After promising the addition of fancy day-night cycles to its dignified open-world driving game, Eden Games has delivered the cold, moonlit proof in a new batch of Test Drive Unlimited 2 screenshots. You see that shot above? There's the night cycle, clear as day. And all it took was for one of the designers to double-click on the sun and press "delete."
This just in: Test Drive Unlimited 2's VP of Global Illumination Aseel Houette has contacted us, castigating us for our "gross oversimplification" of the changes made to the game's lighting techniques. "Dear Joystiq," he or she wrote, "I am extremely disappointed by your recent article on our upcoming Xbox 360, PS3 and PC game. Implementing day-night cycles is not, as your gross oversimplification implies, as simple as deleting the in-game sun. That's not how game design works at all. If you delete the sun, the in-game earth is completely destroyed, as are all the beautiful vehicles we've spent months modeling."
When asked how the new effect was really achieved, Houette simply insisted that "it's all done with mirrors."
Reader Comments (36)
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 5:33PM MystileArmor said
And here I thought it was going to let you drive KITT....
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 5:40PM nullset said
This punny post made my day :D
Why are you so awesome, Ludwig?
Why are you so awesome, Ludwig?
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 5:43PM EechuTah said
No 2010 Mustang GT...no buy.
:)
:)
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 5:50PM EechuTah said
lol which ever. I have a '10 GT, and I would like to drive one in any game.
And the only thing the '11 has that's superior over the '10 GT is the suspension, and, to some extent, the new 5.0L Engine.
Since its a new engine, there will be bugs.
The 4.6 engine is a proven engine.
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And the only thing the '11 has that's superior over the '10 GT is the suspension, and, to some extent, the new 5.0L Engine.
Since its a new engine, there will be bugs.
The 4.6 engine is a proven engine.
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 5:59PM Captain Planet Planeteer Power said
YOU IDIOTS YOU'RE LOSING SIGHT OF THE REAL PROBLEM...WE WERE ALL TRICKED IN TO THINKING KITT WAS IN THE GAME. CHANNEL YOUR HATE TOWARDS LUDWIG YOU BASTARDS...
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Posted: Apr 21st 2010 5:44PM fwacce said
joystiq needs new writers.
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 5:49PM Odc said
Look at them shine!
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 5:50PM sho220 said
i'm excited for this game. the first one still is a lot of fun and i have a few more things to finish up on it. i hope they increase the draw distance in tdu2. my main complaint from the first is you can see traffic in your lane miles down the road but oncoming traffic only appears once they're about half a mile away. when you're doing 200mph+ and weaving in and out of traffic, that shorter draw distance for oncoming traffic can be a major annoyance.
however, whether they increase the draw distance or not, i will probably buy this when it comes out, i don't even need a demo.
however, whether they increase the draw distance or not, i will probably buy this when it comes out, i don't even need a demo.
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 5:56PM Shinchi said
You know what, for all these games that claim they're super realistic; none capture the true Feeling of driving as well as the Test Drive games.
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 5:59PM The Albatross said
I was going to criticize these guys for taking themselves too seriously.... but the comment about mirrors was pretty good and I let them off the hook.
And truth be told: I think TDU1 is one of the best racing games on the 360. It was retailed for $40 and one of the best early 360 games... really filled a void without much else out there. I enjoyed the game whole heartedly... despite it's over-simplified driving, weird handling, etc., it was just a joy to play.
And truth be told: I think TDU1 is one of the best racing games on the 360. It was retailed for $40 and one of the best early 360 games... really filled a void without much else out there. I enjoyed the game whole heartedly... despite it's over-simplified driving, weird handling, etc., it was just a joy to play.
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 6:08PM (Unverified) said
If you want to purport to offer news, stop with the lame jokes. If they were funny that would be one thing but instead they make actual information harder to obtain. At times you claim to be "journalists" so why don't you act like it?
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 6:18PM bunnyraven said
that joke was not lame at all! I'm a cs major, so reading how they "deleted" the sun for the night effect was hilarious.
for the same effect: "all we had to do was comment out the sun and all its instances!"
but mine is not as funny :(
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for the same effect: "all we had to do was comment out the sun and all its instances!"
but mine is not as funny :(
Posted: Apr 22nd 2010 7:21AM Ludwig Kietzmann said
Hithere, you can put the violin back in its case. Here's the news: We updated our collection of screenshots of the game and told readers about it. This hardly seems like the appropriate provocation of a journalism debate -- no more than stuff like our weekly "what are you playing" posts. There's always room on Joystiq for more than one kind of content.
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Posted: Apr 21st 2010 6:27PM Wiizer said
Did they really send you that e-mail, Luddy?
If so, I am definitely going to take this game for a spin.
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 7:57PM killdash9 said
The VP of Global Illumination's name was "Aseel Houette." Read that name to yourself repeatedly. There's your answer.
And, of course they couldn't delete the sun. It's a shared object. The "it's all done with mirrors" is just smoke and, uh, mirrors terminology for "we set the global environment variable ENV_SKY=SUN_ON_OTHER_SIDE_OF_PLANET_I_FORGOT_WORD_FOR_THIS_SORRY."
I'm almost sure of it.
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And, of course they couldn't delete the sun. It's a shared object. The "it's all done with mirrors" is just smoke and, uh, mirrors terminology for "we set the global environment variable ENV_SKY=SUN_ON_OTHER_SIDE_OF_PLANET_I_FORGOT_WORD_FOR_THIS_SORRY."
I'm almost sure of it.
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 7:37PM (Unverified) said
Lol at the new mustangs they aint shit 89 to 93 5.0 or nothing unless you find a rare 4 cyl turbo hehe.
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 7:14PM Anticrawl said
WAT
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 7:20PM GreenElf said
It is much more than just deleting the sun. They had to block it out completely.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/22244/the-simpsons-sun-block-burns
http://www.hulu.com/watch/22244/the-simpsons-sun-block-burns
Posted: Apr 21st 2010 11:07PM Misfit Toy said
Is it like Tomb Raider mirrors? Where there are mirrors all over the tomb and the moon won't shine unless all of the mirrors are reflecting off of each other and then into the giant statue's orb?
Posted: Apr 22nd 2010 11:02AM tabicat said
I really really hope this game works with a steering wheel. TDU1 didn't.
Posted: Apr 22nd 2010 12:51PM likedamaster said
It had support, what are you talking about? It even added a hardcore mode toward the end where you can tweak everything, assists, etc.
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Posted: Apr 22nd 2010 7:01PM Seb640 said
Yeahhh it seems they finally made roads that are smooth and usable !
Being able to drive the damn thing without it jumping over every crests and bumps is far more important than night of rain !
Looking forward to this game !
Being able to drive the damn thing without it jumping over every crests and bumps is far more important than night of rain !
Looking forward to this game !
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