HPL3

[Paddy™]

Let's discuss the new engine, its improvements and what we hope to see implemented.

So far, we know of the following additions to the engine since HPL2 (I'll update the list as people submit new items):

Spoiler below!

Engine Features

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• Global sunlight with full shadow support [ref.]
  
• Terrain generation with dynamic terrain LOD (Level of Detail) [ref.]
  
• HDR lighting with filmic tone mapping [ref.]
  
• The introduction of a custom shading language, HPSL [ref.]
  
• Anti-aliasing [ref.]
  
• Particle collision [ref.]
  
• Depth of Field [ref.]
  
• Coloured Specular [ref.]
  
• Streaming (no loading screens between levels; this is optional) [ref.]
  
• Tessellation (not used in SOMA, but is available in the engine for modders) [ref.]

HPL3 Tools

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• Level Editor:
  • Fly Mode [ref.]
    
  • Poser EditMode [ref.]
    
  • Colour Picker [ref.]

• Particle Editor:
  • Live update [ref.]
    
  • Control of the update speed [ref.]
    
  • Easing functions for fading values [ref.]
    
  • Helper graphs [ref.]

The Dev Wiki has been updated with documentation for the new engine. You can find it here:

https://wiki.frictionalgames.com/hpl3/start

[Macgyverthehero]

I wonder if the devs are working on making more advanced NPC functions. I'd like to see some smarter monsters in SOMA to hunt me down, since my usual defense is to put a chair between me and the monster.

EDIT: Also, is it me, or does HPL3 support ingame interactable computer screens? Judging by some of the trailers and videos I've seen about SOMA.

[Paddy™]

I wonder if the devs are working on making more advanced NPC functions. I'd like to see some smarter monsters in SOMA to hunt me down, since my usual defense is to put a chair between me and the monster.

Thomas said this about the sophistication of the enemy/creature AI in SOMA:

Spoiler below!

RPS: You were talking about the fact that Amnesia had fairly simplistic monster AI overall. Are the monsters in Soma going to be any more sophisticated?

Grip: No, they’re not. What we’re trying to do, though, is that they’re going to have different ways of interacting with the player. We’re not overly reliant on things like really sophisticated AI models. I think it works well when you have simplistic models that can work in many different situations. Having some AI that works really well, but if the player screws up a little bit, then it goes really wrong.

We’re going to have something pretty much like in Amnesia, but the enemies are going to be a lot more varied. The monster encounters are really short in the demo, but they have some special abilities that ends up making life for the player a bit more worrisome, more than the Amnesia monsters.

What happens to thinking in games, it’s the opposite of reality. The more you interact with a character, the less real and complex they become. They become more and more mechanistic, an automaton. In real life, of course, the more you interact with someone, the more you understand them. But in games it’s the opposite. You have to be very careful about the interactions you’re going to do. That’s why I think it’s interesting to cut back on the actions instead of having this really sophisticated behavior. That sophisticated behavior tends to reveal itself a bit more. If you can tone down the things that the player can do with different creatures, the possibilities in their mind open up a bit.

EDIT: Also, is it me, or does HPL3 support ingame interactable computer screens? Judging by some of the trailers and videos I've seen about SOMA.

Yeah, that stuff looks pretty slick:



I wonder if it could be done in HPL2 with the correct scripting, or if it's something unique to HPL3.

Along with the cool interactive computer terminals, the way notes/documents are handled seems to have undergone a major overhaul; documents are suspended in front of you to be read when you interact with them, then when you're done they return to their original location (in previous games, the notes would disappear from the level). I'm still not sure if there's a journal you can consult later to re-read the things you've discovered, but I would assume so, otherwise you'd need to develop Rain Man memory skills!

[Macgyverthehero]

Alright, thanks for the info Paddy.

That note system you described, I'm sure the player would "remember" the note since I do believe the devs mentioned the characters of the game having Black Boxes of some sort implanted in them. Perhaps when you acquire notes your Black Box remembers the note so you can access your black box somehow to re-read it.

[Cuyir]

That gif.

*Single tear*

[Paddy™]

That note system you described, I'm sure the player would "remember" the note since I do believe the devs mentioned the characters of the game having Black Boxes of some sort implanted in them. Perhaps when you acquire notes your Black Box remembers the note so you can access your black box somehow to re-read it.

Ahhh yes! That's a good point. I wonder if the staff of PATHOS-II can access their own implants. That would be a cool alternative to the standard notebook/journal approach.

That gif.

*Single tear*

I know, right?

[MrBehemoth]

Ahhh, the gimmewants of future engines. There's always a temptation (don't worry Paddy, not gonna happen) to hold back my current ideas until the shiny new tech arrives. Sigh. I may as well start designing for the holodeck...

Seriously though, this is awesome stuff. The function based easing in the particle editor made me drool a little bit.

[Statyk]

Now THIS is a thread I can sink my teeth into. So stoked about what's happening with this baby.

[Macgyverthehero]

I agree, were all just waiting to see the awesome power of the new engine and what this power can do.

[Statyk]

One of the things I look forward to is FBX implementation (assuming it stays... which I don't see why it wouldn't). Autodesk removed maya 2011 from its student download list, so I can't go back and do .dae unless the dae guys updated the plugin. I have to wait now, plus fbx is a much more reliable format, especially in animation.