GTA San Andreas characters defy mirrors with clever technique to workaround video memory constraints

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A screenshot from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas showing a character on a bike.
(Image credit history: Rockstar Games)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is an all-time standard, yet there’s no question that its in-game mirrors have actually constantly been a little unsteady in position. Now however, we ultimately recognize why, and it centres around a workaround established because of an absence of video clip memory – a minimum of in the PS2 variation.

Former Rockstar Games technological supervisor Obbe Vermeij required to Twitter to share that the PS2 variation of San Andreas never ever had adequate video clip memory to make mirrors “the proper way.” Vermeij described that the criterion approach has programmers “render the scene twice”, taking the “point of view of the mirrored camera” and utilizing it as a structure for the mirror. However, when it comes to San Andreas on PS2, Rockstar “simply didn’t have that spare video memory” in order to save this make. 

Instead, Vermeij “rendered a mirrored version of the scene, at the same time as the scene itself.” While this was absolutely reliable, it did have some troubles that you’ll have most likely seen if you have actually invested a great deal of time in the game. For a beginning, personalities and items can show up to connect from inside the mirror “horror movie style”, which is a little bit scary, to state the least. 

Otherwise, the approach in San Andreas likewise makes back-face culling – a procedure which identifies whether polygons are attracted and shown when you’re not intended to see them – go “the wrong way round”. This can bring about some designs in the mirror revealing their “back surface” instead of the one you’re really suggested to see. Vermeij provided an instance of this in a screenshot on Twitter – if you consider the rack behind-the-scenes, you can see that both photos do not look the exact same because of their designs showing in a different way.

In the respond to the Twitter string, Vermeij likewise recognized that checking out San Andreas’ mirrors might occasionally permit you to see various other insides in the game, which, in the past, some thought to be a sort of abyss. “There never was an underworld,” Vermeij clarified.

All in all, defining San Andreas’ mirror-rendering strategy, Vermeij stated that it’s “not ideal but better than mirrorless barber shops,” which is absolutely reasonable sufficient, yet nevertheless these years, it’s remarkable to have some solutions.

If you watch for a brand-new game to study, make sure to have a look at our referrals for the finest RPGs.

 

Source: gamesradar.com

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