Is this possible in D3 engine?

[Neb]

I have never made a map for the Doom 3 engine, but I had an idea and wondered if it is possible.

 

Say you have your character wandering down an alley with an opaque window, textured to be murky and dark. An event is triggered where a video plays over the original texture, with the start frame identical to that window. A few seconds in and a couple of figures seem to enter the room within and light a torch. Their silhouettes can be seen from outside (even though they're not actually there in-game). You eavesdrop on their plans while a pre-rendered CG video breaths life into the scene. As they finish up and turn out the lights the video ends and we're left with the ordinary window texture again.

 

If that can be pulled off seamlessly, then there are so many wonderful things I can think of using it for. I hope this thread doesn't come across as too redundant. If it is easy to do and very obvious to seasoned mappers, then I hope that the idea is inspiring.

[Komag]

Yes I'm sure that could be done, since there were videos that played on screens in Doom 3. But you'd have to be careful how you set it up.

 

For instance, you wouldn't want to let the player too near the window, because if the player moved from side to side it would be obvious that there is no actual 3D depth inside the window, since the perspective would not shift with the player's movement.

 

Also, the video will most likely be lower resolution than that which the player has his game set to, so again you'd want to force the player to be not very close to the window, or make the window very small, so that the low resolution won't be noticed.

 

But still, the effect could be very well used I think, if done right.

[Neb]

I guess it's a case of experimentation to get a natural feel then.

 

Perhaps simple 2D silhouettes against a beautiful stained glass window would give a nice effect.

Edited March 18, 2009 by Neb

[Komag]

Yeah that's a good idea. There are lots of possibilities. The Doom 3 engine and the capabilities that have been built into The Dark Mod are very versatile, I'm very excited what the public is going to be able to come up with over the next years!

[jdude]

Definitely possible and a wonderful idea.

[SneaksieDave]

If I'm understanding the description properly, it makes me immediately think of this one:

 

Great idea!