PS3: Unreal Tournament 2007

[yankee lion]

ALL CREDIT GOES TO ZBOX ON THE TEAMXBOX FORUMS

Original Thread

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Only editted for grammar.

Unreal Tournament 2007

"For its 2k7 iteration (think of it like a sports game; the year's bumped ahead by one) the series is not just coming back to the console world - it's aiming to set a new benchmark for online multiplayer in the process"

Building a better battle.

"We've been working on the gameplay side of things for about a year," the game's lead designer, Steve Polge, told us as we first laid eyes on it. "We started off refining the basics, the movement and the weapons," he recounted. "We went back to the roots; played older UT games, other FPSs, so that it just feels really good." However, Polge wsa quick to add: "We're still in the early part of development." Judging by the level we saw, you wouldn't have thought it.

In a classic segue into "the really cool stuff," Polge quickly talked about the weapons being familiar, but enhanced, then got down to one of the major elements that could make UT2007 the PS3's online killer app: its vehicles. 'We're really innovating most with the vehicles," explained Polge. "We think it's something that will really translate well to the console. It's actually one case where console controller is actually better suited for gameplay." (No, Epic Games doesn't have a PS3 boomerang controller - no one does - we controlled the dev kit with a stock DualShock 2).

Big guns are good. Big vehicles with bigger guns are better. There will be 18 in all, up from the six that debuted in UT2004. Executive Producer Jeff Morris landed an Axxon Cicada in front of us, giving us our first look at the detail achievable by pairing UE 3 with great artists. With its vertical wings, belly turrent, and nose art, it looked like the offspring of an aircraft from WWII and WWXXII. It was also difficult to look at it and not think that it would look perfectly at home in a big-budget Hollywood movie without needing to be pre-rendered.

Next up, we got to see the returning, but improved, Scorpion. This all-terrain vehicle becomes a self-destructing projectile if the player uses its newly added boost to rush enemies and then ejects before impact. It's also great for showing off how the game's ground vehicles have evolved from "floating boxes" to heavy feeling, realistically handling terrors of the terrain.

In fact, the vehicles have evolved to the point that entire battles can be played out using them. It's something that Morris had no problem with. "Where is the 'Twisted Metal Championship"', he wondered aloud. "There's no real leader of the vehicular combat genre on consoles. In fact, the genre has really evaporated over the years," he observed. "We see a real oppurtunity to bring that type of gameplay back in Unreal Tournament 2007."

The men (and women) behind the machines.

We can't disagree with that, but this is a FPS, right? You're not just a car -- you're a man, woman, alien - a being packing some major firepower. Fear not, the foot soldier has not been forgotten.

At this point in development, the Onslaught mode is the major focus of the UT2007 team. The battlefields feature many elements well known to players of UTs past. Capture nodes, turrents, and the like... but there are, of course, some new twists.

"We're trying to give the level designers a lot more freedom to experiment with doing all new types of Onslaught levels," explained Polge. 'We have special objectives now that can be mixed into the mode. We have low-key objectives like blow up this bridge, but they can also be very elaborate."

Morris is especially excited about this new aspect. "Even though you're still playing Onslaught, you know that if you complete this one special objective, for example, you're going to start out the next match in a really cool vehicle." He loves his vehicles.

How does all this cause and effect gameplay fit into the whole picture? "The other big thing we're adding in Ut2007 is a campaign called Warfare," explained Polge. "The outcome of one battle will realistically affect the next one. It gives a more story-driven aspect to the game, offline or online."

The design team is also very big on giving the player the freedom to change their role on the battlefield at any point. Polge explains: "We're not going to have classes. What we're trying to do, though, is encourage people to take on roles." His example: "You can go and grab a sniper rifle and be a sniper for a while, but if you decide you're tired of doing that, you can play as an engineer by picking up some deployables, which are something els we're adding to UT 2007."

"Mines, energy barriers - we have a lot of ideas," he teased.

Blurring the off/online.

?Even though it?s an online-oriented title, a staggering number of people play UT2004 offline,? Morris revealed to our amazement. ?We always take the single player very seriously,? he continued. ?One of the ways we?re doing that in UT2007 is by giving the characters lots of personality.? According to Morris, offline bots will interact with the player and each other much more realistically now. The game is set to incorporate Epic?s voice recognition technology for communicating with bots as well. ?My goal is to be able to use natural words to banter with the bots,? Morris explained. ?I want to say ?Go take this point!? to the bot and have him say ?Nah, I don?t? want to," taking it a step farther, Morris adds: ?Then I?ll say ?You WILL take that point!? and then he goes ahead and does it. And that?s just that one guy?s personality.?

