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On April 30, at a keynote presentation given at the developer event Build 2015 held by Microsoft in San Francisco, Square Enix unveiled the DirectX 12 graphics demo “Witch Chapter 0 [Cry].” The real-time graphics used in Witch is planned to also be used in the next generation game engine being developed by Square Enix, Luminous Studio.
Witch is a new demo created mainly by the development team behind the real-time demo “Agni’s Philosophy” released by Square Enix in 2012. While the graphics of Agni’s Philosophy were created using DirectX 11 as a base, Witch is a joint project between Microsoft and NVIDIA created as a demo that uses DirectX 12. Furthermore, Zenji Nishikawa has written three reports that explain in detail the techniques used in Agni’s Philosophy, so those who are interested will want to browse through these.
The released visuals and demo are quite short and show a girl wailing in a destroyed building. Because the contents of the demo weren’t explained in detail, we can only speculate as to what it means, but the character appears to be the female mage Agni who appeared in Agni’s Philosophy. The video is up now on NVIDIA’s official blog, so we suggest checking it out.
A point worth noticing in Witch is that Square Enix has risen the bar for depicting crying. During the presentation, the demo was paused and the girl’s face shown up close from a variety of angles, but what really caught attention was, in addition to the level of skin detail seen in Agni’s Philosophy, the tears as they streamed down her face, their 3D look as they stuck to her skin, and even the dirt on her face. Just by seeing the video it becomes clear how much more power it has over Agni’s Philosophy.
NVIDIA, which jointly produced Witch, has praised it on their official blog, saying, “For an industry that has found it hard to cross over the ‘uncanny valley,’ this demo hides the potential to create a milestone.” Many people may be aware, but the “uncanny valley” refers to the strange feeling a viewer may get when looking at realistic depictions of humans using CG and robotics. NVIDIA’s claim is that the depictions in Witch cross over this.
However, the truth is that there was a stream of voices from those who saw the online stream of the presentation who complained that they could feel the “uncanny valley.” It seems there is still more that needs to be done before the “uncanny valley” can be truly crossed.
By the way, the real-time demo was played on a PC configured with 4-way SLI that used four of NVIDIA’s ultra high end GPU, GeForce GTX Titan X. As far as depicting in real-time such high quality CG, it seems, as one would expect, ordinary setups wouldn’t have enough power to handle it, so a problem arises regarding to what extent this depiction is truly possible in an actual game.
How much of the technology shown in Witch will be able to be incorporated into actual games? We’ll have to wait for forthcoming games to use Luminous Studio.
Witch will also be shown at the developer event De:code 2015 to be held on May 26 and 27 in Tokyo. For those planning to attend, why not experience the real-time Witch demo?
==== The following is from the official press release ====
Square Enix Co., Ltd. releases real-time CG demo using DirectX 12 at Microsoft developer event; free use of cutting-edge technology shows the world’s highest quality real-time CG
Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya, Tokyo; CEO: Yosuke Matsuda) unveiled for the first time its technology demo “Witch Chapter 0 [Cry]” which uses Windows 10 as a base and the next generation API, DirectX 12, at Microsoft Corporation’s developer event held in San Francisco, Microsoft Build Developer Conference, on Thursday, April 30.
Square Enix is making strides in its technology research project that uses a variety of new generation technology. As a part of this, the company is advancing with research into CG rendered in real-time using DirectX 12. Now, with the help of Microsoft and NVIDIA Corporation, they have produced a technology demo that uses DirectX 12 called “Witch Chapter 0 [Cry].” The results acquired from this research will be incorporated into the company’s game engine Luminous Studio to be used in developing forthcoming games.
The Witch demo realizes the world’s highest level of CG rendered in real-time. The demo depicts in unprecedented quality a person crying, an emotion that has been difficult to depict using previous real-time rendering technology, and viewers can see a character overflowing with a realistic sense of life using CG rendered in real-time.
The Witch demo was also produced mainly by the staff behind the demo movie for Luminous Studio released in June 2012, “Agni’s Philosophy - Final Fantasy Realtime Tech Demo.” With the Witch demo, an even higher level of detail and higher performance graphics are now possible.
Yosuke Matsuda, the CEO of Square Enix, had the following to say regarding the demo: “Square Enix is tackling a new generation technology research project as a showcase of the company’s technology that will carry it into its next generation. The results fostered from this effort will be used in game development, with the aim being to elevate even more the high standard of Square Enix’s games. From here on, the company will make strides in its efforts targeted at a variety of cutting-edge technology beginning with high end real-time graphics using the announced DirectX 12.”
Hajime Tabata, the second business division executive at Square Enix and the person in charge of the new generation technology research project, expressed the following: “Our studio always pursues the goal of being the highest authority on pre-rendered CG and CG rendered in real-time. This time, as a part of our technology research, we received support from the leaders of software and hardware, Microsoft’s Windows 10/DirectX 12 and NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX, and produced an ‘art & tech’ demo seeking the highest quality real-time CG technology. The results acquired from this new generation technology research project will, of course, be used in game development from here on, and will be freely used in the currently in development Final Fantasy XV.”
Moreover, the Witch demo was created using a 4-way SLI PC with NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX Titan X.
The following comments have also been released by Microsoft and NVIDIA.
● Comment from Steven Guggenheimer, vice president and chief evangelist of Microsoft:
“We at Microsoft are designing a vast combination of form factors and graphics cards for various Windows devices to be able to realize the highest performance in the industry using DirectX 12. The demo by Square Enix accomplishes the valuable role of showing the possibilities of how DirectX 12 will be connected to optimizing innovation and game performance moving forward.”
● Comment from Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO of NVIDIA:
“Of the previously tested cinema quality real-time graphics, ‘Witch Chapter 0 [Cry]’ is the most ambitious. There is only one word to describe this undertaking by Square Enix: astounding. I’m happy that Square Enix’s wonderful team have relied on NVIDIA Gameworks Effects Studio to breathe life into ‘Witch Chapter 0 [Cry].’ It’s safe to say it’s a preview of the beauty and aesthetics of video games to come.”
Square Enix is propelling research and development of the latest cutting-edge technology in terms of game development, and will continue to offer high quality entertainment content of world’s highest standard.
The “Witch Chapter 0 [Cry]” demo video released at the Microsoft Build Developer Conference is available to view here.
Aso, “Witch Chapter 0 [Cry]” will be on display at the technology conference De:code 2015 to be held by Microsoft Japan on May 26 (Tues.) and 27 (Wed.) in Tokyo. The newest information on the tech demo will be introduced at this event in Japan, so definitely look forward to it.
Details on De:code 2015 can be found here.
Source: 4Gamer
Source article written by Toshiaki Konishi
