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Epic Games to demonstrate new Unreal Engine 3 features at GDC
Though we usually have some expectations for what big announcements will be dropped at the annual Game Developers Conference, the happenings of this year's event, beginning next Monday, seem to be veiled in secrecy. However, Epic Games recently announced something for PC gamers to look forward to -- the developer will be showcasing some of the big changes it's implementing in Unreal Engine 3 during GDC 2009.Among said changes is the introduction of the Unreal Lightmass, which will add "high-quality static lighting with next-generation effects." It will also include a few tools to make things easier on Unreal-focused artists and designers, such as the Master Control Program, which tracks and collects statistics of online gaming activity. It also enslaves and destroys its fellow programs, attempting to take over the world from within the ENCOM mainframe computer. End of line!
Movies that could be MMOs: Tron
"Greetings, programs." These are the first words you hear as you enter the vast, coldly glittering chamber, prodded forward by a hulking, cowled figure wielding a shockstaff. You glance nervously around you. Your companions seem equally confused and frightened. High above you upon a raised platform, glowing redly, is an Enforcer -- one of the Master Control Program's elite warriors. "You have been chosen to compete against each other for our amusement. Failure to compete is rewarded with deresolution. A victory ensures another day of life. You shall compete until you lose. A loss is punished with deresolution. Today you will receive training. Tomorrow you shall compete. End of line."One of the cowled figures roughly thrusts a glowing blue disc into your trembling hands, which you hold to yourself like a lifeline, which it is. Your training begins.Released into theaters in 1982, Tron is a movie about computers, written before the emergence of the World Wide Web. It posited a world inside the hardware, occupied by anthropomorphized programs. Though some of its ideas bear little resemblance to reality, the story and themes still hold up to repeated viewing, and it's a fun ride with interesting visuals. Despite the numerous adaptations into videogame form the movie has endured, the world of Tron could make a fun and engaging MMO. We'll take a look at how its mechanics might work after the jump.
