Following up on our post from last week covering Unit Personality and Authenticity, we've got another great overview from Senior Artist Amar! Catch Amar, Kristian and myself on the next developer livestream later this month on Twitch. - JohnT_RE
Hello folks, I'm Amar, a Senior Artist and the harbinger of destruction on Company of Heroes 3. One of my responsibilities on this project is to apply the dirt, damage and destruction wrought by war to our vehicles. Our artists spend weeks carefully crafting each vehicle, getting all the details just right and then, when it is all perfect, I burn it to the ground. When a vehicle rolls out of your base it will always be fresh and new, as if it had just come off the production line. But nothing stays fresh and new for long, especially in the brutal environment that is a WWII battlefield. We have invested in a surprising amount of technology to support this effort and have brought this to the game in multiple different ways.
Weathering is what we call the dirt and wear that accumulates over time as vehicles traverse the battlefield. In CoH3 you'll see that your shiny new tank gets dusty or muddy based on the environment that it is traveling through and the amount of dirt that accumulates is based on both how long you sit in the elements and how far you travel. True off-road enthusiasts will see a lot of mud spattered on their armored bullet buggies while more sedentary drivers will be able to keep their vehicles a little cleaner.
Early Pre-Alpha renders
Of course, every battle has conflict and vehicles that survive will carry the scars of enemy encounters forward into the next skirmish. To enhance this sense of authenticity, attrition and veterancy we have built a system that allows us to show you not only what your vehicles were hit by but also where they were hit. Flames and artillery have a very different effect on the skin of a tank, and it is our hope that these details will help to tell the story of where you units have been and who they have been tangling with.
Early shader concept art.
Early Pre-Alpha charring and weathering mockups.
Eventually even the most battle-hardened units may succumb to the rigors of war. Skeletons of tanks that have been destroyed will litter the field, charred and burning. Of course, those armored hulks could provide cover to your enemies, so you'll want to crush them under the treads of your heaviest vehicles. It's our hope that all these painstakingly crafted details amplify the cost of war on the screen for our community.
I hope you enjoyed this quick look at what I'm working on and I can't wait for you to see these systems when they're finished!
The wooden barriers on the front and the back of the sherman, do they just disappear "completly" at some point or will we be able to see the wood splattering off the tank?
Very cool! I was wondering if the veichles will become fresh again after reparing? I also hope you could add the weathering and destruction effects on individual soldiers.
First off thank you John for responding regarding my input on art design and authenticity. I think you bring up a good point and I mentioned it as well in my last post, but screenshots or photos do no justice to the game art compared to real time in the game affects and others systems all coming together. I love the level of detail that goes into every aspect of the game.
I enjoyed this post on weathering and damage features that will be unlike any prior COH, this really will impact the experience and overall immersion. The first question that it led me to ask myself though is stepping back from unit weathering & damage I wonder if weather will be a factor in the Dynamic Campaign. I know this is weathering in a different sense but the actual weather impacts weathering so that was my initial thought. Terrain impacts the vehicles and troops but weather remains a bit of a mystery, at least on it's impact on the game. It was a huge feature heading into COH2 so I wonder if in the dynamic campaign maybe plays on that feature. For example, high tide prevents us from beach landing OR severe rain storms impact our air attack. This drills down further into the actual RTS match from tanks not able to cross a creek that floods, maybe mid-match? Day/Night cycles in match, perhaps it's raining early morning at the start of the match but due to the duration of match by the end it's sunny cloudy sunset afternoon? Maybe there is a night time feature where lighting on vehicles and street lights or windows showing off the new graphics engine? I know COH 2 had General Mud and snow weather patterns were received with mixed results. I think if it's just a feature on some maps it will be enjoyable, not necessarily an impact on every map.
Amar mentions attachment accessories they attached to vehicles which makes me think perhaps they can personalize those vehicles with randomized names like Tanks from Fury they had name on side or logs on the side of the tank. Perhaps a way to take it another step with that sort of customization but controlled by the player. I like the body language changes depending upon the environment really does create an experience opposed to just a great visual.
Keep up the great work, can't wait. My new monitor (wide screen) so hopefully ratio won't be an issue like I read it was for SC2. That comes next week and I'm going to buy my new PC in Oct primarily for this game. Let us know if there will be a launch party or some sort of official community event to celebrate the game going live. I still hope it's a live match of Liddy vs. JohnT 1v1 to overtake THEGREFG highest peak viewers on twitch. Loser of the match has to shave their head, doh, okay maybe team Relic can come up with a better win motivator.