UT2007 is also set to include a deeper create-a-character feature than the previous games, enabling you to customize nearly every aspec

Oh, the eye candy

the eye candy

[/size]

Gameplay explained, the entire team want to regale us with details about the technology and art that makes UT2007 look so damn amazing. And hey, we were just as eager to listen. As the game?s executive producer explained to us in words and on the screen, the real time level we were in originally ?looked too clean. Too sci-fi.? So the team decided to base it more in reality and give a grungier look to everything. ?The cool thing is, every little grungy bit we added caught the light and gave the game an even more amazing look,? Morris explained as he pointed out the remarkably crisp floor and wall textures on the 720p display, light glinting off the floor?s diamond plate as the camera moved.

Yes, the game is targeted to run at 1080x720, a.k.a. 720p resolution if you have a high-definition display. We asked Epic Games vice president Mark Rein, who was also present at the demo, about the target frame rate. ?It?s simply too early to say, but we?re aiming for it to be as high as possible,? he responded. For the record, the 720p, totally un-optimized build running on hardware less powerful than the final PS3 spec was clipping along at 49fps.

We asked Rein about the now famous E3 demo of UE3. How difficult was it, really, to get it up and running? ?The only trick we did to make sure that the lighting looked right and shadows looked right when we were doing our E3 demo was to change the mode in the game engine from Direct X to Open GL,? he confirmed, adding: ?There?s no difference in what you see running of this test bed PC [a high-end system with a $500+ NVIDIA 7800GTX video card] and the PS3, which is really amazing.?

?People are going to be totally blown away when the get a PS3 and play it,? Rein continued. ?PC gamers are used to having the absolute cutting edge graphics ? console players are just going to say ?Wow!?? As for how PS3 will ultimately run the game? ?When you see the [final] game running on PS3, it?s going to be smoother [than on the PC]. You?re not going to have the operating system in the way and all the other things that can make a PC game look ?poppy,?? he said. Driving home the point, he added: ?People ask me what the next generation is going to offer other than better graphics, and I say ?Stop! Go back and look at the graphics!? Don?t downplay that. People spend $600 on a video card to get this kind of performance on their PC, and this is a potZBOX decided to summarize the rest of the article.an style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%">

ZBOX decided to summarize the rest of the article.[/size]

Josh (a programmer) on coding for PS3 "really a night and day difference" from what he was used to on PS2. Easier? "There's just a lot more preexisting knowledge you can apply from the entire game development world," he elaborated. "You don't have to learn everything all over again. So in that way, it's a huge difference"

Sweeney (lead programmer) said he was happy Sony went with NVIDIA for PS3's graphics processor. He also said that its developer friendly and "...allows us to get the best-looking games up and running much more quickly."

That's the end of the main reading part of the story. There are some screenshots and concept art with captions.

Get this, UT2007 is going to have hoverboards!! So now when you die, you don't have a long walk to get back to the action. It gets cooler... when you are riding it, can fire a "tow beam" and latch onto world objects and vehicles. So you can either hitch a ride or gather speed for clearing a large gap. And now get this, YOU CAN PULL OFF SSX-style tricks!!

Cool, some info before CES and "the Feb. Surprise."

Edited December 8, 2005 by Surrieall

[iconboy]

when is CES? and who announced a Feb surprise?

[yankee lion]

when is CES? and who announced a Feb surprise?

1. CES is Jan.5th I believe.

2. Sony said so. I guess that's when they spill everything about the system.

[+Mystic MVC]

Well I stopped reading after "teh gameplay". If he does not care enough to check grammar, I wouldn't bother reading the post. How can you be considered a writer, if your so concerned about how quickly an article gets out, to let the grammar slip? Take a little more time, and publish quality, readers will respect your articles more.

Now enough of my ranting. Looking forward to 2k7 :D

[Tungsten T]

The voice req is amazing, I hope it turns out to be good

[spiffy0517]

Very interesting but the author could have at least checked for typos. The teh's were driving me nuts!

[firen]

nice preview, thanks (Y)

[Laughing-Man]

“There’s no difference in what you see running of this test bed PC [a high-end system with a $500+ NVIDIA 7800GTX video card] and the PS3, which is really amazing.”

