DX10 on Vista up and running
Up in the Electronic Arts offices here at Games Convention 2007, the Crytek boys were in full flow showing off their highly anticipated shooter, Crysis.
One of the big question marks raised over Crysis has been why aren’t we seeing the game in its full DX10 glory rather than the DX9 versions we’ve had so far? As has been reported, sometimes gleefully, elsewhere on the net, Crytek have been having issues with getting a stable version running due to driver difficulties.
But I’m pleased to say that these have now been sorted and Crysis is looking almost as sexy as Kiera Knightley on a waterbed wearing nothing but a knowing smile… no, really, it’s seriously sexy.
Click for larger imageThe much vaunted motion blur is there and Crytek are still fiddling with how much of it will be in evidence but the session we had showed blur when you span around quickly or used you nanosuit’s speed function.
Also, for the first time, Crytek were happy to talk specs officially and even went as far as saying that the spec on the back of a copy of Windows Vista is the target spec for the game. For our session though, Crysis was running on an Intel Core2 Duo Extreme with 4Gb memory and two 8800 Ultras in SLi. So I asked why the high spec if Crysis will run on lower spec and was told that they just wanted to show the game off with all the graphical frills turned on, which is fair enough.
Click for larger imageWhen we pressed for confirmation of our earlier story that Crysis will run on a single core CPU with two 6600’s, all we were told is that the target spec is the same as for Windows Vista… which I guess would be a confirmation.
So, how does Crysis play with the DX10 stuff turned on? Well, from the previous builds I’ve played it was very much the same only this time everything seemed less harsh around the edges. No, I don’t mean that Crysis is presented in soft focus, what I mean is that the edges of everything are softer and far more natural. Leaves looked more realistic and the hard edges of man made object stood out far less. It’s not photo-realistic and Crytek aren’t aiming for that, the whole visual feel is more like a cinematic look, and effects such as the motion blur just add to this.
Click for larger image