NaturalMotion explains GTA boozing

By Tom Bramwell Published 20 February, 2008

It's "really the way forward". Hic.

Grand Theft Auto IV's drunken antics are helping to drive the games industry forward, says NaturalMotion CEO Torsten Reil.

"There is a drinking mini-game in very detailed form where you can get drunk and he can actually then stumble around and you have to get home," Reil explained in an interview with our sister site GamesIndustry.biz. Okay - so far, so GTA.

"But all of that is fully simulated," he elaborated. "So, it is not based on animation any more. It is actually all synthesised on the CPU. Which means that it has a completely different outcome every time you play."

This change - driven by NaturalMotion's 'euphoria' technology in GTA's case - is part of a shift "away from just creating lots of animation assets that we store on the hard disk and play back" according to Reil.

With CPU power much greater than in the past, it's possible to "create a live world". "It also has a nice side effect that we don't have to create all those assets any more, but you actually let the CPU synthesise them in real-time."

So, when Niko Bellic gets wankered on your TV screens sometime around GTA IV's 29th April release date, just think about how realistic it is, and how this is not just a question of fancy animation, but one of fancy processing.

And just you wait until you see how Rockstar's handled falling over and sleeping against the bathroom doorframe. Staggering. So to speak.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (27) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • Laxy #1 4 years ago

    Aweshome!

  • zoidberg #2 4 years ago

    pointless

  • Nillsens #3 4 years ago

    Stumble home drunk so you can play yourself stumbling home drunk.

    Me like.

  • ecureuil #4 4 years ago

    Pfft, it's no big deal, the PS2 could accurately simulate smoking cannabis. /drives to the top of mount Chiliad and sits there for an hour watching the sun rise and set.

  • kangarootoo #5 4 years ago

    "There is a drinking mini-game in very detailed form where you can get drunk and he can actually then stumble around and you have to get home"

    I try not to jump to conclusions about anything, but I'm going to go with my gut on this one.

    That sounds shit.

    The sort of thing you play once for novelty and then never do again as long as you live.

    "But all of that is fully simulated," he elaborated. "So, it is not based on animation any more. It is actually all synthesised on the CPU. Which means that it has a completely different outcome every time you play."

    What, you fall over in a... slightly different way?
    /raises eyebrows in the most sarcastic expression I can possibly manage
    Well colour me impressed, super computers at work right there. Its Tomorrow's World... today!

  • rhinoxious #6 4 years ago

    Drunken, drunken GTA sessions, sweet.

  • the_dudefather #7 4 years ago

    it would be cool if the game 'skipped' gameplay when you get really drunk, like after a certain alcohol threshold you would just wake up in your apartment, groggy, with a 4 star wanted rating, $50,000 less in your wallet and the body of a dead hooker in your bathroom

  • Stu #8 4 years ago

    Who knew 30 years ago that this is what computers would be used for?

  • wizbob #9 4 years ago

    Sounds clever and could be an eye-opener if implemented well

    /drunken master kung fu kick

  • syphaa #10 4 years ago

    Haha sounds brilliant.
    Even more reason to stay in and play GTA4 than go out and get hammered. Will just have to simulate a night out instead.
    Should be a laf'.

  • MightyMouse #11 4 years ago

    Hmmm but will it really simulate a lot of the possibilities? I bet you won't even be able to do the student-favourite theft of 'for sale' signs. What about random play.com purchases? I DOUBT IT.

  • Madafunkola #12 4 years ago

    If people would stop having opinions on the USE of this technology for 2 seconds, can we ask:
    Is this the end of motion capture???
    Who needs expensive actors and stuntmen to act it out with pingpong balls stuck to their heads when the CPU can brew it up itself?

  • kangarootoo #13 4 years ago

    "No more stilted canned animations"

    That is such a generalisation. The quality of "canned" animations is all down to the quality of work done by an animator. Hand animation can look far more realistic than movement generated by apparent physics. of course it equally look worse, but the end result is not determined purely by the technology used.

    In a video game there is no such thing as "actual" body motion physics. All of everything is simulated, either by a physics engine or hand animation, or a combination of the two, or whatever. The right tool for the job is what provides the best result, and we should be wary of just worshipping some new technology just because its new.

  • kangarootoo #14 4 years ago

    "Even more reason to stay in and play GTA4 than go out and get hammered"

    There is someting darkly miserable about that sentence. Are those really the only two choices we get?

  • kangarootoo #15 4 years ago

    @Bloodkult

    I should be clearer. I have no issue with the tech at hand. It looks awesome and the results can be amazing... I just think their idea for a "stumble home drunk" game sounds shite.

  • Lexx87 #16 4 years ago

    kangaroo...live a little will ya?

  • zuljin #17 4 years ago

    @kangarootoo
    "What, you fall over in a... slightly different way?"

    I kind of see it differently, I think this is like doing to regular animations what ragdolls did to death animations. Sure its not the invention of the wheel as they're promising, but I think it will make a noticable difference.

    I think sports games fall especialy foul of the annoying repetition animation syndrome...

  • Fodder #18 4 years ago

    It's just a fancy version of Bozo's Night Out on the C64.

  • L42yB #19 4 years ago

    @the_dudefather -

    LOL! :D

    And that is an even *more* efficient design. Even less assets would be required! Genius!

  • grantc7 #20 4 years ago

    You should try out Endorphin</a> if you haven't already. Some of the scenarios you can create are great to watch in motion.

  • monkie_king #21 4 years ago

    Fodder: good call, I'd forgotten that one.

    While ragdolling does generally look shit and lame, it does lead to some amusing moments. I once triggered a huge explosion in HL2:Ep1, to take out a combine. When I went into the room there was no sign of the body--weird. Then I looked up and saw it dangling from the ceiling with its shin wedged between a couple of pipes. Kind of grisly.

    It's also good fun in Crackdown when you pin people to the side of a moving vehicle with a harpoon.

  • Davemanz #22 4 years ago

    This is a rather pointless article for those who are familiar with Euphoria...

    ...that being said, Euphoria looks like one of the most awesome things in ages. It's got all the novelty that ragdoll physics had when it first came out, only it's practical and doesn't get old!

  • kangarootoo #23 4 years ago

    @Lexx87

    I'm not sure which comment your live a little suggestion is aimed at. I assume its not my critisism of this game mechanic, so I guess it my suggestion that going out and getting hammered OR playing GTAIV are poor options. I'm of course being abrasive for failed comedy effect. I stll get mashed, and I still play video games, but I do loads of other things too.

    Oh I dunno what point I was making. It just seemed odd to me to present tham as the two options for a friday night.

  • zuljin #24 4 years ago

    @grantc7 + Davemanz
    As far as I understand it, Endorphin and Euphoria are the same thing, except that Euphoria is the realtime engine version for use in games (as opposed to the stand alone animation tool).

  • El_MUERkO #25 4 years ago

    i'm just waiting for a decent fighting game based on procedural animation like naturalmotion's, had an idea for one based around rage a while ago, as usual i did nothing with it but oh for 20 million squid and a license for NaturalMotion

  • suicida #26 4 years ago

    More about Euphoria in GTA IV here

    Sounds cool as f**k to me. Can't wait.

  • PerfectVictim #27 4 years ago

    @El_MUERkO

    Google Toribash.