GDC08: Unreal fluid gets dynamic (on the surface)
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Feb 20th 2008 at 7:00PM }
Good enough to drink? Heck, Unreal's new water looks good enough to waste a full clip of ammo on! (Sure beats skipping rocks, eh?) We don't know how much a bottle of this stuff will set you back, but we do know: Gears of War 2 'Water Level' CONFIRMED!!!1
[Video courtesy of our pals at Mahalo Daily.]
[Video courtesy of our pals at Mahalo Daily.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Fernando Rocker @ Feb 20th 2008 7:07PM
Looks better than the Bioshock water.
Edog Lost @ Feb 20th 2008 7:15PM
You think? It really doesn't seem that much more impressive. I haven't played Gears for a while now, but Doesn't seem like that much of a bump.
WhoMe @ Feb 20th 2008 7:39PM
Never seen that but this is just making use of Ageia's SDK afaik so you can expect this in many other games soon.
DWells55 @ Feb 20th 2008 8:05PM
The motion of the ripple in the water following him as he ran looked really fake.
rv @ Feb 20th 2008 8:34PM
Holy crap!
Gridlock remake?
FraGNeM @ Feb 20th 2008 10:11PM
Actually, yes, this does look better than Bioshock water.
Bioshock's water had some very nice shaders, but it was always on static surfaces and had very simplistic interaction.
This water is a big improvement over the 2 animated textures layered on top of one another from the first game, though.
ThornedVenom (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 21st 2008 3:12AM
I dunno about you Fernando, but Bioshock's water looked gorgeous on my PC.
Not to mention that you had water under all forms, whether it be spraying or leaking out of walls and pipes, or just simply being a basic water surface like here.
Mike @ Feb 20th 2008 7:07PM
That's HELLA BADASS!!!!
oh and 1st..
Mike @ Feb 20th 2008 7:08PM
do'h
eugene @ Feb 20th 2008 7:09PM
Thank the gods GoW2 finally ported over to the PS3, see what the mighty power of the CELL can do? It just blows away the 360 and I told you so to all those 360 fanboys who kept saying the 360's graphics hadn't peaked yet! nyah nyah nya.... wha??? This is on the 360?
damn.
:P
Fernando Rocker @ Feb 20th 2008 7:12PM
Just wait until Resistance 2, Killzone 2 and MGS4 blah blah blah...
Serge @ Feb 20th 2008 7:26PM
I thought this demo is shown on PC :)
And about resistance, killzone2 and mgs4, yes. lets ignore USA products all together and consume only Japanese and European stuff. :)
In these days we just can't accept anything made in USA, hell lets just move to japan and worship their nation for making a PS and Nintendo brands, we might even lick their sweet asses till they shine. It's not enough that they have pretty good share in entertainment department here in us. I would say we should pay extra taxes so they can be sent to Sony corp.
btw i would still say, USA is having the biggest impact on innovations around the globe, we kinda suck at the health care tho.
KiraXD @ Feb 20th 2008 7:40PM
@serg
funding corporate america... right on!
fuck that.. if someone chooses NOT to give US companies their money or respect.. who are you to say they shouldnt... youre nobody...
i can pay japanese companies for merch... doesnt make me anti-american... in fact it makes me MORE american since i have the FREEDOM to buy or NOT buy from US companies...
Biofeak @ Feb 20th 2008 8:03PM
KiraXD
I wish people would be more open minded when its needed.
Btw before calling people a nobody for their opinions just relate to it as a FREEDOM of speech.
upz @ Feb 20th 2008 8:24PM
Serge, where the hell have you been? American developers have made more headway relative to their peers this generation than ever before. And two of the three games you listed are from American development studios. Just because they're on a Sony system doesn't mean they're made by the Japanese.
And you can calm your insecurities. The American economy will be the world's largest for at least another 30 years. Even if it's overtaken, its cultural impact worldwide will still be significant.
The3rdNuisance @ Feb 20th 2008 9:58PM
Uhhh... upz, Killzone is a Dutch game, and Resistance is from jolly old England.
And the squirrel making a poo poo on my head, is from the good ol' USA.
upz @ Feb 21st 2008 12:51AM
You're right about Killzone; brain fart on my part, but I'm rather certain Insomniac is based on California, not England.
upz @ Feb 21st 2008 12:55AM
*in California
ScottyGEE32 @ Feb 20th 2008 7:09PM
Its like Halo's water =) and to go against Fernando, I say Bioshock's water was never that good in the first place (esp when I think Halo 3's beats it)
Fernando Rocker @ Feb 20th 2008 7:11PM
But I mentioned Bioshock because it was Unreal Engine too... and they hyped a lot the water techonolgy... they even hired "water cientifics".
ScottyGEE32 @ Feb 20th 2008 7:35PM
Oh ok, thanks for the clarifcation :)
Einhanderkiller @ Feb 20th 2008 7:13PM
It doesn't look that great, in my opinion.
Rob Accomando @ Feb 20th 2008 7:14PM
Damn, if only they would make a "Waterword 2" game.
