Game Lens #3

November 3, 2012

Joanne Harper

Game Lens is a game photography feature. I hack, mod, tweak, and stress games (and myself) to not only make them as beautiful as possible; but to explore their environments free of HUD, overlays, and physical confinements; and take interesting, high-resolution screenshots.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

While I’m busy finishing my photo-tour of Mass Effect 3, (spoiler: Mass Effect series feature next article!) I decided to share some of my older shots. First up, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations!

The Assassin’s Creed series, which I love very much, has sadly always been very difficult for what I like to do. “Hacking” full control over the camera currently isn’t possible, and neither are any other of my favorite tricks. I’m limited to only hiding the HUD (simply through the options menu) which doesn’t give me good control over composition due to it being a third-person game, with the camera usually only rotating around the player. In Revelations, though, there are several first-person sections you can unlock, where you take control of Desmond, the modern-day Assassin descendant and “main” character of the series; as he travels through the surreal depths of the Animus virtual reality machine, used to read and project a subject’s genetic memories, which he is stuck within. These shots, with the exception of the first one, are taken during these sections. Perhaps when PC users get Assassin’s Creed III, there will be more options available for me to explore the “real” world, but sadly I wouldn’t count on it.

“Cruise” — Download

“Minimalist” — Download

“Only a Concept” — Download

“Trip The Light Fantastic” — Download

Settings & Tweaks: 1440p rendering, Injected Ultra SMAA.

Portal 2

Despite running on the aging Source engine, Portal 2 manages to stay pretty thanks to Valve’s excellent level design, artistic vision, and attention to detail. The series’ outlandish and humorous setting remains true, but somehow becomes realistic and imposing at the same time. The game has harsh lighting and shadowing, interesting use of color, and sterile environments. All combined, it’s very interesting to explore. It’s helped along here by some nice visual tweaks, of course.

“Aperture” — Download

“Awaiting Orders” — Download

“Blue Screen of Death” — Download

“Overlay” — Download

“Still Alive” — Download

Settings & Tweaks: 1440p rendering, 16xQ CSAA, ENB Profile, Forced SSAO, hidden HUD & View-model, noclip.

Project CARS

Project “CARS” (Community Assisted Racing Simulator), is a (you guessed it) Race Sim, currently in Beta stage and planned for release in 2013 on Windows, PS3, Xbox 360, and the Wii-U. The developers took an unusual approach of funding the game entirely from community contributions, which gives the contributor full (or limited, depending on what you pay) access to the PC beta, which is updated regularly. Being unreleased, it has numerous developer and debug tools easily available in-game, allowing me full control over the camera and FOV on the fly. The main thing is, it’s absolutely gorgeous and meticulously detailed.