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Conduit: Wii FPS and graphics engine [56k go to hell!]

JihadJesusJihadJesus Registered User regular
edited July 2009 in Games and Technology
....from High Voltage?

Still, doesn't look half bad - a step up from crappy PS2 ports, anyway. Hopefully the availability of an easy-to-liscense graphical engine like this will up the general quality of your average Wii title. It's obviously not PS360 level, but it's not bad. You can find there promo video for the engine here, and below are some screens from their FPS called Conduit built using this engine. There are also a couple shots of the game itself in the IGN preview.

Now, a few glittery screenshots picked more or less at random - as usual, made all wierdo because they're on a Nintendo system (what is the deal with that anyway?)

the-conduit-20080417032649145_640w.jpg

the-conduit-20080417032650192_640w.jpg

the-conduit-20080417032707582_640w.jpg

The preview also says that they took control inspiration from Medal of Honor 2's fully customizable sensitivity, which was widely praised, so I think it's safe to say it's a pretty promising title. However, there was also this:
The argument, going on in the board rooms of major third-parties around the globe, is that adult-oriented Wii software doesn't sell. That there's no market for it. Developers on the other side of the fence assert that there's no such proof since only a handful of quality games with an edgier style have even made their way to Wii, most of them ports. Several studios have flat-out told IGN that their attempts to make darker software for Wii have been politely declined by a host of big-name publishers.

So let's hope they actual find someone to publish it. This certainly doesn't look like Vaporware, and if it simply can't get picked up because it's a more violent title being made for the Wii I'm going to be a good bit pissed.

There is also a video of the game in action over at IGN. It looks....you know, I'm not sure. Check it out for yourself here. Or if you're lazy, just check out what it hopefully and embedded YouTube video:

Conduit!

JihadJesus on
«1345

Posts

  • B:LB:L I've done worse. Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    JihadJesus wrote: »
    However, there was also this:
    The argument, going on in the board rooms of major third-parties around the globe, is that adult-oriented Wii software doesn't sell. That there's no market for it. Developers on the other side of the fence assert that there's no such proof since only a handful of quality games with an edgier style have even made their way to Wii, most of them ports. Several studios have flat-out told IGN that their attempts to make darker software for Wii have been politely declined by a host of big-name publishers.

    Given that MANHUNT 2 and RE4 and a host of other "darker" titles have made it to the Wii, I can't help but feel that IGN is full of shit yet again.


    I was wondering where all the FPS titles were, though. They're severely lacking on the Wii.

    B:L on
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  • Dr Mario KartDr Mario Kart Games Dealer Austin, TXRegistered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Its a really risky venture. They would need a publisher that believes in it enough to put some real powerhouse marketing behind it. All 3rd party shooters since Red Steel have bombed hard. While they've been largely psp/ps2 ports, Red Steel also had the advantages of hitting at launch and with the marketing power that Ubisoft sometimes uses.

    Dr Mario Kart on
  • MarioGMarioG Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Wow, that cursor is not thrilling.

    MarioG on
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  • B:LB:L I've done worse. Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Its a really risky venture. They would need a publisher that believes in it enough to put some real powerhouse marketing behind it. All 3rd party shooters since Red Steel have bombed hard. While they've been largely psp/ps2 ports, Red Steel also had the advantages of hitting at launch and with the marketing power that Ubisoft sometimes uses.

    Red Steel was also Ubisoft garbage and likely hurt confidence in further FPS releases on the console.

    B:L on
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  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    I have yet to see a Wii screenshot do any justice to the system

    Zombiemambo on
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  • Drunk_caterpillarDrunk_caterpillar Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    I said it in the other thread and I'll say it here:
    I have absolutely no idea what you guys see in these screenshots. The textures are low resolution, the lighting looks awful, and the geometry is fucking sparse. I've seen the Dreamcast do better stuff than this. Look at the hands in the first screenshot, or the creatures in the third.

    I applaud the efforts of the dev team for trying, but this is not the best that the Wii can do. 'Sides, I'm not too worried about the graphics so long as the gameplay is any good.

    [Edit] Here's the screenshots from the other thread that I'm mentioning.
    the-conduit-20080417032659692_640w.jpg
    the-conduit-20080417032657973.jpg

    Drunk_caterpillar on
  • Torso BoyTorso Boy Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    I'm guessing we're supposed to be impressed when we see it in motion- in my eyes the biggest thing Wii FPSs need is a stable framerate.

    Torso Boy on
  • CliffjumperCliffjumper Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Metroid Prime 3 proves that a FPS on the Wii could easily be something that's fucking awesome.

    Cliffjumper on
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  • SnareSnare Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Doesn't look nearly as good as Metriod, but that could just come down to the style of the games. I suppose it means there's hope at the minimum... Red Steel was a nice idea, just REALLY BAD.

    Snare on
  • XagarathXagarath Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Engine looks fine to me. We'll see whether any good games come out of it.

    Xagarath on
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Really, the Dreamcast did better than that? You're serious.

    UncleSporky on
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  • Dareth RamDareth Ram regular
    edited April 2008
    Dunno, looking at the engine video, I think they have better technology on their side then artists.

