Between Tech and Art: The Vegetation of Horizon Zero Dawn

[@telefrag.]

"You probably didn't pay much attention to the vegetation" - that's where you're wrong, dude. People have spent countless hours in photo mode to shoot trees and grass.

[@PrimiusLovin]

Exactly, even in fast-paced games, like racing games, I try to pay attention to how the trees are waving to wind or not even waving at all... just to check how much effort was placed into the game and/or game engine used! XD

[@michaelwesten4624]

damn fucking right I did

[@delchavez]

How can you not notice it? It's everywhere, and it's breathtaking.

[@manda3dprojects966]

If you're right then building my game engine from scratch using C++ is nothing, and building the game with it is more admirable. But building the game engine almost took 3 years.

[@kdoggdracul]

"You probably didn't pay much attention to the vegetation" Oh, we did pay very much attention to the vegetation! And thank you so much for all of your hard work, HZD was truly a masterpiece!

[@kikijewell2967]

Leaf cutter ants I found: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpLEip2aibmeps0 I spend a lot of time in game, just exploring the world, following rivers to the edge of the world.

[@misticalagesdennix]

@@kikijewell2967 Holy Shoot Amazing!

[@clxwncrxwn]

I was simply blown away by everything, the detail of the terrain, even to aloy reacting to the current weather. the running streams, fish in the ponds.

[@EversonBernardes]

"We had such ambitious plans for the grass when we started Horizon".

[@ittixen]

This is actually a surprisingly common sentiment among game devs 😁 (source: personal experience)

[@EversonBernardes]

@@ittixen I have a gamedev friend that spent weeks on an eye shader just so it never got shipped because it cost a few ms per frame. But it does look real good! So yeah, I can imagine lol

[@DeskToyStudios]

This is such a dense talk, so much to unpack it's great. Some really weird tips that I cant wait to try out like the projected normals at 30:38

[@voodootaco82]

This games landscape is so incredible. I have spent an absurd amount of time in photo mode just looking at the trees, flowers, grass and animals. Thank you to @Guerrilla for making my favorite game of all time.

[@TheWorldsOfGaming]

THIS GAME IS CRAZY GOOD-LOOKING for a 3 year old game running on a comparatively underpowered platform. I spent countless hours shooting clips from the diverse plants (and wildlife) and using photo mode playing with the time of day slider. So beautiful! AMAZING JOB from the developers at Guerilla!!

[@jansmycka4338]

Can't wait for it to get on PC.

[@TheWorldsOfGaming]

John Loop Yeah, I’m happy PC players can get in on the fun. It’s a (surprisingly) deep game with great mechanics and a gorgeous world!

[@jansmycka4338]

@@TheWorldsOfGaming I bought PS 4 mainly because of this game but I plan to replay it and get lost in that world again. Hopefully with upgraded graphics .

[@TheWorldsOfGaming]

Jonny B It’s (only) rumored to be coming to PC... makes a whole lot of sense for them, considering it’s out for 3 years already and its ‘cousin’ Death Stranding is being ported as well.

[@zensoredparagonbytes3985]

@@TheWorldsOfGaming it sure makes sense because Sony and Nintendo make consoles so that their exclusives can go to pc to undermine their hardware and software sales. You have the logic of a ten year old. Kojima Productions are independent indie developers, as far as I know.

[@Gogeta90]

This game is so unbelievably beautiful. Considering the limits of the PS4, this is more than a masterpiece

[@Hopkins955]

I hope it will really come to PC as rumours are suggesting!!!

[@asianhavoc1872]

@@Hopkins955 Do you have a PS4??

[@Hopkins955]

@@asianhavoc1872 I have one, even have Horizon Zero Dawn on it. But I really wanna enjoy the definitive edition of this game on PC on my ultrawide monitor and mouse aiming.

[@Hopkins955]

@Emma Madison Ubisoft levels of optimizations on PC are really a disgrace to PC gaming...

[@wolfrodah]

@@Hopkins955 yup, the division 2, runs like crap

[@ShienlanMiitsues]

There's so much to learn here! Not only how to create gorgeous looking environments, but also how to work with limitations and optimize for efficiency!

[@Shmack_]

Def one of the best looking games in years

[@VincentNicopolsky]

Excellent talk! A lot of technical wisdom from Guerrilla Games :) Spectacular work for this IP knowing their background (Futuristic FPS mainly). They were able to compile their knowledge and deliver an awesome game with a pretty well-optimized engine. Bravo! :D

[@InHUM44n]

57:00 and now on the PC release we got interactive foliage. He got his wish

[@Bonniebelle_00__]

yeah it was soon to be expected

[@tsuki7070]

Thank you for the beautiful art!

[@Linnir]

Discovering this game in 2024. For me vegetation makes a game. I love real life nature and the nature you have created just make the world feel so inviting . I just spend time in game: wandering enjoying the light and views. Normally I look for mods to make the vegetation better in games, but certainly not necessary in Horizon. All the more impressive that it still holds up today in a high end PC. Thank you.

[@T4gProd]

I don't think I've ever paid so much attention to vegetation than in this game. It looks gorgeous and is one of my favourite games of the decade. A PC version would have been awesome, I'll what the engine can do on PC when Death Stranding arrives.

[@maurernorbert7031]

good news, there were talks about porting HZD to PC. Some PS4 players were hurt (for no more exclusive), but I think it would be a wonderful thing to have.

[@zensoredparagonbytes3985]

@@maurernorbert7031 Doesn't make any sense. Why would I buy a PlayStation if I can play it on a more expensive PC that needs dedicated launchers with DRM implementation?

[@zensoredparagonbytes3985]

@@maurernorbert7031 and the BS of no more exclusive, there are loads of games are PC exclusive and can't run on a PlayStation system. Do you need to have all the games in the world? Don't answer. I know it's yes

[@maurernorbert7031]

@@zensoredparagonbytes3985 Maybe because you already have that PC and don't want a censorstation? Maybe one of the PC master race? Maybe to try 4K+ raytrace (altough that probably needs to change the decima engine itself)? No idea and to be fair: part of the PS4 advantage are the exclusives without them it's basically an underpowered PC with a modified linux on it. All I know that I loved HZD on the PS4 (was amazed how it looked and all the optimizations it has) and I think I spent more time wandering around for the nature visuals than doing the quests/main story.

[@zensoredparagonbytes3985]

@@maurernorbert7031 PC modster race is a bit overrated imo. That's mostly nerds. Loads of people just want press and play without the hassle. I agree on the exclusivity part. I was just being sarcastic. Otherwise look at Nintendo. They have been 40 years in the gaming business and non of their exclusives are available on PC, other than in emulators. I loved Horizon too on PS4. Only reason I bought the system. It blew my mind and when I saw it on a Pro I had to scrap my brain off the ceiling XD

[@riderz_13_78]

Decima engine is by far the greatest open world engine ever created i love the amount of detail u guys add in ur games both Horrizon games r absolutely stunning in every aspect definitely the best looking game of 2022 and i bet even beyond

[@nickplays2022]

18:05 I’ve seen some modern games where they use just that 1st animation alone

[@dimomarkov8937]

Classic first and naive grass implementation at 16:36 :) Everyone has done this at least once! :D

[@JOCoStudio1]

Some day, some day...

[@exoqqen]

the reveal of the array of 64 128x8 textures for albedo blew me away, can't imagine the shader behind it. amazing talk

[@merion297]

And please, make the Photo Mode use better LODs in distances, optionally. Making a photo doesn’t requires stable 30 fps. 🙏🙏🙏

[@Dd-fb2tj]

Just recently got round to playing this game. RDR2 is the the most impressive game visually I've ever seen, but just beneath that is horizon zero dawn and God of war. What's more impressive though that Horizon zero dawn is 3 years old and blew me away when I played it recently . The foliage and lighting are incredible still.

[@TheWorldsOfGaming]

Dd Couldn’t agree more, there are more graphically impressive or photo-realistic games out there - especially on PC - but this is as close to perfection stylistically and in terms of ‘feeling alive’ as you can get with a 3 year old game running on rather restricted 7 year-old hardware... the power of optimization, I guess.

[@NLJeffEU]

But in rdr2 you sit on a horse for 15min to go from 1 to the other place. In hzd you killed 20 robot dino's in that time 😂👍 so much more fun

[@John-996]

@@NLJeffEU red dead 2 has tons of intresting things to find on my second playthrough and still finding things came across a random encounter with Javier saying bill had been kidnapped also found a Ghost lady, went to catfish jacksons and killed the son then came back and the farther was mourning him the world really feels alive and the side quests and story are amazing. HZD combat and story are amazing both are different experiences cant wait for HZD.

[@kathoden]

At 57:38 when he talked about the snow system and abusing it, I doubt he was alluding to more DLCs. HZD2 confirmed!

