Raiding all those tombs and still looking good? Only Lara Croft.
The upcoming title, Rise of the Tomb Raider, will see main character Lara Croft become more detailed and realistic than ever before in a number of aspects from her clothing to her hair.
“We definitely believe the hair technology we developed with AMD was a foundation for the way we believe hair will be rendered in the future video game graphics,” said game director Brian Horton in an interview posted on the Rise of the Tomb Raider Tumblr page. ” And, as pioneers of this – there’s not many people to look at for reference other than films – we have been pushing that technology to find ways to make it even better. And we have been developing techniques to allow us to have more hair but less physics.”
According to Horton, the hair in Rise of the Tomb Raider is now in clusters and falls in a more natural movement compared to the previous physics-based hair motion.
“In water we now have the “zero-gravity” effect; so, when she goes underwater, her hair will float and it’s important – when it comes out of the water – it will feel heavier and feel more clumped and obviously look wet and darker, so all these things, including snow and the snow accumulated in the hair, that we’ve been incorporating into our technology,” he said.
Horton touches on other details the developers have added to Lara’s character, including her increased responsiveness to the environment, where he says Lara will “feel real and believable” when she struggles in deep snow or touches walls that she becomes close to.
“With the release of new consoles and advanced PCs, new technology was gradually made available to developers, and to players. Behind the stunning visuals which have set new standards, I truly believe the dedication of development houses is what makes games look remarkable.”
You can see how real Lara Croft looks for yourself when Rise of the Tomb Raider arrives on November 10 for Xbox One and Xbox 360.