Now I just found something very very interessting. A mod called "City 17: Episode 1" for Half life 2. Now that doesn't sound very interessting does it? In fact,it is not,but today they released some information on different technologies which they are implenting into the Source Engine. I'm not talking about paralax mapping or something like that,compared to that,that's oldschool! Let's get to the point: (click the underlined features to see youtube videos about it) - They implent some sort of the Cinematic Physics System - Let's get dirty,they managed to get a system similar to the Euphoria Engine working,which is used in GTAIV for instance.(the video is showcasing the Euphoria Engine,they also released a video showing their first attempts to make their own realistic animations - And if that wasn't already enough (hold on to your seats),they managed to implent a fully functional new Lighting System similar to the one used in CRYSIS. (The video is quite low quality,but you slighty see the light shafts,they aren't as obvious as the Crysis light shafts,which is a more realistic approach) This system features: Light Shafts Beam cuts And Dynamic calculating Other improvements they did to the Source Engine are: => increased the Texture resolution to God Like. Which is beyond Ultra! => more Motion blurring effects, and handling more dynamic shadows, much like in Garry's mod. in summary,they really improved the Source Engine in a hell lot of ways never before done,they also said that they will provide the code to anyone who'd like to use it! (Source: http://www.moddb.com/mods/9576/city-17-episode-1/news/28558/improvements) discuss...
If they start taking other engines and putting them into Source, they'll get a cease and desist order in no time. It probably won't run very well on hardware older than 2 years either.