“People are going to be totally blown away when the get a PS3 and play it,” Rein continued. “PC gamers are used to having the absolute cutting edge graphics – console players are just going to say ‘Wow!’”

Josh (a programmer) on coding for PS3 "really a night and day difference" from what he was used to on PS2. Easier? "There's just a lot more preexisting knowledge you can apply from the entire game development world," he elaborated. "You don't have to learn everything all over again. So in that way, it's a huge difference"

Sweeney (lead programmer) said he was happy Sony went with NVIDIA for PS3's graphics processor. He also said that its developer friendly and "...allows us to get the best-looking games up and running much more quickly."

PS3 awesome graphics, easy to code for? Nooooooo! Xbots, assemble for damage control stat!

Great article and interview btw. And yay for hoverboards!

Edited December 8, 2005 by jmole

[Brandon Live Veteran]

PS3 awesome graphics, easy to code for? Nooooooo! Xbots, assemble for damage control stat!

Great article and interview btw. And yay for hoverboards!

I'm just wondering why they aren't targetting 1080p? Didn't Sony say that's what they're targetting and that the X360's 720p requirement wasn't high enough? :rolleyes:

[SecretAgentMan]

PS3 awesome graphics, easy to code for? Nooooooo! Xbots, assemble for damage control stat!

Great article and interview btw. And yay for hoverboards!

Zzzzzzzz, nice trolling. :sleep:

[firen]

I'm just wondering why they aren't targetting 1080p? Didn't Sony say that's what they're targetting and that the X360's 720p requirement wasn't high enough? :rolleyes:

i believe all sony said was that is it possible to do 1080p, it was NOT going to be required :)

Zzzzzzzz, nice trolling.

why bother replying...sheesh :no:

[yankee lion]

I'm just wondering why they aren't targetting 1080p? Didn't Sony say that's what they're targetting and that the X360's 720p requirement wasn't high enough? :rolleyes:

Wow, they really did assemble for damage control. Amazing.

I'm guessing it's because it's a first gen game. I've heard PGR3 doesn't run at 'real' 720p or something like that. It's upscaled? Here we go.

http://www.playfeed.com/index.php/playfeed...rules-11151243/

http://www.ferrago.com/story/6880

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=0...2110226&tid=211

"That's right, PGR3 renders at 1024X600 rather than 1386X720. Then the 360 hardware upscales to 720p. That works out to 614,000 pixels instead of 985,000. A significant difference. And we're still only getting 30 frames per second? Bah, humbug I say."

[icecaveman]

i believe all sony said was that is it possible to do 1080p, it was NOT going to be require:):)

That's not the point, they were basicly shoving it down our throuts the 360 would **** because it had inferiour resolution and whatnot.

[Laughing-Man]

I'm just wondering why they aren't targetting 1080p? Didn't Sony say that's what they're targetting and that the X360's 720p requirement wasn't high enough? :rolleyes:

Where did they say that?

Wow, they really did assemble for damage control. Amazing.

It happens every PS3 thread.

[icecaveman]

Wow, they really did assemble for damage control. Amazing.

I'm guessing it's because it's a first gen game. I've heard PGR3 doesn't run at 'real' 720p or something like that. It's upscaled? Here we go.

"That's right, PGR3 renders at 1024X600 rather than 1386X720. Then the 360 hardware upscales to 720p. That works out to 614,000 pixels instead of 985,000. A significant difference. And we're still only getting 30 frames per second? Bah, humbug I say."

LOL PGR3 runs at solid 60 FPS per second!

And these speculations are not proven at all. Nice trolling there.

Anyway looking forward for this game whatever computer I will play it on it's good to see for once Epic expecting a console to outperform a PC.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Wow, they really did assemble for damage control. Amazing.

It was a serious question...

All I keep hearing about the PS3 is that it will play games at 1080p at 120FPS. And everytime I say that's not possible given the PS3's architecture, someone says I'm an Xbox fanboy or some other rubbish. I'm looking forward to the PS3 and to UT 2007. But I have realistic expectations for both, unlike some people.

