Those lucky enough to be at E3 from IGN have first hand impressions of the Lost Coast.
A lot of us have been following the Lost Coast deal, and we've seen the trailer, but it's still pretty amazing to see it in person. Although it was a rolling demo and not something the presenter was interacting with (let alone one of us schleps on the show floor), it was easy to see what HDR does for the Half Life 2 engine. Not only does high-dynamic range really seem to complete the visual bouquet, but they've also increased facial complexity to make people look even more realistic than before.The preview also mentions that the improved visual effects will require a high-end computer, but the effects have the option to be turned off. A Valve representative said that HDR will be partially implemented into Half-Life 2 in a future patch as well. It won't be a full conversion though, as completely redoing the lighting in the entire game will generate a download over five gigabytes in size.
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