We're progressing well with development of our PC Burnout Paradise here at Criterion Games. If you want a little more detail on how we're getting on, tune into tomorrow's Crash TV, where our production lead – San – will be talking us through the latest.

In the meantime, here's a post with some new detail on the graphics for the PC game:

"We're just implementing Ambient Occlusion (AO).

"If you're not familiar with this term, it's an effect that uses soft shadows to add extra depth. Enclosed spaces naturally receive less light than open spaces and look darker – that helps us to see how close objects are to each other.

"Some games already use AO but most rely on artists to build this into the environment. For Burnout this would be a nightmare, because we like to smash things up and move them around a lot! For this reason, we've implemented a dynamic AO system that affects fast-moving and destructible objects!

"Here are a couple of shots to illustrate the effect in action. Click on the image to see large scale at our Flickr location.



1) You can tell how close the building overhang and lamp post are to each other, because they cast AO on each other but not the brick wall which is further away.
2) The plant growing out of the old tire becomes more substantial.
3) The fan is clearly deep inside the box because it’s darker. The corrugated wall has real depth.
4) Even objects far away gain a level of depth...the ladder is clearly close to the water tower.
5) A wall that looks flat but isn’t gains depth as dark corners become apparent.
6) Even the grass looks like it’s got substance and depth as it darkens the ground."