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BioShock Actually Makes Water Look Badass

1pstart.com — The Cult of Rapture was updated today with a simple, yet beautiful video showcasing the different water effects that you will encounter when BioShock is finally released in August. Not only are the water effects amazing in this video, but their is also a pretty lengthy interview that discusses the complexity of the water.

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Who Dugg It?

OoSvGoO, on 10/12/2007, -4/+55wow honestly that's pretty nice...the later and the reflections are amazing the droplets at the end were beautiful
- xBBx, on 10/12/2007, -5/+24It really is amazing what the developers did with the water effects in BioShock. If I was blown away by that video, I can only imagine what it's going to look like on my HD set. *droooool*
- awm4, on 10/12/2007, -6/+197Now I have to pee
- pifko87, on 10/12/2007, -46/+11I ***** hate blog-whoring.
- roosterjm2k2, on 10/12/2007, -44/+107While I agree that the water looks great....
  
  Why are games becoming tech demos? Look at all the games that are lined up to come out, but nothing is coming out...every time a game gets close to release, some new "wow factor" effect comes out, and the game goes back into hiding to add more pretty graphics...
  
  Graphics are good, but they are only part of the equation...hell, half of the people here (or more) probably couldn't see said water with their current rigs. Add to that the fact that even though the GPU takes the brunt of those graphics, a fair amount of CPU is being used up for handling memory and texture swapping, and it leaves even less CPU for physics, multiplayer, etc....and speaking of multiplayer, you give people these graphics that they can barely run, and they join an online game, and lag all to hell, not because of their connection, but because their computer cant keep up.
  
  Why can't anyone just settle for making a damned good game. I'll take great gameplay over great graphics anyday. If I need to get a hardon for what my GPU can do, ill run one of 50 benchmarks out there, but if i want to play a game, damnit, I want to play a game.
- tizz66, on 10/12/2007, -13/+97The actual article: http://www.2kgames.com/cultofrapture/waterfeature.html
  
  Dugg this down as blog spam.
- Spaceomega, on 10/12/2007, -6/+18Haha, I submitted this exact story except to the one with the, you know, high res video.
  
  I've been excited for this game for a very long time. I'm definately buying the collector's editon - despite it being sold at EB only.
- BigDane, on 10/12/2007, -17/+5Playstation who? Give me an overheating unit anyday -- I'll just take it back to costco :)
- betterth, on 10/12/2007, -13/+35@roosterjm2k2
  
  Repeat after me:
  
  Console and PC. They want to push the 360 as much as they want to deliver a graphically exciting adventure. Gameplay is important, but in the FPS genre, so is graphics and immersion level. Games like this are not glorified techdemos, they are wonderfully scripted and crafted stories built upon an amazing engine.
  
  I don't think games need to fall into Blizzard's "WOW Syndrome", where the poly count is *****, the particles are five years old, there are no real effects to speak of, and the only saving grace is bright, well made textures. Sometimes people love eyecandy, especially on consoles and HDTV's.
- zybch, on 10/12/2007, -18/+8This isn't like Sony's 'real-time game-play' demos is it???
- Dpack1, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14i've always wanted to see a game with real time weather that when it started raining it would form puddles rather then splashing on the ground or rippling on exsisting water.
  
  The part in that demo with the rain on the puddle ruins the illusion for me, not saying the rest wasnt nice, and the running water was amazing, i just have issues with rain and puddles.
- DollaDollaBill, on 10/12/2007, -13/+8This video is obviously done with PC hardware. I'm wondering how close the 360 will look in comparison..
- mrbeagle, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2Great, all their fancy new shaders are obscured by pitch-black shadows. Doom 3 anyone?
- deuceswilde, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9@roosterjm
  
  Gameplay and graphics aren't mutually exclusive. I would agree with you if a game had nothing more to offer than great graphics and terrible gameplay, which you seem to imply, but for Bioshock that's an entirely unwarranted assumption at this point.
  
