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Много про Trespasser (превью [1/2])

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Konstantin Baydak

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Sep 23, 1998, 3:00:00 AM9/23/98
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All!?

>http://www.3dgaming.net/features/trespasser/preview.shtml

>То что это будет неподpажаемая игpа не вызывает, кажется, ни у кого
>сомнений, сомнения вызывают системные тpебования..

The first person shoot 'em up genre. When you ask any knowledgeable gamer about
3D Shooters, you will probably get a response in terms of Doom. Alien worlds,
one marine against the onslaught of evil monsters that threaten the Earth or
some remote military installation. And, in turn, when you ask somebody to think
of a 3D Adventure game, you will probably receive a reply talking about Tomb
Raider. Run around with your pistols and intimidate monsters with your huge
breasts. Alright, maybe not the latter, but you get the idea. Mix the two, add
more gameplay options than you can shake a stick at, rev it up with a physics
engine that would force your Trig and Calc. teachers to ponder, and what do you
get? Trespasser, from DreamWorks.

Both Doom and Tomb Raider alike were huge hits, as well as milestones, for the
computer gaming industry. Why? They offered the next level in gameplay as well
as a good sense of intuitiveness. However, in the past few months, or even
years, 3D Shooters have been dry and lacking in a sense. Not to say that Quake 2
sucks, but it uses the same basic gameplay formula that made Doom a hit - the
same weapons, virtually the same plot, and all in all is not a whole world apart
from Doom. Yeah, Valve is working on Half-Life which should please story-goers,
and Ritual with SiN's real-world levels that bring back memories of Duke Nukem
3D. However, DreamWorks plans to take Trespasser to the next level - all while
leaving competitors in its virtual dust.

>Mind-blowing, Nut-Blazing, InterAction

Trespasser will be set up like any normal first person shooter. You progress
from level to level, or in this case Region, to ultimately get off of the
dinosaur-ridden island. To accomplish this goal, you need to fight, run, sneak,
or do just about anything feasible to get off of the island. And this is where
the real fun starts, and the game leaves the immutable FPS genre behind.

Two words can describe the heart and soul of this game - physics engine. If you
check out any interview, preview, or even talk to the designers about the game,
they will probably mention something about their physics engine. That is because
it controls the entire world of Trespasser. And this isn't some lame attempt at
a physics model, either. *Cough* *Cough* Quake *Cough* *Cough* This physics
model is the environment. It controls the world. Everything in the world, right
down to the hinges on a door, is affected and influenced by the physics. That's
what makes this game so cool_ and unpredictable.

For example, in an exclusive interview with Seamus Blackley, project lead on
the Trespasser team, he stated an instance when he killed himself. No, he didn't
fall into a pool of lava in some sky-high military base. No, he didn't pull the
wrong lever and have a wall crush his arse. He was reaching for a rifle, but the
supports weren't steady and a crate fell on his head.

> "A lot of things you do seem simple but are really cool in a way gamers
> haven't seen before. You finish a puzzle and its like you really solved
> it yourself, you didn't just pull the lever and get the card, you really
> DID something."

As I said before, this point is where the game stops being a traditional FPS
and takes on a shape of its own. The game does not have any other human
opponents_ they are all dead. The game will have, however, things you can kill,
such as dinosaurs (duh).

Right now your probably thinking this to be some sort of Tomb Raider knock off,
except instead of running around ancient ruins and blasting wolves and bears,
that you run around some third-rate, artificial-looking outside world blasting
Dino's with your guns. Well, not quite.

First off, if you find a gun - that's like discovering cold fusion. You
probably wont be finding many guns in this game. And if you do, well, shooting a
T-Rex with your pistol is like shooting a little kid with a water pistol. All he
does is scream and run around and try and hurt you. Instead, you will be
scrambling to find other means of defense, or if you will, offense. By this I
mean you will be hoping to find some sticks or rocks to defend yourself - maybe
a 2x4 to whack a dino right in the eye. Where do you find this stuff? Well, why
don't you try pulling the leg off of a table, or hurling a chair.

