CS: Source HDR is a possibility, but Valve haven't said anything about that. However, they *have* said that they will NOT be retrofitting the Half Life 2 single-player game with HDR. In the briefing, they were very specific in saying that to get decent HDR results, it needs to be part of the game design from the beginning, like Lost Coast is.
When you tack it on as an afterthought, you don't get the most out of it. So the short version is that they won't be retrofitting to HL2, but it will be included in all future releases: DoD: Source, Aftermath and beyond.
No developer can afford to do that Fibre+ because otherwise a) development time would've been EVEN LONGER, but primarily because of their target customer base. Through the system surveys conducted via Steam, Valve know exactly what everyone is running.
If you make a game that is stupidly high-end, you won't sell enough copies to make back your investment. Half-Life 2 runs great on low-end systems, which was also true of the original Half-Life / Counter-Strike, which led to some 8-10m units sold.
As for high-res screenies, what would you like? I have access to a decent PC today / tomorrow (as opposed to my notebook) so I can run it as high as you like baby
I've done a little poking around in some 3d apps. I was looking at HDRI. Basically you take an HDRI image (like those photos of the sun being underexposed to overexposed) and combine them into a dymanic range image. The 3d app will then use that to collectively light the whole 3d scene including any objects.
very nice write-up, good pics & good tidbits from the makers, congrats!
now.
Quote:
Valve are leading the industry with work like HDR
did you forget about the existence of FarCry which has introduced HDR several months ago? :)
also the commentary system is not unique; finish The Chronicles of Riddick - Escape From Butcher Bay and you can replay the game with commentary from the makers. very cool feature. :)
Hi there
Very nice article guys,hope you had fun at the Valve visit and maybe you saw some pics or demos TFC:S or TF2?
Thanks for the picture of Gabe and my homemade TF flag :)
Originally Posted by jmke did you forget about the existence of FarCry which has introduced HDR several months ago? :)
also the commentary system is not unique; finish The Chronicles of Riddick - Escape From Butcher Bay and you can replay the game with commentary from the makers. very cool feature. :)
If you read through again, the article points out that Lost Coast uses many more features of HDR, not just the limited HDR effects used with FarCry.
Man... I think this thread has set a new record for the most first posts!
With DoD:S having HDR (said in the article) will it be an option or are we going to be stuck with it? My machine couldn't handle a 10-15% performance drop and it will make DoD:S unplayable for me... and i shall cry on that day too.
Wow, ok - let me try and clear a few things up for you guys.
1) FarCry HDR is mostly just Blooming. While there is currently no standard of what features "HDR" encompasses, Valve have half a dozen while Far Cry only really features one
2) Chaos Theory - tbh, I don't know much about what Ubi has done there, but now that I know SO much more about HDR, I need to take a look at SC:CT in detail.
3) Bloodcar: it should be obvious, but since you asked the question, I can answer it for you. On the assuming that since they are both Source powered, the graphics options in DoD: Source should be the same as for Lost Coast. In that case, there will be three options for the HDR:
- None
- Blooming only
- Full
So if your machine can't hack it, then you *can* turn it off. But from a visual point of view, once you've experienced HDR, you'll want to leave it on.
Here you can see a photo of the sun taken with a digital camera. Even with a very narrow aperature on the far left, the sun is grossly over-exposed, while the rest of the image is under-exposed. As you widen the aperature to compensate, you end up with an over-saturated image (far right).
About the images of the sun, however the images show they were all taken with the same aperture, but with differing shutter speeds.
P2D - I wasn't dissapointed by HL2, even with all the hype. It didn't change my life or anything but I really enjoyed playing it through, and to see graphics like that running on my mediocre computer was pretty cool. Weren't you too impressed then?
Not at all, I was really impressed by the graphical aspect of the game, the game play was pretty good aswell, i was dissapointed at the lenth of the game overall, i completed it within a matter of days. Certain bits seemed to strech on too long and seemed asif they just streched the buggy and boat bit to extend the whole game overall, Its a subject i could go on about for hours, so to keep it short;
Yes, i was massivly impressed by the game; but the ammount of time it took them i was certanly expecting more, Altho i guess you cant rush these things.
Mike
Hammy - it's not a "game" mate. Lost Coast is a *single level* for Half-Life 2. The gameplay is essentially the same. I want y'all to be clear on this point: please don't confuse Lost Coast with Aftermath.
No - we had a limited amount of time, and the focus was on the technicalities of HDR and Lost Coast. We then moved on to Day of Defeat: Source, which also features HDR. That will be released on September 26.
Valve do not have a concrete date for Aftermath at this point, but are aiming at "November" and are certainly expecting it to be released by the end of the year.
i really enjoy articles on bit-tech.net
i like this very much, and the other for hdr, small and full of notes. very good job
how big in megabytes lost coast is going to be?
I have read in the first page something about tft monitors. lost coast would be better to played in a crt monitor? tft users are going to have problems? or the 1000:1 example was only an example?
i say good sir...how much for the golden crow bar? :D
man that has got to be one awesome place to work and yet another addition to the annals of Half Life. now i can brag to all my X-BOX loving friends how much PCs kick !%*^
Originally Posted by Exoskeletor i really enjoy articles on bit-tech.net
i like this very much, and the other for hdr, small and full of notes. very good job
how big in megabytes lost coast is going to be?
I have read in the first page something about tft monitors. lost coast would be better to played in a crt monitor? tft users are going to have problems? or the 1000:1 example was only an example?
