Far Cry 2 Q&A
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Posted by DuMonde [Monday, 07 January 2008 - 10:42]
 54 comments
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PC Games Hardware has published an interview with Dominic Guay about FarCry 2, the sequel to the 2004 released first-person shooter. We have details about the CryEngine: the renderer, the effects. About the AI and something about the multi-CPU support. Take a look:
1) When licensing the Far Cry
brand you purchased the Cry Engine and it seems logical that this
powerful peace of technology will be the technical base of Far Cry 2
too? Is that correct?
DG: No, I understand the reasoning but it is incorrect. The engine was
licensed mostly for use on the console adaptations of the original Far
Cry. On Far Cry 2, we had a mandate not only to build an ambitious
sequel to Far Cry but also to build a new cutting edge in-house
technology. We started building that new technology in 2005. Our engine
is called Dunia and was built from the ground up to support the scope
and goals of Far Cry 2.
2) Was it necessary to reprogram or
even add code to the engine? If so what parts were altered what kind of
technical features were integrated into the engine? What were the
reasons behind these alterations?
DG: Well, Dunia was built from the ground up. It was developed during
the last 3 years in our R&D effort for Far Cry 2. We had a few
major goals in mind as we built the technology. First, we wanted to get
rid of the concept of “levels”. “Levels” have been used since before
the Pac Man days to manage progression and content and are, from a
technical standpoint, a very safe way of managing things. However, FC2
is a truly open world game and we couldn’t do with such a limitation
anymore. A change of scale like that one changes a lot of thing in a
technology.
Also, we wanted to have a very dynamic game environment. We worked hard
on physics simulation systems and enabling a lot of destructibility and
interactivity. This also includes an arbitrarily destructible and
physically simulated vegetation system codenamed RealTree. Also, we
wanted to make sure our graphic technologies permitted a very high
quality recreation of a realistic Africa with a real-time 24 hours
day-night cycle.
Finally, another big focus from the beginning was the online. We wanted
to have excellent online technology: not just quality net code but also
things like matchmaking services and map editing.
3) In general what according to your
personal experience makes the Cry Engine so special for the development
of Fps games? Why do you decide against developing a new engine from
scratch for Far Cry 2?
DG: Well…we did make a new engine. Cry Engine had some strong qualities but it was suited for another generation of hardware.
4) One part of the Cry Engine is a
very powerful renderer that guaranties a very modern visual
presentation including rendering techniques like Parallax Mapping, Soft
Shadows, a HDR lighting model. Besides this are there other graphical
highlights that require a revision of the code? If yes could you please
give examples and explain in technical terms how this new visual
features are realized?
DG: Dunia supports all those graphical features and many more. One big
evolution that we brought to our graphic technology is the fact that
our lighting model is completely dynamic, including the sun. That means
that the sun can move in realtime during game time and the whole scenes
lighting adapts accordingly. Also of note, we implemented a dynamic
ambient lighting algorithms that manage the radiosity component of the
lighting in the environment: basically what is also referred to as
“indirect lighting”.
Another feature I like a lot is our procedural sky rendering system. We
can basically manipulate the meteo according to our wish and the sky
adapts in real time.
5) First impressions of the game show
that Far Cry 2 will offer a dynamic day and night cycle as well as a
very detailed weather simulation? Were you able to realize this with
the original version of the engine/renderer? Could you please give
technical details how they are rendered? What makes them so special
compared to other titles of the genre?
DG: Games have simulated weather changes for a long time. However, to
be able to see the clouds gather in the sky gradually, to see the trees
bending more and more with the force of the wind, to see the grass
folded by the gusts of wind, we had to develop a few key technologies.
Key among those is the RealTree system. This technology let’s us move
away from having the typical very limited physical reactions of the
vegetation to wind to a much higher quality physical simulation. So
it’s one thing to have the “weather system” feature, what we wanted to
do was push the simulation, push the immersion and push the gameplay
potential of the idea further.
Likewise for the dynamic time of day. Many games have had dynamic time
of days and that for quite some time. However, most would bake discreet
time of days and shift between them or just compromise the graphic
quality to get the feature in. We didn’t want to do either one of those
things. So we needed all of our lighting features to be fully dynamic
and that was an interesting challenge.
6) The renderer of the Cry Engine
scales quit well with multiple GPU settings? Will this be the case in
Far Cry 2 too? If yes could you already give details about the benefits
players with a SLI or Crossfire System will have?
DG: We have the intention of supporting a relatively large range of
GPUs. We have not nailed down the exact minimum requirements. Also, Far
Cry 2 will ship with DX9 and DX10 support. We also plan on supporting
SLI & Crossfire systems.
7) Far Cry was released with a 32 and
64 bit version. Will there be a 64 bit version of Far Cry 2 too. If yes
what are the practical advantages this version has to offer to the
player? Can you give examples?
DG: I cannot give a definite answer to this a this time.
8) Dual and multi core Processors are
yet another topic currently discussed in the gaming industry and the
majority games will profit from CPUs with more than one core. As far as
performance in Far Cry is concerned will the engine profit from dual
core CPUs? Does your engine even scale with more than two cores?
a) If yes what different calculations
can be or are split up into different threads and what is the expected
performance gain resulting from two respectively four or more cores?
b) Have you already utilized the Intel Core 2 Quad or AMD “4x4” platform? What is your personal opinion about these products?
DG: The engine definitely benefits from multi core systems. While we
plan to support single core CPUs, it will be recommended to use multi
core computers to benefit from the higher quality settings. While I
cannot give detailed and definitive information on all those elements
at this time, I can say that I already best enjoy playing the current
highest quality setting of FC2 on a 4 processor system.
9) According to early reports Far Cry
2 will have a realistic fire simulation. Could you explain, what is so
special about it? Could this be realized with the original physics part
of the Cry engine or do you have to reprogram Cryteks technology? Are
there other highlight as far as the physics simulation in Far Cry 2 is
concerned?
DG: Well, fire simulation is a challenging technology but at the core
it is also a gameplay challenge. The amount of interaction with other
system is large and it’s actually those interactions that are fun. We
built this feature from the ground up for FC2 and are very excited with
the amount of control that we have over our fire. Basically, it’s a
high level feature that builds on all our other technical key features:
dynamic environment (burning things causes mayhem!), graphic engine, AI
systems (AI needs to react intelligently to fire), RealTree system
(burning vegetation), etc.. I mentioned some of our physics innovation
above. We have destructible environments. The RealTree vegetation is
also destructible in a completely arbitrary manner. If you are patient
enough, you can cut a big bush in the shape you like.
10) In General, do you utilize the
very powerful physics simulation to add more than eye candy or will it
have an impact on the game play? Does the game support hardware
accelerated physics like Ageias PhysX or Havok FX? What is your
personal opinion about that topic?
DG: We always favour technical innovations that will feedback in the
gameplay, and vice-versa. Being able to create your own path, to break
things has a significant impact on gameplay. Moreover, FC2 is a game
where you spend a lot of your time in nature. By having a highly
detailed vegetation physics simulation model, we can create a system, a
tool, that the player can use to his own advantage. Improving immersion
is important, but we never loose the focus on the fact that we are
making a game, so our efforts should also make the game more fun.
Read more.
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