Essentially, it is a tech demo of the source engine (the one that powers Half-Life 2), but maxing out the graphics in every possible area. The map itself has twice the polygon count of a normal HL2 level, and the textures are super hi-res.
It also introduces HDR lighting (basically iris control, allowing the brightness of the game to change dynamically), which means when you walk outside into the bright sunlight from a dark indoor area, it takes several seconds for your "eyes" to adjust to the new light. It also maps reflections in real time to weapons, textures, and basically any model ingame.
Basically, it puts the XBOX 360 and PS3 to shame.
Here's the catch. Minimum requirements are a 3ghz cpu, 1 gig+ of ram, and a GeForce 6800/Radeon X800 series video card.
This is cool because it brings photo-realistic gaming ever closer.
Here are some screens and a site with more info.
http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2005/09/21/lost_coast_benchmark/1.html
___________________
Ross
SRMC
bogart!