  How about this: I'd gladly pay $50-60 for a game with excellent gameplay AND great graphics.
- nickerj1, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1Meh, Bioshock has decent water effects. If you want really good water effects, play Silent Hunter 4. It incorporates weather.
- GoBOOM, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Silent Hunter 4, also a great sleep aid. ^_^
  
  And the water effect graphics on the 360 look as good as an those on the PC.
- volacide, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4The shaders don't really impress me all that much, sure they look good but it's nothing that I haven't REALLY seen before. Bioshock just seems to have a larger variety of different water shaders, that's all.
  
  What I was hoping to see was water that displaced when an object or something was dropped into it and splashed realistically. For a game where you're going to be trudging through a lot of it you'd think they would have focused on that.
  
  Instead it seems as though the water is just one flat plane with some nice looking shader effects and the old school splash animations that look really lame and have been using for years.
  
  To say the least, I'm quite disappointed. FEAR was the last game I saw that even made an attempt to have water that reacted realistically, the water displaced when you ran through it and such, it didn't look amazingly realistic but it was a start none-the-less.
- foolfromhell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Considering that the entire facility the game takes place in is underwater, the water effects better be good...
- triplehelix, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1isn't this game coming out on the ps3 as well?
- pasht, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@roosterjim
  I used to be solidly in your camp on this issue. I favor gameplay over graphics as well.
  
  However, tech-demo games and other titles that push the limits of graphics technology are vital. They fuel the graphical innovation in hardware and software, and that's a very good thing.
  
  Because as much as I love Final Fantasy 6, Doom, or Starcraft, you have to admit that they would benefit from a graphics update along the lines of Final Fantasy 12, Half-Life 2, and Battle For Middle-Earth. Better graphics generally means more immersion, and to me that makes a story that much more enthralling.
vanbacon, on 10/12/2007, -37/+8Release the damm game already before I go on a filthy rampage.

Raaazaaaaaaaaaw
- candiru, on 10/12/2007, -3/+38So games prevent shootings?
- Dpack1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+49No no, i think he was talking about turning into a giant ape, lizard or wolf and tearing down some buildings?
- blurplevtx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+31No, he was saying that he's not gonna be showering for an even longer time now.
- indigit4l, on 10/12/2007, -15/+15Frankly the water in Wave Race 64 is way better.
- Dgen_X, on 10/12/2007, -8/+19"Frankly the water in Wave Race 64 is way better."
  
  for it's time....maybe
  
  Same with the water in Super Mario Sunshine...not much to look at now...but it looked great years ago
- texpundit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Hell, for its time, the water in Bloodwake was f'n amazing.
Insanitation, on 10/12/2007, -40/+7Im sure the gameplay itself sux...seeing how they spent all their time on the water.
- Sirocco, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14Irrational has a pretty fair track record. Tribes: Vengeance was a stinker, but until the very end System Shock 2 was well handled (infinitely respawning rumblers? WTF?!). Unlike Monolith, these guys seem to learn from their mistakes.
- omatsei, on 10/12/2007, -8/+11@Insanitation: I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Good graphics != ***** Gameplay. They're not mutually exclusive. It is possible to have good graphics AND good gameplay. Hell, it's even possible to have GREAT Graphics and GREAT Gameplay! In the same game, at the same time! For instance, any of the major successful gaming franchises? Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Halo, GTA (not on the PS2), etc.?
- Agret, on 10/12/2007, -3/+26@Sirocco
  "Unlike Monolith, these guys seem to learn from their mistakes."
  I dunno, F.E.A.R. was a hell of a lot better than AvP
- docj13, on 10/12/2007, -13/+6A few of my friends work at irrational. The game is going to be insanely good. Do you have any basis for saying that the game will suck other than the water? Please explain.
- playthev, on 10/12/2007, -7/+15@sirocco
  F.E.A.R. is one of the finest FPS ever made
- betterth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+31Half-Life 2, Half-Life 1, I presume Crysis, FarCry, FEAR, Call of Duty, Battlefield 2, and I presume Unreal 3 -- great games with great graphics all inside the FPS genre.
- codmate, on 10/12/2007, -12/+4Isn't this the same team responsible for "Deus Ex 2" though?
  Hope not :
- LoopyChew, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6No; the Deus Ex games were ION Storm, which did have a few Looking Glass employees (Irrational and ION Storm--at least, ION Storm Austin--have that in common, which makes it an easy enough mistake to make).
- TheBarge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17@Insanitation
  
  Actually, if you watch the other Bioshock videos, they mention that they hired a team specifically for the water effects. So no, I doubt the gameplay will suffer.
- GoBOOM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Insanitation
  
  Where exactly did it say all their time was spent on water effects?
  
