Programmer John Hable recently held a rather interesting GDC talk centered around next-gen facial animation with a particular focus on the Uncharted franchise. Hable worked with Naughty Dog on Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3 and The Last of Us – considering that Uncharted 4 is currently in the works, Hable’s presentation gives some information on the techniques being used for the PS4 exclusive.

In particular, Hable recalls an issue where titular character Nathan Drake looked like “a powdered doughnut”. Hable suggested using Spherical Harmonic Ambient Occlusion, which combined ambient occlusion with spherical harmonics to determine where light could and could not come from. Hable then showcased the result of no SHAO or shadows and SHAO with shadows, which you can check out below.

Hable did outline the detriments of using SHAO, in that while it’s “way better than nothing”, it’s too expensive in terms of vertex cost to use everywhere and it’s “not as good as a shadow”. When it comes to unshadowed lights and forward rendering, it does make things easier but only by so much.

As for adaptive tessellation, Hable talks about having this feature for this generation even if used in the most extreme cases. So what about tessellating only the silhouette? Check out comparison shots of adaptive tessellation turned off and on.

However, even for the PS4, handling tessellation can be difficult. In most multiplatform games for the PS4, Xbox One and PC, it’s often the PC that’s able to make the best use of tessellation using DirectX 11.2. If Uncharted 4 does feature some kind of tessellation, it will likely be used in such a way as to not heavily impact performance.

All in all, Hable’s presentation provides some very interesting clues as to the future of Naughty Dog’s lighting techniques for Uncharted 4 on the PS4. What are your thoughts on the above? Let us know in the comments.

You can download the entire presentation here and learn more about it over here.

Epic Games is busy these days and more open to sharing information about their upcoming title Fortnite. Though announced way back in 2011, Epic has only now begun to tell just what kind of experience we could be in for.

As CEO and founder Tim Sweeney states to Polygon, “We’re building Fortnite, which is a bigger and way cooler game than we imagined. It started out as an internal game jam project at Epic and has grown over time. We have a combination of a great building game, an action-combat game and with some [light] elements of an MMO. We’ll be saying more about that in the coming months.”

The studio has 90 staff members working on the game and development will continue after release based on fan feedback. “We’re looking at the future of gaming from kind of a Valve or Riot point of view, making your games really accessible, being fair to customers and giving them a great value with a game that can be played for hundreds or thousands of hours.

“That’s what we’re doing with Fortnite and what we’re looking at for everything we do at Epic, from the games side to the engine side.”

For those worried about whether Epic will adhere to the same gritty, visually riveting games that catapulted it into the spotlight or not, Sweeney says that, “We’re also in the early development stages of a game that will continue the Epic tradition of pushing high-end, leading-edge graphics.

“We’re working very close with Nvidia on new features and capabilities to bring things to the next level. We won’t be announcing that [game] for a long time but we’re continuing to be at the forefront [of graphics technology].”

No information has been offered on what the game could be but slides showcased during an Epic Games panel at GDC indicate that it could revolve around the previously revealed “Samaritan” demo for Unreal Engine 4.

Epic Games didn’t reveal any new details about their upcoming zombie title Fortnite at GDC 2014 but work is still progressing on the game. After all the development time that’s already been devoted, the game has actually evolved over time and according to engine GM Ray Davis while talking to RPS at GDC 2014, tremendous progress has been made.

“I would say it has evolved. Like all game development, it’s a long, long road and lots of things are discovered along the way. With Fortnite, the way I look at it is we think there’s a big opportunity, and the last thing you want to do is rush something before it’s really found its core.

“The team’s been working really hard. I think they’ve made some tremendous progress. Hopefully we’ll be able to talk about it more soon. I can say that it’s a tremendous amount of fun to playtest.”

Fortnite is currently only heading to PC and will apparently be releasing this year. Stay tuned for more details.

While many consider this to be the golden age of indie gaming, even industry veteran Peter Molyneux has stated to CVG that we shouldn’t expect such a time to last. “These things go in cycles. What I’d say is, enjoy this time, because it won’t last.

“Don’t think we’re going to be all indies for the next five years – these things go in cycles, just like in the music business. You have a time where punk is big, and then you have times like now where everything is manufactured. Enjoy this time, because inevitably it will only last a short period.”

Molyenux also states there will come a day when some indie studios decide to accept large amounts of funding from publishers in exchange for creative freedom. “Here’s the thing, walk through any hotel lobby at GDC and look at people’s name badges. This morning at breakfast I saw three angel investors talking to indies. They’re saying, ‘take my money! I want to invest in your company!

“But what those indie companies don’t realise is that they’ll then have to have board meetings, and in those meetings they’ll be told, ‘no, you shouldn’t do that – look at this game that’s making money’.”

Of course when funding mediums such as Kickstarter – or even regular crowd-funding which helped studios like Chris Roberts’ Cloud Imperium Games to raise more than $40 million for Star Citizen – add a twist to the proceedings. Regardless, indie games are on the upswing, admits Molyneux, and this is perhaps the best time to be an indie dev.

Former Microsoft employee Adam Orth, who rose to fame thanks to his “Deal With It” Twitter messages that were seen as an arrogant defence for the Xbox One’s always-online policy, recently gave a talk to industry insiders at GDC 2014, and talked about his own experiences- how he became an “internet hate phenomenon” and how he dealt with it.

Orth resigned from Microsoft just four days after he made the comments over Twitter, went into hiding, and due to threats that his finances would be disrupted, he restructured his bank accounts. He had also been receiving death threats that targeted his family and himself, so he also had to move and find a new place to live.

