Infiltrator: GTX 680-Powered Unreal Engine 4 Tech Demo Unveiled

[Arthur Hucksake]

This is going to upset AMD pc gamers. Apparently Nvidia have licensed Physx hardware & software for both the next generation consoles by Sony and Microsoft. This means according to Nvidia the only way to fully experience next gen gaming on a Pc is with a Physx enabled Nvidia GPU. They will not be releasing the technology to AMD pc cards.

If true that is some very clever marketing by Nvidia especially as both consoles are using Nvidia Physx.

Not quite sure how that works. The PS4 is an AMD APU based system?

 

[Final8y]

Not quite sure how that works. The PS4 is an AMD APU based system?

I don't think its hardware Physx as then NV would be contradicting there claim of not supporting hardware Physx while rendering on competitors hardware and getting inundated and blamed with Physx issues that are down to drivers of the competitors GPU and not Physx.

 

[spoffle]

This is going to upset AMD pc gamers. Apparently Nvidia have licensed Physx hardware & software for both the next generation consoles by Sony and Microsoft. This means according to Nvidia the only way to fully experience next gen gaming on a Pc is with a Physx enabled Nvidia GPU. They will not be releasing the technology to AMD pc cards.

If true that is some very clever marketing by Nvidia especially as both consoles are using Nvidia Physx.

Do you not think that this is going to be the limiting factor of PhysX?

Because this is just going to be more of the same. Developers are not going to use PhysX to such an extent that you NEED PhysX to play the game if the consoles and AMD hardware can't run it.

It is this reason why PhysX isn't used very much on the GPU. Also, since when has locking software to a certain brand of hardware ever been considered clever marketing?

 

[Gregster]

Epic looks to streamline development with new tools and rendering features


Extensive details of the tools and rendering features available in Epic’s latest development tech Unreal Engine 4 have been revealed.

Having announced today that UE4, architected to power PC and next-gen console titles, is also scalable to mobile and web development, including HTML5, Epic has given developers new information on how they can harness the tech.


The middleware and development giant is aiming to reduce productivity friction with its latest game engine, with one of the demos shown to Develop put together by an artist, requiring no technical input, who was also able to use the scripter to make a game.

The engine’s toolset includes Blueprint visual scripting with Blueprint debugging, while a new content browser has been created, now including dynamic previews, to help developers find, organise and make game assets.

The new C++ Unreal Slate user interface meanwhile has been designed to enable a “fully customisable” Unreal Editor, while the new Hot Reload function has been created for compiling C++ code on the fly.

The engine also harnesses Nvidia’s new PhysX tech to provide a unified physics and collision system.

Expected inclusions are new material and landscape terrain editors, with Epic also championing a "superior” and “robust” content pipeline.

Other dev tools include a new Persona animation system for animation adjustments and previews during setup, and a new AI and navigation system, with the ability to update the nav mesh in real-time.

Epic has also gone into depth on the rendering features included with Unreal Engine 4, which it stated makes “extensive” use of advanced DirectX 11 features.

Keeping in line with its ambition to reduce productivity friction and streamline development, new features for rendering include adaptive detail with artist-programmable tessellation and displacement, while developers can use thousands of dynamic lights with tiled deferred shading.

As can be seen in the new Infiltrator demo, UE4 includes full-scene HDR reflections, with support for varying glossiness, and a new material layering system to help designers increase the detail of characters and objects.

Epic said developers can also take advantage of dynamically lit particles, which can emit and receive light, while IES profiles can be used for “realistic” light distributions.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/43709/GDC-13-Unreal-Engine-4-All-the-details-here

 

[ArchAndroid]

This is going to upset AMD pc gamers. Apparently Nvidia have licensed Physx hardware & software for both the next generation consoles by Sony and Microsoft. This means according to Nvidia the only way to fully experience next gen gaming on a Pc is with a Physx enabled Nvidia GPU. They will not be releasing the technology to AMD pc cards.

If true that is some very clever marketing by Nvidia especially as both consoles are using Nvidia Physx.

But won't 100% of the multi-platform games have to be capable of running efficiently on a GCN core, meaning advantage AMD?

 

[spoffle]

I think people need to start seperating "PhysX" and "GPU PhysX" to be honest because I think that gets in the way of people understanding context at times.

For example, when I say that I think the new consoles will be the death of PhysX, I mean hardware PhysX as I can't see nVidia allowing it on anything but nVidia hardware.

That doesn't mean "PhysX" can't be used well whilst not requiring a GPU for the calculations.

