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New update on Project Offset Engine"OMFG!

K

Kleegamefan

K. LEE GAIDEN
This is the engine being produced by just THREE developers

It looks even better then the Unreal Engine 3, IMO.....just amazing!!1


I really like how they are using motion blur in this game.....makes everything look smooth:

Tech overview
http://www.projectoffset.com/technology.html

640x360.avi
http://www.projectoffset.com/media/project_offset_august2005_640x360.avi

Link to 852x480 and 1280x720 High-def WMV9 vids:
http://www.projectoffset.com/downloads.html


Again, just THREE people made this engine!!!

EDIT: and two of those are artists!!!


BTW, it seems this is being developed for the PC with X360 and PS3 versions also planned
 
Kleegamefan said:
This is the engine being produced by just THREE developers

It looks even better then the Unreal Engine 3, IMO.....just amazing!!1


I really like how they are using motion blur in this game.....makes everything look smooth:

Tech overview
http://www.projectoffset.com/technology.html

640x360.avi
http://www.projectoffset.com/media/project_offset_august2005_640x360.avi

Link to 852x480 and 1280x720 High-def WMV9 vids:
http://www.projectoffset.com/downloads.html


Again, just THREE people made this engine!!!
Click to expand...

640x360 vids? The engineTON!
 
I would agree that the engine is impressive, but what are the tools like? What will the support be like? What incentive is there for a developer to get their hands dirty when the Unreal Engine and everything that comes with will do the dirty work for them?

It is still pretty neat, but they better sell the thing for cheap!

The strength of their engine will depend on how good the FPS they are working on turns out, and how likely other devs will be to get the same performance out of the engine.
 
Sweet mother of God that new preview is amazing.

Think of a scene where you're inside a church, it's raining outside, so the light coming in through stain glassed windows is being affected by the rain's soft shadowing.

And the game sounds like a fantasy based Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, with fantasy vehicles (horses, dragons, trolls, seige engines, ships), and a different path depending on whether you win or lose a battle.

I'm giddy. :D
 
Been waiting for the update on this engine. It still looks good, but now we see more in-engine stuff, and I'm impressed. Soft-self-shadows, motion-blur and great lighting. Shader effects with generic lighting kill the illusion. I'm glad they've been showcasing the lighting in their engine, b/c it's fucking sweet. PEACE.
 
Master said:
I would agree that the engine is impressive, but what are the tools like? What will the support be like? What incentive is there for a developer to get their hands dirty when the Unreal Engine and everything that comes with will do the dirty work for them?

It is still pretty neat, but they better sell the thing for cheap!

The strength of their engine will depend on how good the FPS they are working on turns out, and how likely other devs will be to get the same performance out of the engine.
Click to expand...


Unlimited use of UE3.0 (not just the trial version that comes with the PLAYSTATION 3 SDK, for example) cost just short of 1M USD (something like $960,000) so if they can sell something as good as Offset Engine for less that 1M dollars, perhaps that would be an incentive?:)

It seems to me that this engine can do some things I don't think UE3.0 can do...

For example, in the lighting pipeline of OE, illuminance (how the surface reacts to incoming light) and illumination ( information about the lighting environment itself) are decoupled, similar to how it is with Renderman and other offline renderers.....I don't believe UE3.0 can do this and is probably a big reason the 3D models in Project Offset look more like real clay models that actually exist.....

And that (universal) motion blur post processing effect is really impressive.....it just makes things look that much more natural...

BTW, the main programmer (Sam McGrath) used to work at S2 games, and worked on Savage.......talented guy...
 
Kleegamefan said:
And that (universal) motion blur post processing effect is really impressive.....it just makes things look that much more natural...
Click to expand...

Yeah. There more I see stuff like this, and FEAR, and Prey, that E3 Killzone demo looks all the more possible.
 
AndoCalrissian said:
And the game sounds like a fantasy based Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, with fantasy vehicles (horses, dragons, trolls, seige engines, ships), and a different path depending on whether you win or lose a battle.

I'm giddy. :D
Click to expand...

Check out this Multiplayer sceneiro:

http://www.projectoffset.com/game.html

A battle is a multiplayer game level where both teams are assigned a separate list of objectives to complete. This is usually set up as an attacking / defending situation, where team A "pushes forward" offensively through the level, while team B tries to stop their progress. There are two types of objectives, primary and secondary. Primary objectives MUST be completed in order to win, while secondary objectives will help your team, but are optional.

Battles are always set up as a struggle between good vs. evil. Each battle tells a story that is part of a larger war. A war is simply a chain of three or four battles. The battles visited in a war can change based on which team wins each battle.

The length of a team match can vary from half an hour to several hours depending on the skill level of the teams playing, and the length of the war.

