Crysis Interview (con't)

FiringSquad: Crysis looks like it will have advanced AI just like Far Cry did. How difficult is it to get the enemies to behave realistically?

Cevat Yerli: It’s one of the hardest parts of developing a FPS. Getting the AI to seem like they are real, thinking players who act randomly in all environments is unbelievably hard. In Crysis we have large open spaces and with the destroyable environments you can’t hardcode cover spots for AI to hide behind. Because of this we developed an advanced cover system for AI using smart objects that can move and change status in realtime. AI also has a full range of movement available to it like going prone and sprinting between cover spots so the flanking behaviour seen in Farcry is now much more advanced. And considering the main enemies in the game are speaking Korean most people won’t be able to listen in to their squad commands.

FiringSquad: We saw the DirectX10 version at CES. How does the DirectX10 version compare to the DirectX9 version in terms of features and improvements?

Cevat Yerli: DX10 simply allows us to increase the visual quality of the shaders and particle effects, to the degree that some features are DX10 only. The hardware performance is a generation above DX9 so that there is a major gain in frames per second. Both versions of the game play are exactly the same though, while in Multiplayer we are evaluating technologies that may benefit gameplay in DX10 to finally enrich that PvP experience to a new level. Given the host of improvements Windows Vista offers for gamers though, we would recommend upgrading as soon as possible.

FiringSquad: The motion blur was used to great effect in the CES demo. How hard was it to get that effect to work and not be a distraction to the player?

Cevat Yerli: The motion blur comes in several flavors depending on the system specs and player preference. We have a global blur effect that is applied when the player moves his camera very quickly, for example sprinting or getting hit by a large explosion. Also we have object-based motion blur that applies only to objects that are moving. The combination of these create an extremely cinematic feel to the visuals. Depth of Field (DOF) is another feature that makes the in game camera feel like human eyes, objects further away get blurrier. It’s a simple concept but hasn’t been seen in many games. A new feature we have added for a true cinema feel is a slight DOF applied to the player weapon so when your eyes are focused on the action in front of you, anything close goes out of focus. If you’re reading this using a monitor take note of how the keyboard looks when you are reading off the screen, it lacks all the detail you would see when focused on it. It is not a feature everyone would want to use since our weapon models are so beautiful but it’s there for those players who want to believe they are taking part in a movie!

Is it safe to say that Crysis will ship with the game's level editor and mod tools like Far Cry did?

Cevat Yerli: Absolutely and the editor has been extended beyond even Far Cry’s lofty heights. The CryENGINE 2 editor (Called Sandbox) is capable of doing every single game feature in realtime while parameters are changed. For example the time of day settings for levels are not a single set of numbers like most games. Instead level designers use spline based editing allowing artist friendly adjustment of over 30 light settings that can vary from minute to minute using the engine’s dynamic time of day.

Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Crysis?

Cevat Yerli: With so many great looking games coming out lately it’s been a nice surprise to see the reception Crysis is getting at tradeshows and on forums. We are all dedicated gamers and are really excited about the future of gaming on all platforms. The power of the machines these days is staggering and it is a great time to be in the gaming industry.