Chade on 17/7/2013 at 21:32
Brethren, the window thing is definite, but you are also right: they are trying to make it seamless by loading in the new level as you approach the borders of the old level.
That said, we know that it wasn't completely seamless in the demo (the E3 players noticed it after all), but they did claim it was almost seamless. Did any of the journalists pick up on it?
Technically, even in the games you mention, there is still a race between the player and the game loading new content. However unlikely, it's still theoretically possible for the player to "win" the race*, at which point the game will hopefully handle that by freezing until loading can catch up.
* Let's say the level geometry is dense and detailed, the user has a slow hard-drive, thousands of big copying jobs running in the background, has set no-clip on, and has found an exploit that makes him move 100 times as fast ... at some point even the best loading routines aren't going to be able to keep up!
Vae on 17/7/2013 at 21:38
It sounds like there will be short, perceptible immersion breaks...a marked improvement when compared to TDS...yet still disappointing, nonetheless.
Bakerman on 17/7/2013 at 21:42
I interpreted it the way Brethren did. Streaming generally implies the game is constantly loading/unloading stuff to make sure you never notice it going on. But I'm not sure what that will imply for AI.
Renault on 17/7/2013 at 21:49
Quote Posted by Chade
Technically, even in the games you mention, there is still a race between the player and the game loading new content. However unlikely, it's still theoretically possible for the player to "win" the race*, at which point the game will hopefully handle that by freezing until loading can catch up.
* Let's say the level geometry is dense and detailed, the user has a slow hard-drive, thousands of big copying jobs running in the background, has set no-clip on, and has found an exploit that makes him move 100 times as fast ... at some point even the best loading routines aren't going to be able to keep up!
But in normal gameplay, without any cheats or exploits, it would be seamless. I've played Fallout 3, Skyrim, and Fallout New Vegas to death, and run from one side of the map to the other - I've never seen any sign of loading in the open world areas, only the obvious places where you enter buildings and things like that. So maybe the "loading when crawling through the window" sequence is similar to entering buildings in the other games I mentioned. But instead of a loading screen, you get a calculated character animation sequence, designed to kill time while the interior level loads.
Vae on 17/7/2013 at 21:56
Quote Posted by Brethren
So maybe the "loading when crawling through the window" sequence is similar to entering buildings in the other games I mentioned. But instead of a loading screen, you get a calculated character animation sequence, designed to kill time while the interior level loads.
I don't think there's any "maybe" about it...That's what we have here...and the player will perceive the extended animation as a transition into a new zone, thus, there will be small breaks in immersion.
Goldmoon Dawn on 17/7/2013 at 22:37
Quote Posted by Brethren
If you read the comment SLIEZER quotes, it actually uses the word "seamless" and talks about loading being behind the scenes. "The next portion of the level streams in as you approach it."
As all you classic computer gaming buffs know, Ultima IX: Ascension was one of the first 3d games to use this feature of world loading. Just like every other game since, as you can imagine, "seamless" is entirely dependent upon thy computer specifications. On top end and beyond, it would surely be seamless enough. On lower end computers there would be a mere hiccup in the game play to varying extents, again, dependent upon performance.
But, yeah... Thief is the *one* franchise that you shouldnt do this in, as hiccup equals immersion break. Critical stuff to the depth of the world in the first two games.
Lady Rowena on 17/7/2013 at 22:44
Since the ones who played didn't report any prompt like: "do you want to enter the manor?", I suppose that the player will be free to go back and forth through the levels.
The question is, will the enemies follow you in the new level, or they will stupidly wait for you forever, as if the time was frozen? (like in Fallout 3)
Chade on 17/7/2013 at 22:50
b1skit claimed enemies will travel through the loading zones
Vae on 17/7/2013 at 22:52
Quote Posted by Goldmoon Dawn
As all you classic computer gaming buffs know, Ultima IX: Ascension was one of the first 3d games to use this feature of world loading. Just like every other game since, as you can imagine, "seamless" is entirely dependent upon thy computer specifications. On top end and beyond, it would surely be seamless enough. On lower end computers there would be a mere hiccup in the game play to varying extents, again, dependent upon performance.
But, yeah... Thief is the *one* franchise that you shouldnt do this in, as hiccup equals immersion break. Critical stuff to the depth of the world in the first two games.
Yes...Ideally, with a sufficiently capable system, one can only expect a break in
psychological immersion, due to the "awareness" of the purpose of the extended animation...Yet, if played on a lesser system, one will receive an unwelcome break in
spatial immersion, as well.
Chade on 17/7/2013 at 22:59
I wonder what happens when you want to go back out the window. We know you can. Presumably you don't force it open a second time.
I also didn't get the impression that the loading zones in the fire level had any sort of special animation attached to them, but that could be wrong.
The positive way of looking at this is that they're shooting for not having a delay at all when crossing load zones, animation or not. As other people noted, it's been done before many times. It just didn't seem to be quite that good at E3.
