Comments on: It runs Crysis.

It runs Crysis.

griphus — Tue, 29 May 2012 07:37:59 -0800

BeamNG, the team responsible for Rigs of Rods, show off their soft-body physics innovations in CryENGINE 3. The [via]

According to the video, the footage was recorded in real-time at 100 FPS.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Tue, 29 May 2012 07:43:55 -0800

That's some pretty incredible looking simulations. I've seen those "trucks on alternating bumps" tests in real life many times and the model is ridiculously close to what a real-world truck looks like in the test. The rest of the crashes it looks like the metal is bending a bit too easily but then it's for a video game and more carnage is always more fun.

By: RobotVoodooPower

RobotVoodooPower — Tue, 29 May 2012 07:46:08 -0800

Finally we can do justice to a Blues Brothers game! (playable split-screen with Rock Band controllers, natch)

By: IAmBroom

IAmBroom — Tue, 29 May 2012 07:48:26 -0800

recorded in real-time !

By: Sokka shot first

Sokka shot first — Tue, 29 May 2012 07:50:01 -0800

I assume this is on an absurd graphics-optimized PC, but the fact that this is real-time on any hardware anywhere is totally ridiculous.

By: Cloud King

Cloud King — Tue, 29 May 2012 07:59:12 -0800

Sorry, I'm a little confused. Since this is on CryEngine 3 (which is not released yet), does that mean it's going to be part of it, or is this another developer who has access to CryEngine 3?

By: logicpunk

logicpunk — Tue, 29 May 2012 07:59:20 -0800

Maybe if they also simulated a driver in the cab of that truck it wouldn't crash so much.

By: fatbird

fatbird — Tue, 29 May 2012 07:59:48 -0800

This looks amazing, but how many games actually use the Crysis series of engines? I know the Unreal and Quake engines were used all over the place, but I don't recall ever hearing about a significant external title for the CryEngine.

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:03:24 -0800

Cloud King: Crysis 2 was the first CryEngine 3 release.

By: Cloud King

Cloud King — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:04:08 -0800

Oh wait, never mind, CryEngine 3 has already been released for a while

By: nicwolff

nicwolff — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:06:04 -0800

Carmageddon 3, oh please oh please.

By: Dysk

Dysk — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:06:51 -0800

fatbird: This looks amazing, but how many games actually use the Crysis series of engines? I know the Unreal and Quake engines were used all over the place, but I don't recall ever hearing about a significant external title for the CryEngine. Well, it's mostly Crytek's own Crysis series which uses it these days, though CryEngine 3 is apparently also being used by the Australian Navy. It's no Unreal or Quake engine though, in terms of widespread usage.

By: Popular Ethics

Popular Ethics — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:07:04 -0800

It's impressive I guess, but to me the simulation still has that "everything looks like it's made of rubber" cartoonish quality that open world games seem to have these days.

By: jonbro

jonbro — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:09:03 -0800

Trucks crashing in a white void while piano music plays. This is somehow related to Ballard I think. I love 3d test environments. Also, Carmageddon 3 is already on the way? what I was thinking would be perfect is destruction derby 3.

By: DU

DU — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:09:50 -0800

There was a lot of weird stuff going on in that video. I can understand the way the corner of the building "pushed in" to the hood of the car and then left it undamaged, I guess. It's a "soft body". But why did the side view mirror halt in mid trajectory and then go in a totally different direction?

By: codacorolla

codacorolla — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:16:45 -0800

I'd play a game which is nothing but me destroying cars on an infinite checkerboard plane.

By: Foci for Analysis

Foci for Analysis — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:18:29 -0800

Only game I've played that runs on CryEngine engine is Farcry. What a fun and refreshing game that was. I'm pretty sure it established the nasties-in-a-tropical-paradise genre.

By: Admiral Haddock

Admiral Haddock — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:19:53 -0800

Makes me pine for the next GTA game.

By: kliuless

kliuless — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:24:25 -0800

SIGGRAPH 2012 technical papers preview (via)

By: Inspector.Gadget

Inspector.Gadget — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:36:05 -0800

I hope this leads to the demise of inexplicably indestructible cover items in games.

By: griphus

griphus — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:41:09 -0800

It'll probably lead to an industry-wide adoption of two different classes of crates (blowuppable/non-blow-uppable) instead of just the one.

