More Articles on Far Cry
CryTek Release FarCry MOD SDKFarCry 1.2 DetailsFarCry Mod KitFarCryFarCry – New ScreensLatest Features
Exclusive: Dawn of War 2: Eldar RevealedUK Exclusive: Lineage II Chaotic Throne Gracia FictionUK Exclusive: Dawn Of War II Q&A - Part 2The Bourne Conspiracy Dev Diary 4UK Exclusive: Dawn Of War II Q&AUser Reviews
There are currently 0 User Reviews for Far CryWrite your own review for this game today and you will receive 100 Gamer Points.
Click here to register
Far Cry Feature
Chris Leyton
03/10/2003
Derek chats with the guys behind this impressive FPS that's set to usher in the next-generation of PC FPS...
With only weeks to the release of this much-acclaimed game, we delve a little into what will make it tick.
The selling points for many games are its looks, storyline and the way the concept has been devised and executed. When it comes to PC games, especially First Person Shooters (FPS), the inventiveness and looks of the game are even more important. Far Cry from UbiSoft may not have the provision of a license but more interestingly it is supported by pre-eminent technical expertise, which has a knock on effect to the actual game mechanics, and in the case of Far Cry look very impressive. Creating ideas and putting them into practise is a different matter but you only have to see some of the in game features to understand that the team is trying to create something better, more immersive, than gamers would expect or are used to. Many who have visited Crytex's studios in Germany have come away impressed with their knowledge and philosophy on creating a game.
In Far Cry, the player, Freelance mariner Jack Carver, finds himself abducted and taken to a group of beautiful islands in Polynesia where he finds sun, sea, sand and plenty of action. Our unlikely hero soon finds himself fighting for survival against highly trained and heavily armed opponents, whilst becoming ever more embroiled in a deeper conspiracy. A deeper, more intricate storyline is not required in this âopenâ action based game.
CryTek is using their proprietary CryEngine and the visuals are pixel clear and perfect and with so many organic properties on view - sun, sand and vegetation - this gives the team a canvas to show off what they can do. This extends to lightmaps for many more properties that include metal, glass and wood! With proprietary Polybump mapping, advanced environment and character physics, destructible terrain, dynamic lighting, motion-captured animation, and total surround sound it is harder to look for something that is not included as opposed to something that is.
That aside, games can get bogged down with too many technical features and technicalities, that do not often extend to gameplay.
Recently Christopher Natsuume, the Producer, spoke about what they believe is their state of the art AI, and in a game like Far Cry, it is pivotal when action and enemy reactions are important.
âTo understand why we are so proud of our AI, you have to see it as part of the overall design. We never set out to make a game with the âmost advanced AIâ or any similar cliché - we set out to make a game with massive player freedom and high replayability. Thus, this core design choice drove us to develop the AI we use for Far Cry.â
âMost FPS games have the player going in a very linear manner through the levels. This allows for very detailed scripting of AI units. Because we chose to set our game in a massive open environment, we could not accurately predict where the player will come into contact with the AI, and thus, we could not logically script them in such a manner. Instead we had to create a completely non-scripted AI system that allows them to determine reasonable actions regardless of the player's angle of attack, and to accurately react to player actions, such as using different weapons, vehicles, and strategies.â
âThis allows the AI to do something that a scripted system cannot do so easily - put the real control of what is happening in the player's hands, not the designers. This increases player immersion and in the end, overall satisfaction for the player.â
âThis concept is not, we should mention, completely new to computer games - these strategies have been used in other game genres for years - but not in shooters, which have traditionally been more linear, and not with this degree of collaboration between units."
We are told also that game play will never become repetitive as you face Far Cry's unpredictable, intelligent AI mercenary units, trained in advanced adaptive group tactics. Units include snipers, stalkers, scouts, and grenadiers that engage you from all angles, distances, and terrains in coordinated strikes.
The enemies, with their own intelligence, are aware of any changes that are going on and work together and protect themselves and their colleagues. At the simplest level, they know where they can hide, when they are being shot at, when to investigate noises, and such, thus allowing them to work independently to discover and protect themselves from threats. But when they are in a group, they can use this information to work with leaders to determine better strategies - like surrounding the player, or attacking in waves while providing covering fire for their friends.
The living world, as in real life, when altered has a dramatic knock on effect. Take out the leader of the unit and you will find the unit soon becomes disorganised and individuals will then work more independently.
"The enemies sense the world the same way - but their personalities define what they do from that information. Scouts, for instance, like to stay hidden and flank the player - so they will shoot less and move more. âCoversâ will prefer to rush the player, moving from cover object to cover object to come as close as possible to the player, while providing suppressive fire to support their scout allies. These positions and tactics came directly from some SWAT manuals the team got their hands on early in the process - and the results show a similar feeling to watching small-forces groups like this in movies."
Far Cry is one big event, with oodles of components and proceedings unfolding as you go - your main objective, apart from staying alive and surviving, is to try to get off the island! The setting you are incarcerated in covers a dense Jungle and is full of malevolent mercenaries but you will progress through research laboratories, temple ruins, old Japanese bunkers and even shipwrecks from WWII, and this is only a small sample of what is on offer!
Gun touting is further extended by the fact there are plenty of vehicles within the game, all which have their own unique physics which includes beach buggy, Range Rover and a number of boats, plus a few surprises we are informed and with seamless indoor and outdoor areas we are eager to get our hands on the review code!
