3D Builders Seriously Skeptical of Project Sansar Screenshot

Well I thought Ebbe Altberg's teaser pic from Project Sansar last Friday seemed pretty impressive, especially since he said it was a scene that only took a few hours to create. Many NWN readers with more 3D building skills than me, however, were not - particularly "JohnC":

I don't mean to knock Ebbe really, he seems like such a nice guy, but... Short version: You mean it took a specially selected team of Maya artists and a brand new game engine to put out this vague hazy screen shot, that tells us little or nothing about anything, except maybe the people who produced it.

The long version is much more ranty, but still important to read, because these are exactly the kind of 3D content creators who need to get convinced Sansar is All That, especially against free competitors like Amazon's Lumberyard:

Long version: It guess it kind of shows the influence of LL's decadent years, dwelling in a backwater of game development that they would post a shot like this as an example of their cutting edge new world beating game engine. Or maybe Ebbe is leaking stuff and the rest of the team are quietly despairing of their leaders judgement.

Just take a real long sober look at what you are seeing here.

A few rocks, a flat desert floor, an antenna and what look like maybe a vehicle of some kind, all almost totally obscured by haze and fog.

You mean this could not be done in SL even as it is?

Sadly, because the lighting has always been worse than useless in SL, and had to be faked all the way down the line, many users, including the developers it seems, get all excited when they manage to pull off a blurry, hazy out of focus scene with a bit of distance fog, a few pre made assets and a sun light in it. There is actually nothing here that I and many others could not have produced in SL a few years back.

Sansar it seems, from what little information we can deduce beyond all the smoke and mirrors, appears to be attempting to get in the ring with the the big game engines and take them on at their own level in the big wide world of VR. Needless to say they have a long way to go, both technically, and more importantly on the Community development side.

I doubt very much these kind of images will impress anyone other than those steadfast SL survivors who are still clinging to the stern rail of the slowly sinking good ship SL. Desperately scanning the dark horizon for any hopeful sign at all of the rescue ship, HMS Sansar. Even though the Sansar's Captain keeps messaging the SL, in no uncertain terms, that they are not pulling alongside to pick up survivors, and unless you can swim in a pretty spectacular fashion, you are going down with the ship.

Way too early to say that, I'd say, but with Sansar already losing the next gen platform war from a graphics perspective, it's definitely time for the Lindens to start explaining why it really matters every other way.

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Comments

[Dartagan Shepherd]

True, first that image of Sansar can be done in any game engine in a couple hourse. Secondly it's not at all impressive and way overdone with lighting and atmospherics as to be amateurish.

They are definitely late to the party with Sansar, others are going to be coming out with offerings as well by the time Sansar goes live.

And you won't be tied to Linden currency, or have to share your revenue with LL's many sinks on that currency.

Haven't done anything in depth with Lumberyard yet, but its' surely another contender. Whether it can live up to AAA game billing they're giving it, we'll see. Some engines like Unity3D aren't in that AAA category.

While game engines get more advanced, Sansar appears to be just a browser based engine from what little you could tell about sparse info being given out. It's mobile capability will probably be in a webview component.

LL needs to step up its game and start showing what tech they have going for them and giving some details. Lack of details doesn't impress anyone who already knows game engines. It's vaporware and the super secret product launches are yesterdays strategy.

Hamlet, keep up the good articles on this stuff. Sansar isn't where the action is (or will be at this pace).

[Lester Bangs]

Ahh second life fandom...I leave you for a few years and come back and find you haven't changed at all since the last invective filled diatribe I read.

[Ryou Yiyuan]

Hmmmm Take a tour in Wasteland and I think a pic like that can be taken in SL.

[zz bottom]

More and more i know Sansar will not kill Sl but it will be the end of Ebe as ceo.

[Clara Seller]

Dartagan Shepherd pretty much sums it up with "super secret product launches are yesterdays strategy".

Seriously, after all of this time, offering a bleached-out generic snapshot is about as exciting as getting a single Tic Tac in your trick or treat bag.

[metacam oh]

I didn't even know Amazon was getting into the game engine business but I have been reading up on the new lumber yard and probably going to take a look at it later today. Looks pretty good for beginners looking to get into these game engine type tools

[JohnC]

When Sansar is opened to the public there is one thing it has to be, free to use and create with, for anyone who does not use it, to make money. This is the way of the world now for VR engines. Unity, Unreal, this Google effort, and most likely many more to come, all get it, you cannot appear, at least on the surface, to be fleecing the very people who you need to make your engine shine, and to make you money. And this needs to be a genuinely free offering, not a shady deal for content creators, or a cheaper than SL deal.
This is kind of how the Sansar spiel should sound, and even more so for LL as they have been one of the only truly social online experiences out there with a genuinely caring, hard core following. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt86Ab4_TnA
Like the Epic slogan goes, If you love something, set it free :)
Of course it's still all about making money, and to some extent sugary bullshit. But like a wise shepherd will tell you, only a fool worries the flock on the way to market.

[Issa Heckroth]

By comparision. heres the first pick of Amazons Lumberyard.

http://cdn.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/lumberyard-meadow-635x352.png

yeah.