By: Fidel Cashflow

Fidel Cashflow — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:46:57 -0800

Sorry, I'm a little confused. Since this is on CryEngine 3 (which is not released yet), does that mean it's going to be part of it, or is this another developer who has access to CryEngine 3? Well, it's mostly Crytek's own Crysis series which uses it these days, though CryEngine 3 is apparently also being used by the Australian Navy. It's no Unreal or Quake engine though, in terms of widespread usage. Lots of people have access to CryEngine 3 for demo development purposes, and they're selling more and more to governments for training integration and modeling & simulation. In fact, Crytek spun off a US-based company called Real Time Immersive just to sell CryEngine 3 to the US M&S world. Back when I was working in DOD, we had a copy of CryEngine 3 in the office for some proposal work we were doing. It's a stunning system.

By: burnmp3s

burnmp3s — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:50:44 -0800

I'd play a game which is nothing but me destroying cars on an infinite checkerboard plane. FlatOut had a game mode that was pretty similar to that, although with more of an emphasis on ejecting the driver.

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:55:02 -0800

Could this be used for real-world predictive modeling?

By: griphus

griphus — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:58:14 -0800

Well, one of the Big Deals about this is that the engine is doing all this in real-time. I don't know much about predictive modeling, but I don't think it really requires that feature, especially if you're exchanging accuracy for speed.

By: mrgrimm

mrgrimm — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:58:48 -0800

Looks good for simulations, but I don't see the point for games. How does it add any significant enjoyment or expand playability? Gaming seems to be hitting the desperation point of its (newest) mid-life crisis. Are we still motion detecting? Far Cry is a great game, and the graphics are a part of that, but how much? I'm still waiting for a battle-oriented (mario kart style) version of GTA. Does that exist yet. I vaguely remember a new Twisted Metal promo ... that's the direction they should have gone = land-to-air missiles. Makes me pine for the next GTA game. I've still got a good 40 hours to go on San Andreas.

By: xedrik

xedrik — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:02:20 -0800

I hope this leads to the demise of inexplicably indestructible cover items in games. Have you tried any of the Red Faction games? Might scratch that itch.

By: demiurge

demiurge — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:06:12 -0800

This looks like it's using an FEM dynamics system. Real-world predictive modeling is already being done using these types of systems by engineers all over the world. The neat thing about this is that it has real-time performance. The models being used by car companies and materials firms are much more detailed and much slower, requiring cluster computing in many cases.

By: OverlappingElvis

OverlappingElvis — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:18:40 -0800

Inspector.Gadget, you should try Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Most of the scenery is indestructible for technical reasons, but most things you'd use for cover (walls, sandbags, crates, houses) can be taken apart if you hit them hard enough.

By: RobotVoodooPower

RobotVoodooPower — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:24:57 -0800

How does it add any significant enjoyment or expand playability? Come on, everyone knows games are all about *telling a story*! To wit: There once were some good guys who were mad at some bad guys. The good guy drove his truck toward the bad guys. It hit a ramp and flipped over, perfectly modeling the shock transmitted to the truck's suspension system. It then pirouetted in a perfect spiral toward the wall, and nailed the corner right between the headlights. The hood crinkled instantly, while the side doors buckled as the engine compartment absorbed the blow. The rear wheels lifted up just a little, then settled down. A hubcap rolled away and lazily circled, then came to rest. Then the good guys killed all of the bad guys and won.

By: schmod

schmod — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:31:15 -0800

codacorolla: "I'd play a game which is nothing but me destroying cars on an infinite checkerboard plane." Weirdly, this already kind of exists, although I not-so-secretly hope that these developers can incorporate this new physics engine into a new version of Stair Dismount and Truck Dismount.

By: egypturnash

egypturnash — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:32:46 -0800

This was totally technically sweet until they started showing more complicated models in the background and NOT CRASHING INTO THEM. I wanted to see this truck wrapped around one of those trees, or smashing into one of those huts, and it never happened! How disappointing. (I'm sure this is because modeling stuff for destruction takes time, but...)

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:33:06 -0800

Looks good for simulations, but I don't see the point for games. Because it's awesome.

By: The 10th Regiment of Foot

The 10th Regiment of Foot — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:38:18 -0800

Looks good for simulations, but I don't see the point for games. Because it's awesome. You get to drive trucks and stuff into other stuff and it wrecks a lot like it wrecks in real life. I'm not sure what you are missing here.

