Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
> Warp wrote:
> >   That's actually one of the limitation of lightmaps:

> I thought it was pretty cool that (as I understand it), the Thief 3 game 
> actually forces you to mind your shadows. If you're hiding around a 
> corner and your shadow sticks out, the guard will notice you. At least, 
> that's my understanding. I don't have a machine equiped properly to play 
> it here.

  That's one problem I have noticed with new gaming technologies: Most of
them are put into games just for looks, but very seldom actually used
for gameplay.

  For example Doom3 supports accurate shadows for all the objects. However,
it's a purely visual element and plays absolutely no role in the actual
gameplay.

  I don't know if Thief3 uses shadows in the way you describe, but it would
be a rare exception.

  (OTOH, one could argue that something which is rather heavy to calculate
and which can be turned off with a rendering quality settings shouldn't be
a relevant gameplay feature because when it's turned off then it makes
little sense.)

  Another example is physics simulation: Most modern games use Havoc or
some other physics engine, and once again purely for visuals only. There
really aren't many games where the physics engine would actually be a
relevant part of the gameplay. For example, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
uses Havoc, but the physics engine is not used for *anything* related to
gameplay. It's a purely visual element.

  Half-Life 2 and its sequels are somewhat of a borderline case. It does
use the physics engine for gameplay. However, most of the situations where
it's used could IMO very well be implemented without the physics engine.

  For example, at some points you need to use the gravity gun to pull a
plug (in order to shut down a barrier). The physics engine is used for
this, but it could well be done without it (just move the plug towards
the gravity gun when the user aims properly and fires). So while the
physics engine is used, it's not used for anything that couldn't be done
without one.

  At another point you need to balance a plank to the other side by
putting weights on that side (so that you can then run accross the
plank and jump over the wall). While the physics engine is also used
here, it could still very conceivably be done without one.

  (HL2:Episode 2 has some impressively massive physics simulations at
some points, such as a collapsing bridge. However, these could also be
simply precalculated motion paths, and a physics engine would not really
be needed.)

  OTOH, the physics engine *does* contribute visually a lot, so games
really are better with one. For example throwing a grenade near a pile
of boxes can be visually quite fun. Also ragdoll physics make falling
enemies more realistic in all kinds of terrain, something which is very
difficult to do with precalculated motion paths.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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