Comments on: Far Cry 2: Death To The Trees

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:44:44 +0000

How is the real time tree growth done ? Are the trees destructible during their growth cycle ? How is that done ? I am very curious…

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 23:29:23 +0000

You seem to be forgetting that this is a Tech Demo video and not a gameplay video, it is basically just to, in the simplest way of putting it, show off what the engine and Ubisofts programming monkeys can do. If you go and watch some other gameplay videos you can find on youtube, you’ll see what other stuff this game has to offer.

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:49:29 +0000

I’d just like to state that I am loving Mongychops’ name

By: Mongychops

Mongychops — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:39:20 +0000

WHERE ARE THE TRIGENS?

By: Muzman

Muzman — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:52:58 +0000

On the nerd front, I just have to say that evolution has really failed any bush whose branches snap off in wind that a human being can stand up in. (if I can find my wind field manual I’ll quote some stats)

Looks nice though. I’ve always wanted to try the fancy weather mods in Stalker to see if it has dynamic shadows like that, but I don’t think it does.

By: PiotrSkut

PiotrSkut — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:30:06 +0000

I don’t really understand what everyone is complaining about in regard to the foliage destruction system.

He was obviously shooting down small branches in the engine, not a whole freaking tree like in that MythBuster’s clip. I’ve seen the former happen dozens of times while out shooting in the woods.

By: Leeks!

Leeks! — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 07:19:34 +0000

…you can have all kinds of fun that doesn’t involve killing people.

For example, you can just beat them up, drive ‘em out to the middle of nowhere, and hope they find their way home.

This somehow seems more psychotic than just killing them. :)

By: James T

James T — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 05:40:06 +0000

So is this game about pruning trees and getting caught in the rain?

Hey, if it is, they’ve got a ready-made theme song!

Do you like trimming hedges?… And getting caught in the rain?

Sexy.

By: Dinger

Dinger — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:24:47 +0000

haven’t seen any serial numbers or pen figures here.

But sure, let’s admit I’m in the crowd you’re referring to. Why am I concerned about these things? It ain’t a gun fetish; it’s a simulation fetish. It’s also why I wanna see vegetation based on properly implemented Lindemeyer grammar. And, yes, if there are gonna be guns, they sure as heck better be modeled after something in the real world™, for which series and subseries exist, as well as experimental data for how it affects the environment around it.
And all this is because, if you’re building a simulation, following the wrong data, like hedgetrimming bushes with a 9mm, is at some point going to make players call “Bullshit”. It really doesn’t matter much if it takes 100 rifle rounds or 2000 — the point is that when we get shown tech demos where assault rifles are sawing off trees with single shots, or automatic pistols are trimming the hedges round by round, and this is advertised as “realism”, the situation requires action. Psychoanalytically, it’s like saying this train is going on forever and your teeth ain’t never gonna fall out — or less obscurely, it’s the worst kind of appeal to the gun as penis replacement. Consider this passage:

He unzipped his pants. She tried to steal a glance, but her eyes fixed on the throbbing member — was it throwing sparks?. She inhaled quickly to cover her gasp, but failed. Her nostrils flared and her bosom heaved at the scent of ozone.

Now, if someone sold you that as a “realistic sexual encounter”, you’d probably protest.

If you’re trying to sell players on the realism experience, you can’t have them calling “bullshit”.

Now sure, I’ve got complex views on realism like the next guy. I’ll agree that a simulation is as realistic as its weakest link. A corollary of that is that many simulations waste way too much time on ballistic data, and even those that are sufficiently realistic that they should be wasting time on it end up implementing it improperly.

And yeah, I know plenty of gamers who are gun fetishists. But they tend to play gun-based games. Jack Thompson is wrong, they do not get training in any real-world sense. But if they play combat sims, they usually end up with some basic knowledge of gun types and calibers, and the mass of lead behind them, as well as what works in what situation.

(Personally, I’m a Field Manual fetishist. Those things are awesome)

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 22:10:05 +0000

What is it about guns that makes normal people turn in to self professed experts, regurgitating serial numbers and penetration figures? Really not helping the “gamers aren’t gun fetishist” argument.

By: Seth Tipps

Seth Tipps — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:12:51 +0000

Last time we did a crew served weapons day we started a bit of a forest fire with the M2 (.50 Cal machine gun). And you better believe that whatever vegetation had grown up around the beaten zone was gone in a very few bursts. And an M60 will cut a man in two, leaving the legs still going. Mythbusters is ok, but what they do is far from scientific, and they have been proved wrong on a few occasions. That tree should have been gone much faster, but they had no idea what they were doing with that weapon. The .45 sub that they were using has a very low FPS, and if you are wearing enough layers the bullets will bounce off of you (Col Rex Applegate once demonstrated this to a class of students who were feeling a little too invincible with their Thompsons). Chances are you wouldn’t be able to get a tree down with one portable machine gun quickly, but it has happened in firefights, and has happened with muzzleloaders.

By: grey_painter

grey_painter — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:22:06 +0000

Thats the heavy’s machine gun.

Hmm 45sec to fell a try, with or without crits do you think?