WEARY FROM an evening at the Nvidia event featuring Smashmouth, I made my way to the Exposition floor to sample the warez (sic).
First stop? My appointment with Valve. Valve was sharing a booth with ATI, but it seemed to be the other way around. The centre point of the entire display is HalfLife 2, and the preview videos. I have now seen in game scenes from both Doom3 and Halflife 2, and currently it appears that HalfLife 2 has the edge.
As I said before, ID made a conscious decision to minimize object interaction in Doom 3 due to the programming challenges of making the interaction as real as the rest of the virtual world.
HalfLife 2, while less eye-candy intensive, allows the user to interact with her or his environment in truly impressive ways.
In the technology demo, showcasing the new Source Engine, objects in the game all have the characteristics of the real life material. Mattresses flop around, wood splinters and metal makes a resounding twang when struck. The properties of the items are specified down to the buoyancy.
For example, throw wood into water and it will sink a few inches, and slowly surface. Throw metal? It sinks like a stone. Objects can also interact with each other, and mass is taken into consideration. In the game demo, a gigantic strider that looks like it escaped from "War of the Worlds", bears down on a group of militia.