    But a Dreamcast game, really? Dude....

    Dareth Ram on
  • UltimanecatUltimanecat Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    In the other thread about the game (seriously, we need to get rid of one of these), someone else called him out and he said he was just exaggerating. In his defense, sometimes it's hard to remember how primitive DC games look now when our memories of them typically involve how kickass they looked then.

    Ultimanecat on
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  • PeewiPeewi Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    I watched that tech video and it looked kinda neat, but those screenshots look like crap.

    Peewi on
  • XagarathXagarath Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Peewi wrote: »
    I watched that tech video and it looked kinda neat, but those screenshots look like crap.

    All Wii screenshots do.
    It's irritating.

    Xagarath on
  • GlalGlal AiredaleRegistered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Really, the Dreamcast did better than that? You're serious.
    You know how visitors in Oz's Emerald City had to wear green tinted glasses? Forums enforce rose tinted ones.

    Glal on
  • ZerostaticZerostatic Registered User new member
    edited April 2008
    People have such clouded perceptions of previous systems. Like all the people always saying that the Dreamcast had better graphics than the Wii. When was the last time you played a Dreamcast game because there is a huge difference between the vast majority of Wii games and Dreamcast games. Here are screenshots from the two highest rated Dreamcast FPS's (Quake III Arena & Unreal Tournament). The Dreamcast games are obviously a lot more blocky with much muddier textures and keep in mind both of these games are coming from FPS powerhouses who pride themselves on visuals and indeed in their day both of these games were impressive but nowadays even crappy Wii games look better from a technical standpoint.

    Quake III Arena
    quake1_640w.jpg
    quake4_640w.jpg
    bg03_640w.jpg

    Unreal Tournament
    bg28_640w.jpg
    bg05_640w.jpg
    bg11_640w.jpg

    Zerostatic on
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Now Unreal Tournament is a game I would not mind getting ported to Wii. I don't even care if they keep the same graphics.

    UncleSporky on
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  • LewiePLewieP Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    To be fair they are not two of the best looking dreamcast games.

    I agree with your point, but they are bad examples.

    LewieP on
  • RancedRanced Default Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Really, the Dreamcast did better than that? You're serious.

    I'm loving the two extremes so far.

    IT LOOKS LIKE A DREAMCAST GAME

    NAH IT LOOKS LIKE A 360 GAME

    Ranced on
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Ranced wrote: »
    Really, the Dreamcast did better than that? You're serious.

    I'm loving the two extremes so far.

    IT LOOKS LIKE A DREAMCAST GAME

    NAH IT LOOKS LIKE A 360 GAME

    ...it does look like some 360 games. It's pretty easy to directly compare screens. I haven't seen a single Dreamcast screen even barely reminiscent of this.

    No, of course it doesn't look like the best looking games on the system, but it's up there with some of the launch games, at least from what we've seen so far.

    UncleSporky on
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  • RancedRanced Default Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Ranced wrote: »
    Really, the Dreamcast did better than that? You're serious.

    I'm loving the two extremes so far.

    IT LOOKS LIKE A DREAMCAST GAME

    NAH IT LOOKS LIKE A 360 GAME

    ...it does look like some 360 games. It's pretty easy to directly compare screens.

    It looks like an Xbox game. Hell, Black on Xbox and PS2 is prettier than this.

    Though, it looking like a 360 game? Yes, sure, EDF for example. Low budget game with giant bugs all over.

    I'm pretty sure it looks worse than this game actually. But if that's the standard, well...

    Ranced on
  • Ziac45Ziac45 Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Eh the screenshots really aren't at all impressive. I think finding a market for newer FPS titles on the wii is important though so this is definitely a good thing as long as they get the support they need.

    Ziac45 on
  • ZerostaticZerostatic Registered User new member
    edited April 2008
    Ranced wrote: »
    Ranced wrote: »
    Really, the Dreamcast did better than that? You're serious.

    I'm loving the two extremes so far.

    IT LOOKS LIKE A DREAMCAST GAME

    NAH IT LOOKS LIKE A 360 GAME

    ...it does look like some 360 games. It's pretty easy to directly compare screens.

    It looks like an Xbox game. Hell, Black on Xbox and PS2 is prettier than this.

    Though, it looking like a 360 game? Yes, sure, EDF for example. Low budget game with giant bugs all over.

    I'm pretty sure it looks worse than this game actually. But if that's the standard, well...
    Actually I've been playing Doom 3 on my Xbox this past week which is considered one of the best looking FPS's of last gen and I think these screenshots look a tad bit better from a technical standpoint (I know that is hard to quantify) but it's close. As of now, my stance is that this game is right in between cream of the crop PS2/Xbox FPS's and First Generation Xbox 360 FPS's played on a 480i/p tv.

    Zerostatic on
  • devoirdevoir Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    I don't know the technical term for it, but this industry obsession with everything glossily glowing like that whole HDR lighting HL2 demo is really starting to annoy the crap out of me.

    devoir on
  • The Dude With HerpesThe Dude With Herpes Lehi, UTRegistered User regular
    edited April 2008
    devoir wrote: »
    I don't know the technical term for it, but this industry obsession with everything glossily glowing like that whole HDR lighting HL2 demo is really starting to annoy the crap out of me.

