ResearchTutorial - Custom Crysis Content

I struggled to implement mods and downloaded content, so I have made a short tutorial on preparing new content for Crysis, as well as instructions on how to install, manage and run with Crysis Launcher and Windows. Higher resolution will make the image clearer to see, but I used a small capture area with AutoPan to make sure you can always see what is happening at the mouse cursor, and the annotations describe what is happening in lieu of a voiceover which can contain misleading commentary or be distracting.

Much of the resources online or prepackaged mods assume this as common knowledge, and often the installation instructions are very succinct and can be confusing to those unfamiliar with modding. This tutorial guides through every step in the most user friendly course of action, identifying programs such as WinRar and Crysis Launcher, as well as where to download them, and how they are used to get from forum to function. The comments on the video detail the key annotations, providing a constant slate for reference when viewed on YouTube.

Final Video

YouTube were being Fascists, so it's uploaded to Vimeo as well,
and if all else fails, download it yourself from filefront here.

Porosity Lens Brief

Neon Porosity is the exploration of motion and interaction through the graphical medium of illumination and colour. The environment of a porosity lens can be integrated into the display of data itself, however to serve as a contrast for the distinctive neon colours, I decided to keep everything as low key as possible, serving only to filter the neon streams by hiding them from view. This was achieved by using very simple models, setting the Time Of Day to custom sky colour and HDR amplification. These were simple modifications that allowed the scene to be far more interesting, with less being more in this case.

The neon streams are spawned every half second at the base of the AI character as custom particles (modified versions of duplicated particle effects), the glow parameter of the particle allows it to engage with the environment, and it is through the porosity lens itself that the train station containing the modified Portal Frames is revealed.  The previous concept of artificial gravitational systems through rotation was abandoned because of the inability to attach spawned particles to the universe core, and the inability to edit the colour of lights once spawned. Both these have been identified as known gaps in the CryEngine.

To conclude, Neon Porosity shows the interaction and navigation of AI through the environment, be it their individuality, their community, their communication,  or destination. The data can be analysed after movement, and the lens responds to the amount of time spent in a location.

Porosity Lens Demonstration

This additive Porosity lens is combined with the 3D maze rotating in space. I had to keep the normals facing away from the camera, so it looks a little bit  odd. There is a custom skybox as well, but you can't see it. 

This Perspective of the 3D grid used to construct the maze shows where the density of geometry lies, and with the structure of the maze itself, any entity inside the maze is eventually trapped in the corner, before being tossed onto the new horizontal plane by the rotation. The spawned particles remain in absolute space, and show that despite apparent progression of the player through the maze, they are still occupying the same position in space. 

Porosity Through Illumination

In this demonstration, the player can move between or around a pair of nodes, with each adjacent position illuminating when in transit between them, showing the connection between two points. The flowgraph dynamically inputs the required entity IDs through the Flow Graph Plug In System Iterator.

Examples of Digital Porosity Lenses

Additive Porosity Lenses

An additive porosity lens tracks input by creating elements to represent the data. In the above video, the LightCycles from Tron leave behind a glowing barrier that interacts with the environment. This is an interesting aspect, however after discussion with tutors, having the lens become the environment itself rather than a responsive environment was rejected. 

Subtractive Porosity Lenses

These lenses remove something from the environment or lens, showing where porosity flows are not present. In pacman, the white dots are removed from the display, showing parts of the maze left unexplored. Both types of lenses are suitable for this assignment, and it is difficult to work out which to pursue. Perhaps Both.