I'm guessing it's because it's a first gen game. I've heard PGR3 doesn't run at 'real' 720p or something like that. It's upscaled? Here we go.

http://www.playfeed.com/index.php/playfeed...rules-11151243/

http://www.ferrago.com/story/6880

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=0...2110226&tid=211

"That's right, PGR3 renders at 1024X600 rather than 1386X720. Then the 360 hardware upscales to 720p. That works out to 614,000 pixels instead of 985,000. A significant difference. And we're still only getting 30 frames per second? Bah, humbug I say."

Huh? PGR3 renders at 1280x720 like every other Xbox 360 game... (and you can set the exact resolution, up to 1280x1024, if you have a VGA adapter).

[firen]

The first interview was with Kaz Hirai (President and Chief Executive Officer, Co-COO, SCEA) and Jack Tretton (Executive Vice Preisdent, """" """").

- they see lots of life left in PS2 well after PS3 is out

- Hairai says there will be lots of original franchises on the PSP next year

also want to expand Playstation experience to the handheld envrionment with existing franchises which aren't just ports, same name, different gameplay

- Sony still doesn't know when and which country they want to launch in first.

- Hirai on the PS3 slipping into 2007, not going to happen, they are still on track for a Spring 2006 launch

- Tretton on Microsoft's impact of a head start with xbox 360 "I dont' think it's a matter of time, but rather a matter of units."

- Both Sony guys said PS3 will be able to deliver the quality of visuals seen in the E3 demos. (perhaps even better) . " I think that, in the very near future, you'll see some comparable gameplay footage that will really put those rumors [that PS3 can't be as powerful as we're claiming it is] to bed."

- When will we get to play actual PS3 games on a real PS3? "...but what I can say is as soon as we feel that the quality of the software is up to where we expect it to be, and that we're confident of us being able to present that to everybody and everybody go home with the impression that, yes, these guys are really pusing the envelope in terms of what they bring to gameplay, graphic quality, and everything else." "... we'll present those games just as we're good and ready to go"

- Sony is still looking into pricing of the system

- another question about pricing and only certain hardcore people buying it... Bacially Hirai replies "we have a pretty good history of providing value for what we bring to the consumer"

- a question was asked (to Hirai, who remeber, is the Preisdent and Chief Executive officer) about the controller...it seems only one person has held the controller, Kutaragi. lol Here is a quote from Hirai. "Kutaragi actually showed it to me, and he was kind of waving it in my face, and when I tried to reach out for it, he said 'No,no,no,no,no -not yet!'"

[magik]

PSM, what a reliable source! :)

[Pc_Madness]

PS3 awesome graphics, easy to code for? Nooooooo! Xbots, assemble for damage control stat!

Great article and interview btw. And yay for hoverboards!

Easy to code for in relation to the graphics processor? I should expect it wouldn't be since isn't it just a normal PC graphics card? Its the CPU thats the problem?

LOL PGR3 runs at solid 60 FPS per second!

And these speculations are not proven at all. Nice trolling there.

I think it probably was "proven" when Microsoft didn't confirm or deny it. The game looks alright doesn't it? So I don't really see how it matters, it is 720p.. :s

[OrangeSoul]

u know the funny thing is, that they are saying PS3 equals a PC + Nvidia 7800 GTX Graphics which both will be obselete by Fall 2006, release of PS3

[icecaveman]

u know the funny thing is, that they are saying PS3 equals a PC + Nvidia 7800 GTX Graphics which both will be obselete by Fall 2006, release of PS3

According to PSM they are expecting it to be running faster than PCs when UT2007 gets released on PC and PS3 amd that info supposedly comes from Epic. So how could that be?

[OrangeSoul]

According to PSM they are expecting it to be running faster than PCs when UT2007 gets released on PC and PS3 amd that info supposedly comes from Epic. So how could that be?

perhaps like COD2 runs faster than COD2 on current PCs, Epic is saying it will run faster than current PCs, by 2006 fall we will have Nvidia 8000 series and ATI X2000 series

[Brandon Live Veteran]

According to PSM they are expecting it to be running faster than PCs when UT2007 gets released on PC and PS3 amd that info supposedly comes from Epic. So how could that be?

?There?s no difference in what you see running of this test bed PC [a high-end system with a $500+ NVIDIA 7800GTX video card] and the PS3, which is really amazing.?

