recording movies in HL2?

[shaggy2039]

anyone know if you'll be able to record yourself playing the game?
I haven't seen it mentioned yet...

that would be unbelievably cool to have that feature...just think about the various random things that could happen with source's physics engine...

 

[PenaE]

Yes, VALVe said that there is an ingame recording editor -thingy..

 

[ferd]

ypu, it seems like it's gonna be very easy to convert your demo's directly to avi or bink format, both are hi-res to!

 

[caged]

Ohh, this I'm gonna take real advantage of, oh yes! =)

 

[sHm0zY]

they shoul dahve a demo function on hl2

 

[PunisherUSA]

Hmmm, tell me if I'm wrong, but if the physics have a slight 'random' factor in them won't that mean with the same demo (as a .dem, of course not .avi) stuff will change? i.e. wood breaking and an object falling. An in-game example would be a portion where you shoot a plank supporting a heavy object to have it fall on a combine. Won't 'randomness' create a possibility of the object falling differently and missing? I remember an old doomII-done-quicker video (which was recorded via keystrokes) where the player was shot, pushed back a little, and proceeded to strafe and run into a wall he was stuck behind, because of the 'randomness' of the movements and shots of the bad-guys. Or was that just a bad recording? Or is there no 'randomness' in the physics/gameplay?

 

[Dynasty]

in hl2, each (and literally every...omg this is gonna be such a cool game!!) object has been assigned there own specific masses according to real life weights. this will therefore rule out the 'randomness' of the physics. proof is in the E3 video by the pool where barrels sink and wood, mats and watermelons float.

cant wait to blow the support of a container away and watch it crush the combine below...omg...time 2 watch the video AGAIN

 

[shaggy2039]

Hmmm, tell me if I'm wrong, but if the physics have a slight 'random' factor in them won't that mean with the same demo (as a .dem, of course not .avi) stuff will change? i.e. wood breaking and an object falling. An in-game example would be a portion where you shoot a plank supporting a heavy object to have it fall on a combine. Won't 'randomness' create a possibility of the object falling differently and missing? I remember an old doomII-done-quicker video (which was recorded via keystrokes) where the player was shot, pushed back a little, and proceeded to strafe and run into a wall he was stuck behind, because of the 'randomness' of the movements and shots of the bad-guys. Or was that just a bad recording? Or is there no 'randomness' in the physics/gameplay?

actually that is a very good point...didnt' think of that...
what you're saying is basically that since it's recording actual gameplay and then playing the game back thru the same engine, the physics could react differently on playback...right? am I understanding this correctly?

 

[shaggy2039]

in hl2, each (and literally every...omg this is gonna be such a cool game!!) object has been assigned there own specific masses according to real life weights. this will therefore rule out the 'randomness' of the physics. proof is in the E3 video by the pool where barrels sink and wood, mats and watermelons float.

cant wait to blow the support of a container away and watch it crush the combine below...omg...time 2 watch the video AGAIN

yeah, but physics implies that things could fall differently everytime...
those barrels falling from the wall and hitting those pegs, I'd bet if they did it again, the barrels would fall differently...the question is how that affects demo movies...

 

[PainLord]

I've just emailed Gabe. All will be answered soon :farmer:

 

[shaggy2039]

I've just emailed Gabe. All will be answered soon :farmer:

nice one...I've gotta know if this is gonna be in the game for sure...
if it is, I'm going to freak out...

just think about the sheer amount of demo movies that will be on the net of things that happen in the game that are completely random...how fukkin awesome is that gonna be?

 

[Dynasty]

I've just emailed Gabe. All will be answered soon :farmer:

i really feel sorry for gabe. as if he hasnt got enough on his plate, we go send him e-mails on questions that dont really need answering.
i take my hat off 2 him tho as he seems to have positive responses to every1. keep it up m8

the randomness will be there as the weighting of each object is important. however, HOW you make the objects move will affect their 'randomness'. shooting out a plank at varying ranges will affect how the material will break, thus creating randomness on the objects above. the weapon will make a difference aswell.
having this in movies will be awesome as you all say.