Welcome to the bit-tech forums, Exoskeletor - we're glad you enjoy bit-tech. You have asked some good questions there, which I will try and answer for the benefit of everyone:
1) We have much more on HDR coming soon
2) It's hard to say exactly how big Lost Coast will be to download, since it will be compressed before it is distributed via Steam. Valve estimate around 100MB.
3) Anybody can enjoy Lost Coast - it doesn't matter if they have a CRT or TFT really. For *true* HDR, you need an entirely different monitor altogether. I will be able to reveal more in the coming days.
Thanx for asking so fast.
100mb only? i thought it will be 1gb at least, that's good.
What i mean with crt and tft was (i have crt, i will enjoy more hdr games from someone with tft and 1000:1 contrast?)
Im waiting for more reviews about hdr, keep them coming :)
Comments 26 to 50 of 83
When you tack it on as an afterthought, you don't get the most out of it. So the short version is that they won't be retrofitting to HL2, but it will be included in all future releases: DoD: Source, Aftermath and beyond.
Whats all this about no limits to what they are allowed to do with the graphics, they should be doing that anway :(
Surely you can add an ubber high quality mode above high and ultra high
Can one of the Bit-Tech boyees please ransom a kitty for some high res screenies/backgrounds please :D
Please...
Hmmm I like that idea of a an fps shooter in a flipbook, you have to get someone to draw real quick tho, and how would control it?
If you make a game that is stupidly high-end, you won't sell enough copies to make back your investment. Half-Life 2 runs great on low-end systems, which was also true of the original Half-Life / Counter-Strike, which led to some 8-10m units sold.
As for high-res screenies, what would you like? I have access to a decent PC today / tomorrow (as opposed to my notebook) so I can run it as high as you like baby
Pretty much observe the following link
http://www.hdrimaps.com/images/gallery/terminator/index.html
If we could see games based on that HDRI technology,..,,, wow. Even so, Lost Coast looks f00king amazing.
Nope - if you read the thread the HDR is something that has to be designed with something from the ground up ;)
But Valve won't do it.
now.
did you forget about the existence of FarCry which has introduced HDR several months ago? :)
also the commentary system is not unique; finish The Chronicles of Riddick - Escape From Butcher Bay and you can replay the game with commentary from the makers. very cool feature. :)
Very nice article guys,hope you had fun at the Valve visit and maybe you saw some pics or demos TFC:S or TF2?
Thanks for the picture of Gabe and my homemade TF flag :)
If you read through again, the article points out that Lost Coast uses many more features of HDR, not just the limited HDR effects used with FarCry.
With DoD:S having HDR (said in the article) will it be an option or are we going to be stuck with it? My machine couldn't handle a 10-15% performance drop and it will make DoD:S unplayable for me... and i shall cry on that day too.
1) FarCry HDR is mostly just Blooming. While there is currently no standard of what features "HDR" encompasses, Valve have half a dozen while Far Cry only really features one
2) Chaos Theory - tbh, I don't know much about what Ubi has done there, but now that I know SO much more about HDR, I need to take a look at SC:CT in detail.
3) Bloodcar: it should be obvious, but since you asked the question, I can answer it for you. On the assuming that since they are both Source powered, the graphics options in DoD: Source should be the same as for Lost Coast. In that case, there will be three options for the HDR:
- None
- Blooming only
- Full
So if your machine can't hack it, then you *can* turn it off. But from a visual point of view, once you've experienced HDR, you'll want to leave it on.
About the images of the sun, however the images show they were all taken with the same aperture, but with differing shutter speeds.
Not at all, I was really impressed by the graphical aspect of the game, the game play was pretty good aswell, i was dissapointed at the lenth of the game overall, i completed it within a matter of days. Certain bits seemed to strech on too long and seemed asif they just streched the buggy and boat bit to extend the whole game overall, Its a subject i could go on about for hours, so to keep it short;
Yes, i was massivly impressed by the game; but the ammount of time it took them i was certanly expecting more, Altho i guess you cant rush these things.
Mike
whats the game like to play tho ?
Valve do not have a concrete date for Aftermath at this point, but are aiming at "November" and are certainly expecting it to be released by the end of the year.
i like this very much, and the other for hdr, small and full of notes. very good job
how big in megabytes lost coast is going to be?
I have read in the first page something about tft monitors. lost coast would be better to played in a crt monitor? tft users are going to have problems? or the 1000:1 example was only an example?
man that has got to be one awesome place to work and yet another addition to the annals of Half Life. now i can brag to all my X-BOX loving friends how much PCs kick !%*^
Welcome to the bit-tech forums, Exoskeletor - we're glad you enjoy bit-tech. You have asked some good questions there, which I will try and answer for the benefit of everyone:
1) We have much more on HDR coming soon
2) It's hard to say exactly how big Lost Coast will be to download, since it will be compressed before it is distributed via Steam. Valve estimate around 100MB.
3) Anybody can enjoy Lost Coast - it doesn't matter if they have a CRT or TFT really. For *true* HDR, you need an entirely different monitor altogether. I will be able to reveal more in the coming days.
100mb only? i thought it will be 1gb at least, that's good.
What i mean with crt and tft was (i have crt, i will enjoy more hdr games from someone with tft and 1000:1 contrast?)
Im waiting for more reviews about hdr, keep them coming :)
Look:
http://www.bit-tech.net/content_images/lost_coast_screens/gabe_blackmesa.jpg
The blackmesa mod has the Red team "team fortress" flag on it... I wasnt aware he had anything to do with fortress forever :/