Post by Lanir on Dec 3, 2010 16:28:03 GMT -5
This is my first blog. I am not a writer, I actually hate writing. Please edit as needed.
*edited* Corrected some spelling errors.
3D or not to 3D?
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few years, you have probably seen something in 3D, seen an advertisement about a film in 3D, or read an article on a website about the new 3D games and systems coming out. I have seen a few movies in 3D, checked out the demo TV setups in the stores, and even the E3 footage with all the video game hype about 3D. Nothing really impressed me to the point that I had to have any of it in my house. Putting on an additional pair of glasses over top of the ones I already wear (No contacts, yet) is not my ideal way of watching TV or gaming. However, what happened to me this past week might have changed my mind.
I am fortunate enough to have a job where technology plays a key role in the future of our organization. I am not talking about technology like scanning your ID badge to get into a building, or collaboration software, no; I am talking about technology with some of its roots in gaming. My job is to find technology that meets the needs of our training community, whether it is in the form of a simulator, desktop application, or handheld device. This allows me the opportunity to attend many conferences around the country to see some of this technology first hand and that hand slapped me square in the face yelling, “Wake up boy!”
One of Crytek’s child companies, which work with government agencies, had a booth at the show. They were displaying their new CryEngine3 game engine, which is amazing. I am not a programmer, but I am not foreign to the subject of coding. The things they were showing in their SDK were incredible. They were able to edit the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 versions of the game environment, on the fly, all at the same time. Plop a bad guy here, a house with a porch there, oh, need more Michael Bay explosiveness?, click, BOOM, done.
I spent a little bit of time asking them questions and getting all technical and geeky with them. Then one of them asks, “Do you want to see Crysis 2 in 3D”? Now, I had played the first Crysis, which was a very good-looking game. However, I never really got involved into the story so I somewhat just tossed it aside after a while. I did like shooting the little sand birds that would run across the beach, though. That never got old.
They take me over to the setup complete with an HP workstation, Xbox 360 game controller, and 3D television with glasses. I put on the glasses over my normal specs and picked up the controller. They threw me into an unpopulated area of what looked to be an old bank type building you would see in New York or Washington D.C. You know, the kind with the big pillars inside and a ceiling so tall you could fly a kite inside. I was totally expecting the 3D effect to disorient me, but what I received was totally the opposite. I got the sensation that I was really part of the environment. The ceiling really did look like it was four stories tall. The gun looked like I was holding it. At that point, I could feel my cheeks getting sore from the smile cemented on my face. I was impressed, and then I squeezed the trigger. It was a visual orgasm. Everything was crumbling under the barrage of bullets I was unloading into the pillars, pictures, soda machines, trash cans, and the velvet rope line thingies. Spent shell casings even flew back towards me as I fired bullets from the red dot sighted AR15 I was holding. I was a one man wrecking crew.
When I had finished reducing the demo area to a pile of rubble, I reluctantly put down the joystick and glasses. I thanked the team for letting me play and then proceeded to wandered around the show floor to try to get some work done.
The next day I returned to them to ask a whole bunch of questions that I had, as well as some of those you asked me about on Twitter. The machines they were running on were from the workstation line of HP machines. The PC model was a HP Z800 series with 16G of RAM, a GX260 video card, and two quad core processors. I thought the machines were less powerful from their outside appearance, so I learned a lesson about judging a book by its cover. I asked them if a more mediocre PC would run the game. They replied that the game engine is very good at adjusting to the hardware available. A decent i5 chip (or AMD equivalent), 6G of RAM, and a GX260 or better video card would be able to do a 1920x1080 display in 3D and have no problem. The game engine handles the 3D internally, negating the need for any intermediary software. Of course, I will have to wait and see how the game really runs on this type of hardware when it comes out.
I cannot put in to words how fantastic the game looked and how immersed I felt playing the game in 3D, and I was not even shooting at any NPCs or other players. Nothing else I saw at the show even compared to what I got to experience in the Crytek booth. Well, maybe the girls dancing in the motion capture suits might give them a run for their money.
Will I go out and buy a 3D setup after this experience? No, I think the technology needs to mature more and definitely come down in price. I would prefer not to have to use a pair of glasses to get the 3D effects. I know Nintendo is doing some amazing things with their new 3DS so I am hoping that glasses free technology will find its way to the TV and monitor manufacturers, while retaining the high quality visuals I witnessed.
