Digital Foundry’s latest time-lapse video showcase.
The blasted remnants of the gambling capital of the world form the basis for the latest in Digital Foundry’s World in Motion time-lapse presentations. Fallout: New Vegas’s post apocalyptic vision of Nevada, its many and varied locations, plus of course its impressive day/night cycle were ideal subject matter for our efforts. In addition to that, the chance to put together a full-on 1080p presentation at 60 frames per second proved to be irresistible.
Unfortunately, as we discussed in the recent Face-Off, there’s little doubt that the tech itself is showing its age, its underpinnings dating back to the 2006 release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Even with PC settings ramped up to the absolute maximum, there’s no doubt that the lighting model is somewhat harsh on the environments, textures are of a fairly low quality, and the lack of dynamic shadows makes the renderer look positively ancient. The Gamebryo engine does support changing weather conditions (as seen in Fallout 3) but New Vegas appears to be somewhat one-note from a meteorological standpoint. Probably the most bizarre aspect of the video is the engine’s somewhat medieval outlook on the positioning of the Earth in relation to the sun and moon…
Despite the outdated engine, the world of Fallout: New Vegas is still extremely impressive in many ways. The accomplished implementation of HDR makes for some superb-looking sunrises and sunsets, and the draw distance is simply phenomenal. And just like the game itself, the concept behind the world is just so much more important than the tech that powers it.