When creating S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 use photogrammetry – review

At the beginning of the year, the creators S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 unexpectedly for ourselves, I had to confirm ahead of time that the shooter is being created on Unreal Engine 4, having secured a screenshot of the “last year’s loaf” model.

Illustration interested former editor-in-chiefreview addiction»And employee 4game Alexei Makarenkov, who decided to conduct a small journalistic investigation, asking about the acquaintances of 3D artists about what he saw.

To begin with, judging by the level of detail and other features, the loaf model was created using photogrammetry, a technology that allows you to capture objects in the real world and quickly transfer them to virtual space with high detail.

Many developers are increasingly resorting to this method. Among the recent notable projects with photogrammetry, remakes can be noted Resident evil 2 and Resident evil 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), dilogy Star Wars: Battlefront from DICE and Red dead redemption 2.

It is noted that the use of Unreal Engine 4 greatly simplifies many tasks of developers: for example, the engine can automatically rebuild the same loaf model for use at different distances from the player himself. The closer it is to the subject, the higher will be the detail – the game itself will constantly replace the level of elaboration of the object.

Since there will be an SSD drive in the next-generation consoles, the constant loading of such objects should not be a problem – if the shooter goes to them, there should not be any problems with changing the detail of objects when approaching and moving away.

The same applies to RS: with competent optimization of streaming resources Gsc game world able to maintain high image quality, changing the detail of objects on the fly.

Now in games often there are problems with the fact that the detail of objects changes before the player’s eyes, partially destroying the atmosphere. And in general, it looks rather ugly. However, even now, some developers are able to correctly implement the loading of objects.

In general, artists noted that using Unreal Engine 4 for GSC Game World, which does not have its own modern engine, is the best option. Unity, for example, is more suitable for small teams, and the same CryEngine has weak support from Crytek itself.