Torque 3D Development - Wetness & Precipitation
by Brett Seyler · 01/19/2009 (10:17 pm) · 42 comments
After last week's pricing / licensing stuff, I'm looking to get us back on the dev train. Probably no better way that introduce you all to Gerhard Botha.
Gerhard's blog drew a lot of attention from TGEA users last Fall. With just 8 posts in about 3 weeks, Gerhard woke a lot of people up to what was possible with TGEA and modern rendering techniques.
My first thought on reading Gerhard's blog was "brilliant!" Using shader model 3.0 and adding multiple render passes, he demonstrates what's possible at the high end of Torque performance with good hardware. This is something GG has never really done before for Torque demos because we've been so concerned about supporting lower-end hardware and backward compatibility. Given a chance to take those 'cuffs off and stretch Torque's legs, I couldn't resist asking Gerhard to contribute to Torque 3D.
I got in touch with Gerhard after his first TGEAE post and asked if he'd be interested in working with us directly on Torque 3D. At the time, we had our own plans for improving Torque's rendering capability and performance, so I was anxious to get his feedback and to see if he thought his ideas were compatible with out own.
Today both Gerhard and Ruan West (his partner-in-crime artist who I'll profile later) are working pedal-to-the-metal on Torque 3D. Their work will culminate in a number of high-end demos (and perhaps one that encompasses them all) that we'll be showing at GDC.
Gerhard's Bio
"I am the head of software development in South Africa for an England based company developing software and hardware solutions for fatigue testing and structural analysis for the automotive and aerospace industries. My weekend hobby is the development of plugins for 3D Studio Max as well as the development of advanced gaming features and shaders for Torque. I am currently working on some AI and advanced shaders for Torque 3D which includes:
Screen Space shaders (Ambient Occlusion (SSAO), Bloom, Depth of field, Geometry smoothing. Motion blur) GPU cloth dynamics. GPU simulated water effects. GPU soft particles. GPU soft/rigid body dynamics. Dynamically destructible objects. Computational intelligence algorithms for AI usage. Multi-pass deferred CustomMaterial shaders."It's one thing to talk about all this stuff of course. It's quite another to see it. Below is just the barest glimpse at what's to come.
More development blogs to come. This is post #7.
Torque 3D development blogs:
- Post #1 - Kickoff
- Post #2 - Apparatus and Warrior Camp
- Post #3 - Luma's racing kit
- Post #4 - Josh Engebretson and Web Publishing
- Post #5 - Pricing and Licensing
- Post #6 - Pricing and Licensing CONTINUED
- Post #7 - Wetness & Precipitation
- Post #8 - Screeen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO)
- Post #9 - Matt Langley and the Torque Launcher
- Post #10 - Chris Robertson and Collada
- Post #11 - Depth of Field
- Post #12 - Advanced Lighting
- Post #13 - Soft Particles
- Post #14 - World Editor
- Post #15 - Pricing and Licensing ANNOUNCED!
- Post #16 - GDC Live Edition
- Post #17 - River & Road Editors
- Post #18 - Beta is UP!
- Post #19 - Light Rays, Undercity, Material Editor
- Post #20 - Mass Market Hardware
- Post #21 - Beta: Part Deux
- Post #22 - Marching Towards Beta 3
- Post #23 - pureLIGHT
- Post #24 - Lighting, Terrain, and Cloth
- Post #25 - Beta 3!
- Post #26 - Coming Soon!
About the author
Since 2007, I've done my best to steer Torque's development and brand toward the best opportunities in games middleware.
#2
01/19/2009 (10:27 pm)
@Ben: Unknown at this point...perhaps Gerhard can answer that for you. This version runs on my laptop at very playable framerates though :) 
#3
01/19/2009 (10:28 pm)
This explains where Mr. Gerhard has been - I was curious where he had been, I was under the impression he'd been abducted by aliens. 
#4
Honestly, I can't wait for the new Torque3D to be complete. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the waiting for AFX to be ported, and then porting all my changes... :(
01/19/2009 (10:31 pm)
Wow, that really looks great. Is the shader dynamic in that you can turn the water off (or perhaps swap the material at runtime?)Honestly, I can't wait for the new Torque3D to be complete. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the waiting for AFX to be ported, and then porting all my changes... :(
#5
01/19/2009 (10:38 pm)
Awesome work Gerhard!!! That looks suh-weet! 
