Real-time Graphics: Issues and
Trends in Games
Tobi Saulnier
CEO, 1st Playable Productions
0
November 5, 2007
Computer Graphics, Fall 2007
Graphics in Games

Notable for Real-time graphics
 Actually, a blend of prerendered and real-time
rendered
 Migration of graphics techniques as technology
advances (from film world)

Each game platform has a unique architecture,
optimization techniques need to be tailored for each
 Genre enforces priorities for processing
 Game art and design production creates
bottlenecks
 Lifespan of a game platform <5 years
1
Console Platform Transitions …
PSX (’94)
N64 (’95)
Dreamcast
PS2
XBox
Gamecube
Xbox360, PS3, and
Nintendo Revolution
GBC (’98)
GameBoy Advance
N-Gage
Dual Screen
PlayStation Portable
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2005
2007
2008
2009
2010
Video Games technology introduction is driven by intense industry
competition.
2
Types of platform issues
Every game platform has quirks and shortcomings, is only
partially thought through, and decided well before most
developers see the specs

Embedded platforms – do more with
fixed platform


Optimize for specialized needs =
differentiation
General purpose platforms
Phones, PC’s
 Graphics frameworks to isolate from
low-level dependencies

3
Graphical Data Types
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4
Scene data
Character data
Special Effects data
Lighting
Weather effects
Particle systems
Why Graphics
Optimization?
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5
More graphics in the game …
More AI
More realism
More multiplayer
More characters
Nintendo DS

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6
Arm 7 and Arm 9
processors
Tony Hawk DS
versus Spiderman
DS
Unreal III Engine (PC)
7
Trend in pipelines

Fixed function pipelines


Typical of GBA, DS, PSP, PS2
Programmable pipelines
Pixel shaders
 Vertex shaders
 Shader languages
 Major transition for Xbox 360, PS3

8
Lighting

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Shadows
Lighting
Scene lighting
Character lighting
Resident evil – lighting tied into facial
animation
 Doom – global illumination, shadow
volumes

9
Doom XBox
10
Rendering

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11
Tris, polys
Multipass, single pass techniques
Prerendering versus real-time
rendering choices
Architectural impact – GPU, memory,
bus
Unreal III Engine (PC)
12
Procedural graphics

Problem = generation of enough content to
utilize hardware capabilities

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Terrain generation
Scene generation
Spore – real-time generation

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13
Manual generation is harder
Trees
Returning to the same scene – pseudorandom sequences
Game challenges – design mapping
Procedural Trees
14
Trends

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15
Fixed function to programmable
Deferred rendering
Progression of 3D onto handheld
Multiprocessing/multipurpose
Networked play
Procedural texturing, geometry
Lighting / cinematics
Takeaways
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16
Now is an exciting time in graphics for
videogames
On all platforms!
The problems being faced require a new
level of engineering discipline, a transfer of
knowledge from non-realtime to realtime
You need to bridge hardware and software to
be competitive
Not just games – Impact of innovation in
other important areas