Modern Warfare 2: Texture Streaming

Modern Warfare 2 : Texture Streaming

How important are graphics to you? Regardless of who wins in the endless ‘Graphics VS Gameplay’ argument, when you buy a new game, especially a direct sequel to a previous game, you have certain expectations of what that game should offer.

Innovation in gameplay, new features, new weapons, new maps, and of course, a leap in visual fidelity.

Right now  I wanted to take a look at the visual enhancements we’ve made to Modern Warfare 2.

A major component in the new engine tech that has the greatest impact on these enhancements is our new hi-res Texture Streaming functionality. Texture streaming allows our designers the freedom to make much larger environments, like the scene below, while also increasing the amount of detail on the characters, and environments in the vicinity of the player.

Take this screenshot that we released at GamesCom Germany this week for example. Enlarge the screenshots to really see what I’m talking about here.

^{ENLARGE - Before & After Texture Streaming Comparison}

Notice the major difference on the character model in this shot, specifically the head of “Soap” MacTavish and the fabric texture of his uniform.

You can tell even more in this full version of the screenshot:

_{BELOW: View Full Screenshot with Hi-res Texture Streaming (Enabled)}

_{BELOW: Compared to Full Screenshot without Hi-res Texture Streaming (Disabled)}

You can see how this new feature allows to us to further push the amount of detail we can add to our characters, their gear, and especially the environment thanks to the memory allotment improvements it provides. Allowing more space for weather effects, dynamic destructible objects, and other details that are just as crucial to the total immersion of the game.