Real-time Ocean Rendering using FFT
Ever wondered how do games render those beautiful oceans in real-time? Well a quick answer would be Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT). These are magic words which allow you to compute some of the best looking water rendering bodies. Have a look at the video below where a ocean was computed using FFT:
FFT is a tricky subject and involves some deep math to understand its concepts. The below article discusses some of the nuances of ocean computation and rendering using FFT.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3036/deep_water_animation_and_rendering.php
The below video shows another example of how FFT is used for ocean rendering:
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Finally Finished Manager mode in FIFA 08 (DS) - 5/5 stars!
I finally finished 5 seasons in the manager mode of fifa 08for the ds. This means I finally have achieved 5 out of 5 stars for this feat as a manager! Man I'm thrilled! It has been a very very long 5th season playing as Chelsea but finally I as a manager managed to come second in the EPL charts as well as win the Champions league! So considering there are 38 matches to be played a season and then playing the FA cup, champions trophy every season, the tournament can be very long. A season would cover a average of 50 matches. A normal football match would last for 20 minutes. This means 1000 minutes for an entire season! Which would mean 5000 minutes for 5 seasons....man this was long! But all this was well worth it. I used to play this game while I was traveling to work in the train. It is interesting that I finished 5 seasons playing this game in the train! Thats the power of handheld gaming! I love my DS!
So what do I do next? Well first would stop playing this game as I've exhausted its worth. I want to move on to play a solid RPG game, one of my favorite genres. I have started playing this new rpg game called "The World Ends With You" by Square Enix, the gods of rpg brand makers. So FIFA 08, bye for now!
I finally finished 5 seasons in the manager mode of fifa 08for the ds. This means I finally have achieved 5 out of 5 stars for this feat as a manager! Man I'm thrilled! It has been a very very long 5th season playing as Chelsea but finally I as a manager managed to come second in the EPL charts as well as win the Champions league! So considering there are 38 matches to be played a season and then playing the FA cup, champions trophy every season, the tournament can be very long. A season would cover a average of 50 matches. A normal football match would last for 20 minutes. This means 1000 minutes for an entire season! Which would mean 5000 minutes for 5 seasons....man this was long! But all this was well worth it. I used to play this game while I was traveling to work in the train. It is interesting that I finished 5 seasons playing this game in the train! Thats the power of handheld gaming! I love my DS!
So what do I do next? Well first would stop playing this game as I've exhausted its worth. I want to move on to play a solid RPG game, one of my favorite genres. I have started playing this new rpg game called "The World Ends With You" by Square Enix, the gods of rpg brand makers. So FIFA 08, bye for now!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Nanostray 2 (Nintendo DS)
Why I clocked 20 hrs, got killed more than 100 times, unlocked only 4 planets, and still want to play this game?
OK, at first glance it seems I really cannot play old-school games with mechanics only pros could master. It would also seem that I really should probably quit playing this game and move on to another. But I disagree to both these conclusions. Nanostray 2 is my first game in this series. I enjoyed this game for all the hours that I've clocked in this game. Absolutely love the boss fights so far. But the main problem why I just cannot proceed to explore the game further is the problem of Game Saves. I have read a lot of complaints about the game saving in this game. It could have been a little more structured and easy for the current generation of gamers to pick up and play this game. Rather the developers stuck to making it very hard and not giving any worthy save game features in this game. I agree that this game is probably for the old-school kind type gamers but hey giving good save options would not have harmed it in any ways!
Well moving from my crib about the game's saving mechanism, one thing I must admit about this game - It is damn addictive! I just cannot stop playing this game. The ego really hurts when I'm playing this game. Why the hell I cannot win this level without losing any lives???
This game gives the player 5 lives + 3 Continues option which makes the total lives in the game to be 15 ( 5 lives x 3 continues). And then add the 1Ups which you might get if you are really good. So this game expects that with 15 lives at stake you should complete the 8 odd planets in this game. Piece of Cake huh? Well not easy as it may sound. The game is designed to be old-school which means get ready for tough gameplay mechanism. Screw up even once the game will really punish you and take away your precious life.
The game's 3D graphics is a stunner. The developers of this game have really done a great job of getting constant 30fps rendering in full 3D with all the crazy effects in this game. Not once does it stutter while playing the levels. The 3D boss fights are really cool considering the gameplay mechanisms for all enemies (including the bosses) is still 2 dimensional.
A special mention should be given to the games sound effects. It is clean, fast and really delivers the chaos very well. I was really drawn into the chaos with all the enemies shooting at me from all directions, thanks to the excellent sound composition.