If you are the clever gamer, and prefer using brains over brawn, then you could
try other means of getting rid of prey that's on your trail. Why not try leading
the pack of velociraptors into the T-Rex's nest, where the hunters will become
the huntees. Or better yet, you could try prying that boulder loose on the hill
with a crow bar in hopes that it will roll right through a pack of angry dino's.
It's all up to you, the player, to decide how you will get past your enemies.

I said it before and I'll say it again - the physics model and engine in this
game totally rock. Each object you see can roll, tumble, or basically be
manipulated to your gain. Your character even creates a slight breeze as he
walks by, for plants sway in the direction you walk when you walk past them.
What does this all add up to? Basically, this means that Trespasser will be
reaching a new level of interactivity and realism, and it will put shame to any
other game claiming ultimate interactivity with the environment.

>This ain't yo daddies' FPS

With a first glance at Trespasser from random screenshots, it would probably be
categorized as another FPS close with pretty graphics. However, after listening
to any excited fan, or anybody who has played the game for more than five
minutes, you will soon come to discover that the game is much, much, more than
your old, uninspired FPS game.

I want to say that Trespasser is a lot like an adventure game. Except, it's not
like your traditional animated, cartoon-esque adventure game. It's more like
Tomb Raider, but you aren't running around confined to caves and battling
harmless animals. Trespasser is totally unique in almost every way.

One of the first things anybody would notice is that you aren't scurrying
around dark, abandoned military bases on some alien world. Nor are you running
around pseudo-outside levels that look extremely fake and flat. Instead, the
whole world is practically outside in the wild. You may stumble upon an
abandoned shack or some power station, but the vast majority of the game is
outside. This means that you won't be fumbling around in an outside world that
is based on the quake engine. This also means that you will be playing in a
world running off of an engine that was designed specifically for that world,
and that world looks damn good - the best I have seen on the computer. Ever.

Another thing that you will notice while playing through Trespasser is that the
puzzles are way ahead of anything you have ever experienced in FPS's. Countless
times have I been frustrated with Quake 2 or other FPS games that require you to
find a key to get through a door to shut down some power grid (or some other
abstract objective). I'm standing in front of the door with my BFG, Rail Gun,
Gattling Gun, etc_ but it still requires a key. So you go off through the level
and attempt to find the key laying around. Lets look at the same scenario in
Trespasser. You must get into a shack to shut down the power so you can get
across the fence into the next region...

> So whatever should you do? You can...
> A. Run away and look for the key on some fallen dinosaur
> B. Wonder why no message pops up telling you what is going on when your
> at the door
>C. Smash the door open by allowing rocks on the hill in front of it to
> roll through

If you selected C, congratulations, you're not an idiot. If you selected either
A or B, go check out our feature on "Half-Life". Anyway, this is just one
example of a way to get in. You could also smash the windows if there are any.
Or you could try and break the door open with your feet or fists. Other puzzles
include building a raft to get down a river and making a natural ladder to get
to some elevated location. Everything is dynamic and totally open to each and
every gamers' train of thought_ nothing is pre-scripted as to what must happen.
The puzzles in Trespasser may seem logical, and that's exactly what's probably
going to throw many gamers off. Up until now, the solutions to many adventure
games and FPS's have been extremely linear, and not so practical sometimes.
However, in Trespasser, the simplest solution to a problem you encounter will
probably work. Or, if you're a clever gamer, the hardest solution to a problem
would probably work_ and it would probably be the most fun as well.

As said above, nothing is pre-scripted. And when I say nothing, guess what? I
mean it. Not even the dinosaurs are pre-rendered. Of course, they did have to
make the models and AI for the dino's. However that's it. Gone are the days of
repeated death scenes, models sliding around that don't have animations for that
particular motion, or seeing the same animation twice. Instead, you will be
granted with amazing animations that look frighteningly realistic... especially
for a computer game.

