00:07www.iletedangerous.com
00:07Hi, I'm Chris, and I'm heading up the art department
00:10on Elite Dangerous. Today
00:11I'm going to take a look at the Capitalship video
00:13that we released a while back.
00:15We'll see how it relates to the game, and how we
00:17are progressing with the in-game visuals.
00:21If you've been following
00:22our newsletters, you'll have seen many sketches
00:24and paintings produced by our talented concept team.
00:27These pieces
00:28let us try out ideas and styles, and
00:29once approved, serve as a guide for the look of
00:31the game. It's an ongoing and
00:33collaborative process. Whilst modelling
00:35and texturing, we'll take screenshots of in-game
00:38assets, and pass them back to the concept
00:39team for a paint-over.
00:42With the video, we extended
00:44this approach, adding animation so we could
00:46see our concepts in motion.
00:48Parallel with the ongoing development of the game,
00:50a small team of artists and animators
00:51put together the Capitalship battle.
00:54We scripted scenes
00:56that could be replayed time and time again,
00:58letting artists focus on the details
00:59of the scene, testing and comparing
01:01different techniques.
01:04This motion concept approach
01:05lets us get ahead of the game and previous
01:07elements that are not yet supported in engine.
01:11This was the case
01:12with the cockpit and HUD, which were rendered
01:13in 3ds Max and composited over
01:15the in-game footage.
01:17These tests convinced the team that seeing the
01:19player's cockpit in-game would greatly help
01:21the player's immersion without spending code time
01:23testing the concept.
01:25Despite the limited graphics of the day,
01:27the dashboard and the 3D radar seen
01:29in the original Elite lent an immersive
01:31quality to the classic game, by putting
01:33the player in the cockpit.
01:36This sense of immersion in the in-game
01:38world is key to the Elite experience
01:40old and new.
01:41We want to push this further, letting the
01:43player share the pilot's point of view,
01:45breaking the fixed forward view with
01:47responsive and natural camera motion that
01:49mimics the pilot's head movements.
01:50These range from a soft sway and bob
01:52in response to a course correction,
01:54to the player's head pushing back in their headrest
01:56when accelerating, or even a nearby
01:58explosion jolting the cockpit.
02:01As soon as we added the
02:02cockpit in-game, it really came to life.
02:05Even in its most basic implementation,
02:07it suddenly felt like we were really
02:08piloting a spaceship.
02:10It's also opened up a world of possibilities
02:12that we're still exploring, though we have
02:14yet to get approval for the 0G fluffy dice.
02:19Damage effects, atmospherics and lighting,
02:21together with sound design, are all
02:23coming together to make the cockpit feel
02:24like a real space.
02:27The cockpit has always been designed
02:28with the 3D device in mind, and it's
02:31been great to see it working on 3D
02:32televisions and on the Oculus Rift.
02:35We don't see the cockpit as just an overlay on the game,
02:38but an integral part of the experience,
02:40with aerial and visual clues to aid gameplay,
02:43together with lighting, sound design
02:44and effects used to highlight damage,
02:46proximity and ship status.
02:48The player might have to take action
02:50to solve a problem within their cockpit,
02:51such as a fire, a toxic leak from their cargo,
02:54or maybe even an outbreak of trumbles,
02:55as seen in the original Elite.
02:57To add to this realism, the dashboard is
03:00scuffed and scratched, and has running repairs
03:02made by the pilot.
03:03Careful attention was paid to the materials
03:05to make them recognizable and believable,
03:07and the max rendered overlay is now serving
03:09as a guide as we implement the in-game version.
03:12Going forward, we planned cockpits
03:13as varied as the ships themselves,
03:15each suited to the design and function
03:17of that vessel.
03:19We decided to go with a holographic
03:21heads-up display and instrumentation
03:23for a number of reasons.
03:24Firstly, it's visually interesting and exciting,
03:26which is a good place to start.
03:27It also feels like a logical progression
03:29from today's glass cockpits and augmented reality
03:32devices, giving the pilot,
03:34and so the player, all the advantages
03:35of an in-world display.
03:37Panels can easily be resized to fit content,
03:40and data can be intelligently placed
03:42anywhere in the game world.
03:43This approach also lets us fade panels
03:45and widgets dynamically, to prevent the player's
03:48screen space from getting too cluttered.
03:51The holograms are in-world constructs,
03:53that cast light on surrounding surfaces.
03:54Taking damage or running low on power
03:57might well cause your instrumentation
03:58to glitch or degrade.
04:00Having the information positioned in 3D space
04:03around the player really comes into its own
04:04when we add headluck to the first-person camera view.
04:07These displays are not hands-on.
04:09The ship's flight is managed by the pilot
04:11through more tangible, hand-held controls.
04:14When the pilot is added,
04:15you'll see their hands manipulating twin input devices,
04:18giving the player a more tactile
04:19and direct connection with the ship.
04:22In the event of a failure
04:23in the systems that generate the HUD,
04:25the ship could still be flown using these controls,
04:27although it would take one hell of a pilot
04:28to pull it off.
04:30The workspace is linked to the pilot,
04:32and follows them as they progress up the ship roster,
04:35subtly adapting to each new ship they purchase.
04:38Longer term plans see the layout reconfigured
04:40to give the pilot information in other scenarios.
04:44The radar provides a strong link to the original game,
04:46but isn't included for nostalgia's sake alone.
04:49The faux 3D nature of the original
04:51golf stick radar was ahead of its time
04:52and perfectly suits the holographic concept.
04:56When lighting the scenes,
04:57we wanted to make a clear connection
04:58between the action happening in space
05:00and the cockpit interior.
05:02Main lights such as the sun cast shadows
05:05into the cockpit, while other light sources
05:06such as explosions or ship's engines
05:09light the dashboard.
05:11The player ship also lights the environment around it.
05:14The forward searchlights
05:15catch the walkways on the Federal battleship.
05:17This interactive lighting is present
05:19on the non-playable ships as well.
05:20Look carefully and you'll see the Empire Fighter's engines
05:23lighting the launch bays as they emerge.
05:26Careful attention was paid
05:27to the cockpit glass to make it feel solid
05:29and responsive to lighting,
05:30with the sun catching on micro-scratches in the canopy
05:33and a reactive environment map subtly
05:35reflecting the ship interior.
05:39Although the video concentrates on combat,
05:41that's only one part of the game.
05:43Going forward we will continue to motion
05:45concept elements such as trading,
05:47mining and docking,
05:48though it's unlikely these videos
05:49will be as visually polished.
05:56The game and engine are now more developed,
05:58so quick renders and animations
05:59are enough to test out ideas.
06:10Looking back we've come a long way,
06:11but there's still a lot to do.
06:13In fact, I'd better get back to it.
06:15Thanks for listening.
06:18To be continued...
06:34To be continued...
06:35To be continued...
06:36...
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