Occulus Rift + Thief = Potential for Pure Win!

**TinCow** · 04-28-2013, 19:43

Originally Posted by Vuk

But you are wrong there. You go running into a heavy wooden cart full of watermelons and you leg hitting into them overturns the cart, sends it flying, and send the watermelons flying everywhere. Between the horrible physics and unrealistic jumping that makes it feel like gravity is a non-existant concept, and the ridiculous overuse and misuse of lighting and shader effects, Skyrim feels nowhere near as realistic as Thief. With how much technology has advanced, there is no excuse for that. It should feel 1000000 times more realistic.

Sorry, but I vehemently disagree. While the Dark Engine was nice for its time, it is still extremely obsolete. Even with fan-made patches, its age is impossible to ignore. You're talking about how superb immersion would be with the Oculus, and then choosing to immerse yourself in a world where every single thing you look at screams of outdated technology. The game itself is also, quite simply, empty. There are very few items and things you can interact with by the standards of pretty much any modern game, let alone any of Bethsoft's Kings of Clutter. Some oddly janky physics here and there are a relatively minor thing and far less jarring to immersion than Theif's... basically everything.

Don't get me wrong, it is a great game and it looked superb 15 years ago, but it's not an engine I'm interested in using the Oculus on. The game's mechanics have aged well, but its engine has not.

**Fragony** · 04-28-2013, 20:26

You said Theif. I dont't see why it wouldn't look incredibible, Thief was never about graphics but with some upgrades the Dark-engine will look incredible. If it's true that the source code has been released we are going to see a lot of awesome, Thief community is very much alive there are still fan-missions being made.

**Vuk** · 04-28-2013, 21:12

Originally Posted by Fragony

You said Theif. I dont't see why it wouldn't look incredibible, Thief was never about graphics but with some upgrades the Dark-engine will look incredible. If it's true that the source code has been released we are going to see a lot of awesome, Thief community is very much alive there are still fan-missions being made.

Monday I will post you some pics of what people have been doing. In the meantime, here are some awesome vids from SlipTip.

**Fragony** · 04-29-2013, 06:29

I am impressed! Especially with the round geomatry that wasn't possible before

**Vuk** · 04-29-2013, 18:22

Do you notice the plants blowing in the wind too? These things are all just barely scratching the surface of 1.19's abilities, and with the source code those abilities can be expanded even more. Here is some stuff people have been doing with the new updates.
Here are some tests I did when the new engine was released. You can see the new higher poly pillar next to the old one, and higher res textures. (The jagged look on the high-res pillar is from the texture not matching up. It was just a quick test of the new engine)

Here are some more images of what people have been using the engine's new abilities to create. And keep in mind, this is only the beginning. People are just wetting their feet. Give it a few more years and you will see great things.

(Can you imagine playing Thief when it has objects that look this good?)

I saved SlipTip's pics for last, because they are by far the most outstanding (as usual).

Keep in mind that all of these are WIP. Also, some are better than others. The new engine gives new potential, but it is up to us to get that potential out of it. I honestly think that the Dark engine has an exciting future.

**Fragony** · 04-29-2013, 18:40

Absolutely amazing what they are doing there, it looks stunning. If someone can tell me how light and space can be done any better than this I'd love to hear it

**Vuk** · 04-29-2013, 19:37

I couldn't agree more. Skyrim has an advantage when rendering large, outdoor environments, but when it comes to interior environments, Skyrim does not even come close.
Here is another one that I forgot to put up. Sliptip again.

**Vuk** · 04-28-2013, 20:34

Originally Posted by TinCow

Sorry, but I vehemently disagree. While the Dark Engine was nice for its time, it is still extremely obsolete. Even with fan-made patches, its age is impossible to ignore. You're talking about how superb immersion would be with the Oculus, and then choosing to immerse yourself in a world where every single thing you look at screams of outdated technology. The game itself is also, quite simply, empty. There are very few items and things you can interact with by the standards of pretty much any modern game, let alone any of Bethsoft's Kings of Clutter. Some oddly janky physics here and there are a relatively minor thing and far less jarring to immersion than Theif's... basically everything.

Don't get me wrong, it is a great game and it looked superb 15 years ago, but it's not an engine I'm interested in using the Oculus on. The game's mechanics have aged well, but its engine has not.

When you get down to the brass tacks of it, looking at both Skyrim and Thief, you can easily tell that neither is real. The visuals are not nearly as important as the content of the text, the conversations, the immersion that the sound provides, and the game mechanics. It is very easy to create sound that can easily be mistaken for real sound, but visuals have not yet got to that point. There is a lot more that goes into making a game believable than texture quality and the amount of clutter.
Don't get me wrong, I hope that the first two Thiefs are updated (I started such a project myself, but ran out of time to continue it), and I think that they could be even better than they are now. I do not, however, believe that there is currently a game in existence that can favorably compare to it in terms of immersion.
I'm afraid on this we will need to agree to disagree.