>Not some dumb cavemen

The AI in Trespasser promises to be realistic. Notice I did not say
revolutionary, because it probably won't be revolutionary. Why? Well, first of
all, these are animals. Animals for the most part aren't very smart, and they
have other motives than eating you. See that Triceratops? He has more important
things to do, like eat some grass. However, those Raptors over there find you
much more interesting than the grass.

But fear not, because you do have a brain. And in this world, that is what is
really going to count. You can manipulate the environment to suit your needs,
like maybe jumping into a flowing river and watching the Raptors that were once
chasing you drown. You could also try leading the pack of raptors into the
T-Rex's nest and hope that the T-Rex takes more interest in them than you.

The animals do have senses, and virtual feelings. They aren't waiting around in
some cave or invisible region to come out and attack you from nowhere when you
pull the wrong lever. *cough* *cough* Unreal *cough* *cough* They just want to
live, and have a superior sense of self-preservation, at least more than most
games' AI.

It is even said that you can get through the game without killing a single
dinosaur. If that is true, it will be interesting to see how Dreamworks pulls it
off. This also leaves room open for all sorts of players, from the Myst
adventure lovers to the daring Quake fraggers. Then again, it could turn into a
boring game of breaking stuff to get into places, but we will for sure find out
when the final version is released.

>Graphics that could pimp Unreal

The last major advance in art for the PC was, obviously, 3D Acceleration and
hardware support. Practically every new game coming out will have support for
one form of 3D hardware or another, if not supporting it exclusively. This has
pissed off quite a few gamers that still haven't upgraded to a Voodoo, Riva, or
some other card. And while you can now purchase a Voodoo card for the price of
an N64 game, Dreamworks plans on evening the score with Trespasser, which has
not only superior graphics, but environments and ambience as well.

Do you see those screenshots of Trespasser? You're probably thinking "Man,
Trespasser probably requires V2 SLI to run smoothly." Well, I got some news for
you. Those screenshots... are in software mode. Yes, that's correct, software
mode looks exactly like accelerated mode - the only difference is that
accelerated mode will run faster and won't put as much load on the processor.

However, while the graphics in Trespasser are definitely impressive, it's
really the environment that will, in my opinion, really capture the player.
Until now, many outdoor environments have really sucked, because designers and
producers are always trying to trim down the polygon count to speed up the game.
That always resulted in six-sided trees, repeated floor and sky textures, and
extremely artificial looking foliage, rocks, and such. And although this has
been the status quo for years, DreamWorks will be breaking that barrier by going
all-out with the graphics and environment.

As you walk down a narrow path, you may notice that the sun is quite hot today.
That's because you will see it washing out saturation, and casting mottled
shadows on the ground. Each and every item in Trespasser has its place and can
be altered or moved. Another example of the visual effects in Trespasser occurs
when you come upon a log and turn it over. What do you find? Well, moss and
damp, flattened grass of course.

One of the many things that DreamWorks is boasting about is the Summit in
Trespasser. You must make your way up a hill, and when you get to the top it's
an awe-inspiring moment. Yeah, we all remember the famous waterfall in the
second level of unreal, but that will look like Doom's waterfalls compared to
this one. As you gaze off into the distance, you can see approximately 5KM of
the virtual island, and it looks fantastic. All of the trees, shrubbery, and
foliage look so damn awesome it's impossible to explain.

Another thing that you won't find either, will be those annoying tiled
textures. "We know that as soon as we use tons of tiled textures, an environment
becomes boring. It's no longer interesting to explore because you've already
seen all the art that's used elsewhere. There is nothing more disturbing to the
art staff than a wall, floor, or piece of ground texture that tiles into
eternity." What does that boil down to? Frankly, you won't be finding any
textures that repeat themselves, which will make each new area interesting and
fun to explore. A prime example of this would be the fact that DreamWorks has
multiple textures for the same type of dirt.

MERliN
[Russian Team The X-Files]

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