Red Dead Redemption: World in Motion

By Richard Leadbetter Published 17 July, 2010

Time-lapse footage of Rockstar's western opus.

It's game engines as art, innit? In a week where Red Dead Redemption proved its sales dominance throughout the summer, with DLC announcements just yesterday, Digital Foundry set about completing its own RDR project: the world created by Rockstar San Diego, displayed via the beauty of time-lapse video.

Although based on the same RAGE engine as GTA IV with plenty of commonalities and parallels, it's clear that Red Dead Redemption stands apart as a distinct technical and artistic achievement in itself: the attention to detail in what is basically a barren wasteland is simply phenomenal, and the scale of the game's vistas is hugely impressive. It's almost as if the draw distance goes on forever: compare and contrast to the pared-back, fog-shrouded GTA IV environments in the far distance.

However, similar to GTA IV, the use of lighting and shadow is key to the overall effect of the game and in this respect, the time-lapse shows just how much care and attention has gone into this. The whole scene is realistically lit from the major light source (the sun) with what looks like two animated 3D layers of clouds backed by a larger, inanimate rotating layer. Lighting seems to filter accurately through each element before bathing the environment realistically.

More than that, an extra level of immersion is lent to the lighting via the use of hazing that increases as you move from foreground to background, and this too is affected by the time of day. The scenes themselves benefit from some really high quality dynamic shadows (in the vista mode we used to get these shots anyway), backed by ambient occlusion baked into the environments.

Water is beautifully brought to life, but again also realistic in that it accurately reflects the surrounding environments plus the overhead cloud layer. The animation itself is pretty basic (perhaps just a couple of normal maps), but the transition into the land is seamless, sealing the deal. The overall sensation is simply breathtaking.

Red Dead Redemption: World in Motion.

Putting this video together required... patience. A full 24-hour cycle in-game amounts to an hour of real time, but you need to record more than that to ensure you get a full uninterrupted capture of the crucial dawn and sunset periods.

As just one minute of HD capture footage usually weighs in at over 1GB, we opted to capture at just one frame per second, massively reducing the space requirement and requiring so little CPU that the workstation could be used for other things at the same time. 49 shots were taken in total, with 39 making their way into the final edit. These captures were then sped up to run at 120FPS in order to get the accelerated effect seen in the completed video.

Getting a HUD-less, solid, first-person viewpoint is usually a challenge too. Red Dead Redemption made the job easier for us with its in-built "afk" mode. Leave the controller alone for a few minutes and the game pops up a pre-defined vista view. They don't seem to be random, giving the impression that these viewpoints were added, chosen by the creators, as the maps were put together. A lovely assist from the developers then, though the option to choose our own shots would've been helpful!

There's also the sense that this "vista mode" was designed as more than just a throwaway addition, it was a showcase for the engine and for the phenomenal world the Rockstar San Diego team created. View distances are of course immense, but also shadowmap detail in this mode is consistently high, whereas in-game a more dynamic LOD system seems to be in place.

Fine as the final time-lapse video is embedded into this page, the final 720p60 asset sitting on our hard drives is better still. So we've created a master version, encoded into h264 and playable on PS3, Xbox 360 and computer (so long as you have the requisite decoder). And we've mirrored it across the board elsewhere.

Other games in the Digital Foundry time-lapse collection:

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.

You may also like...

Comments (34) 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Keivz #1 2 years ago

    Another lovely piece by DF. And Rockstar does it again (still waiting on a PC version though).

  • DreadedWalrus #2 2 years ago

    "In a week where Red Dead Redemption proved its sales dominance throughout the summer, with DLC announcements just yesterday" probably needs updating.

    But yeah, the attract mode-type thing is something I've always found enjoyable in Rockstar open-world games, and Burnout Paradise had a good take on it, too.

  • Wheatley #3 2 years ago

    Absolutely stunning game. I actually failed a mission after stopping to admire a sunset.