[@SireDragonChester]

Ya you know he wanted to say HZD2. But he paused for moment lol. Can’t wait HZD2 and see what they can push on next gen AMD zen 2 hardware. :)

[@asianhavoc1872]

Good catch,mate.......he said a lot.......hehehehehe...am getting a lot of Exciting vibes abt the new game.....

[@kathoden]

Well, quite literally, HZD2 confirmed!

[@EscapeCondition]

This game will stand the test of time, visual treat and I really appreciated the scope of the "wildlife" - it felt comprehensive.

[@FritzSchober]

Horizon Zero Dawn was absolutely awesome - the visuals blew me away. The DLC was also very impressive. I can't wait for a sequel.

[@Bonniebelle_00__]

yeah me either , even though i never finished the game

[@KitBits]

Buddy do I have some goooood news for you

[@Nikolai508]

I'd like to know what Kojima Production's experience was like using the Decima engine.

[@exa211]

Yoooo me too would be extremely interesting

[@remon563]

46:15 does anyone know if this technique of using a seperate "shadow casting mesh" is possible in Unreal ? awesome talk btw.

[@ChrisDrift]

Look into capsule shadows in UE

[@vast634]

28:52 File Path "HRZ2" working on the follow-up already?

[@sociallyineptspider-man2366]

My favourite open world

[@-castradomis-1773]

Incredibly gorgeous game to this day. GG always knows how to get the most out of Sony hardware. I think they may have finally surpassed ND in that regard. HZD is my favorite PS4 game and the only game I've ever pre-ordered dlc for. If you have a PS4 and don't have this game, you're doing yourself a disservice. Hope the pc release rumors are true! I'll buy it again!

[@speedfreakpsycho]

Wish that I can hop in some of those studios, one can dream.

[@ssjxcloudstrife8652]

Are we on our way to getting a Horizon Zero Dawn 2?!?!

[@TheWorldsOfGaming]

SSJ X Cloud Strife I’d bet we’ll see an announcement when the PS5 is revealed. More interesting: will there be a PS4 version?

[@NLJeffEU]

@@TheWorldsOfGaming 5% of the game studio's are maling games for the ps5. The rest are gonna be both 4 and 5 👍

[@zensoredparagonbytes3985]

@@NLJeffEU Hoe weet jij dat nou?

[@NLJeffEU]

@@zensoredparagonbytes3985 van de week een interview over gezien

[@zensoredparagonbytes3985]

@@NLJeffEU tof. Waren het gasten van Guerilla? Het heeft wel een beetje zin wat je zegt sinds 100+ miljoen PS4 verkocht zijn. Dat is een sterke potentiële markt. Is dat interview te zien op YT?

[@sandroguzelj1234]

still dont get how this gem of a game didnt get goty....

[@michaellochner9145]

Sandro Guzelj I agree but I think the reason why it didn’t was why it was so good. This was Gorrilas first attempt at an open world game that knocked it out of the park. But because it was their first, and the first of the franchise in the series, the advertising and knowledge base of the game was very undercut in comparison to God of War, RDR2 and other games where the franchise, brand, and play style was an already established meme. I remember only seeing 2 adds for it in the months leading up to, after, its release date. While I saw RDR2 adds on football commercial breaks and god of war trailers like crazy on KZbin.

[@sandroguzelj1234]

@Athena Chan 2003 see the thing is i found breath of the wild extremely shallow and boring. also it felt like everything was designed to annoy the player ( cant climb in rain, having to remove all your equipment during thunderstorms etc..) and honestly whoever designed the durability system in botw deserves to get fucking fired imo

[@ashokninave5942]

@@michaellochner9145 totally agree

[@diegosotomiranda4107]

@humandxp no

[@samsa824]

Games older than Horizon Zero Dawn does it better in many ways, ask game developers or even better go to game programming school and you will understand why it is far from goty..

[@Fisher_007]

So Agent Smith is now building the vegetation in the new Matrix, awesome. :D Amazing work though, I'm a bit sad that nobody asked how they made the mesh moss (for example when little Alloy falls into the cave). That blew my mind and still don't the trick behind it, it looked way too dense for even instancing.

[@Bonniebelle_00__]

okay spoilers much

[@Fisher_007]

@@Bonniebelle_00__ Hahaha

[@chrisgg80]

It’s probably too much to ask for but I hope the second one is available on pc

[@asianhavoc1872]

Do you have a Ps4??

[@chrisgg80]

XANTHAR SUPREME yeah, lol just the potential they have if they release it if pc is really high. Also playing hzd2 at 120hz would look amazing

[@WotansCry]

Thats a quality Upload. Watchin now!