  Way to be an uninformed know-it-all. Watch a couple of the gameplay videos Irrational's released, the X06 stuff in particular showed some great footage of stuff that's still in game.
mikefitz2, on 10/12/2007, -7/+6they overdid it with the sound effects.
- wageslaven, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8The ambient sound effects were the only thing happening, and you probably just noticed them a little more than normal. BioShock is going to try and set atmosphere, im sure sound will be used for this purpose, but lets assume they know that TOO much can be a bad thing.
  
  Im sure their sound engineer knows not not "overdue it with the sound effects".
- LoopyChew, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19If System Shock 2 taught me anything, it was that sound effects can make the game. Crappy graphics for the time, incredibly intense sound.
  
  I trust them not to overdo it. They'll give you just enough to make you brown-note your pants.
bob_the_alien, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11I''m betting on the best ending ever in this game, the air pockets are going to fill up with carbon monoxide and you will just go to sleep and game ends.
- StarManta, on 10/12/2007, -7/+9I have a feeling you meant carbon dioxide....
  
  (Unless you know of some particular reason they would fill with carbon monoxide that I'm not aware of. I'm assuming you're talking about people breathing it, which would produce CO2 not CO)
- GeneralFailure, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Really? I thought that the air pockets would fill with dihydrogen monoxide.
- Bega, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Nah, it's all gonna be Hydrogen Hydroxide.
- Goombellaofgoom, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1@Generalfailure:
  That joke went over *so* many peoples' heads... and you're probably right, too.
- Exhaust, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2@goombellaofgoom
  
  You knew he was talking about water and everyone else didn't... Heh Huh Huh You're cool.
seandfeeney, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1This game looks too good for all of its features to be in the final cut....

@pifko87 if you have something good who cares who is hosting it. It's how people get their name out there.
- pifko87, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Shut it.
brasso, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23I just hope its well optimized. I don't care how pretty the water is if I cant play it.
- TheBarge, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2I hope it's well optimized for the 360 since I'll be playing this on my HDTV.
soho123, on 10/12/2007, -23/+2view this and digg this
http://www.digg.com/linux_unix/The_Most_Powerful_Linux_Command_that_doesn_t_come_installed_with_Linux
mrwhitethc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2After their previous games, I can't wait to play this one. If they put as much effort into everything else as they did the water this game is gonna rock.
nodde, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2that tech demo made me thursty! lol - nice find :)
Graphice, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I'm very excited to get my grubby paws on this game. From what I have heard I think the game will add a nice twist to the FPS genre.
ndiderrich, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The quality of the video is extremely low, the water did look alright with it.
wiirdo, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8Great water effects! Unfortunately the characters in the game are stick figures.
Bahimiron, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2BioShock: The game that makes objectivism AWESOME!
- NSMike, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4Objectivism was never awesome and Ayn Rand writes painful books.
- Bahimiron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Digg: The website that makes irony look ASKANCE, as if it wonders if it really has a place in the world anymore, given that so few people seem to get it.
  
  (btw, the bad guys in bioshock are objectivists, which is the reason for my above comment)
- BGFeltenink, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2That doesn't even make sense. Why would an Objectivist be a bad guy?? I guess it's the "in" thing nowadays to find a name with some controversy and turn it sinister thing with bad guys following it even though it makes zero sense for them to follow it in any context.
KapitalK, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0Whilst great graphics and physics arnt everything, they are just as important as gameplay to make a well rounded game which really immerses you in it. This is especially true when it comes to water and even more so in the quantities they are using within the game, i personally cant help but feel that water is one of the most powerful ways of getting people to get that feeling that they are actually there.