By: barnacles

barnacles — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:42:23 -0800

mrgrimm: "Looks good for simulations, but I don't see the point for games. How does it add any significant enjoyment or expand playability?" I've never quite understood just how to use the phrase "not even wrong" ... until now.

By: elgilito

elgilito — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:42:37 -0800

I wonder if they'll put in the cars the original soft bodies aka people. Can't wait to see those limbs and spleens and other meat parts bounce across the screen in physically accurate, graceful, bloody arcs.

By: weinbot

weinbot — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:48:02 -0800

This hit some kind of soft spot in my brain. I am completely grown man and I want nothing more right now than to drive that virtual truck.

By: The 10th Regiment of Foot

The 10th Regiment of Foot — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:49:30 -0800

This hit some kind of soft spot in my brain. I am completely grown man and I want nothing more right now than to drive that virtual truck... ...into that other virtual truck.

By: griphus

griphus — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:49:48 -0800

"Look, dude. If you can't have fun playin' with a toy truck, then it's time to reevaluate your life. You've become jaded."

By: VTX

VTX — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:51:22 -0800

Most of the scenery is indestructible for technical reasons, but most things you'd use for cover (walls, sandbags, crates, houses) can be taken apart if you hit them hard enough. This is also true for Battlefield 3 and they should make really great use of that in the upcoming Close Quarters expansion pack. This should be a before/after screenshot of a hallway after a round.

By: Z303

Z303 — Tue, 29 May 2012 10:24:33 -0800

Following up what kliuless posted, many of the preprints for the SIGGRAPH 2012 papers are already available.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Tue, 29 May 2012 10:48:29 -0800

Looks good for simulations, but I don't see the point for games. How does it add any significant enjoyment or expand playability? It means that when they release Saint's Row 4 using it and reintroduce Septic Avenger, it won't just be putting a brown color over the existing textures. You'll be able to fling cars with your high-pressure stream of sewage! Break windows, cut down trees, or possibly destroy houses with the 150-mph turds you're flinging. My God... it'll be beautiful.

By: fizban

fizban — Tue, 29 May 2012 10:59:32 -0800

I just really want to know what the floating red thing in the distance around 2:33 is! And then see them drive the truck into it.

By: ersatz

ersatz — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:55:30 -0800

Looks good for simulations, but I don't see the point for games. How does it add any significant enjoyment or expand playability? Because modelling physics is good for games. Games like Mario, Tetris, Portal or your favourite footie are based on (tweaked) physics engines. Besides, the only application isn't crashing trucks. Imagine a high-end version of Minecraft where you have more landscaping tools and aren't limited to manipulating blocks.

By: coolxcool=rad

coolxcool=rad — Tue, 29 May 2012 17:55:52 -0800

Isn't this going to destroy the 3D engine based gaming market? I always thought that everyone who played 3D games just did it because they loved the awful physics.

By: chairface

chairface — Tue, 29 May 2012 19:28:32 -0800

Finally we can have that DigDug sequel we've all been dreaming about!

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Wed, 30 May 2012 03:48:40 -0800

Presumably the bit where they do the modelling of exploding petrol tanks will come later? Pretty please?

By: Hello, I'm David McGahan

Hello, I'm David McGahan — Wed, 30 May 2012 07:02:26 -0800

I was enjoying this earlier, but I've got to say, these BeamNG people seem to have something against the humble pickup truck

By: Hello, I'm David McGahan

Hello, I'm David McGahan — Wed, 30 May 2012 07:24:48 -0800

Also, does anyone else remember that episode of Top Gear where they were launching old cars at caravans? Just saying... I've been telling my students that AAA game development has become like Hollywood, so time for a pitch. Angry birds meets Burnout. Millions of dollars. Millions! If need be we can throw in a pointless love interest for the equally pointless main character, let's call him steve. She probably needs a slightly exotic name, so Alexa or something equally close enough to be mainstream, but 'different'. They're battling to save the world from... fraudulent tax deductions/ campaign contributions/charitable donations which threaten to: undermine the tax base/expose a long time Senator who is a cipher for the Kennedy family/???? Russians?/ (the Russians have infiltrated the Kennedy family/tax base?) Also aliens. Oh, and explosions obviously.