“I was becoming the next victim of the internet hate phenomenon. It was an absolute feeding frenzy,” Orth said. “My public and private life was fair game.”

“People began to distance themselves from me,” he continued. “I was dejected, ashamed and embarrassed. I destroyed my career and feared being blacklisted by the industry. I went from income to no income.

“The reason that internet threats are terrifying is not the possibility of the realization of a violent act; it’s that society has regressed to a point that this behavior and discourse is an acceptable and expected response to something someone doesn’t like or agree with.”

“An industry we’ve become desensitised to this insane behavior because it’s overwhelming, ubiquitous and unstoppable,” Orth said. He later quoted another dev who had personally said to him, “I just don’t want to make games for these people anymore.”

Orth, however, said that game developers should not stop developing games and doing what they love just because of abuse and hate over the internet. “Be the shining example to inspire others to action,” he said, “Never forget the joy you get or that you give by illuminating it with video games.

“Life is too short to worry about anonymous internet activity. You have to look inward and block it out. What they are saying is a reflection of their life, not yours. Fighting back on their level is pointless. Eventually they tire out. Keep building, keep dreaming.”

Thanks, GI Biz

Saints Row developer Volition had a title codenamed Zeus that was in development for Xbox One and PS4, but which was eventually scrapped due to the amount of time it would have taken.

Speaking at GDC 2014 to Shacknews, senior producer Greg Donovan stated that, “Right or wrong, we know we could’ve made this game. But it would’ve taken too long. It wouldn’t have been the responsible thing to do.”

Zeus was apparently set in a post-apocalyptic version of Rio and had players exploring the Western-styled landscape as a gunslinger. While the game had to be cancelled, Volition was satisfied with the tools it created and the experience gained, which is now going into developing a “top secret” title.

Saints Row V? One can hope. Stay tuned for more news and updates, and let us know whether you would’ve been interested in what Zeus could have offered had it not been cancelled.

At a recent GDC panel, Bungie technical art lead Scott Shepherd talked about the amount of effort that’s gone into developing the character creation system for their upcoming online shooter Destiny.

Aside from the usual customization brought about by collecting new equipment – which can be fitted into slots for Head, Chest, Arms and Legs – and the aesthetic differences between the three classes (with each separate look reflecting the class’s overall functionality), Shepherd also showcased Bungie’s Mash Up which continuously rearranges different pieces of armour and gear to create new items for players to discover.

There will also be different colour patterns for each class, and gear will evolve as you level up, even fitting automatically into the female anatomy (which in turn reduces the amount of work for creating unique items for female characters). There will also be decals and you can even adjust the accents, gradient and shininess of items.

Destiny is currently scheduled to release on September 9th for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, and PS4.

(Source)

Nintendo had their panel up at GDC 2014, and were showing off a rather interesting tech demo developed by Nintendo Software Technology for Mario vs Donkey Kong for the Wii U, which was developed using Nintendo Web Framework. Siliconera had the chance to try it out and gave some impressions on it.

The controls for the software were solely on the GamePad, and the player could “build bridges by drawing a line at the red squares or get rid of bridge a by tapping on them.”

Siliconera describes Nintendo Web Framework as “a development environment based on WebKit technologies” that uses HTML 5, JavaScript and CSS and supports JavaScript extensions. It supports the Wii U GamePad and Wii Remote. It allows for easier porting of apps onto the Wii U.

Nintendo’s Damon Baker was asked whether the prototype might go on to become a full game before long, but Baker said that the prototype was just what it was and Nintendo had no plans to release it to the masses.

Thanks, Siliconera.

Havok has announced that its various technologies – namely Havok Physics, Havok Animation Studio and Havok AI – will be used in the upcoming MMO Iron Knight. Published by Tencent Games and developed by Aurora Studios, Iron Knight was showcased this week’s GDC.

Tencent executive producer and Chief Consultant Steve Gray stated that, “The presence of Iron Knight at GDC is an important part of a larger strategy for Tencent as it looks to court a more international audience of gamers with its quality titles.

“Integration of Havok technology was an essential piece of the internationalization plans for Project Knight. The development team designed the game from the ground up with an international audience in mind and we believe this international effort is a bold, new direction that holds great promise for fans of battlefield action everywhere.”

Brian Waddle, VP of Sales and Marketing at Havok, stated that, “We are excited to be a part of such an innovative title being developed in a growing market like China. Our dedicated team in China is working closely with the talented developers at Aurora Studios to ensure they get the most out of Havok’s robust technology capabilities in order to deliver the most vibrant and immersive gaming experience possible.”

As of now, there are no definitive details on when Iron Knight will release in the West. Stay tuned for more updates.

At this year’s GDC, Microsoft’s partner and development lead Frank Savage was present to talk to the ID@Xbox developers, and while giving this talk, he talked about a new reward system Microsoft has been working on that would, rather than penalising players who have a low Xbox Live rating, reward players that have a good one.

If your reputation on Xbox Live is “soaring because you’re this amazing player that everyone wants to be with,” the rewards system will automatically and randomly give you rewards. “[It’s Microsoft’s way of saying] thanks for being such a good member of the community, here’s a reward.” So it’s like treats.

Savage later told Polygon that Microsoft have not really decided what these rewards will be specifically, but said that this stage of the rewards programme was still in its “brainstorming” stages.

Watch this space for more news, we’ll keep updating as more info comes our way.