[@coqli6241]

Decima engine on the PS5 architecture will blow our mind

[@sortout1]

Thoughts now

[@laurentrochefeuille6269]

Waiting Horizon Zero Dawn 2 on PS5 ♥️

[@syntaxed2]

32 triangles and alpha planes on a PS4 - Isnt it nice how graphics have progressed?

[@drosnelochmir6346]

HZD2...sneak peak...when?

[@chocolate_maned_wolf]

“you probably didn’t see the work i did” lmfao bro literally everyone oogles the plants in this game

[@ngu0061]

Woah why is this uploaded now two years later? Not complaining though.

[@MrMalawk]

This game is really amazing and so are the graphics for the PS4 Pro but I can only imagine what the sequel to this game will look like on PlayStation 5!!!

[@Bonniebelle_00__]

im not sure either

[@patrickwilliamson29]

"That's the only joke here, the rest is just tech talk" Proceeds to make heaps of actually funny jokes during an interesting presentation

[@merion297]

Please promise us that you Guerrillas will release a PS5-upgraded version of HZD1. 🙏🙏🙏

[@rainbow-jw3og]

i can not wait more for play in pc 1080p 60 fps :D

[@asianhavoc1872]

Its not confirmed yet.....

[@TheDisasterr]

@@asianhavoc1872 Seriously why are people acting like it's been confirmed when it hasn't and probably won't because it's a first party game. People just setting themselves up for nothing.

[@Shahan777B]

cant wait for the sequel on ps5

[@riderz_13_78]

Wish more games could look as good as horizon games

[@androwaydie4081]

"You probably didn't pay much attention to the vegetation" Understatement...

[@Camtrack]

kind of game that makes you ask if we really need another console generation

[@kaosapprentice]

correction he took Saturday off

[@kinoumenthe727]

That dead tree is in Horizon !! xD So it's from Killzone huh ? xD

[@MegaCityOne]

One major flaw with Horizons vegetation is that it didn't move when the player walked though it. Except the tall red grass.

[@ulrichleukam1068]

It is not a flaw. But a limitation due to hardware capability. This is particularly harsh on open-world games since more assets have to be loade and animated than the typical shooters where assets are hiden behind walls or structures to save memory to improve on the details

[@xylvnking]

dope talk

[@MrCOPYPASTE]

I would love to work with these guys

[@local9]

45:40 Someone screaming in the back or something?

[@ctfan]

that was so disrespectful,sounded like students on a field trip.

[@franzusgutlus54]

My issue was that Aloy wasnt interacting with the vegetation...that stood out like a sore thumb.

[@TOnySchAnneL9000]

I ran through some corn and was bummed when I didn't even hear rustling.

[@SireDragonChester]

Anti More likely it not issue with game engine. But limitation how much can do on old AMD Jaguar apu/limited 4.5 GB ram. It was impressive with what they could do on the old hardware.

[@zensoredparagonbytes3985]

@@TOnySchAnneL9000 you can have someone stand next to you and hit you in the face with a tree branch every time you go through the bushes XD

[@nickplays2022]

He talks about it starting at 16:09

[@franzusgutlus54]

@@nickplays2022 👍 thanks

[@luckyfire878]

Most Beautiful and Epic Game for me in my Opinion 💙

[@wassilchoujaa3478]

4:36 targeting 30 fps in 1080p ??? why so low

[@robertwahlstrom]

Can’t wait for Sony to show more trailers of grass waving in the wind

[@nrryu]

16:00

[@brechtdelaet6495]

i tried speedrunning horizon but i just couldnt caus i was distracted by the buty of the world, i just stood there staring, for minutes and minutes

[@fredericleclech1623]

Un des plus beaux jeux de la ps4 , encore aujourd'hui ! A masterpiece ! 😍 Vivement la suite , peut être en Mars 2021 (ce qui fera 4 ans d'intervalle avec le premier, c'est possible)... en tout cas, pour le 2, je vois bien une sortie pour accompagner la ps5 😊

[@kineticraptor3318]

they really gave him the walmart bottom shelf mic for this

[@КостюкевичЮрий]

I want HZD and new GOD OF WAR so much...

[@autodidact7127]

Forbidden West is a leap as large as this ahead of this.

[@brechtdelaet6495]

can you inmagine, the art of this game but 4 years later and a divice that suports raytracing???? im so curius how HZD 2 wil look on the new ps 5!!!!!!

[@Saphiros]

this man knows how to hydrate

[@Groaznic]

2 years later and in 720p? What the hell is wrong with your IT guys GDC.

