FOUND! - Old ncSoft game that was built on jMonkeyEngine

General Discussions
#1

Greetings programs!

Been quite some time since I have posted here. Getting ready for the launch of The Art of Video Games exhibition and a full time job has kept me busy, but I still lurk here on a regular basis.

Anyway, while digging through some links, I found a video snippet posted to the web that showcased the jMonkeyEngine game that was being developed by ncSoft, but killed in the wake of Tabula Rasa not doing very well. Shame that. Would have been another commercial feather in Java’s cap. Check it out here:

-Chris

#2

We’re programs? Am I in the matrix? Is anything real?!? :o

I’ve actually seen that video almost a year ago from some other post on this forum, it looks really really good and has amazingly good graphics. Too bad it got killed, last I heard they were still developing it :’(

#3

That looks too good! :expressionless:
Sadly enough i cant find any information about it. Its probably a dead project it seems :frowning: (Somebody please say it isn’t!).

#4

Hmm, can’t say I really agree that it really looks that great for a big Java game anymore (granted that it wasn’t completed and probably placeholder art) but looks like a generation or two behind current gaming standards.

Games like Spiral Knights, Wakfu, Starfarer, some of the shader demo’s of jME3, Transformers Universe, etc show that Java’s isn’t really an underdog anymore and more than enough to go head to head with current gaming standards.

#5

This was a game that was being built around 4-5 years ago…

#6

Even then kappa’s remark is true: 4-5 years ago it would have looked like 2-3 generations behind.

Brings back memories of Tomb Raider 2 from 1997

http://www.dlgamer.nl/images/prods/providers5_661245_screenshot2.jpg

#7

I never understand the criticism of “the graphics are behind”. What does it matter if its appropriate ?
Most everything from PS2 onwards looks good.
This screenshot looks good.

#8

What’s the poly count ratio on Lara’s butt?

#9

That promo art would put many in game screenshots to shame even a decade later.

Not enough!

#10

Ah, well… I just used google image search and picked a random one. Still, most TR2/1997 screenshots (not promo art) look better than this ‘superb java game’. I think it’s fair to state that for a game studio, this ‘tech demo’ is a bit disappointing.

#11

That’s the trouble if you pick a fight with the big boys… you’ve got to compete on their terms, and that means the finest brains in the industry squeezing every last drop out of whatever’s current hardware, and that’s one of the the main bases upon which they sell their wares - the wow factor. Anything inferior just gets ignored and overlooked by the seething masses.

Cas :slight_smile:

#12

That’s why any competent indie should steer clear of developing a ‘nice’ 3D game. You can’t compete. Be radically different and you’ll have a fighting chance.

#13

Wouldn’t exactly call NCSoft “indie” though :o

Cas :slight_smile:

#14

It wasn’t specifically meant to address NCSoft, but in the context of this thread I see how it seemed that way.

Regardless of being indie or a relatively small game studio, you can’t fight the big boys that have tens of even hundreds of millions of dollars to spend. Angry Birds took a full team to design / polish. Aiming for that level of quality while keeping your dayjob (if applicable) is unrealistic. The logic in that game is trivial, as it basically slapped sprites on a physics engine. We, as indie developers, should aim lower (yes, I said it), to the point where the graphics are so ‘off’ that they’ll take it as a custom style / art. And then focus on the gameplay, something that for the big guys is way too risky an area to be innovative in.

#15

I agree about the graphics and game play. Personally I dislike most modern games gfx wise. The first Deus Ex has graphics I love, so awful and dark looking, I love the low poly models and horrible res textures

#16

… on the player models certainly yes. The game itself didn’t look too bad actually. Still they did the best they could with it; I like for example how the coat moves up and down as the character breathes, it gives off a real tough guy vibe :slight_smile:

#17

I was rather a fan of the stylized graphics in System Shock 2. Seems when you don’t go for photorealism, low-fi graphics have more staying power.

#18

IIRC the rest of the company was being asked to look at it as:

“Here’s what we can do in 1/100th the budget of a standard internal title, and without a full art team and without a full programming team. Plz can haz real dev budget?”

My memory is that people generally thought it was crud - but shone in all the right places. e.g. it showed large enviornments rendering at sensible speed, it showed variety in 3d levels (no suspicious “everything looks like a heightfield; hmm … can this engine ONLY do heightfields?” etc), it showed high-poly details on characters, and high-detail textures.

…but each of those things just showed in one or two places. Because there was no budget / time / resource to apply it consistently.

Demos to publishers are often like this - they show what the team / middleware COULD do, in small glimpses. And they ask for the remaining 99% budget to make it do that in ALL the places…

#19

That looks very pretty.