The game does support 2 player mode over local Wifi but NO online multiplayer. I would have really liked to play this game online. But hey they do have online rankings where you can upload your score. This scoring chart really motivates to not keep down this game. Thats a great plus point for today's online games.
I like the D-pad input mechanism in this game. Probably it may also be the reason why I struggle to play this game. The D-pad controls does get a little sluggish at times. This is where this game scores by have 3 different control schemes which includes the touch screen controls. I'm not a fan of the touch screen controls as it really gets tough while you play the games for long hours. Another problem with the touch screen controls for this game is that it obstructs your view of the game which might cost you a lot of lives! But nonetheless with these small short comings the gameplay experience is not hampered much.
The cut-scenes in this game are really done well. Full in-game 3D cut-scenes really gets you into the game. This really conveys the little planet background really well. Also the introduction to the bosses really pumps you up to kill those mean machines.
Some Level design facts. It seems the levels for this game was completely designed in Maya in full 3D using a level editor toll called ComplexEd. You can ready about the level design tool at the below link:
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?publicUserId=5900765&bId=8527057
So why do I still crib and at the same time want to finish this game? Well I'm a great fan of the online ranking system. I love to get my number up there at the top considering the whole world is a level playing field for ultra egos to act. So Keikan here I come!
Watch the trailer of the game below:
Why I clocked 20 hrs, got killed more than 100 times, unlocked only 4 planets, and still want to play this game?
OK, at first glance it seems I really cannot play old-school games with mechanics only pros could master. It would also seem that I really should probably quit playing this game and move on to another. But I disagree to both these conclusions. Nanostray 2 is my first game in this series. I enjoyed this game for all the hours that I've clocked in this game. Absolutely love the boss fights so far. But the main problem why I just cannot proceed to explore the game further is the problem of Game Saves. I have read a lot of complaints about the game saving in this game. It could have been a little more structured and easy for the current generation of gamers to pick up and play this game. Rather the developers stuck to making it very hard and not giving any worthy save game features in this game. I agree that this game is probably for the old-school kind type gamers but hey giving good save options would not have harmed it in any ways!
Well moving from my crib about the game's saving mechanism, one thing I must admit about this game - It is damn addictive! I just cannot stop playing this game. The ego really hurts when I'm playing this game. Why the hell I cannot win this level without losing any lives???
This game gives the player 5 lives + 3 Continues option which makes the total lives in the game to be 15 ( 5 lives x 3 continues). And then add the 1Ups which you might get if you are really good. So this game expects that with 15 lives at stake you should complete the 8 odd planets in this game. Piece of Cake huh? Well not easy as it may sound. The game is designed to be old-school which means get ready for tough gameplay mechanism. Screw up even once the game will really punish you and take away your precious life.
The game's 3D graphics is a stunner. The developers of this game have really done a great job of getting constant 30fps rendering in full 3D with all the crazy effects in this game. Not once does it stutter while playing the levels. The 3D boss fights are really cool considering the gameplay mechanisms for all enemies (including the bosses) is still 2 dimensional.
A special mention should be given to the games sound effects. It is clean, fast and really delivers the chaos very well. I was really drawn into the chaos with all the enemies shooting at me from all directions, thanks to the excellent sound composition.
The game does support 2 player mode over local Wifi but NO online multiplayer. I would have really liked to play this game online. But hey they do have online rankings where you can upload your score. This scoring chart really motivates to not keep down this game. Thats a great plus point for today's online games.
I like the D-pad input mechanism in this game. Probably it may also be the reason why I struggle to play this game. The D-pad controls does get a little sluggish at times. This is where this game scores by have 3 different control schemes which includes the touch screen controls. I'm not a fan of the touch screen controls as it really gets tough while you play the games for long hours. Another problem with the touch screen controls for this game is that it obstructs your view of the game which might cost you a lot of lives! But nonetheless with these small short comings the gameplay experience is not hampered much.
The cut-scenes in this game are really done well. Full in-game 3D cut-scenes really gets you into the game. This really conveys the little planet background really well. Also the introduction to the bosses really pumps you up to kill those mean machines.
Some Level design facts. It seems the levels for this game was completely designed in Maya in full 3D using a level editor toll called ComplexEd. You can ready about the level design tool at the below link:
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?publicUserId=5900765&bId=8527057
So why do I still crib and at the same time want to finish this game? Well I'm a great fan of the online ranking system. I love to get my number up there at the top considering the whole world is a level playing field for ultra egos to act. So Keikan here I come!
Watch the trailer of the game below:
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