 

[MOOGLEYS]

The new consoles I imagine will use a form of software Physx but whats important I think is they will have been designed to have it from the start. Physx can add quite a bit to a game and it's a shame it has been limited to Nvida hardware. With the new consoles having 8 cpu cores available devoting a couple of these to do physx operations could lead to some amazing gaming experiences.

I think Nvidia have the technology that the new consoles need and licensing it for use on them is a smart move by Nvidia. They can be a part of the new generation without a huge amount of effort and in quite a big way if engines like the unreal Engine are going to be using Physx to quite a large degree.

If they limit this to the new consoles and their own GPU's they maintain a huge place in the market on both systems. It's quite clever really, Pc gamers are not going to want a non physx version of the game that is inferior to the console version so Pc gamers buy Nvidia GPU's.

 

[Sliver]

Sweet demo.

 

[Final8y]

The new consoles I imagine will use a form of software Physx but whats important I think is they will have been designed to have it from the start. Physx can add quite a bit to a game and it's a shame it has been limited to Nvida hardware. With the new consoles having 8 cpu cores available devoting a couple of these to do physx operations could lead to some amazing gaming experiences.

I think Nvidia have the technology that the new consoles need and licensing it for use on them is a smart move by Nvidia. They can be a part of the new generation without a huge amount of effort and in quite a big way if engines like the unreal Engine are going to be using Physx to quite a large degree.

If they limit this to the new consoles and their own GPU's they maintain a huge place in the market on both systems. It's quite clever really.

Physx runs on the 360 and PS3 so there is nothing new in that regards.

 

[Rroff]

But won't 100% of the multi-platform games have to be capable of running efficiently on a GCN core, meaning advantage AMD?

Still too big a difference between the console and PC architectures for it to be as straight forward as that.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The new consoles I imagine will use a form of software Physx but whats important I think is they will have been designed to have it from the start. Physx can add quite a bit to a game and it's a shame it has been limited to Nvida hardware. With the new consoles having 8 cpu cores available devoting a couple of these to do physx operations could lead to some amazing gaming experiences.

I think Nvidia have the technology that the new consoles need and licensing it for use on them is a smart move by Nvidia. They can be a part of the new generation without a huge amount of effort and in quite a big way if engines like the unreal Engine are going to be using Physx to quite a large degree.

If they limit this to the new consoles and their own GPU's they maintain a huge place in the market on both systems. It's quite clever really.

Not really,as it will push AMD towards locking out Nvidia too with proprietary features eventually. ATM,they have a stance that the competitors hardware can still run the stuff they have helped develop.

If Nvidia gain traction using artificial lockouts,then AMD will do the same just to protect their own sales.

In the end,do you really want a situation where,you have two awesome games you want to play,and it ends you need BOTH a Nvidia and AMD card to get the full experience??
It sounds more like a disaster for the consumer,especially PC gamers. In the end,it will make consoles look more desirable.

It is NOT clever in one bit for any of us.

 

[spoffle]

The new consoles I imagine will use a form of software Physx but whats important I think is they will have been designed to have it from the start. Physx can add quite a bit to a game and it's a shame it has been limited to Nvida hardware. With the new consoles having 8 cpu cores available devoting a couple of these to do physx operations could lead to some amazing gaming experiences.

I think Nvidia have the technology that the new consoles need and licensing it for use on them is a smart move by Nvidia. They can be a part of the new generation without a huge amount of effort and in quite a big way if engines like the unreal Engine are going to be using Physx to quite a large degree.

If they limit this to the new consoles and their own GPU's they maintain a huge place in the market on both systems. It's quite clever really, Pc gamers are not going to want a non physx version of the game that is inferior to the console version so Pc gamers buy Nvidia GPU's.

This is why I said more of the same, because this is exactly how it is now.

The consoles can run non-GPU PhysX and have been able to for a long time.

The new consoles won't have been designed to run PhysX, PhysX is just an API, and they are using near enough off the shelf parts.

When it comes to it, and hardware physics is to be used to actually influence game play, I personally can't see hardware PhysX being used as I don't believe nVidia will let go of it so easily.

When you have people who think hardware PhysX is actually a selling factor for nVidia GPUs, it shows because a lot of these people don't actually realise that nearly all games that use "PhysX" don't run any of it from the GPU.

 

[Final8y]

Not really,as it will push AMD towards locking out Nvidia too with proprietary features eventually. ATM,they have a stance that the competitors hardware can still run the stuff they have helped develop.

