Crysis editor

how does the interior design work? Is it brush based?

Man that was amazing, good fucking bye hammer.

Pretty much everything is based on imported models I believe MJ, including interiors. Though earlier Frie did mention that there are the equivelant of brushes that can be used in levels, they just aren't used at all within Crysis beyond blocking things out for testing.

...and I'm with dux. I've got a game idea I'm planning on developing as a Source mod for the time being, but it would be oh-so-much better suited CryEngine2. I'm not gonna sit and wait though, I need to get back into doing some solo work ASAP.

Quote from FrieChamp

Definitely, our visual scripting tool "flowgraph" is quite powerful, but there is hardly any time for goofing around :\

The editor and other tools have also come a long way, let me assure you working with a "work in progress" engine/tools + a WIP game isn't always fun

But now that the tech is available we can finally start making the game WHOOPS!!

Yeah, Flowgraph ftw!

Me wants... a better computer

This editor is starting to be such an easy do-with-2-clicks thing that I arleady see 50$ "Make your own game. Powered by Cryengine2" at stores.

Quote from buddy the designer

This editor is starting to be such an easy do-with-2-clicks thing that I arleady see 50$ "Make your own game. Powered by Cryengine2" at stores.

Same here...

Never used the Sandbox engine before, but when Crysis does come out, I'm definetly moving away from Hammer, the sheer scope of tools in the Sandbox2, is simply rediculous compared to Hammers small selection. It also looks so easy to produce a quality looking map, without having to really try that hard; granted an awesome computer with dual widescreens would rock (me being stuck with a single 19" ).

It just looks like a joy to use. No waiting. No fuss, just pure productivity. I really love the integrated what you see is what you get approach.

Sounds like it's getting to the inevitable point where having extremely good design ideas and a true eye for artistic creation are going to completely outweigh the ability to use complex tools as far as employee worth goes in the level design world. I can see why any asshole being able to produce wonderful looking maps might be a worry for some (this came up in IRC recently), but at least it'll push forward truly creative design rather than spending ages worrying about optimisation, fiddly vertexes, and understanding obscure entity names.

Sure but you still need people making all the content to put into those maps. A sandbox without any sand is just an empty box.

Prepare for millions of samey-looking jungle maps that aren't quite as good as the games official maps.

Quote from Rick_D

Sure but you still need people making all the content to put into those maps. A sandbox without any sand is just an empty box.Prepare for millions of samey-looking jungle maps that aren't quite as good as the games official maps.

quoted for truth

anyone have any idea what this engine would cost to license?

I cannot wait to get to this engine/editor it really does look promise full

Quote from Rick_D

Sure but you still need people making all the content to put into those maps. A sandbox without any sand is just an empty box.Prepare for millions of samey-looking jungle maps that aren't quite as good as the games official maps.

That's the problem Designers will maybe have more controle over their work, but we'll also need to know that easier interface also means more (dumb) users. Therefore, more (dumb) maps.

Sure Rick, but as tools evolve the processes of generating original content and truly unleashing what the mappers mind's are capable of will become streamlined and thus allow more creativity to occur.

I think the best analogy would be clay. Anybody can pick up a piece of clay and create something, but it takes years of skill and fine-tuning techniques to make something like stuff in certain Tim Burton films, and Wallace and Gromit. But unlike game content creation, it's not very difficult at all to pick up a piece of clay and make something that looks like a statue of a horse -- it'll be about how well you can do it rather than if you can do it at all.

I personally believe tools should be as absolutely simple to use as possible while allowing maximum quality. Allow users to create models by painting them up like in zBrush. Let people create their own textures by blending together shitloads of stock materials in the editor. Make creating caves, valleys, rivers and volcanoes a walk in the park.

Only then will their imagination come into play rather than whether or not they have the ability to model a volcano surrounded by rivers, valleys, and caves. Then the question becomes: how can they make this scene look visually stimulating and imaginative? You know, just like an artist would ponder upon how to make a picture of a plain volcano surrounded by rivers, valleys, and caves look interesting..

I realise I'm over-simplifying things a lot here (and this post is rushed as I'm about to leave work), but I've long held the view that game technology is excessively hard to work with and thus discourages participation from people who are extremely creative and imaginative; they end up doing concept art or something because they don't want to deal with constantly changing, complex game engines. And isn't that what we really want?

From where I am sat working on first party PS3 stuff it seems to be going the other way. To be effective at my job I need to have a high level of skill with a wider range of packages and bespoke tools than ever before.

Seems to me like every time the tools reach a point of maturity such that Joe public can effectively use them, the technology moves on a significant leap, meaning that a lot of your old skills are now redundant. Only your experience can be said to be truely transferable.

/2p

hmm....there were LOTS of Doom maps...lots of QUAKE maps....lots of HL maps...

I think having an "easy" to use level editor is great. It will mean lots of people will create content, and then there will be more demand for content aggregation/review sites that help us find good stuff from the not so good stuff.

At first, everything may indeed look like what's already in the Crysis game. But that was the case with Doom and Quake and Half-Life. And at first, assuming if Crysis the game is excellent enough, we'll all be happy to play more of what we just got. As time goes by and people figure out how to really use everything, some total conversions and kickass mods will come out...you know how the story goes.

Biggest question is how easy it is to integrate everything. Certainly Source engine left the window open in that department.

edit...

I'm trying to understand...do people feel a bit threatened by a potentially easy to use level editor? Just because it is easy to use, it doesn't mean suddenly someone is going to learn it and make better content then you. That brings up the question of what's more important: your technical skills/experience at using tools or your ability to imagine better gameplay, design and art content?

I predict that if Crysis is really that easy (we'll see once it goes to John Q Public!) it will end up being a good thing, despite having to wade through tons of crap levels that will ensue!