  • thewool #4 2 years ago

    Come on, PC announcement soon...

  • Raznilof #5 2 years ago

    And still, some reviews claim the engine to be outdated and score this game lower than GTA IV.

    Obviously a review should be read in the "time" it came out, but Red Dead Redemption is the first Rockstar game in a long time that welds gameplay's linearity and a sandbox's open world within an inch to perfection.

    This is a far more deserving 10/10 game than a lot of others, yet, it scores lower.

    Articles like this help create more awareness for those that dismissed the game. Me, having spend countless hours in this world, I'm still incredibly impressed. Thanks Richard!

  • Pirotic #6 2 years ago

    Damn, I really want the game now :(

  • frankfurter209 #7 2 years ago

    10/10 for the game world

    5/10 for the game itself. IGN's brilliant Contrarian Corner editorial on Red Dead Redemption sums up every problem with far more eloquence than I can provide.

  • Eraysor #8 2 years ago

    Game of the year.

  • Tonasaurus #9 2 years ago

    This game really is a pleasure. I found the in your face attitude of GTA a little too much to play for any extended period of time. Red Dead on the other hand has some of the most stunning vistas I've ever seen and they're so seamlessly integrated in the game. I don't want to spoil it too much for people who don't have it yet, but the entry scene itno Mexico is awesome. The music/scenery and plot all combine into a great little sequence which is really emotive. Well done R* awesome game (multiplayer is quite hilarious too!).

  • spudsbuckley #10 2 years ago

    It was very pretty but also a buggy mess that was sort of insipid. Bored me senseless and i normally love R* stuff and sandbox games in general.

  • onezeonx #11 2 years ago

    stunning game

    almost finished it now on ps3

  • spekkeh #12 2 years ago

    Very impressive. I'm having some niggles with the game (the story which is basically one big i'm-sorry-but-our-princess-is-in-another-castle, and a lot of repetitiveness in the missions), but the world creation is beyond parallel.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/10 @ 11:42

  • up_the_ante #13 2 years ago

    If I think back to when I was a teenager and what I thought the ultimate game environment would be in the future, then this is probably it.

  • VandelayIndustries #14 2 years ago

    Absolutely lovely.

  • udat #15 2 years ago

    The game world and engine combine wonderfully to make a game in which I am happy to trot around on my horse and enjoy the scenery. Until a cougar leaps out and murders my horse that is.

    This video was nice, but I couldn't help noticing the clouds would be scudding along one way (generally right to left) and the shadows from the clouds would be going another direction. I know this is possible IRL as different layers of cloud can move in different directions, but it still looks a bit weird.

  • MrWonderstuff #16 2 years ago

    Video plays weird with artifacting. Must be just me.

  • Miths #17 2 years ago

    While the graphics engine might be a bit rough around the edges in some areas, I can't count the number of times - even after putting ten or twenty hours into the game - that I brought my horse to a stop and sat there for several minutes, just staring out at a breathtaking sunset or sunrise.
    The lighting and shadows are truly phenomenal - and much of the landscape in general just plain awe inspiring.

    I'm really hoping a PC version is forthcoming (I'm having a hard time believing that won't happen). As good as the PS3 version looked, I would love to see this game running at a native 1920x1200 on my PC, hopefully (assuming the engine has been optimized a bit since GTA4) with 4xAA, 16xAF and an increased detail level.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/10 @ 16:21

  • spiritsnake #18 2 years ago

    why does this game on the ps3 for me look like there is some aliasing?or is it the settings on my tv?coz heavy rain,lost planet 2,mgs4, uncharted 2,and others look just great,wonderful,except this game.

  • I\'mListening #19 2 years ago

    I will never forget the moment where I was on the edge of a large drop overlooking a huge vista and the sky in the distance flashed. I just stayed there and watched as a storm formed in the distance and steadily made its way towards me before it settled in overhead and I was drenched in rain. I can't remember seeing that before and with such an impact too. Storms normally just happen in games and never seem to build - they are just...there. Anyway, my favourite game in years without question. Brilliant. And my favourite looking game as well.