Usually water is shoddy as best but this looks great, and combined with some decent sound effects (like the dripping of water from above or sloshing as you walk through it) this could be incredible. So although your right, all this fancy graphics amounts to nothing if the gameplay is awful (like deus ex 2, as commented above) it can really change the outcome of a game, so don't slag it off too much.
- GoBOOM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Huh, you don't usually see "whilst" and "arnt" in the same sentence.
Bahimiron, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Bioshock is looking like it's going to be such a great game.

It saddens me that it's setting itself up for a real gutpunch, though.

Unless they move up the release date by a month or so, I have a bad feeling it's gonna be a critical darling, but a bomb. It's too far back in August, which is getting on toward September, which is the official start of the crazy fall and winter release schedule.

The way the 360 is now, if a big game comes out in a month where it doesn't share a lot of competition, even if it's mediocre it can sell 400k copies. Look at Lost Planet. And the summer months on the 360 are looking pretty barren, as summer months on any console tend to be. However, if Bioshock ends up going up against GTA4 or Mass Effect, it might as well go ahead and just slice its own belly for us right now.
funkmachine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4They employed a programmer and designer just to deal with the water, so no wonder it looks amazing.

It's a shame there will be no online play with this game. Co-operative mode would have gone down well I think.
NorsteinB, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Apples and oranges, I know, but not nearly as badass as the non-realtime hydrodynamic stuff: http://youtube.com/watch?v=8Pmm9UKqc5I

I wonder how much computational power would be needed to make this realtime. Oh the global warming.
nocturne, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11HD version of the same video:

http://download.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_bioshock_water_h264.wmv
- Heretushi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Any Youtube version? Gametrailer is blocked at job.
  
  P.S.: I know too well that all traces of quality will be lost by going Youtube, I'll check the Hi-Res version at home.
jubilee123, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2there*
Jarasmen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+25I swear I just heard my GeForce FX 5200 sqeal and weep a little...
- JorgeGT, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10mine is in the dark corner in fethal position since these Crysis videos...
- nuclearpenguins, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I too have a 5200. It plays games from 2004 rather well. At medium settings. Huzzah.
- Arramol, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4My 6600GT wonders if it can participate in the weeping party. In fact, I think my AGP motherboard might join in too.
- Ranneko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think this is the reason my PC committed sparky suicide last Monday. Clearly my 5700FX just couldn't take it anymore and convinced the power supply to help.
masterofNone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2impressive, very impressive.
Spanktacular, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6@xBBx
http://www.better-english.com/easier/theyre.htm
- pmuaddib, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6So many people could use this link. Maybe I will have it printed on business cards and hand them out.
- pmuaddib, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1So many people could use this link. I think I will have the url printed on a business card so that I can hand them out.
- pmuaddib, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1So many people could use this link. I think I will have the url printed on a business card so that I can hand them out.
vulgrin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Makes me have to pee.
Punisher2K, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I thought it was about pool cleaner.
bluto20, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2i have the urge to pee
swrostmore, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Wheres the interaction? Sure, the water renders pretty, but how does it look when characters are running through it? Does it react realistically? Thats what I was hoping to see in this video, but all it shows is a pretty pixel shader and nothing else.
- wageslaven, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Im thinking it will.
  
  Have a read about the way mud and water are going to deform the terrain in real-time on "Colin McCray's Dirt". The track will displace mud, the water will fill into the ruts and when you return, you'll displace *that* mud/water from the rut.
  
  Im thinking they'll be able to do this with the water, should be "easier" to deal with one substance (water) vs. two (mud & water). I do appreciate these are two games, from two different developers, but I would think if so much effort was going into the water to look and act in this great-looking and physics-driven dynamic fashion, they'd consider the player and npc interation with it.
- aloomba, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My thoughts exactly. Shots of uninterrupted water doing pretty things is one thing, but I'm more interested in what it looks like when you interact with it. Otherwise it's another iteration on reflections and distortions... a small step forward.
snotrokit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12hey honey, can I have a few (cough) dollars for a new video card. I rea........ I mean the kids really need a new one....

whaddya think diggers, think it will float?
- jonfelder, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I'm not sure if it will float, but I think it will blend.
dodger6, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1The only problem I see is that if I have to listen to blurb blurb bloop every couple of seconds throughout this game I'll go crazy. But yes the water looks spectacular.
DrScott, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4This might be the reason for me to buy an xbox 360. Hoo-ray new gen consoles! Or I could keep trying to finish Skies of Arcadia on Dreamcast...
- LowFuel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I finished that, it's worth the effort, great ending. :)
Masterbaiter, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2I would probably get buried for this but, wow, what a waste of time.
EvanVolm, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Ugh...it's just water....

