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Source Engine - In The Belly Of The Beast?

Posted by simoniker on from the jonah-and-whale dept.

Thanks to Half-Life 2 Fallout for its fan-written feature discussing the content of Valve's Source videogame engine, as used for Half-Life 2. The piece explains: "The Source engine is not just a 3D engine (in the sense it's not just a renderer) -- it contains many different modules that are all brought together into one package", and tries to clarify discussion on subjects as diverse as lighting ("Something that has caused confusion in the past is 'dynamic lights' [in the Source engine].... All a light has to be in order for it to be qualified as dynamic is to be able to move and have changeable attributes.... It doesn't mean that it will [necessarily] cast real time shadows like in Doom 3 or Unreal Engine 3.0"), and in-game water ("When Valve say the water is physically simulated, they mean objects have buoyancy. They don't mean the Source engine has fluid dynamics.")

4 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. AI is "very, very powerful" by lunarscape · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The sequence where the Strider blows up the bridge was unscripted and unexpected by Valve

    That was unscripted??? Wow. Just wow.

    The NPC's will refuse to take stupid orders

    What do you mean you won't walk into that flaming pool of death? I gave you an order!!!

    1. Re:AI is "very, very powerful" by Winterblink · · Score: 4, Interesting
      That was unscripted??? Wow. Just wow.

      Was it really all that impressive, given what else can be said about the AI? Things react to the environment much more in HL2 it seems, so I'm sure the progression of thought from the Strider's perspective went a little something like this:
      1. Me kill humans
      2. Me tall. Bridge in way.
      3. Me kill bridge.
      4. Me kill humans

      Not bad. Not shockingly great, but not bad. :)
      --
      "I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
      -Hoban Washburn
    2. Re:AI is "very, very powerful" by Soul-Burn666 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      6. Me kill whoever I need to pay rent to.

      --
      ^_^
  2. Unscripted... by th1ckasabr1ck · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When the HL2 source was leaked, it became evident that many of the things Valve claimed were not scripted actually were. Keep that in mind and take this with a grain or two.