[magik]

?There?s no difference in what you see running of this test bed PC [a high-end system with a $500+ NVIDIA 7800GTX video card] and the PS3, which is really amazing.?

haha, :laugh:laugh:

[firen]

- "...Snake is on a mission not to go to a certain place, but a battlefield"

- In MGS4, everyone around you may not be your enemy

- "The whole environment changes in real time, so the player controling Snake has the option to make any sort of involvement they woul dlike to in order to progress the game"

- Snake will go into multiple battles (different locations)

- "...But in the near-future war, it's more like a business, so there's lots of money involved, meaning they'll hire mercenaries to fight on behalf of their country."

- Kojima gives his prediction of what war will be like in the future and it seems that's what will be portrayed in MGS4. If you have seen the trailer you have somewhat of an idea of his vision. Reading this reminds me of Mercenaries. Each country fighting each other through the use of mercenaries/bounty hunters.

- Kojima is still working out how many years after MGS2 this game will take place. He said it might be as many as 10 years.

- Snake is aging faster because he is a clone. Apparently that's because the cloning technology was new in the 70s. I guess you can say it wasn't polished.

- The whole thing with sanke injecting something into his neck in the trailer may not be in the game.

- Kojima said " I might have second thoughts about a younger Snake if everyone thinks he looks too old."

- CQC will return in MGS4 "People will have question marks if Snake can do CQC, but if you follow the story, you'll understand why he has it."

- stamina will probably make a return in MGS4; "...still undecided on the food capture system."

- The little Metal Gear with Otacon on it will replace the codec and be used for communication

- will it only be Otacon on it? "That's a secret."

ok, I will right this question out...

Will you ever control it yourself to scout ahead or take pictures?

"Yes. We're tyring to do it at this stage, but if the game comes out and those features are not in the game, please realize that it was because we couldn't do it for a good reason. We had the plan for a remote controlled robot for even MGS2, however, due to the specs of the PS2, we couldn't do it."

- Kojima has thought about having a second player or even using the PSP to control it

- Kojima on the bigger robots in the trailer; "I cannot say what that is or what it will do because of the plot. What I can say is taht the leg part of what you saw is not 100% robot. It's like biotechnology. It's kind of like a cyborg. Think of it as the ninja suit in MGS1. If you shoot the leg, blood comes out. But it's very fast because it's not a robotic thing - it's got muscles. So it can move quite fast.

The upper part is a robot and is AI controlled. It's not very smart. We're gong to let you in on a little secret regarding that machine. If you watch the trailer again, when it comes out you can hear the crying noise of the cicada bug. In Japan, when you hear the cries of cicada, to most japanese people, it automatically makes them think of summer. And then it brings you back to your childhood, because there was so much nature in the past, so many cicada.

The footsteps soudn it makes is acutally a horse. When it approaches you, you have the cicada sound and the sound of a horse approaching you. Also, the cires of the machine are from a cow. So, there's a horse, a cow, and a cicada. All that combined gives you a natural feeling. This is the mental, psychological way to kill an enemy. See, in a battlefield you have a tense feeling. But when this machine approaches you, you have the horse soud, and the cow cry, and the cicada cry, and it makes you forget where you are and think about your childhood. You feel a little peaceful."

And then they strike?

"Yes, then they attack. So it's very psychological"

Can you talk about how Raiden is involved in the story?

"Should Raiden appear? [Laugher]

- Raiden is popular in Japan; there making him a cool character this time. "There's even potential you'll like him more than Snake!"

- "...in MGS4, yes, we will try to make Snake control anything that's possible" That was reffering to vehicles.

- Kojima then gives his opinion about the next gen console war. It's pretty interesting. If you want to read it, buy the magazine!

more from PSM

Here's some info from the Ted Price (pres. and CEO, Insomniac games)

PSM: Okay, first things first: We're totally excited about "I-8." There has not be something you can tell us about it other than "it's still in development".

Ted Price: Ha-ha! Nope.

- Price said we will learn more about the game "very soon"

- Ted Price, as a developer, says memory and processing power excites him most about working with the PS3. Also, he seems to love Blu-Ray Disc format

- He says PS3 has more raw horsepower and eventually (as developers learn)the gap will widen between 360 and PS3. In favor of the PS3 of course.

PSM: What's one big thing you can tell us about your next game that will get us even more excited about it?

Ted Price: While there aren't any Lambaxes in the game, you definitely get to blow lots of stuff up! Plus we'll be drawing 529,670,000,000 polygons per frame (give or take a few), the game will be run by an AI that can also do your taxes or your homework for you and we'll support full-body biofeedback suits. Probably. (Editor's note; Ted is just being silly here. We think. You never know...)