges.

Well, they should be able to use procedural animation to create a real transition between the two positions, just like it would be in real life.
I'm quite sure this will come in the future iterations of the game.

Yup, take a look at Spore. Procedural animation is the future.

 

[Raven.]

Part of the issue is the fact you're dealing with canned animation--the tech demo is essentially a prescripted realtime cinematic. I have no doubt you might see stuff like that in the final for FN3 on the 360, but comparing it to gameplay doesn't really seem quite fair.

Facial animations, reactions, even the canned punch-matrix reaction animation was better, imo, and that particular animation should be basically the same in both. Gphx wise, obviously the x360 version looks better it's further ahead on final h/w.

 

[Dante]

Yup, take a look at Spore. Procedural animation is the future.

That's not necessarily true, while procedural animation works in walk cycles, and other cycle type animations, there is no acting or "performance" involved which is what great animation is all about.

 

[Prine]

nice try. :lol

Another brilliant avatar lol

 

[crunker99]

no real point in arguing a tech demo versus a gaem that is actually out.. u have no idea what the final product will look like.. you might as well compare it to what the playstation 100 may look like.

 

[Flo_Evans]

huh? ok lets not compare killzone to the target footage when that comes out either! The shots from the x360 demo look pretty much better in every way to me. Look at how bad the shorts look in the PS3 tech demo!

xbots dissmising comparison shots when the 360 looks better?! bizzaro world!

Spoiler

or did they not catch the switch? :lol

 

[rod]

ROFL

 

[TheDuce22]

ROFL

WTF is going on there?

 

[Jewbacca]

I think they tried to kiss and hit heads.

 

[monkeymagic]

WTF is going on there?

Handbags

 

[CamHostage]

I think it would be hard/expensive/time consuming to have perfect transitional animation for a boxing game. Maybe with each iteration they will work on it until 2008 we will have the perfectly animated boxing game. But for now I don't see the animation being THAT smooth. Animation will be a development issue. And like that last generation I don't see a lot of developers going all out in that regard.

I think combining physics with Mo-Cap and keyframed animation will go a long way. That's the one thing that I haven't liked about the Xbox 360 demo is that its animations you can see the animations as canned after a short while. It plays great because you know what every motion means, but the next way to make FN next-gen is to add physics to the motion, so when you catch a block, you don't just stand there waiting to get decked. Your hand would flail, your weight would go off, and you would feel how open you are for a shot. The way the game works now, it still has that 2D feel, that the body doesn't move except but to sway and dance in the ring, and the heads and torsos are always basically on the same line. You could loosen up that movement with physics-based and procedural animation (although not sure that procedural is the right term for what's needed) to give the illusion of anything-can-happen even when it's really on a man-made foundation.