GDC Epic On MS Press Conference

This is a part of the Eurogamer GCC Live Coverage concerning the Microsoft Press Conference. Especially this is about Gears 2. Destructable Environments, yeeha!

20:13:59 -

Now we can blow stuff up, he says. Another Gears-based demo with blowing holes in wooden fences using the explody crossbow thing [Torque Bow, Tom. Tsk! - Ed]. Destructible environments in Gears of War? That'd be interesting. That's the end of Tim's presentation. He's cheered off rapturously. A lot of Gears-based tech demos there. John's back!

20:11:29 -

You can now do lots more things on-screen. Tech demo with "over 100" Locust enemies running around a typical Gears of War environment. Calm down. Water stuff has been improved, he says. Realistic specular and environment bits or something. More realistic splashes, sound effects. It certainly looks a bit special with rolling waves, etc.

20:10:18 -

You can add much more definition. Advanced character lighting is another thing. "We've done significant work on the character pipeline." "There's much greater contrast in the shadows, much greater specular lighting...much more detail on the character overall."

20:09:39 -

He's introducing Tim Sweeney, Epic's version of John Carmack. He's going to show us some of the things they've been doing since the original Gears of War. Ambient occlusion post processing filter - more realistic dynamic shadows off the back of THAT, says Tim.

20:08:43 -

BLOODY WELL SAY IT, MIKE. So it's been a while since Gears, he says. "We've been pretty busy since 18 months ago." He's still talking about the Unreal Engine.

20:08:23 -

He's showing off a trailer reel of Unreal Engine 3 games. BioShock is one, Mass Effect is another. Lost Odyssey, Gears of War.

20:08:08 -

Go on Mike. "That's not all we do - we make Unreal Engine." Yeeeeees.

20:07:41 -

Mike Capps, president of Epic you know. "You may remember a game we did for Xbox 360 called Gears of War."

20:07:37 -

"Dr Michael Capps from Epic Games." He's going to show off the next generation of the Unreal Engine running on Xbox 360. [Gasp, excitement - Ed]