I felt the same way after reading Frankie's water article(the first one). I couldn't give a rats *ss about how real water looks. Focus on the main game and make it right!
- wageslaven, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The race to realism in video games has a 25 year history. The race to realism in the movie-theater has a 100 year history. The same thing is at work. Both serve to enable the developers, producers, designers, and actors to more ably fool the audience's senses and facilitate Suspension of Disbelief.
  
  Going through all this again is a waste of time, but in short photo-realistic games != bad games, good_games != bad (or good) graphics and photo-realism can help (rarely hinders) in making a game "better". Photo-realistic doesnt simply mean "Looks like reality", but means "looks like what reality _could_ be, and it does it in a way that is believable".
- skiergirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I agree!
poppyjasper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Talk about getting immersed in a game. Virtual reality. Very good indeed.
djphatjive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5And I thought Gears of War's water effects were good!
2shae, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1INCREDIBLE !!!!!

/Sarcasm

So they are good in mimicking water now...so what
iburyfamilyguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Them sound effects made me relaxed while watching this.
opiv421, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It feels like yesterday when the CS:S trailer came out showing water effects the source engine could produce on Aztec. That was the prettiest water I have ever seen up until this. Bioshock is going to look awesome in HD baby.
Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5My video card is crying.
alien420, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2good gameplay + ***** graphics > good graphics + ***** gameplay
- Mishkin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Amen to that brother. But then again how could not killing odd, creepy, little underwater girls be not good gameplay?
rowlodge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2looks perrrty,,real perrrty
jodokast, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Looks nice, but I wonder when we will have REAL water effects in games. Right now its just an animated texture map with reflection. There's no real dynamics involved.
BillOReilly08, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Imagine how cool Myst would have looked with these water effects!
- alienfubar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why is it that when I think of the best games of alltime Myst is always up there.. but when i try to play it again it just doesn't impress. heh and the new ones were not so great either.
  
  It's like one of those "you just had to be there" things. Back when computers and the internet were new and exciting!
Bodhesatva, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Graphics in games are just like special effects in movies: clearly, it isn't necessary to make a great game -- unless anyone here would like to argue that The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past or Super Metroid aren't incredible games. Alternatively, would anyone really argue that video games now are substantially more fun to play than they were 10 or 15 years ago, when Polygons weren't even an issue, let alone millions of them? Again, compared to movies: does anyone really argue that today's action movies are just plain better than the ones that were released in the 80s and early 90s?

Instead, I think we should realize that the graphics are fun and enjoyable, but not inherently tied to the "fun" quality of the game (or movie). There's a simple, clear proof of this, as already stated -- if graphics played an integral role in a game's fun factor, then good games made today would clearly be more fun to play than those that were made 15 years ago. I think many (if not most) of us would agree that they aren't, really.
Envx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This game is like 10 times better then GoW graphically
- NoNameHere, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1And probably in many other ways, too.
  There. I said it. GRINDING SUCKS!
andy2na, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Bioshock - making water look badass
Crysis - making grass look badass
Duke Nukem Forever - making strippers look badass
Tikkimann, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Guys, water IS badass. It makes up most of us, and we'd die without it.

n00bs.
mahsah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I wish they would just release it. I will probally have water turned low anyways.
Slartidad, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0zero nine foxtrot nine zero two nine delta seven four echo three five bravo delta eight four one five six charlie five six three five six eight eight charlie zero
ASSASSYN, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10The water is formed using hexadecimal programing code...09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
BigFont, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm feeling a bit thirsty...anyone else want some water?
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BioShock Actually Makes Water Look Badass

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