Until then, I guess I will continue my 2D lifestyle and dream fondly of those few minutes spent in 3D bliss.
*edited* Corrected some spelling errors.
3D or not to 3D?
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few years, you have probably seen something in 3D, seen an advertisement about a film in 3D, or read an article on a website about the new 3D games and systems coming out. I have seen a few movies in 3D, checked out the demo TV setups in the stores, and even the E3 footage with all the video game hype about 3D. Nothing really impressed me to the point that I had to have any of it in my house. Putting on an additional pair of glasses over top of the ones I already wear (No contacts, yet) is not my ideal way of watching TV or gaming. However, what happened to me this past week might have changed my mind.
I am fortunate enough to have a job where technology plays a key role in the future of our organization. I am not talking about technology like scanning your ID badge to get into a building, or collaboration software, no; I am talking about technology with some of its roots in gaming. My job is to find technology that meets the needs of our training community, whether it is in the form of a simulator, desktop application, or handheld device. This allows me the opportunity to attend many conferences around the country to see some of this technology first hand and that hand slapped me square in the face yelling, “Wake up boy!”
One of Crytek’s child companies, which work with government agencies, had a booth at the show. They were displaying their new CryEngine3 game engine, which is amazing. I am not a programmer, but I am not foreign to the subject of coding. The things they were showing in their SDK were incredible. They were able to edit the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 versions of the game environment, on the fly, all at the same time. Plop a bad guy here, a house with a porch there, oh, need more Michael Bay explosiveness?, click, BOOM, done.
I spent a little bit of time asking them questions and getting all technical and geeky with them. Then one of them asks, “Do you want to see Crysis 2 in 3D”? Now, I had played the first Crysis, which was a very good-looking game. However, I never really got involved into the story so I somewhat just tossed it aside after a while. I did like shooting the little sand birds that would run across the beach, though. That never got old.
They take me over to the setup complete with an HP workstation, Xbox 360 game controller, and 3D television with glasses. I put on the glasses over my normal specs and picked up the controller. They threw me into an unpopulated area of what looked to be an old bank type building you would see in New York or Washington D.C. You know, the kind with the big pillars inside and a ceiling so tall you could fly a kite inside. I was totally expecting the 3D effect to disorient me, but what I received was totally the opposite. I got the sensation that I was really part of the environment. The ceiling really did look like it was four stories tall. The gun looked like I was holding it. At that point, I could feel my cheeks getting sore from the smile cemented on my face. I was impressed, and then I squeezed the trigger. It was a visual orgasm. Everything was crumbling under the barrage of bullets I was unloading into the pillars, pictures, soda machines, trash cans, and the velvet rope line thingies. Spent shell casings even flew back towards me as I fired bullets from the red dot sighted AR15 I was holding. I was a one man wrecking crew.
When I had finished reducing the demo area to a pile of rubble, I reluctantly put down the joystick and glasses. I thanked the team for letting me play and then proceeded to wandered around the show floor to try to get some work done.
The next day I returned to them to ask a whole bunch of questions that I had, as well as some of those you asked me about on Twitter. The machines they were running on were from the workstation line of HP machines. The PC model was a HP Z800 series with 16G of RAM, a GX260 video card, and two quad core processors. I thought the machines were less powerful from their outside appearance, so I learned a lesson about judging a book by its cover. I asked them if a more mediocre PC would run the game. They replied that the game engine is very good at adjusting to the hardware available. A decent i5 chip (or AMD equivalent), 6G of RAM, and a GX260 or better video card would be able to do a 1920x1080 display in 3D and have no problem. The game engine handles the 3D internally, negating the need for any intermediary software. Of course, I will have to wait and see how the game really runs on this type of hardware when it comes out.
I cannot put in to words how fantastic the game looked and how immersed I felt playing the game in 3D, and I was not even shooting at any NPCs or other players. Nothing else I saw at the show even compared to what I got to experience in the Crytek booth. Well, maybe the girls dancing in the motion capture suits might give them a run for their money.
Will I go out and buy a 3D setup after this experience? No, I think the technology needs to mature more and definitely come down in price. I would prefer not to have to use a pair of glasses to get the 3D effects. I know Nintendo is doing some amazing things with their new 3DS so I am hoping that glasses free technology will find its way to the TV and monitor manufacturers, while retaining the high quality visuals I witnessed.
Until then, I guess I will continue my 2D lifestyle and dream fondly of those few minutes spent in 3D bliss.