A minimum of Intel 8700K/Ryzen 3600 class, should not be prohibitately expensive by launch.
8GB main ram
6GB vram
enhanced for DX Storage SSD.
No need for RT, nice to have, but maybe a later patch for RT path lighting.
It should a step up we need for the next 5-6 years of coh3. And give the animations more smoothness which still seems like half the fps to main game in the video.
ADMINJohn_RE
Moderator
ADMINJohn_RE
Moderator
9 400g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report John_RE?
Are you sure you want to block John_RE ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock John_RE ?
UnblockCancelPapiraty
Newcomer
Papiraty
Newcomer
5 500g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report Papiraty?
Are you sure you want to block Papiraty ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock Papiraty ?
UnblockCanceld0ggYlulz
Newcomer
www.twitch.tv/d0ggYlulz
d0ggYlulz
Newcomer
2 300g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report d0ggYlulz?
Are you sure you want to block d0ggYlulz ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock d0ggYlulz ?
UnblockCancelMajor_Storm
Newcomer
Tempus edax rerum.
Major_Storm
Newcomer
5 200g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report Major_Storm?
Are you sure you want to block Major_Storm ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock Major_Storm ?
UnblockCancelSnowman123
Newcomer
Snowman123
Newcomer
1 000g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report Snowman123?
Are you sure you want to block Snowman123 ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock Snowman123 ?
UnblockCancelmaaa
Newcomer
Sincerely, maaa.
maaa
Newcomer
6 200g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report maaa?
Are you sure you want to block maaa ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock maaa ?
UnblockCancelsei3coh
Newcomer
Cohcohrico
sei3coh
Newcomer
7 700g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report sei3coh?
Are you sure you want to block sei3coh ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock sei3coh ?
UnblockCancelmax6280
Newcomer
max6280
Newcomer
3 600g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report max6280?
Are you sure you want to block max6280 ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock max6280 ?
UnblockCancelDfuse
Newcomer
Destiny is all
Dfuse
Newcomer
7 600g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report Dfuse?
Are you sure you want to block Dfuse ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock Dfuse ?
UnblockCancelArt_0f_War
Newcomer
Art of War
Art_0f_War
Newcomer
7 700g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report Art_0f_War?
Are you sure you want to block Art_0f_War ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock Art_0f_War ?
UnblockCancelTomJX
Newcomer
TomJX
Newcomer
5 200g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report TomJX?
Are you sure you want to block TomJX ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock TomJX ?
UnblockCancelNIckOnPlay
Newcomer
NIckOnPlay
Newcomer
1 200g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report NIckOnPlay?
Are you sure you want to block NIckOnPlay ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock NIckOnPlay ?
UnblockCancelBANDERA984_UA
Newcomer
Інвалід першої групи з дитинства.
BANDERA984_UA
Newcomer
2 600g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report BANDERA984_UA?
Are you sure you want to block BANDERA984_UA ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock BANDERA984_UA ?
UnblockCancelIcehour
Newcomer
Icehour
Icehour
Newcomer
3 600g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report Icehour?
Are you sure you want to block Icehour ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock Icehour ?
UnblockCancelBANDERA984_UA
Newcomer
Інвалід першої групи з дитинства.
BANDERA984_UA
Newcomer
2 600g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report BANDERA984_UA?
Are you sure you want to block BANDERA984_UA ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock BANDERA984_UA ?
UnblockCancelAntish
Newcomer
Hello World
Antish
Newcomer
3 700g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report Antish?
Are you sure you want to block Antish ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock Antish ?
UnblockCancelTr0llf3sT
Newcomer
Tr0llf3sT
Newcomer
1 600g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report Tr0llf3sT?
Are you sure you want to block Tr0llf3sT ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock Tr0llf3sT ?
UnblockCancelQrus
Newcomer
Hehee
Qrus
Newcomer
3 600g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report Qrus?
Are you sure you want to block Qrus ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock Qrus ?
UnblockCancelHerohawk
Newcomer
Adveregeris Gratis. (Latin for: Soar Freely)
Herohawk
Newcomer
1 600g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report Herohawk?
Are you sure you want to block Herohawk ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock Herohawk ?
UnblockCancelPl
Newcomer
Old Gamer
Pl
Newcomer
4 600g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report Pl?
Are you sure you want to block Pl ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock Pl ?
UnblockCancel