#6
Great stuff, keep it coming! (And hooray, so far these blogs are showcasing a lot of SA talent, I like :) )
01/19/2009 (10:40 pm)
Wow that's pretty! I would love that for SoW, that rainy, grim atmosphere is pretty similar to how I picture my starting city, Korrinport, looking. Grim and rainy and noir-like.Great stuff, keep it coming! (And hooray, so far these blogs are showcasing a lot of SA talent, I like :) )
#8
One thing I'm curious to know more about is:
Anything you can share on just what AI features it'll have as we're about to start work on what will probably be 6 months of AI development and if a lot of that is likely to be in T3D I could save myself a lot of work, especially on pathfinding :)
01/19/2009 (11:06 pm)
WOW - that's stunning work guys, absolutely stunning. Looks like Torque 3D is going to be one hell of a product.One thing I'm curious to know more about is:
Quote:Computational intelligence algorithms for AI usage
Anything you can share on just what AI features it'll have as we're about to start work on what will probably be 6 months of AI development and if a lot of that is likely to be in T3D I could save myself a lot of work, especially on pathfinding :)
#9
so you meaning we will be able to do something like this as well.
as that would be very good adding on objects with the video you showed it now looks like it will be well worth upgrading for. in the video you posted it is something HeroEngine has in there engine i hope allot of stuff you add is what that engine as as that engine is perfect i like allot of stuff it has. that engine cost $950k for the highest license though so its way out of my budget. :P if you made a engine just like heroengine i would gladly pay $10k for it that is if its easy to use like heroengine.
01/19/2009 (11:30 pm)
i think i going to cry :( that just very very cool will there be like a weather system where it can change on its own though your game time it just so its not raining in your game the hole time.so you meaning we will be able to do something like this as well.
as that would be very good adding on objects with the video you showed it now looks like it will be well worth upgrading for. in the video you posted it is something HeroEngine has in there engine i hope allot of stuff you add is what that engine as as that engine is perfect i like allot of stuff it has. that engine cost $950k for the highest license though so its way out of my budget. :P if you made a engine just like heroengine i would gladly pay $10k for it that is if its easy to use like heroengine.
#10
01/20/2009 (12:00 am)
That looks incredible. 
#11
Thank you.
01/20/2009 (12:24 am)
I am very happy to see this person as a choice for T3D contribution.Thank you.
#13
01/20/2009 (12:34 am)
@Andy: The AI stuff Gerhard is working is probably the highest risk / difficulty and the lowest priority for his particular stack, but it is very cool stuff. He could tell you more about using his stuff as a substitute for pathfinding / A*, but there's a very ambition plan behind what he and Ruan are doing. I'm likely to post at least 2-3 more blogs just on their stuff =)
#14
01/20/2009 (12:35 am)
If you haven't, you guys should definitely watch this thing FS HD too. There's a lot of detail lost in the resizing, let alone the video capture. Running in real-time, this looks insanely good. 
#15
GPU Physics = a very good step forward.
It'd be nice to do some rag-doll like effects... you could probably network stuff like that if you just network the important stuff (like, the position of the body... the head, arms, and legs can just dangle on the client non-networked).
Looking forward to more information, as you guys are ready to release it.
Also, I'd love to know more about the AI stuff too. Like, is there going to be logic for piloting vehicles or something to that effect? 3D algorithms like that would be kinda nice...
01/20/2009 (12:49 am)
See, this is the kind of stuff we need to see to know if T3D will be worth $1,000.GPU Physics = a very good step forward.
It'd be nice to do some rag-doll like effects... you could probably network stuff like that if you just network the important stuff (like, the position of the body... the head, arms, and legs can just dangle on the client non-networked).
Looking forward to more information, as you guys are ready to release it.
Also, I'd love to know more about the AI stuff too. Like, is there going to be logic for piloting vehicles or something to that effect? 3D algorithms like that would be kinda nice...
#16
That's awesome work there for sure Gerhad. I was wondering if GG picked you up. Keep up pushing torque to it's limits.
@ Brett:
Nice choice Brett, so far you're building one hell of a team for T3D. It just sucks that I and others like me will more than likely be priced out.
Truly inspirational work guys.
01/20/2009 (1:20 am)
@ Gerhad:That's awesome work there for sure Gerhad. I was wondering if GG picked you up. Keep up pushing torque to it's limits.
@ Brett:
Nice choice Brett, so far you're building one hell of a team for T3D. It just sucks that I and others like me will more than likely be priced out.
Truly inspirational work guys.
#17
01/20/2009 (1:53 am)
Why is the framerate so low?
#19
Thanks once again for keeping us upto date on what you are working on in the garage.
01/20/2009 (2:42 am)
That is absolutely amazing, Cant wait for T3D to come out and all you guys and gals there are doing a great job keep it up :). and with the features listed there I would have no problems in paying a higher price for the engine. What I would like to know is if DTS ojects would be portable into the engine or if you are going to a diffrent format?Thanks once again for keeping us upto date on what you are working on in the garage.
Associate Ben Garney