2002 Acclaim
A landmark title for the N64 was Acclaims Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. The game, when released, looked so graphically fluid that people had trouble keeping their mouths closed. The game went on to become a franchise along with the subsequent sequels and multiplayer spinoffs.
Acclaim is now bringing the title back to its roots: The Lost Lands. Essentially a huge prehistoric land that is teeming with life; the return to this original setting is definitely settling for us all.
N-Side The Game
The technology going into the creation of the game is startling. For one, the programmers have created great tools to help the development process. One of these tools is a program whereby level designers can almost instantly play their new design without textures on the polygons. Basically this kind of tool will allow the designer to create a new design for a level and then instantly see if it would work well or not in the game environment. At the same time the artists can be working on the textures and then apply it to the designs of the level designer. Because of great tools like this, Acclaim is able to spend more time polishing the levels and gameplay.
Another good addition is the attention to detail for everything in the new game. In past Turok games some of the best moments came from some great details such as a monkey running up a tree or a Purlin crashing through a wall. In Turok Evolution, the world is seemingly littered with truckloads of animation from creatures to plants. Dinosaurs are even using a technique for textures called soft skinning. This technique was used in previous games like Rares Diddy Kong Racing for a more wholesome look on the game models. What it does is wrap a model entirely with a texture so that a skin binds the model. As the model moves and animates, the skin moves with it. So basically as a dinosaur breathes you can see the skin moving and expanding over its rib cage.
Outlook
Acclaim has already showcased a different mode of play aside from the standard first-person shooting mode. It shows a flying level akin to StarFox whereby you navigate yourself through enemies and canyons. Promises have already been made for alternative modes of play such as a full-fledged multiplayer mode, which was said to be more expansive than Turok: Rage Wars. More information should be coming in soon so keep your eyes peeled.
Jason Nuyens