    Hey, its a well known fact that antlions make their caves out of not quite set plastic.

    Sheesh.

    Don't judge.

    The Dude With Herpes on
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  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Okay, is there a kind enough soul that could get ONE of those pictures on Imageshack? :)

    urahonky on
  • GlalGlal AiredaleRegistered User regular
    edited April 2008
    LewieP wrote: »
    To be fair they are not two of the best looking dreamcast games.
    And Conduit isn't the best looking Wii game, so I guess it evens out.

    Glal on
  • Speed RacerSpeed Racer Scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratchRegistered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Those screens look about as good as I would hope a third party Wii game would.

    Just because they're outdated and that we can do better now doesn't really mean they're bad.

    Speed Racer on
  • devoirdevoir Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    I'm curious. How much extra graphic oomph do you think they could get if they didn't use bloom like a palsied grandmother uses salt?

    devoir on
  • unknownsome1unknownsome1 Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    The game looks really interesting and I'm sure it'll be great. I look forward to hearing more about it and I really hope the game gets a publisher.

    unknownsome1 on
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    urahonky wrote: »
    Okay, is there a kind enough soul that could get ONE of those pictures on Imageshack? :)
    theconduit2008041703271og8.jpg
    theconduit2008041703270km6.jpg
    theconduit2008041703270wm6.jpg

    UncleSporky on
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  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    You're a gentleman and a saint UncleSporky (typing your name is awesome, by the way). Those screens look okay, but I'm sure they are better in motion. If it's a 60FPS that's all that matters to me. (Didn't Mario Galaxy run at a constant 60FPS?)

    urahonky on
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    urahonky wrote: »
    You're a gentleman and a saint UncleSporky (typing your name is awesome, by the way). Those screens look okay, but I'm sure they are better in motion. If it's a 60FPS that's all that matters to me. (Didn't Mario Galaxy run at a constant 60FPS?)
    I don't remember. They said that right now it's supposedly able to achieve 30 FPS but they hope for 60.

    I hope I don't sound like a complete idiot when I say that I have never really noticed FPS in games. As long as it's not incredibly noticeable like 15-20, I'm fine. The difference between 30 and 60 is lost on me. Does that make me a bad person? I'm more interested in textures, geometry and lighting.

    The IGN tech demo is a lot better than the screens, but it's also a tech demo and thus probably cheating a bit. There's no gameplay footage yet. And BTW those are just some random screens, there are ones that look better and worse depending on what you expect.

    UncleSporky on
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  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Nah, not a bad person. But going from the shitstorm (FPS wise) that was Shadow of the Colossus and putting in Mario Galaxy made it so hard to go back and play SotC.

    urahonky on
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    urahonky wrote: »
    Nah, not a bad person. But going from the shitstorm (FPS wise) that was Shadow of the Colossus and putting in Mario Galaxy made it so hard to go back and play SotC.
    Yeah, that is one game that is noticeable.

    UncleSporky on
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  • JihadJesusJihadJesus Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    urahonky wrote: »
    Nah, not a bad person. But going from the shitstorm (FPS wise) that was Shadow of the Colossus and putting in Mario Galaxy made it so hard to go back and play SotC.
    Yeah, that is one game that is noticeable.

    I'm even worse than you - I would never have known that SotC suffered from slowdown if people didn't bitch about it constantly. I don't remember noticing it once.

    On the topic of this game....I wonder what stage the build is at? None of the stuff in the game looks nearly as impressive as the engine demo, but there are flashes here and there (like the wings -only- on the little bugs) that show glimpses of it. Knowing that every little shader effect has to be coded manually for the Wii, maybe that kind of thing will spread as the build progresses. I hope so, because I certainly don't see a whole lot in those in-game shots that compares to what the engine demo showcase seems to promise.

    JihadJesus on
  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    edited April 2008
    JihadJesus wrote: »
    urahonky wrote: »
    Nah, not a bad person. But going from the shitstorm (FPS wise) that was Shadow of the Colossus and putting in Mario Galaxy made it so hard to go back and play SotC.
    Yeah, that is one game that is noticeable.

    I'm even worse than you - I would never have known that SotC suffered from slowdown if people didn't bitch about it constantly. I don't remember noticing it once.

    On the topic of this game....I wonder what stage the build is at? None of the stuff in the game looks nearly as impressive as the engine demo, but there are flashes here and there (like the wings -only- on the little bugs) that show glimpses of it. Knowing that every little shader effect has to be coded manually for the Wii, maybe that kind of thing will spread as the build progresses. I hope so, because I certainly don't see a whole lot in those in-game shots that compares to what the engine demo showcase seems to promise.

    I didn't notice the slowdown in SotC at all either. :D

    Darmak on
    JtgVX0H.png
  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Then your brains are too slow. There. I said it.

    urahonky on
  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Or they're too fast.

    Darmak on
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