Polyphony Digital Is Experimenting With Procedurally Generated Cars

The Real VGT Simulator!

Honestly, I think it’s amazing. I’d like to create my own cars using that technology. (Let the game create my cars...) I like the fact that PD is always looking forward.

Wasn’t there a game that allowed you to create your own cars back in the days?
 
Screen-Shot-2018-09-11-at-12.42.59-AM-800x510.png



This cucumber looks insane.
 
My only thoughts are that PD might be doing what a lot of developmental houses do - licence their software and IP out to generate development income.

Whilst it may not apply directly to GT, it may also have its underpinnings implemented for some mundane things - such as livery generation perhaps?
 
Learning about this reminded me of a similar thing that happened with one company Paleo Pixels who created a race track mod for Assetto Corsa that was procedurally generated using open source maps and Houdini. Using this method could open doors to a larger scale of technicality for map and track makers. Ideally with this method, we can take a single portion of the city from a map and turn it into a street circuit mod for a PC game with some ease.

Seeing PD using Houdini is intriguing too, and seeing prodecurally generated cars and mechs is amusing. I think using Houdini on the development of GT circuits would fit better than developing cars given the nature of this technology. I think PD is looking for ways to model cars efficiently using R&D.
 
Makes you think what PD can do as devs if they took a different genre. Their tech expertise and art/sound design are world class. I'm sure with their simulation background modeling and systems design would be up there as well. The only thing missing is story scenario though we have little idea on that considering their history.
 
GT6mebe
Makes you think what PD can do as devs if they took a different genre. Their tech expertise and art/sound design are world class. I'm sure with their simulation background modeling and systems design would be up there as well. The only thing missing is story scenario though we have little idea on that considering their history.
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It would be so funny to see the Polyphony Digital logo at E3 and everyone thinking its going to be another Gran Turismo and outta nowhere comes drama with complex characters and it's a third person shooter
 
Didn't Kaz once say a while back that he'd like to create a game where users could design, build, and drive their own cars? Could this be some very early experimentation with such an idea?
 
Quakebass
Didn't Kaz once say a while back that he'd like to create a game where users could design, build, and drive their own cars? Could this be some very early experimentation with such an idea?
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My theory is that PD wants to use procedural generation to cut some time for car modelling,if PD sets their parammeters the tech could create some parts of a car model.But i imagine it they would use it for little things like mirrors,the interiors and other stuff.
 
Another publication from a new dev of Polyphony about Houdini: https://cedil.cesa.or.jp/cedil_sessions/view/1805
I think there is nothing interesting for a Gran Turismo fan in the PDF but Houdini seems important for the next GT.
Michi Yamabe
As a CG designer in the field of video production, he is engaged in numerous video productions including TV, pachinko machine video and so on.
As a technical artist at Sony Interactive Entertainment since 2009, he is mainly in charge of development and pipeline development for DCC tools.
From 2016 he moved to video production field and engaged in crowd simulation and effect creation using Houdini.
Since 2018, in charge of polyphony digital Co., Ltd., he is in charge of pipeline development and tool development work supporting artist's work.
"Message from lecturer"
Houdini is a very interesting tool not only for artists but also for programmers.
Through this lecture, I hope more programmers will be able to know Houdini's appeal.
 
Procedural tech is very important for streamlining production, sure, but it is still a little soulless. Unsurprisingly. Using architectural / geometric "grammars" as modular bases and returning hand-control to the overall design gives the best of both worlds, if well implemented. That's what this is about: the overall shapes and regions will be hand-defined, but the detail will be initially filled in procedurally.

This applies to any scale and any object, practically. Whether that be track layout and decoration, or the individual polygons of a car's body surface, or even a pixel shader.

Anybody lamenting time spent on this is missing the bigger point about the growing concern over time required to create "content" in modern games, because of the ever-increasing complexity and detail of both systems / tech and assets used in those systems.

Sony is going to want to maximise the return on that time spent researching, so it makes sense to make it as general as possible so other studios can benefit.

Plus, it's just really cool.
 
Keep generating until looks like Ferrari - adjust the rest ?

Ask the program to start generating random bumpers with prefixed max width, depth and other options - when it matches what requested (say I need F40 bumper) the program stops and the designer hand finishes the imperfections.

Sort of brute force shape design.

I don't know if that makes any sense or is feasible :crazy:
 
TurismoBad
Keep generating until looks like Ferrari - adjust the rest ?

Ask the program to start generating random bumpers with prefixed max width, depth and other options - when it matches what requested (say I need F40 bumper) the program stops and the designer hand finishes the imperfections.

Sort of brute force shape design.

I don't know if that makes any sense or is feasible :crazy:
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That's definitely the worst possible way to use procedural generation!

Someone already mentioned Automation (the game), but that has procedural meshes based on a parametric approach: you adjust the dimensions directly and the mesh is procedurally altered to fit. Procedural does not have to mean utterly random.
 
TurismoBad
Keep generating until looks like Ferrari - adjust the rest ?

Ask the program to start generating random bumpers with prefixed max width, depth and other options - when it matches what requested (say I need F40 bumper) the program stops and the designer hand finishes the imperfections.

Sort of brute force shape design.

I don't know if that makes any sense or is feasible :crazy:
Click to expand...

PD has to set their parammeters so the system does the rest,i'm curious to know where procedural generation will be used.PD was probably the last AAA team to do everything in house,to see them outsorcing development and using Procedural Generation is quite a change,sign of the times i guess.
 
I know computers are suppossed to help us better our design ideas... but these images are nothing but proof that some folks are too lazy to freehand something asthetically or subjectively beautiful.

Staring at a blank screen, the "talent challenged artist" artist tosses hands into the air in disgust... 'screw this!... l'll let the machine do the work for me'.

No thanks. I'd rather freehand mine own designs than let some machine do it for me. Not a pretty image to be found on this page but for Steve's Saleen S7.
 

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