 

[shaggy2039]

i really feel sorry for gabe. as if he hasnt got enough on his plate, we go send him e-mails on questions that dont really need answering.
i take my hat off 2 him tho as he seems to have positive responses to every1. keep it up m8

the randomness will be there as the weighting of each object is important. however, HOW you make the objects move will affect their 'randomness'. shooting out a plank at varying ranges will affect how the material will break, thus creating randomness on the objects above. the weapon will make a difference aswell.
having this in movies will be awesome as you all say.

atleast it's not another question regarding system specs for the game...

 

[PunisherUSA]

But the question really is "if i shoot a plank from underneath some barrels AT the same exact point, FROM the same exact point, and AT the same time, will the barrel fall in the exact same manner / path?"

It's also a possible solution to have the .dem record what 'random' option was used, thus having the .dem already 'know' what will happen to the barrel or object in question.

Gabe should know....

 

[Dynasty]

ok ok i see your point, so im out of this argument lol

wait a second no it wont, as nothing is scripted in hl2 apart from spawning of characters i believe. if they did fall on the same path/way, they would technically be scripted, and just required an imput to start moving along that scripted path...surely??

 

[ecchi]

...

...

The game will have multiplayer. With physics. Do you think that Valve would design a game with random physics for key objects that could create a different gaming experience for different players?

Of course not.

I predict there will be a system in place similar to the "only specific objects" approach multiplayer is using (or perhaps the same one - in fact, that's likely it) that enforces identical paths for physics objects that can have a tangible effect on the world. Meanwhile the soda can you kick as you run away from some combine will still have slightly varying trajectories each time.

I am entirely certain that in a worst-case scenario, making movies in HL2 will consist of the exact same steps we're all used to. Export as BMP, stitch together.

 

[TheUnkillableDot]

i really feel sorry for gabe. as if he hasnt got enough on his plate, we go send him e-mails on questions that dont really need answering.
i take my hat off 2 him tho as he seems to have positive responses to every1. keep it up m8

the randomness will be there as the weighting of each object is important. however, HOW you make the objects move will affect their 'randomness'. shooting out a plank at varying ranges will affect how the material will break, thus creating randomness on the objects above. the weapon will make a difference aswell.
having this in movies will be awesome as you all say.

I don't feel bad for him, just think how rich hes gonna be once this games released

Besides it's his duty to answer our questions.

 

[PainLord]

Got one from Yahn and Gabe. Oh well, two is better than one :E

The server simulated objects should be fairly deterministic whereas the
client simulated objects can vary significantly.

Yahn

-----Original Message-----
From: Gabe Newell
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 1:29 PM
To: 'Ross Gallagher'
Cc: Yahn Bernier
Subject: RE: Question on demo playback + Physics

It will vary.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ross Gallagher [mailto[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 11:57 AM
To: Gabe Newell
Subject: Question on demo playback + Physics

Hi, my name is Ross Gallagher. I have a question about demo recording
and physics.
When a demo is recorded, when you play it back via the engine, will the
physics playback be exactly the same each time, or everytime you view
it, will objects act slightly differently?

Thanks for reading this and im really looking forward to HL2, thanks for
all the hard work you've put in!

Ross

 

[Dynasty]

u didnt word the question very well m8. u shouldve said that each time u moved an object in some way from the same spot, same weapon etc every time, would the path for the object be the same or different everytime...or words to that affect.

and thats the shortest e-mail answer ive ever seen from gabe lol.

 

[shaggy2039]

I'm confused...so the physics will vary during demo recording? if so, that kind of sucks...

