Those darn spectators

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Solstice

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They're nimble, I'll give em that, haven't hit one yet. :D

While I LOVE the new spectators on the tracks and think they look great when I'm barreling down the track in a race; during replays they just look... awful.

I know, it's a piddly thing to complain about, but when you're talking about a game that's near perfection, you have to get piddly :eek:

Well, at least "Prologue" will keep me occupied while I wait for that U.S. release.
 
I agree, they could use some work. I was trying to figure them out. They don't look like animated sprites, so I'm inclined to think that they are flat polygons with animations attached. It's pretty effecient if you make them that way.

One animated spectator can be as low as 28 polys (double sided) plus the bones to animate them and the texture to cover it. But if you were to make a rudimentary 3d spectator it would cost 152 polys plus bones to animate (that's if you used simple boxes to model the body) and the texture.

Now, I'm not saying that's how they did it, I'm just writing what how I think it was done and how it could have been done.

But don't worry, they only look bobo when you focus on them. :)
 
LOL, never know. Only PD knows but I do remember hearing about human AI and physics for the humans that were similar to the cars and PD has been working on humans for a GT game for years.
 
Human AI means the rival cars will behave more like a human oponent not like the drones they are in GT3, it's a term thats becoming more and more commonly used in games and most of the time it's marketing bull, but I really really hope PD get the AI right in GT4. The crowd is, well a crowed and PD arn't going to make GT4 look worse or slowdown just to make crowds that are more detailed than they need be. You never know about the 3d crowds but it's around 95% chance of not being in, that leaves 5% for you to cling to.
 
Never know live. Look at the intro of GT4p, look at the scene on the canyon track and try to look at every person in the crowds, you will see some are 2d. You shouldn't make precentages when you can't back your claims up.
 
And has PD said the crowds would be 2d? I remember reading about them working on 3d crowds but we will see as time goes.
 
I think they were saying pit crews will be 3d, also the GT4P intro is an intro, it proves nothing. And the % was rough, you don't think PD has come up and said, there is a 95% change that the crowds will be 2d and 5% chance they will be 3d, would be funny if they did though. We will know within the next 10 years, if GT4 gets released by then.
 
But that intro did not look all that different from the replays in gt4p. It just makes me wonder at the fact that there were 2d crowds in that intro and they looked like the ingame crowds. IDK, live, I can't go by your word because in the past you said the pitcrews were going to be 2d, now you say they are going to be 3d. And remember, 3d crowds are very possible in gt4, you don't need high poly count for anything in a game to look detailed you know? Look at gt4's cars and don't you forget, PD is a very creative dev and I would never doubt them.
 
Whether they end up as spectators or not, the human models of the pit crew that are standing by each new car you win in the school mode look excellent.
 
I think they were modeled fine, but the animation looked a bit rough. I remembered seeing a rough of a walk cycle that didn't look too good either - hopefully to be fixed in a polish pass.
 
reminds me of the group b days when spectators would line the roadside in their thousands and risk themselves to certain death, don't you think?
 
Specators in games are usually flat 2d sprites in game, but on a fixed axis, i.e. they don't magically turn to follow you. But are still 2d...

In GT : P I'm not 100% sure they look like flat 2d sprites but some of the animations do look like 'flat 3D models' animated as jizzmirk said.

And cobra don't expect 3d spectators as you see in the GT : P intro, they won't be like that in the game. Atleast unless you put on your PD/Sony tinted special glasses ;)
 
The 3d crowds and human AI that cobra is talking about is for GT5 earliest. There is a topic @ IGN i think about this. The human Ai has been in development since GT3 development started and they are using the same physics engine as the cars but obviously in a different way. I myself would prefer the 2d crowds gone altogether, they get in the way of the wonderful view of the grand canyon. I think PD should stick to their style of not allwoing it in the game unless its really good/perfect.
 
I think they did pretty well with these spectators, the effect of the people taking shots and running off is very well done and they cleverly made them look 3d even if they're clearly not. Certainly a big improvement over GT3. I have also thought about leaving them out of it altogether, but I must say that would make the surroundings look very sterile - without the crowds I think you'd have that same weird feeling that PGR2 also gives you. Now there are at least some nice details in the backgrounds, not only in the crowds but also like the highway with moving cars in the distance at Tsukuba.
 
Originally posted by cobragt
But that intro did not look all that different from the replays in gt4p. It just makes me wonder at the fact that there were 2d crowds in that intro and they looked like the ingame crowds. IDK, live, I can't go by your word because in the past you said the pitcrews were going to be 2d, now you say they are going to be 3d. And remember, 3d crowds are very possible in gt4, you don't need high poly count for anything in a game to look detailed you know? Look at gt4's cars and don't you forget, PD is a very creative dev and I would never doubt them.
Click to expand...

I said the pit crew may be 3d, and it might be, nothing is confirmed. GT4's cars use a much much larger number of poly's tan any spectator would. A flat poly spectator takes up about a third of a similarly detailed 3d one, and seen as GT4P has signs of slowdown every now and then I doubt PD would bother trying. polys create beter detail and more complex objects but a low poly model with the right texture can be alost as effective, within reason.
 
Have you tried driving up them in reverse using the rear view? Maybe you could make loud noises in the hopes that they slip and fall running back to the crowd. :)
 

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