Rob Accomando @ Feb 20th 2008 7:15PM
err, waterWORLD
Mikezula @ Feb 20th 2008 9:17PM
Strange. I was thinking about the same exact thing.
Van Faulk @ Feb 20th 2008 7:17PM
Ugh. Just a thought joystiq... could you possivbly link to videos that...I dunno, work?
Fernando Rocker @ Feb 20th 2008 7:21PM
Maybe it's time to upgrade your 486 =p
Naota @ Feb 20th 2008 7:19PM
I donno, looks a bit too gelatenous..
max @ Feb 20th 2008 7:25PM
really. where's the splashes when you know stuff moves in water? i see bullets make ripples and running and rolling makes a wake but no splashing. come on splashes are the best part of water dynamics.
Tranando @ Feb 20th 2008 7:23PM
Unreal Engine 3 rocks. Glad it's PS3 optimised. UTIII looks fantastic, with more to come...
The Artist formally known as Jesus @ Feb 20th 2008 8:28PM
You need to update your profile pic. Just in case you didn't notice Fernando's new pic.
But if you defile Joe in a bad way, they will never find your body. And I can make it happen. I'm Jesus
DangerMouse @ Feb 20th 2008 8:42PM
You WERE Jesus. No take-backs. It's in the bible.
ThornedVenom (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 21st 2008 3:14AM
"If we're all God's children, what makes Jesus so special?"
CB @ Feb 20th 2008 7:23PM
I felt like I was the only one who liked looking out into the water in Gridlock.
HoSlayer @ Feb 20th 2008 7:26PM
http://www.petitiononline.com/gearwar2/petition.html Please sign the petition guys! It only takes a couple minutes...Thank You
Biofeak @ Feb 20th 2008 7:32PM
Sorry, I am too lazy =[
HighFiveJesus @ Feb 20th 2008 7:37PM
Sorry, i hate it when when they throw liscensed hard rock/metal songs into shooters to AMP up the EXTREMEness and get all the Testosterone fueled frat type gamers who eat it up as if it was the best thing in the world.
AmishPhysicist @ Feb 20th 2008 7:51PM
Hahaha. You've got to be kidding me. "Please put Megadeth onto the GOW soundtrack... god bless." Yes, tiny tim, god bless us one and all. Especially guys that let us listen to metal while we chainsaw fookers.
NESv1 @ Feb 20th 2008 7:44PM
I'm trying to think of something good to say about this. It makes me feel thirsty? There I tried.
Jeff @ Feb 20th 2008 7:58PM
No matter the game, I need new jeans when I see fantastic water effects. Valhalla in Halo 3 ran me through four good pairs of shorts.
Phizzy @ Feb 20th 2008 7:58PM
Doesn't look quite as good as the water in Uncharted, but it's still quite nice.
Autopsy15 @ Feb 20th 2008 8:06PM
Eh, Uncharted had better water, IMO.
upz @ Feb 20th 2008 8:30PM
Uncharted's water looked good, but the splash effects were still crap. The fact that everything that touched water actually got wet, though, was awesome.
Now this water here impresses the hell out of me.
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/174803.html
Easo @ Feb 20th 2008 8:57PM
I remember when ps3 fanboy first posted that video of the octave engine water effects. Most of the posters agreed that we had already seen better.
With that said, Im impressed with the way it moves, but not with the way it reacts. As max already pointed out, how the hell do you run through water and not make a splash?
The Purveyor of Justice @ Feb 20th 2008 8:39PM
Well...that's nice and all but not very groundbreaking. I mean Retro essentially already accomplished this in Metroid Prime 1 on the GameCube no less.
xFenixKnightx @ Feb 20th 2008 8:47PM
Witness the power of 360's non-cell!!!
=P
C'mon now who ever is seriously judging by this crappy video off of a huge projector screen needs to STFU. If you ACTUALLY have played Gears youll notice that the water in part 1 doesnt do any of that. Thats why they are showing it off. Hell the water in UT3 for my PS3 doesnt react AT ALL. I just checked on this shit. lol!
Mr.ESC @ Feb 20th 2008 8:53PM
Does this means GOw2 is actually set in Rapture?
I have to say it looks impressive.Bioshock water effects were impressive too but you never get to play with them and other than the first level you never go underwater.
xFenixKnightx @ Feb 20th 2008 9:12PM
Looks very impressive to me. I have Uncharted and I think Uncharted has som eof the best water along with Bioshock as well, but I like the shimmer of teh water in the beginning of this vid. Looks very realistic excepst for that long ripple towards the end. All in all it looks pretty sweet and cant wait for this game running on the updated UE3
xFenixKnightx @ Feb 20th 2008 9:13PM
sorry for the spelling Im on my cell lol typing this =)
gLitterbug @ Feb 20th 2008 10:16PM
I don't see how this can actually impress anyone. Doesn't look any better than tons of tech demos from years ago. Sure it's in an actual game now, but with all this next gen cell power mega cpu physics talk, they should do better than this by far or simply not act like it's a feature we should go crazy about.