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| | VIDEO: Click on the image above to check out all GDC Crysis videos. | 
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Crysis is some fancy eye-candy -- no doubt about it -- and it's all thanks to the CryENGINE2. Yes, this is Game Developers Conference week, so the focus at the EA press event yesterday was on the developers and their tools -- here, specifically Crytek's new baby, emerging in the market after a three year R&D incubation period. While EA recommends CryENGINE2 for first-person shooters, it's also noted that it could be used to make a decent flight sim. The engine trailer is up on GameVideos, detailing all the delectable programming feats (light from a sunrise filtering through palm trees!). In the level editor we got to watch EA's demonstrator zoom out above an island area all the way into the clouds (literally, since they're fully volumetric). Then he screamed across the sky and swooped down to plant a tree or two, only to drop his character in to destroy them moments later, showing off the flying foliage we've all come to recognize. Taking the camera back out, he showed us the scalability of the items being placed, as well as the dynamic shadow effects he created by sliding a time bar and changing the position of the sun. Textures were spread around like checkerboard paint in old Looney Toons cartoons. Building roads also seemed simple enough. Once built, the road can be grabbed and twisted up however the player chooses. Player? Yeah, the best part is that this isn't just a tech demo; it's a tool to be packed in with the game. It sounds as if EA is excited to see what the mod communities will come up with, so look forward to the editor as well as the game, which will ship "when it's ready." For up to the minute coverage of the most important stories at this year's Game Developers Conference, check out our GDC hub page
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