Vehicular violence.(Gaming)

The game's battlefields rumble under the heavy-metal tonnage of hundreds of Necris and Axon (human) assault vehicles; this time, many of them have more curved and animated surfaces to maximize the potential of the Unreal engine. The visual upgrade included the addition of a full-damage system, integrating morph targets, detachable parts, a damage shader, hit-location-specific particles, a location health system, and customizable explosion and vehicle death parameters.

The Leviathan, a powerful five-man mobile assault station with five turrets, was the most complex of the Axon vehicles to create. A vehicle of huge scale and one that is required to hold five players (four turrets and a driver) as well as an integrated super weapon capable of mass destruction, the Leviathan posed quite a challenge from initial concept right to the end. "Its immense size caused levels to be redesigned to accommodate it," recalls artist Paul Jones. "Ultimately, what makes it all worthwhile is the awesome sight of seeing the articulation and transformation of the vehicle parts as the super weapon deploys."

The more polished, angular, and insect-like Necris vehicle design emerged from a desire to forge a stark contrast to the mechanical, beaten-up metal of the existing set of Axon vehicles. Early on in production, a smooth, composite shell material was developed for the alien vehicles, setting the style for all new units. Powered by a glowing, moving energy ball and the signature tentacles, the Necris vehicles were born.

"All of them proved a modeling challenge, especially with the frequency of complex, compound curves and intersecting shapes. However, with the organic nature of the Necris vehicles, the normal maps helped immensely in producing the final look of the vehicle," says Jones.

None of the Necris vehicles proved a greater modeling and rigging challenge than the towering Darkwalkers, which stand on a tripod of Nano-fueled tentacles and dominate the landscape like the giant tripods from HG Wells' Warofthe Worlds. Its spider like legs were animated procedurally in-engine using a form of spline IK.

To get the Darkwalkers' legs to move, the artists first ...