The Division to recreate “the most detailed NYC ever”

At the VGX Awards 2013, Ubisoft showed a new trailer for The Division, focusing on the technology behind the game. The engine, called Snowdrop, is one of the most impressive things we’ve ever seen, and as such we can understand Ubisoft Massive‘s bold statement in a Q&A with Duuro, where they explicitly said  to be aiming for the “most detailed New York City ever seen in a videogame“.

 We are trying to recreate the most detailed New York City ever shown in a video game: meaning both the huge scale of the city, as well as the most intricate details. Snowdrop has different tools that make it possible.

 

For example, lighting, realistic interaction with the environment and accurate destruction are later described in detail:

Snowdrop’s lighting system will also enhance the players’ experience. Taking inspiration from film production techniques, we are able to reach a higher level of lighting fidelity: real-time dynamic global illumination, time of day, indoor and outdoor lighting. Any change in the game environment will have an impact on the lighting.
As you have probably noticed in our E3 demo, we want the world to react to the actions of the player. We are strongly focusing on “realistic” interactions between character and game, like the “closing car door” while crouching behind a car, a physically-realistic jump over the hood, etc. to achieve complete immersion in our world.

From the start, we targeted a high quality destruction system. But the truth is that with the power of Snowdrop, we ended up with the most realistic destruction system to date.
The destruction system was extremely important to us since our game is strongly focused on tactical, cover-based combat. We developed a very visceral and accurate destruction experience using procedural techniques. The destruction effect is not pre-baked in the game: it reacts differently depending on the physical forces at play.
These surfaces are split and destroyed in real time. For example, glass shatters and wood splinters like it would in the real world. This means that the effect is completely different whether it is plaster, concrete or brick.

 

This is all music to our ears. Now I want to know more about The Division and soon, hoping it won’t be delayed like Watch Dogs: I definitely want to play it in 2014. The game will be available for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One; we have embedded the tech trailer shown at VGX below.