  • Miths #20 2 years ago

    I haven't seen the 360 version, but the PS3 version definitely has some flaws here and there, such as aliasing issues in various places. Despite that the landscape and the lighting and shadows still make for some stunning vistas.

  • Shinetop #21 2 years ago

    I wonder what happens to that newspaper guy if you keep watching him like this. Does he just keep peddling his stuff all through the night?

  • Lunatic4ever #22 2 years ago

    So awesome!

  • curtlikesmeat #23 2 years ago

    That's incredible.

    Part of me wishes Rockstar would try their hand at the fantasy genre, especially with a little of their humour kept in.

  • CaptainQuint #24 2 years ago

    @MrWonderStuff

    Me too. Youtube: http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=qhR-LzxH6pU

  • flanker22 #25 2 years ago

    are those god rays?

  • MrWonderstuff #26 2 years ago

    @CaptainQuint

    Looks like it doesnt like Chrome. Used IE and is fine...awesome stuff. Such a masterpiece that game.

  • MancubusSays #27 2 years ago

    You should've made such videos for each of the STALKERs. They would look awesome.

  • king_ghidra #28 2 years ago

    Beautiful stuff, great idea.

  • Verwandlung #29 2 years ago

    I 'd buy that for 50 dollars but they can leave the robocop stuff out.:)
    Edited by 1 at 18/07/10 @ 16:39

  • brainbird #30 2 years ago

    Beautiful.
    I second the wish for a Just Cause 2 time lapse video.

  • oreillymj #31 2 years ago

    Anyone else getting an alert in IE8 that it blocked auto downloading of a file when viewing this video?

    Typical M$ doesn't tell you the filename, so the only way to find out what the file is, is by allowing the potential malware to download.

  • Oskool #32 2 years ago

    What platform was this video captured from? Xbox, PS3 or PC?

    *edit* I found out it was captured from Xbox 360
    Edited by 2 at 21/07/10 @ 14:24

  • The_Inquisitor #33 2 years ago

    You don't get the movement of the earth represented at night though because the stars don't move. It's not a big deal as you would never notice unless you sped up time and stayed in one spot all night. But I bet one day it will be implemented.

  • suhawk75 #34 2 years ago

    @ Spudsbuckley

    +1 from me too. Not because I agree with your comment (I've not played RDR so can't comment) but because I don't think people should be pillored with big neg numbers just for stating an opinion.

  • shawnlee100 #35 1 year ago

    I will never forget the moment where I was on the edge of a large drop overlooking a huge vista and the sky in the distance flashed. I just stayed there and watched as a storm formed in the distance and steadily made its way towards me before it settled in overhead and I was drenched in rain. I can't remember seeing that before and with such an impact too. Storms normally just happen in games and never seem to build - they are just...there. Anyway, my favourite game in years without question. Brilliant. And my favourite looking game as well.
    _________________________________
    HP2-H08 | HP0-J26 | HH0-120 | 350-018 | 70-450

  • Roberto229 #36 1 year ago

    But I agree with you about even simulated violence being distasteful. Perhaps some day it won't be so compelling, but using it as a mechanism of conflict and storytelling has been around since the dawn of storytelling. Everything from Shakespeare to Tennessee Williams to Greek classics use it. But like in any medium about 90% of everything is crap testking 220-701, so it's easy to cherry-pick extreme examples of ultraviolence in gaming and discard the parts that make it redeemable testking 70-642.

    The way that I look at most gun/violence video gaming is that mechanically you're still just playing tag and cops and robbers. testking 70-649 The props might be over the top but when you pull apart the game play mechanics for any game it's basically laser tag, or puzzle solving, or agility skill tests and other basic building blocks of play.