Whenever news comes out that a sequel to or a reboot of the first is on the works, fans and critics alike can't help but draw their expectations. Especially, when the first one proved to be phenomenal. And so, this second installment of the Tomb Raider is no exception. And when the developers presented gameplay videos of the new Lara Croft game entitled Rise of the Tomb Raider, audience's initial thought was, "What are those techniques they used for the amazing graphics?"
Eidos Montreal used a host of techniques for this new Tomb Raider installment. The company happens to be the co-developer of Rise of the Tomb Raider contracted by Crystal Dynamics.
The following advanced technologies were revealed by the firm during SIGGRAPH 2015. These might even solely contribute to the game's success come after its release.
For example, in lighting, the company used Asynchrous Compute for the advanced volumetric lights. A resolution vexol-method was employed to create the best light and shadow setting. With this method, effects appear to be more realistic, compared to the usual graphics than can be observed in some video games.
According to Gear Nuke, Eidos Montreal also employed its in-house SSAO technique called Broad Temporal Ambient Obscurance (BTAO), based on Scalable Ambient Obscurance (SAO). BTAO is far better though, in terms of both quality and performance, than what is being currently used in the industry - the Horizon-Based Ambient Occlusion (HBAO). This new ambient occlusion technique is said to be temporally stable and provides both near and far occlusion.
Another rendering technique used in the game is the Sample Distribution Shadow Maps (SDSM) algorithm. This technique enhances the overall shadow quality of the game.
The Christian Post might as well be describing what others had also experienced when they had watched gameplay videos of the game, seeing these rendering techniques for the first time. "The characters have been rendered as such that you could almost forget that they're CG film quality characters. The game also showcases real-time cloth and body physics and full performance capture that it's no wonder why fans of the action-packed game are eagerly waiting for the game to be released."
Rise of the Tomb Raider will have its official release on November 10 for Xbox One and Xbox 360. For PC users and PS4 players, they have to wait until next year to play the game.
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