 

[PunisherUSA]

Ummm, that's bad.
Imagine the HL2 single-player speed record done as a .dem. While driving the buggy along the road with the roller mines, one bumps into the car, the car drives well enough though the player who recorded and proceeded through the area with no problem. Now, when I go to watch this portion, the roller mine sticks to the car, but the car hits a small bump, catches a little air, whatever. The car begins to take a smooth turn, but a little too smooth, as the car slides right off the edge of the road into the abyss. Hmmm the recorder finished fine, I saw him die....

Guess .dems might be dead, and the 'demos' are going to be avi and bink only, which would suck since the .dems are much easier to use/create.

 

[Epsi]

Most first-person shooters, especially since about Quake, are essentially client-server, all the time. I've heard single-player described as playing on a listen server, but without it actually listening.

A demo is a recording of the data the server sends back to the client, and thus perfectly reconstructs the progress of the game, from the point of view of whoever recorded the demo.

I'm willing to bet that the physics aren't exactly deterministic, and that the simulation on the server could go a slightly different way each time. The point is though, that the server will not allow the clients to calculate the physics themselves on significant physics objects, like cars, or oil drums. This means the motion of these objects will be transcribed into the demo, and playback perfectly each time, they're not being recalculated each time. However, minor objects, like ejecting brass, chunks of wall falling off from gunfire, things like that, the server will allow to be simulated on the client, and so potentially could play a different way each time. But these objects are not gameplay-affecting.

 

[shaggy2039]

Most first-person shooters, especially since about Quake, are essentially client-server, all the time. I've heard single-player described as playing on a listen server, but without it actually listening.

A demo is a recording of the data the server sends back to the client, and thus perfectly reconstructs the progress of the game, from the point of view of whoever recorded the demo.

I'm willing to bet that the physics aren't exactly deterministic, and that the simulation on the server could go a slightly different way each time. The point is though, that the server will not allow the clients to calculate the physics themselves on significant physics objects, like cars, or oil drums. This means the motion of these objects will be transcribed into the demo, and playback perfectly each time, they're not being recalculated each time. However, minor objects, like ejecting brass, chunks of wall falling off from gunfire, things like that, the server will allow to be simulated on the client, and so potentially could play a different way each time. But these objects are not gameplay-affecting.

well put..so you're saying it will record and playback physics exactly how it was seen...also, is this applicable to sp as well...I know people are worried about mp, but I'm willing to be that some awesome material could be recorded of how people get thru different scenarios in the sp game...

 

[commando]

i hope this is in the game! that would ROCK!

man i would make a small room. Put some soldiers on the floor. And then add some random objects on the roof "floating"....Like the blades. and when you start up the game.....Well....Lets just say the phsics takes its place.

 

[Vegeta897]

Nah, the game will definatly have demo recording. How do you think they made those binks? And why they said there was problems with demo recording displaying incorrect things like the ammo in the shotgun for example.

 

[McFly]

I think it will record the trajectory and actual path of an object instead of just how hard it is hit and by what.

 

[ZombieBudgie]

Yes, VALVe said that there is an ingame recording editor -thingy..

I for one plan on making entire films as "mods" for HL2. :E

 

[Vegeta897]

I for one plan on making entire films as "mods" for HL2. :E

Yeah that sounds like fun, I saw a couple people that wanted to do that.

Gonna rock. :cheers:

 

[Delgarto]

I for one plan on making entire films as "mods" for HL2. :E

As am I. I'm a filmmaker, and HL2's ability's are too good to be true.

 

[Letters]

That's first thing I'm gonna do mod-wise... make a short little movie.

 

[McFly]

Me too. "The Hobo Hut and how I blew it Up"

 

[shaggy2039]

the physics, the manipulator gun and how that affects things in terms of strategy, is going to make for some very unique movies...I can't wait to see how people got thru certain situations in the game with these features...
it's going to be fukkin crazy...

 

[Dynasty]

just imagine the possibilities of just getting over a fence for example...u could spend hours building a platforms out of boxes and even bodies ffs. it would be interesting to see how other people's minds worked in different situations.

 

[PainLord]

I want someone to fall off a skyscraper into a glass roof. So cool :farmer: