GT2… on Saturn? No. (but still neat)

What started as a fun little programming challenge for XL2 has seemingly spun into something resembling a new “project” of sorts… *We’re going to use the term “project” here very loosely, as we have no idea how seriously XL2 intends to take this, however, it’s certainly noteworthy, considering the implementation of new environment mapping techniques previously untapped during the Saturn’s life on the consumer market.

What we see here is a demonstration of reflections, transparency and light sourcing applied to car models imported from GT2 and running on real hardware on top of XL2’s HellSlave engine… *(NOT a demonstration of driving physics)

Going back a few weeks, XL2 had made a significant breakthrough into environment mapping on Saturn using a gouraud shading technique and a large chunk of Saturn’s color ram. There were, of course, plenty of naysayers who chimed in with doubts regarding the viability of such a technique when put into practice for real gameplay. However, XL2 seemed unfazed by such remarks, which only proved a further challenge to be accepted… And accept, he did…

Fast forward a bit, and the man has been mucking about, importing car models from GranTurismo 2 and demonstrating GT2-like body reflections using his new technique. While still very much a tech demo and proof of concept for something potentially much bigger, XL2 has made a reputation for getting things up and running, quick and dirty.

His focus, as mentioned in our previous interview, has always been quick implementation on REAL HARDWARE, followed by optimizations and improvements along the way. In other words, get the “junk vehicle” rolling, and its momentum should carry the project along, rather than stalling out… *(car puns intended).

So while this could be just another Sonic Z-Treme type situation (a stepping stone on to something greater), it’s still good news for Saturn fans who want to see the console pushed in new and exciting ways, revealing some of that hidden and untapped potential under the hood… *(yes… more car puns)

One thing we do know for absolute certain is that XL2 intends to exploit the hell out of this technique in HellSlave where appropriate, further enhancing the game’s slick graphics and realism (for a Saturn), and rendering the finished product that much more impressive than it already is to begin with. We at SHIRO! cannot wait to see what new and amazing things XL2 will do with this machine, and we will, of course, keep you folks updated on any new information as it comes racing down the track… *(you see what I did there?)

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