3D in Crysis 2 demo not actually 3D

By Richard Leadbetter Published 16 February, 2011

Crytek says full game does it properly.

Crytek says that the 3D mode in the Xbox 360 multiplayer demo of Crysis 2 does not represent the quality of the stereoscopic support in the final game.

Analysis of the Xbox 360 multiplayer demo suggests that Crysis 2's 3D mode is an optical illusion based on stacked 2D layers - a sort of basic diorama effect as opposed to creating individual views for each eye.

It's an interesting trick that does indeed generate an impression of depth as discussed in the Crysis 2 Demo tech analysis, but it's clear now why we thought that the 3D effect is so easy on the eyes... It's because there is no actual 3D as such in the demo code.

From what we can gather, the "3D mode" takes certain elements of the image and then shifts them horizontally a set number number of pixels, with that value adjusted according to the 3D strength selected in the options.

Three distinct layers are processed: the HUD, the view weapon and everything else - which is basically the entire scene. When beamed to a 3DTV, this gives the impression of the HUD being close, the gun being further away, while the main environment is recessed further back still to give an impression of 3D.

So what happens when you cancel out the pixel offset? We've done just that in this video, confirming that the view per eye is identical.

Crysis 2 3D - here the left and right views have been superimposed. As you can see, the offset between the two views is identical when it should vary significantly depending on how far away each object is. Improvements are mooted for the final game.

We asked Crytek to clarify the situation, as the firm's own GDC presentations suggest a "2D plus depth" approach is used by CryEngine 3 on console, similar to the TriOviz tech, recently integrated into Unreal Engine 3.

"You're actually right, the demo still uses an outdated stereo implementation which has very little depth," Crytek's Jens Schaefer told us.

"The final game has a lot more depth and a lot of progress happened. The 360 demo did not integrate the updates and thus 360 demo is not representative regarding S3D."

While the implementation as it stands in the Crysis 2 demo isn't all we expected, the technique itself is intriguing and for games where significant amounts of the gameplay area are created from a series of flat layers (such as LittleBigPlanet), it may have some value.

In the meantime, Xbox 360 players might like to revisit the multiplayer demo - the Pier 17 "secret level" now appears to have been completely unlocked, and it's well worth checking out.

Picture of Richard.

About Richard Leadbetter

Rich has been a games journalist since the days of 16-bit and specialises in technical analysis. Commonly known around Eurogamer as the Blacksmith of the Future.

Read more articles from Richard by visiting the Richard Leadbetter archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Kaminari #1 1 year ago

    Welcome (back) to the world of parallax scrollings.

  • artibeus #2 1 year ago

    "In the meantime, Xbox 360 players might like to revisit the multiplayer demo"

    Would love to, but it has ended :p

  • Phishfood #3 1 year ago

    "In the meantime, Xbox 360 players might like to revisit the multiplayer demo"

    Did they continue the demo?

    EDIT: No they didn't, poo poo heads!!
    Edited by Phishfood at 16/02/11 @ 21:42

  • Darksjeik #4 1 year ago

    Can anyone confirm that 3D is indeed better in the leaked pc beta?

  • Pwnsweet #5 1 year ago

    I played the 360 demo in 3D and it was horrible. Aside from screen tear, the MAIN problem was the ghosting. It was everywhere.

  • Collymilad #6 1 year ago

    I'd love the visit the secret level but i couldn't even get into the original one because of your shitty matchmaking system.

  • space_ace #7 1 year ago

    "3D mode is an optical illusion"

    so, what else is new?

  • koopa #8 1 year ago

    "Can anyone confirm that 3D is indeed better in the leaked pc beta?"

    Nice try :)

  • Beano #9 1 year ago

    "Crytek says full game does it properly."

    Smells like marketing BS.

  • Bradach #10 1 year ago

    they've already gone on record saying that its not stereoscopic 3D and that it hardly uses any resources so this shouldn't come as a surprise. like 2D to 3D cinema conversion this will probably do more damage than good to the 3D movement

  • mashk #11 1 year ago

    What are you trying to pull Eurogamer? The Crysis demo has ended! Just checked it now to be sure. Someone shoot Dicky Leadbetter for getting my hopes up : (

  • The-Jack-Burton #12 1 year ago

    These guys are like used car salesmen. Without HDMI 1.4 is stereoscopic output even possible?

  • womble #13 1 year ago

    @Jack

    Yes, it's possible. But you just have to go with each image using a substantially lower resolution, for bandwidth reasons.

    FWIW, I don't think the PS3 is fully 1.4 compliant either. There's a lot of fudging when it comes to 3D this gen...

    @ mashk, don't worry, you didn't miss out on anything. The Crysis 2 demo on XBL was plain bad.

  • ianegg #14 1 year ago

    This was still stereoscopic - a different image presented to each eye - without HDMI 1.4. It just wasn't used for any of the actual 3D parts of the game...

  • dubdivision #15 1 year ago

    Looks awesome in 3D on the PS3 (single player demo).

  • Chufty #16 1 year ago

    Why is this a sticky then?

  • Ryze #17 1 year ago

    ^ Advert / buttkiss.

  • Phishfood #18 1 year ago

    ^ well EG still needs to make money, bandwidth doesn't grow on trees

  • Ryze #19 1 year ago

    ^

    Hey - maybe it's just a public service announcement for all 5 3DTV users, who don't play all of their 3D games on a PS3.

    :D

  • Ryze #20 1 year ago

    @womble

    IIRC HDMI 1.4 doesn't provide any substantial increase in image resolution over 1.3. 720p side-by-side 60Hz, and 1080p 48Hz are doable with no compromise.

    It's the games that generally can't be rendered at these framerates due to PS3/360's graphics processing limitations this generation. It does add a 100Mbit/sec ethernet connection, however, and other features that I can't recall right now.

    I'll do some Googling later if I have the time...

  • Ryze #21 1 year ago

    'The PS3 can support all HDMI 1.4 display modes, some of which are NOT possible for the XBOX due to the HDMI 1.2 port'

    [link url=http://community.us.playstation.com/message/2344664
    ]http://community.us.playstation.com/mess...[/link]

    BUT - HDMI 1.4 supports 4Kx2K (Digital cinema) video:

    'HDMI 1.4a requires that 3D displays support the frame packing 3D format at either 720p50 and 1080p24 or 720p60 and 1080p24, side-by-side horizontal at either 1080i50 or 1080i60, and top-and-bottom at either 720p50 and 1080p24 or 720p60 and 1080p24.'

    'HDMI 1.4 increases the maximum resolution to 4K × 2K (3840×2160p at 24 Hz/25 Hz/30 Hz and 4096×2160p at 24 Hz, which is a resolution used with digital theaters); an HDMI Ethernet Channel (HEC), which allows for a 100 Mb/s Ethernet connection between the two HDMI connected devices; and introduces an Audio Return Channel, 3D Over HDMI (most HDMI 1.3 devices will only support this for 1080i,[110] exceptions include graphics cards in computers and the PS3)'

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI