Iconoclast by Andromeda Software Development [web]
i c o n o c l a s t
by
a n d r o m e d a
s o f t w a r e
d e v e l o p m e n t
Presented at Assembly 2005
written by
navis
scored by
amusic and leviathan
drawn by
amoivikos and ch3
requirements:
Iconoclast can run on machines with fast CPU and GPUs
with ps2.0 shaders (Geforce FX and 6+ series, ATI
Radeon 95++,X series). It can run on lesser machines,
but most of the effects will be absent (probably only
the particles, strips and skyboxes would be visible).
"you are not ready for this"
.code - Navis
Iconoclast is a product of enormous labour and love.
It was written between the beginning of March and end
of July 2005, without any significant direction or
sequencing of parts. Unlike planet risk,however,there
is a very vague 'storyboard': The transition from the
old world (in terms of demoscene) to a new, hence the
'destruction' of oldskool artifacts in the first
parts (up until the point of the hourglass, which
serves as an intermediate step).The original idea was
to dive then into a completely different style of
demo - so, the mellow parts would be followed by
angry, noisy and completely over the top, surreal
graphics - maybe similar to the ones in 'Aphorism for
the masses'. However this idea was abandoned and the
new approach was a bit more confined to what one
would call 'normal effects and music', while still
retaining a hint of surrealism.
The demo is split into the following distinctive
parts:
1) Introduction. This was (as is the tradition) the
last part to be written, and it is based on an old
idea we had:A fractalesque algorithm to create random
urban topographic maps. (and maybe a tongue-in-cheek
reference to the beginning of last year's winnerdemo
'Obsoleet' :-)).
2) Breathing object. The object with the holes, and
the saws passing through it, cutting it into pieces.
No geometry is being altered, it is all on pixel
shaders with "alpha testing" being used as a means to
recreate that Constructive Solid Geometry feeling.
3) Barbwire, rose and moon. That being the last part
written, it was meant to tone down things a bit, and
let eyes rest for a while, before
4) Hollow object, refractive box, the door. One part,
one long camera take. This part really serves as an
interlude between part 3 and part 5. Having a door
'opening up' the skybox could raise the philosophical
question of what exactly are the limits in the
universe that each scene creates,in this or any other
demo/computer game.Are skyboxes the surrounding walls
of the world, outside which nothing can exist ?
5) 'Underwater' scene, a collection of great oldies
-well, 3 of them. Then the transition into the music
box. Again, one long camera take. A very painfully
constructed scene and probably the most time
consuming one, due to the fact that a high degree of
optimisation was needed to make it run fast enough.
6) Polaroids reflecting a scene, 'Antikythera
mechanism', sharks, apes , the end ... How could an
ASD demo not have the trademark sharks(even though it
is a different model each time :P).This long part was
rather straightforward in construction - the goal was
to build 4-5 scenes and connect them so that they
blend into each other in a completely organic fashion
(not only in terms of content, but also in framerate
consistency),without the need to change camera angles,
do fades, post-processing effects or whatever else.
This is a tradition that has been in development
since EON, Ambience/Antidote for the masses,and party
Planet Risk demos.
Lots of time was spend 'adding' effects, particles,
models, splines and then even more taking them out of
the final equation.Spend a month adding, spend a month
taking away, leaving only what really matters in.It is
good enough when no more and no less is needed. It is
very difficult to make a judgement, and one can only
improve by watching and making more demos.
Last thing worth mentioning is the attitude of doing
as much as possible by hand.There is no 'scripting',or
stored camera paths in 3ds files.Even some of the mesh
animations are procedural. It is our belief that
hardcoding can speed up the process of creating a demo,
as it eliminates the need for a very versatile and
fully integrated scripting and spline laying tool.
Sin/Cosine are the humble bricks with which one can
build cathedrals, as long as there is enough patience
and imagination !
.music - Amusic / Leviathan
As far as the music is concerned, right from the
beginning we wanted to make a completely different
sound but at the same time stay true to the style
we have developed over the years. The result is
something that has its roots into the progressive
metal genre, but cannot trully be called progressive
metal anymore.Hence we devised a new genre which
we christianed "Dynamic" however it might apply to
each one that hears the term.
The general idea was that this time we wanted to make
a more oriental/mediteranean influenced piece along
with the "traditional" heavy guitar riffs, into a
crazy and punchy song. Alas, when the first effects
started coming in it was obvious that the diversity
of the visual part called for an also diverse
soundtrackish piece. Ergo, even if the result might
be pleasant to the ear (well if someone likes the
guitar) , it cannot be really understood out of the
visual context.
As with the visual part,the audio part is full of
diverse and different ideas combined into one piece,
while each idea could be expanded into a piece of
its own . The technique used for this one is no
different from the one we have been using since the
early days we were writting music.
Devising as we write.
Some ideas have been composed, arranged and performed
only to be found inadequate, deleted and back from
scratch, while others proved to be what we really
wanted in just a single performance. This must be
the piece with the most instruments and effects we
have ever written.
All in all, we are happy with the experimenting and
the result and we have the belief that we managed to
create an original sound sum that has not been heard
before in a demo (well except our little tribute
to Future Crew and noOon).
.3d graphics - Ch3
The common charecteristic for mos of the models, was
the use of primitive cubes or hard edges to achive
a more digital rather realistic look. Of course, a
reasonable polygon count was an issue , as many of the
models are not static, but they are deformed by per
vertex calculations.
.shark
The shark model started from the realistic looking skin
which is based on reference photos. The interior
skeleton though,was approached in a more abstract and
loose manner and it was made exclusively by hexaedrons.
The deformation of the shark is produced procedurally
directly within the demo.
.ape
A lot of preproduction work was done for the design of
this character. After its form was established thought,
the modelling was a rather straight forward process,as
it is a simple looking model. The polygon count was kept
quite low,for performace but also for aesthetic purposes.
The animation was the most important stage, in order to
convey the weight and power of the character.
.fatFace
This character combined with the apes, determined the
final part of the demo. It was modeled directly within
the computer and it is based on reference photos ,
but with some exaggerated features.Again, low polygon
look was an aesthetic choice, but also helped in the
perforamnce of its animation, as it is driven by blend
shape deformations. Its outfit and environment was made
with cubes to give a more abstract look.
.2d graphics - Amoivikos
Finally, the themes for the 2d graphics in this demo
were mainly influenced by images from olden days,ancient
artifacts and the baroque era.Lots of material initially
sketched out, did not make it into final, and that was
indeed for the best.Following the pattern set by planet
risk,but happily with lots more involvement,the graphics
attempt to serve the flow of the "storyline" rather than
try to stand out on their own . A great deal of effort
also went into experimenting with the use of mixed
media and trying to tie them seamlessly into a more
unified look and feel.
Postnote.
It has been a very enjoyable year, 2005,
rolling out 5 demos and getting to 4 parties.
See you all next year at The Gathering 2006 and PixelShow 2.
http://asd.demoscene.gr[ back to the prod ]