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EverQuest (EQ)
Sony Online Entertainment | Official Site
MMORPG | Genre:Fantasy | Status:Final  (rel 03/16/99)  | Pub:Sony Online Entertainment
PVP:Yes | Distribution:Download,Retail | Retail Price:$09.99 | Pay Type:Hybrid | Monthly Fee:$14.99
Desktop Client | System Req: PC Mac | ESRB:T| Out of date info? Let us know!
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EverQuest News - IGN Preview of the new GFX engine!

Posted by James Snietka on Apr 09, 2004  | 3 comments in our forums

   On April 5th, 2004, (sorry we were late!) IGN got a sneak peak at the new graphics engine for Everquest. Here are some of the features in the new graphics engine (take directly from http://pc.ign.com/articles/504/504386p1.html?fromint=1, all credit goes to IGN and their staff):

 

  • Environmental Effects
    -- Better special effects for rain and snow

  • Sky
    -- Realistic sky gradient
    -- Advanced star rendering
    -- Multiple cloud patches moving independently

  • Animation and Skinning: Advanced animations with animation blending and stretching of skin.
    -- Hierarchical bone-based animation of models
    -- Animated textures (both color map and bump map)
    -- Animation mixing (each bone can perform a separate animation)
    -- Animation blending (between successive animations, either additive or averaged)
    -- Single-bone skinning supported for original assets

  • Asset Handling:
    -- More efficient loading of geometry and textures
    -- Option to turn off rendering of a piece of a given object

  • Bump Mapping
    -- Standard bump (normal) mapping (zones and characters)

  • Collision System: all new code
    -- Faster in many ways
    -- Numerous bugs in old system eliminated
    -- Client & server share the exact collision code now
    -- Line of sight tests in all zones should now be possible without substantial CPU penalty
    -- Improved targetting

  • Lighting: Higher quality dynamic lighting supporting features such as flickering candles.
    -- Normal maps for dynamic and static per-pixel lighting (diffuse and specular)
    -- Use of glow and gloss maps for self-illuminating and specular intensity

  • Texturing
    -- Tinting of skin layer
    -- Single layer texturing for NPCs includes color map, bump/glow/gloss map
    -- Two texture layers for old character art (for skin and clothes)
    -- Color keying as required for transparency on old art assets
    -- Detail texturing as required for Luclin terrain, etc.

    •  

       The changes are amazing, make sure to click on the following link to look at how rats and bats will look: http://pc.ign.com/articles/504/504386p1.html?fromint=1

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