dx9
Latest
Video of Anarchy Online's new engine uncovered
It's a rough cut and it's short, but this YouTube video shows something many people have been eagerly anticipating -- the updated graphics engine for Anarchy Online. Anarchy Online, Funcom's first foray into the MMO genre, is still running after 8 years of history and evolving storyline. While the game has been running on a free to play model for quite some time now, that's not stopping the team at Funcom from giving it the new graphical polish it deserves. And, trust us when we say this, they need a spit shine on this old engine. Just look at the game's graphics when we recently revisited it for ReSubbed. The graphics engine update is still without a release date, but hopefully with this video evidence being released the update won't be too far in the future. You want to see it? Well we've embedded it right after the break for you.
CryEngine 3 released; box of tissues not included
If Crytek's, like, next next-gen-ready CryEngine 3 performs even half as well as advertised, then the tears are gonna flow -- tears of joy. Imagine an engine through which a developer, using a single editor and dev PC, can create and test a game for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 ... at the same time. (You don't even have to imagine it, actually; there's a video after the break!) That's the picture Crytek's painting as it today releases its third iteration of the CryEngine for license to third-party developers.As promised in the press release: CryEngine 3 features real-time conversion and optimization of assets and cross-platform changes that "significantly" reduce the risk (and headache) of multiplatform development. So, in layman's terms, it renders really good graphix -- even if you have no idea how to develop on PS3."With its scalable graphics and computation it is next-gen-ready and with new features like CryEngine 3 Live Create the best choice for game developers and companies developing serious games applications alike," trumpets Crytek boss Cevat Yerli. "It is the only game engine solution that enables real-time development and can ensure teams are able to maximize their own creativity, save budget and create greater gaming experiences."Okay. So what's it cost?%Gallery-75586%
One Shots: A ways from Weathertop
While it is true that Lord of the Rings Online doesn't look quite as lush in DX9, it's still a good-looking game. More importantly, making the graphics more accessible means that more people get to experience the beauty of The Lord of the Rings Online; Middle-earth in MMO format! Today's One Shots entry from Jason shows off one of the more important areas for lore at a nice distance. He writes in to tell us a bit more: This shot is of Weathertop located in the Lone Lands. This was my second time through the area and though I was aware that Weathertop was in the Lone Lands I hadn't seen it from afar. I just had to take a screenshot for you guys. (This is the place where Frodo is stabbed by one of the ring wraiths.)DX9, DX10 - it makes no difference to us. We just love to see where you're spending your MMO time. So gather up your tired, your... wait, wrong speech... your interesting, your funny, and email them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a brief description. We'll post them here, pin it on you, and add it to our desktop wallpaper collection gallery.%Gallery-9798%
Age of Conan's DX10 put to the test
It's been a long time coming, but Age of Conan's Testlive server is now running a version of the game that can output DirectX 10 graphics, a feature that many people missed at launch. The current implementation probably isn't indicative of what will end up on the Live servers, but if you just can't wait and want to see the work-in-progress, Age of Conan Vault has a number of DX9 to DX10 comparison screenshots on show right now. The test client as-is doesn't have some of the cooler features like volumetric fog or windy trees just yet, but these would be better seen in video form anyway.The most stand-out difference between the screenshot pairings that we can pick is the upped brightness and visibility in dark areas on the DX10 side. In some (but not all) of the shots, the textures look noticeably better too. The AoC Vault reviewer experienced a significant FPS drop, from roughly 50FPS down to 20FPS, when switching from DX9 to DX10, but this is apparently not that common among other testers -- most do get their share of graphical glitches and crashing though. Hopefully it's all ironed out when Funcom decides to push DX10 to the live servers at a later date.