If Nvidia gain traction using artificial lockouts,then AMD will do the same just to protect their own sales.

In the end,do you really want a situation where,you have two awesome games you want to play,and it ends you need BOTH a Nvidia and AMD card to get the full experience??

It sounds more like a disaster for the consumer,especially PC gamers. In the end,it will make consoles look more desirable.

It is NOT clever in one bit for any of us.

Indeed, i don't like the fact i have to own both the leading consoles every generation because of exclusive deals, the only people who win when it comes to the money side of things is the console makers.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Indeed, i don't like the fact i have to own both the leading consoles every generation because of exclusive deals, the only people who win when it comes to the money side of things is the console makers.

Yep.

On top of this Intel has started making noise about gaming too:

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...h-richard-huddy-about-intel-moving-beyond-dx/

What if Intel also starts doing the same thing??

It will AMD vs Nvidia vs Intel trying to see how much they could screw each other over!!

 

[spoffle]

Not really,as it will push AMD towards locking out Nvidia too with proprietary features eventually. ATM,they have a stance that the competitors hardware can still run the stuff they have helped develop.

If Nvidia gain traction using artificial lockouts,then AMD will do the same just to protect their own sales. On top of this Intel has started making noise about gaming too:

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...h-richard-huddy-about-intel-moving-beyond-dx/

In the end,do you really want a situation where,you have two awesome games you want to play,and it ends you need BOTH a Nvidia and AMD card to get the full experience?? What if Intel also starts doing the same thing??

It sounds more like a disaster for the consumer,especially PC gamers. In the end,it will make consoles look more desirable.

It is NOT clever in one bit for any of us.

To be honest, I think AMD is using the "nVidia locks things to their hardware, but we don't" as a marketing gimmick.

I don't think they would be stupid enough to actually go through with that, as people don't like it. There's some people who couldn't care less that nVidia do it, but those people are the type that wouldn't buy anything but nVidia anyway.

 

[Final8y]

Yep.

On top of this Intel has started making noise about gaming too:

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...h-richard-huddy-about-intel-moving-beyond-dx/

What if Intel also starts doing the same thing??

It will AMD vs Nvidia vs Intel trying to see how much they could screw each other over!!

I would have to buy all 3.

And having Quadfire, QuadSLI and Quad Intel GPU rigs would be very costly for me.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

To be honest, I think AMD is using the "nVidia locks things to their hardware, but we don't" as a marketing gimmick.

I don't think they would be stupid enough to actually go through with that, as people don't like it. There's some people who couldn't care less that nVidia do it, but those people are the type that wouldn't buy anything but nVidia anyway.

TBH,though all of the AMD developed features do work on Nvidia GPUs. They admitted(through gritted teeth) to Bit-tech that the hair effects would work on any DX11 capable GPU.

PhysX OTH is totally locked out in any form on AMD GPUs,even if you decided to run a second Nvidia card too.

Its not even a case of it running crap on AMD GPUs,it does not run at all.

In fact I remember both AMD and Nvidia PR people having a big argument over it all on another UK forum. It was mildy amusing.

 

[spoffle]

Indeed, i don't like the fact i have to own both the leading consoles every generation because of exclusive deals, the only people who win when it comes to the money side of things is the console makers.

I would say that's a bit of a different situation really when it comes to exclusive games since for example, Sony's exclusives, which are what interest me in Playstations compared to Xbox, in addition to that, I find that Sony's exclusives tend to look better than the multiplatform games because of how the game's tailored to that particularly hardware.

 

[Final8y]

I would say that's a bit of a different situation really when it comes to exclusive games since for example, Sony's exclusives, which are what interest me in Playstations compared to Xbox, in addition to that, I find that Sony's exclusives tend to look better than the multiplatform games because of how the game's tailored to that particularly hardware.

I don't mind when its in-house exclusive titles, but yes the focusing on one platform does have its benefits.

 

[Gregster]

Are people not looking too deep into this? The next gen consoles will work the same with PhysX as the old gen consoles?

I am pretty sure the latest 3.0 PhysX engine is CPU/GPU and not just gimped for Nvidia only? Arma 3 is one title to show this.

This was an official response:

Official response:
by: NVIDIA
Currently, most features in the PhysX SDK run only on the CPU, regardless of platforms. Certain features, such as particle systems and clothing, can be accelerated on a CUDA-capable GPU. We will continue to study the feasibility of alternate implementations, and welcome any feedback from the developer community regarding the value of GPU-accelerated PhysX on all architectures.

Surely that shows they are opening it up for cross platforms?