[@belularifaj]

Hello, for people who would like to get free points, you may get them at Gamecrook.

[@machinefannatic99]

Ram! Always the probelm.

[@Bonniebelle_00__]

hopefully new tech tackles this

[@mass5904]

Only criticism they vegetation does not Interact with player character except one type

[@Ricardo29j]

Now aloy interact

[@LiquidSnake1988]

People always under estimate console.

[@Chadowgon5]

I love desert and frozen places

[@SireDragonChester]

Can’t wait for HZD l can’t wait HZD 2 and really HOPE Aloy can ride more machines in next one. (T-Rex) I can almost picture Aloy taming thunderjaw and giving a name like a pet and her playing with him/her and it protecting her. As permanent pet. Also hope we get chance fly on glinthawks and able swim with snapmaws. That would be cool features imo. Ps please bring Machine horses in next game. I know horses were part of beta. But ya demica is best game engine imo. Can’t wait for next gen HZD2 hope we see PC version using Vulkan api for HZD and improved graphics.

[@adakahless]

There are machine horses in the first HZD. It's the first machine you can override (tame) and ride. It would be sad if they don't have them in the second one since you get blaze canisters from them.

[@xelaredna6841]

Wouldn't be surprised if they did, the extra power will really make this series shine.

[@SireDragonChester]

Adalaide Kahless No their not horses. Ram/bull and strider. Strider maybe horse like but no different then other two, as somebody who has owned couple horses in real life and grew up on farm. They are not horses. Still. HZD still my fav game and looking forward to next one.

[@adakahless]

@@SireDragonChester they snorted and neighed similar to horses so they are considered an equivalent. None of the machines are supposed to be exactly like the animals they were modelled after. Apparently the only actual animals were small ones like the rats, foxes, etc.

[@sladey21]

@@SireDragonChester the strider is most definitely meant to represent a horse, but obviously it's a robot and a computer game so it won't be a true portrayal of a horse.

[@hamzaboughraira4455]

He looks and sounds like ser Davos from game of thrones xD

[@SuperemeRed]

Working on Sundays..... sigh! that is not a good working environment.

[@potatoefacedfox]

stupid game devs don't realise trees shelter each other from the wind

[@autodidact7127]

It's the computational cost I think why they don't do that yet. Late gen PS5 stuff will likely do this.

[@autodidact7127]

It's basically ambient occlusion. Could be used to calc that, might even be an aesthetic choice as it looks nice when all the trees wave around like that

[@toxicrhythmz3718]

still best graphics on ps4

[@Bonniebelle_00__]

maybe

[@Neno.897]

In case you are looking for free coins and gems you should go to GameCrook.

[@marcosvlragnini9414]

PC version....

[@asianhavoc1872]

Not confirmed yet!!

[@rodrigoindiao5192]

11 donos de xbone não curtiram kkkk

[@XanderHDD]

video gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaames

[@npc5100]

so many efforts just to run awesome game in 30 fps on outdated hardware. And in 5 years there wont be a chance to replay it in 8k with new hardware. I just replayed all dead spaces in 4 k 60 fps and it was amazing, but thx to fucking exclusivity good games will be forever locked inside dead consoles.

[@Napoleonic_S]

it's on steam now... summer release.

[@hamuArt]

OFF Why is every GDC talk starting with "turn off the phone" call? It's like a basic stuff there and looks like as every youtuber when ask for subscribe and like....... annoying?

[@kathoden]

the 7th day is saturday tho

[@ChrisCarlos64]

In America yes, and perhaps some other countries, but many nations start the week on Monday.

[@kathoden]

@@ChrisCarlos64 According to the Christian and the Hebrew calendar, it starts Sunday. Which would make the 7th day religiously a Saturday. I agree with you though

[@ldlework]

I bet this talk is good, but I just can't stand the constant mouth noises this guy makes.

[@ifvictorthen10]

I can't stand some one reading in a presentation.

[@Hard2hit94]

Amazing graphics and world, trash game play 🤔😑😔

[@prezzeruk4054]

I really like the gameplay! Bows and arrows against dino mechs!! Awesome!

[@Hard2hit94]

@@prezzeruk4054 using one weapon for 60 hours isn't fun it's over rated

[@TheWorldsOfGaming]

Boocat There were slings, traps, the rope caster and the gun-like Rattler. Plenty of variety!

[@Hard2hit94]

@@TheWorldsOfGaming they all function pretty much the same

[@TheWorldsOfGaming]

Boocat Let’s agree to disagree, I guess... 😊