PlanetUnreal | Features | Unreal II at the 2001 E3

Unreal II at the 2001 E3 - Caryn "Hellchick" Law 5-22-01 It was no surprise to arrive at Infogrames' private meeting room and find a long line waiting for the chance to see one of the hottest games to hit E3, Unreal II. I managed to grab a seat front and center as Mike Verdu, lead designer for the title, and Scott Dalton, Unreal II level designer, fired up the first level to show us around. Fans of the original game of course remember that it takes place after the player crash lands on a planet and must fight to get off. Unreal II takes place in the same universe as its predecessor, but this time you're the space traveling equivalent of a sheriff from the Old West, going from system to system to carry out missions either by yourself or with various squad members. Your ship is the Atlantis, a decommissioned military ship, and it carries, in addition to you, a crew of three: Isaak, your engineer, Ne'Ban, your pilot, and Aida, your security officer.   The designers are emphasizing varied gameplay that will throw a few new things into traditional first-person shooter play. For instance, some missions will be more tactical in nature, while others will be much more action-oriented. For multiplayer, they're specifically mixing up the game by including modes of play reminiscient of real-time strategy in which you must gather components and resources while defending your base and attacking your enemy.   The Eye Candy Scott Dalton loaded up the first level for us to look at, one that featured huge, expansive, and breathtaking terrain. But what was clearly most interesting was how it was rendered--almost everything on the screen is modeled rather than simply a well-done texture. Dalton pointed toward the ground, which was covered with 3D grass. "All of this is modeled," he said. "It's not just a texture." As he walked through the Atlantis, he pointed out that even the pipework along the ceiling of the ship's corridor was modeled rather than textured. The developers explain that the polycount has been bumped up high to get this kind of detail but that the game will run on a GeForce 2 and PIII system just fine. As Dalton moved around the level, the ambient sound of Unreal II was very noticeable. Outdoor noises such as cricket-like sounds and howls surrounded the player, but they were clearly very alien, really immersing the player in the experience of the game. The creatures of Unreal II will be suitably bizarre. The first level that Dalton showed us features two odd-looking carnivores feasting on the carcass of another bizarre-looking creature. Description doesn't do it justice; one must really see them for the effect. And of course, the Skaarj are back, and this time they have something akin to a mythology and a history. The Skaarj of Unreal II have different clan affiliations, and the player can see them by the tattoos decorating the Skaarj.     The Weapons Verdu explained that the initial weapons in Unreal II would be familiar archtypes found in most FPS' as they want to be sure that the player feels comfortable with them when they're first put into the game. But as the player progresses, more interesting and varied weapons will become available. The "tachra" for instance, will fire small hunter/seeker drones that can either attack an enemy by shooting small projectiles at them, or defend the player by hovering around them and deflecting attacks.     The Technicalities Not only will Unreal II be visually stunning, but it accomplishes this with a few technical flourishes. The particle system is highly physically realistic. At one point, Dalton fired a flamethrower and in third-person mode, one was able to see small pieces of gel fall to the ground and bounce as they petered out. The effect was extremely realistic and appeared to be generated with enough randomness that it mimicked what might happen in reality. In one of the multiplayer maps set in an asteroid field, he showed how the particles reacted properly according to the physics you would expect by being in outer space. More stunning than the particle system, perhaps, was the Golem skeletal system. To show us how it worked, Dalton walked the player up to Aida, the beautiful security officer. As he moved around her, her head and eyes followed the player as a human's would, turning to face you at all times. The effect was so much more natural than previously seen in many games. Dalton explained that this independent head movement was only one part of the skeletal system--Aida's breathing, leg, and arm movements were also all independent systems, which means that a modeler can specify what systems do what and when; i.e., the modeler can specify what the breathing animation looks like, and specify what an particular arm animation will look like, and these two systems will happen independent of each other but can happen at the same time. talking and gesturing are other independent parameters for the model. Legend and Infogrames are proud of the fact that the player will be able to fully interact with the non-player characters of the game in a way that won't detract from the game play. Dalton and Verdu showed off the dialogue tree allowing you to speak with Aida and the others by choosing options that would then lead to varying responses. The system seemed fast and the options were varied. Finally, Verdu stressed that Legend wants to continue the tradition set forth by Epic in supporting its mod community. Unreal II will ship with all the necessary tools to create levels, mods, and more for the game, and they expect Unreal II to be a whole new exciting platform for the development community to latch onto. Unreal II is expected to ship in the first quarter of 2002.   Official Unreal 2 Site Legend Entertainment Epic Games Digital Extremes