The Lost Coast Playtest at Bit-Tech.net

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You know how it feels to walk out on a wonderful summers day, and to have the sun, that huge shining shimmer in the sky, gently warm your face? To see this inviting glow creep over houses and buildings, dripping from the tips of the roofs as if the light were water? Wouldn’t you rather you could look out of your window each day, not upon a bleak scene or a dull setting, but upon a canvas of colours highlighted by a profound glisten? [br]Because that’s what it‘s going to be like to play a game with HDR Technology.
[br]

​
[br]Bit-Tech.net have already experienced this for themselves when they were invited to VALVe, and got to play the new tech demo The Lost Coast. [br]Warning: the playtest contains SPOILERS. I won’t repeat any here, but be warned that the article explains a lot of The Lost Coast level, and contains numerous screenshots. Contrary to rumours circulating around the online community, the whole level will only last for about 15 minutes, and will explain very little about the storyline. [br]To read the article, click here, and marvel at the shininess.
 
wow... it really is only 15 minutes? That's really short... but those screenies are just beautiful!
 
Cue "omfg valev sux for only fifteeen mins gayme play!11 i was exptecing a ful game!1111"

Great news, and I thoroughly expected it'd be a short amount of game play due to the fact that it's only one or two maps (as I've been saying for months).
 
Some of these screenshots don't really look that high res at all... i suppose its going to look A LOT better in motion. Like that preview valve made that had the light shimmering off the water and wet sand... looked awesome. Some of the level design really doesn't look that great either IMO... ie.. that factory place with the chimneys... seems like that whole design is just way overused in half-life2 and gets old. Or maybe i've just been playing to many half-life DM maps and see them to much.
 
aeroripper said:
that factory place with the chimneys... seems like that whole design is just way overused in half-life2 and gets old.
Click to expand...

You see it very rarely...in fact they are only in two chapters. Highway 17 and Water Hazard.... :p

Too much DM.
 
I think that Lost Coast is very much a proof of concept test by Valve of the HDR tech more than anything else, still it will be good to marvel at it in anticipation of Aftermath which should come out before Christmas :D
 
Gabe has Doom3 in his pile of games, along with pictures of who I assume to be his daughter, and a metal skull that looks like a pencil sharpner that Sulkdodds owns... :p

Oh and thanks to Kadayi Polokov for the heads up.
 
Not exactly ultrarealistic, the contrast seems to become way too extreme. The values are extremely important in contributing to the realism factor but now it's basically just bright shining lights and pitch black shadows.

The sun is really unrealistic in HL2 in my opinion. It seems to be huge, with intense light covering half the sky. The light on the sky is as a whole very bright with saturated colors but it's not plain damn white.
 
CrazyHarij said:
Not exactly ultrarealistic, the contrast seems to become way too extreme. The values are extremely important in contributing to the realism factor but now it's basically just bright shining lights and pitch black shadows.

The sun is really unrealistic in HL2 in my opinion. It seems to be huge, with intense light covering half the sky. The light on the sky is as a whole very bright with saturated colors but it's not plain damn white.
Click to expand...

You can't really tell from screenshots. For all we know, it could look damn amazing, and if VALVe are so confident in this new technology then I think it will be. But judging just by screens, I agree with you.
 
Very cool that they will add commentary to future games. Loved the feature in Riddick. Cant wait for lost coast.
 
yes.....i beilive he is sitting on a bouncy ball..........and hes also using a K98 sniper rifle to camp:LOL: that gabe:rolleyes: .........i can tell by the chrossairs.

the contrast is only like that when u come out of a dark area.........it will adjust after a few seconds. its supposed to simulate your eyes adjusting to the light
 
aeroripper said:
Some of these screenshots don't really look that high res at all... i suppose its going to look A LOT better in motion.
Click to expand...


the 1024x768 2xAA screenshots featured in this article were taken on a 1.6Ghz Centrino notebook with only 1GB of RAM and an aging 128MB FireGL graphics card.
Click to expand...

might explain it, no?
 
Some of it does look a little too shiny, I mean the shotgun looks like its been covered in oil.

I think it may just be the weapons, looks great apart from that though.
 
that reality engine ain't to shabby...

wish hl2 used that kind of technology.

certainly not complaining though..
 
aeroripper said:
Some of these screenshots don't really look that high res at all... i suppose its going to look A LOT better in motion. Like that preview valve made that had the light shimmering off the water and wet sand... looked awesome. Some of the level design really doesn't look that great either IMO... ie.. that factory place with the chimneys... seems like that whole design is just way overused in half-life2 and gets old. Or maybe i've just been playing to many half-life DM maps and see them to much.
Click to expand...
If you read just a little bit farther into the article it actually states the screenshots were ran off a laptop:
If you needed further proof, the 1024x768 2xAA screenshots featured in this article were taken on a 1.6Ghz Centrino notebook with only 1GB of RAM and an aging 128MB FireGL graphics card.
Click to expand...
So they are definitely not high-res. It's amazing they got HL2 HDR to run on such a laptop.
 
does the article say aynthign about what cards you need to run HDR and if nvidia cards will outperform the x800xtpe as far as eye candy is concerend?
 
what monitor does he have? how many inches is that? 21 +?
 
The most important piece of info to come out of all of this is...
Gabe plays WoW! He's got good taste that man :)
 
the reality engine is only like 15000 to lisence, 2000 +10% otherwise i believe. its sweet


second screen ain't all that, but i can't get enough of the church. what you want to bet that the light rays are models
 
Yes the light rays are models...if indeed you are referring to the light shining in through the window..that isnt done with HDR
 
The system used to demonstrate the game to us today was an Athlon 64 3800+ with 2GB of RAM and a GeForce 6800GT - high end for many people, but not stratospheric
Click to expand...
Wha'!? NOT stratospheric? Am I missing something? That sounds extremely high-end to me. Granted, I'm here with an abacus and some electrical wires I found under a tramp in a car park, but for Christ's sake that sounds like powerhouse central to me...
 
el Chi said:
Granted, I'm here with an abacus and some electrical wires I found under a tramp in a car park...
Click to expand...

:LOL: That made me laugh :D
 
Wha'!? NOT stratospheric? Am I missing something? That sounds extremely high-end to me. Granted, I'm here with an abacus and some electrical wires I found under a tramp in a car park, but for Christ's sake that sounds like powerhouse central to me...
Click to expand...

Well the the people with money to waste can afford a "not stratospheric" system like that but i'd rather pay off my student loans and debt :-O. I just like to quip in with social commentary once and a while :D.
 
el Chi said:
Wha'!? NOT stratospheric? Am I missing something? That sounds extremely high-end to me. Granted, I'm here with an abacus and some electrical wires I found under a tramp in a car park, but for Christ's sake that sounds like powerhouse central to me...
Click to expand...

You could have two 7800's. And a dual core processor. Or is that dual core? I've no idea, I'm tired but I thought I'd post and the lure of el Chi couldn't be resisted.

I guess its kind of close to stratospheric.
 
el Chi said:
I'm here with an abacus and some electrical wires I found under a tramp in a car park, but for Christ's sake that sounds like powerhouse central to me...
Click to expand...

whats an abacus ? o_O
 
What's the difference between HDR and light bloom? I'm ignorant about these things but they look the same to me.
 
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