Example battles follow:
Castle Siege

Team A (Evil) primary objectives:

1.
Primary Objective: Transport siege weapons within firing distance of the castle
2.
Primary Objective: Destroy the castle's outer defenses
3.
Primary Objective: Infiltrate the castle and kill all the innocents

Team A (Evil) secondary objectives:

1. Secondary Objective: Capture the castle's guard towers
2. Secondary Objective: Destroy the side wall to the castle

Team B (Good) primary objectives:

1. Primary Objective: Light all beacons to call for reinforcements
2. Primary Objective: Defend the innocents for 30 minutes until reinforcements arrive

Team B (Good) secondary objectives:

1. Secondary Objective: Prevent the enemy's siege weapons from reaching firing distance of the castle
2. Secondary Objective: Defend the guard towers
3. Secondary Objective: Construct a barricade to the castle gate

Voyage

Team A (Good) must abandon their city and head for a new land by ship. Team B (Evil) must stop them using whatever means necessary - dragons, smaller boats, etc.
Click to expand...


Sounds like Lord of the Rings:Twin Towers!!!!

TTP said:
Yeah. There more I see stuff like this, and FEAR, and Pray, that E3 Killzone demo looks all the more possible.
Click to expand...


Yes, I really didn't want to bring up the "KZ word" but I agree, the more I see stuff like this, the more I thing the "KZ word"-looking games will actually be possible with the upcoming gen...
 
Kleegamefan said:
Unlimited use of UE3.0 (not just the trial version that comes with the PLAYSTATION 3 SDK, for example) cost just short of 1M USD (something like $960,000) so if they can sell something as good as Offset Engine for less that 1M dollars, perhaps that would be an incentive?:)

It seems to me that this engine can do some things I don't think UE3.0 can do...

For example, in the lighting pipeline of OE, illuminance (how the surface reacts to incoming light) and illumination ( information about the lighting environment itself) are decoupled, similar to how it is with Renderman and other offline renderers.....I don't believe UE3.0 can do this and is probably a big reason the 3D models in Project Offset look more like real clay models that actually exist.....

And that (universal) motion blur post processing effect is really impressive.....it just makes things look that much more natural...

BTW, the main programmer (Sam McGrath) used to work at S2 games, and worked on Savage.......talented guy...
Click to expand...
I think their engine also handles sub-surface scattering too. I think anyone can write a graphics engine of this level, but it's the support tools that matter. And that said, there's no reason to ditch Epic since they are NVidia's closest dev partner. So it's a no-brainer. I just want to see the UE engine improved over its current state. Implementing some of these visual tricks would make it that much better. PEACE.
 
Pimpwerx said:
I think their engine also handles sub-surface scattering too. I think anyone can write a graphics engine of this level, but it's the support tools that matter. And that said, there's no reason to ditch Epic since they are NVidia's closest dev partner. So it's a no-brainer. I just want to see the UE engine improved over its current state. Implementing some of these visual tricks would make it that much better. PEACE.
Click to expand...


Totally agree with you....I would luv to see UE3 support that crazy motion blur action...the more I watch it in motion, the more it makes my jaw drop...

The effect is throughout the video, not just on those particles....such a natural and CG-looking effect...
 
These 3 guys have proven that engine development isn't all that difficult. When it comes down to it, isn't Tim Sweeney the only guy working on UE3? Or are there others?
 
"These 3 guys have proven that engine development isn't all that difficult. When it comes down to it, isn't Tim Sweeney the only guy working on UE3? Or are there others?"

Or that they're talented + pouring sweat and blood into a project.
 
God's Hand said:
These 3 guys have proven that engine development isn't all that difficult. When it comes down to it, isn't Tim Sweeney the only guy working on UE3? Or are there others?
Click to expand...
engine features are nice.. but tools are where it counts, especially if you want to sell it. lets face it.. usually programmers + ui = disaster
 
I am not convinced making an engine of this quality is that easy....

The tech is really impressive (64-bit HDR, Object-based Motion Blur, Displacement Shadow Mapping, etc.) and seems to be implemented well....I just love the smooth motion....something Gears of War (for example) seems to lack at the moment...
 
What I'm wondering is what sort of hardware is required to run this. Some of these features sound pretty hefty, and throwing them all in together seems like it would be absolutely brutal performance wise.

From a visual standpoint, this certainly looks to be a bit beyond UE3 in some respects. However it also seems to me like it would be more of a resource hog (atleast on paper).
 
Saw there first video. Been waiting for some more info on there game and engine. So far this shits on UT engine.
 
Looks way better than any UT3 engine game I've seen.

I hope MS/Nintendo?/Sony don't snap them up because I'd like to see all 3 next-gen system take advantage of this engine.
 
StephaneC said:
PO is just an engine or a game too ?
Click to expand...


Project Offset is a code name for the game...

The engine is called the Offset engine....BTW, the first demo we saw was running on an nVidia NV40 aka GeForce 6800 (Ultra?) and its possible this current demo is too....

Even if its running on the very best card available (G70) the X360 and/or PS3 should be able to handle it with no problem....
 
Id love to know what kind of rig is running this thing in real time at 60+ FPS. :) That particle self shadow demo alone looked like it would liquify my GT in seconds...

Unless its just individual frames rendered into a movie...although that would be a rather silly method to show off an engine with.
 
KLee said:
Totally agree with you....I would luv to see UE3 support that crazy motion blur action...
Click to expand...
When you have a framework like UE3 in place, most of postprocessing things like this are pretty trivial to implement, just because it's not a hardwired feature it doesn't mean it's an actual lack. Middlewares are now becoming focused on toolchains they provide as opposed to competing who has the longer bulletpoint feature list. ;)
I'd like to see UE3 change some things to their renderer though, but those aren't nearly as trivial...
 
Fafalada said:
When you have a framework like UE3 in place, most of postprocessing things like this are pretty trivial to implement, just because it's not a hardwired feature it doesn't mean it's an actual lack. Middlewares are now becoming focused on toolchains they provide as opposed to competing who has the longer bulletpoint feature list. ;)
I'd like to see UE3 change some things to their renderer though, but those aren't nearly as trivial...
Click to expand...

Hey faf, are you working on/plan to work on any next gen stuff in the near future??

You have your hands full developing that PSP game, right??
 
Klee's thread titles are always dramatic :lol They always grab my attention.


The engine looks awesome!
 
Aside from the fact that it's developed by 3 people, which is admirable, what exactly is so great about this? It's hard to judge exactly how solid the technology is and how it will actually look when used for a game, what with the extremely limited "gameplay" showcase. A couple of [generic] enemies and some generic architecture, got it. What about the actual game concept is even appealing, let alone awe inspiring?
 
AltogetherAndrews said:
Aside from the fact that it's developed by 3 people, which is admirable, what exactly is so great about this? It's hard to judge exactly how solid the technology is and how it will actually look when used for a game, what with the extremely limited "gameplay" showcase. A couple of [generic] enemies and some generic architecture, got it. What about the actual game concept is even appealing, let alone awe inspiring?
Click to expand...


Perhaps it is passe to you, but to some of us, it rivals some of the next-gen stuff we have seen sofar...

I hate to go on and on about the motion blur but I just love the smoothness it adds to the overall look of the demo, but thats just me...
 
Kleegamefan said:
Perhaps it is passe to you, but to some of us, it rivals some of the next-gen stuff we have seen sofar...

I hate to go on and on about the motion blur but I just love the smoothness it adds to the overall look of the demo, but thats just me...
Click to expand...

But there is nothing there. That's what I don't get. How can people get this excited about something that haven't yet been shown running anything worthwhile? I guess it'd annoy me a lot less if it wasn't for the fact that some people on certain boards have gone as far as to say that it beats UE3, not to mention all other next gen games. We haven't seen it run anything of decent scale and scope, so how can people come to the conclusion that this somehow rivals those other games?
 
God's Hand said:
These 3 guys have proven that engine development isn't all that difficult. When it comes down to it, isn't Tim Sweeney the only guy working on UE3? Or are there others?
Click to expand...

Wait, WTF?

:lol

:lol

*cough* *cough* *cough*

:lol

Wow. Do you work in marketing? Cause you sound like the guys from marketing to me.

:lol
 
AltogetherAndrews said:
But there is nothing there. That's what I don't get. How can people get this excited about something that haven't yet been shown running anything worthwhile? I guess it'd annoy me a lot less if it wasn't for the fact that some people on certain boards have gone as far as to say that it beats UE3, not to mention all other next gen games. We haven't seen it run anything of decent scale and scope, so how can people come to the conclusion that this somehow rivals those other games?
Click to expand...


Well, I can only speak for myself, but of all the stuff I have seen, this has a very smooth and natural look to it....the lighting and movement is so subtle and smooth, it looks really.....natural(best way I can find to discribe it)....this is something your eye can pick up after 10 seconds of seeing it IMO, because 3D game engines sofar aren't so hot when they try to make something look natural or believable...

The movement and lighting seen in the Offset Engine demos seem to be more natural/believable than alot of the stuff I have seen....I don't need to look at a 2hr. video to notice this...perhaps this is what others who say it looks better than UE3 are reacting to??

Also note the original UE3.0 demo shown @ GDC 2004 had a max of 1 character on screen at once and wasn't what you would call epic (heh, get it?....epic) in scope either, yet people were amazed by that too....imagine that??

Even the flat shaded 3D models shown in the first demo of a few months back didn't look like polygon models....it looked more like a camcorder video of a real clay model (perhaps it was because of the lighting being used?)...I don't know how to explain it, but it was quick and easy for *me* to see it was superior to a lot of the stuff I have already seen, including some of the stuff I have seen of UE3.0 sofar (an I am a fan of UE3)...

That is just my take, I don't expect you to understand, and you don't have to.....
 
Hey faf, are you working on/plan to work on any next gen stuff in the near future??
Click to expand...
Yes :P

You have your hands full developing that PSP game, right??
Click to expand...
My work for PSP has mostly been planning and technical direction, I'm not directly involved with the lowlevel stuff this time.
 
So your last project was on PS2 and your currect project is on PSP....would it be correct to conclude your next project would be on......something that rhymes with gaystation Z?
 
Kleegamefan said:
So your last project was on PS2 and your currect project is on PSP....would it be correct to conclude your next project would be on......something that rhymes with gaystation Z?
Click to expand...

It would be a huge symbolic victory for MS to snatch Faf away from Sony.
 
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