Futuremark Posts New 3DMark "Cloud Gate" Game Test Screenshots

[btarunr]

Following last week's reveal of next-generation 3DMark game test "Fire Strike," which is designed to make even the fastest consumer graphics setups sweat, Futuremark revealed screenshots of its second game test, titled "Cloud Gate." Going with Futuremark's "one benchmark for all platforms" strategy, Cloud Gate is designed to test DirectX 10 hardware capabilities. It uses DirectX 11 engine that's limited to feature level10_0. The lighter game test will be able to put notebook GPUs and entry-level DirectX 11 desktop GPUs to test.

Cloud Gate will see Futuremark's artists going back to space-opera mode, something we missed in 3DMark 11. Screenshots reveal what appears to be a giant machine hovering over a moon, with its parent gas-giant in the background. Perhaps it's a terraforming machine? An ion-drive spacecraft scooping up fuel? The test appears to make use of several of D3D10's illumination and bloom effects. In related news, Futuremark told us that the new 3DMark won't make it to the markets this year, and instead it will be launched for Windows PC (x86) platform in January, 2013. The Android, iOS and Windows RT versions will launch after a little more beta testing and approvals from their respective app stores.



More screenshots follow.

[caleb]

Homeworld 3 ?

[Rebel333]

The new 3DMark disappoint me 3 times;
-Only DirectX 10 features on today's hardware,
-3 different benchmarks for platforms; they were told one for everything,
-3. time delayed; Launch right after at Windows 8 launch --> Launch before end of Year --> Launch in January

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by Rebel333

The new 3DMark disappoint me 3 times;
-Only DirectX 10 features on today's hardware,
-3 different benchmarks for platforms; they were told one for everything,
-3. time delayed; Launch right after at Windows 8 launch --> Launch before end of Year --> Launch in January

DX 10 is only for this particular GT. The Fire Strike GT is a tessellation-heavy DX11 blood orgy for GPUs.

[St.Alia-Of-The-Knife]

the HDR & bloom makes my eyes bleed

[AthlonX2]

Can we just have the benchmark already! enough screenshots

[Supercrit]

Originally Posted by St.Alia-Of-The-Knife

the HDR & bloom makes my eyes bleed

They could add more brown for the icing on the cake.

[Mistral]

Anyone else find that each consecutive 3DMark takes a nosedive in the creative vision department.

I mean, sure, there are some nice effects but overall each new instalment is more and more... well... boring.

[Meizuman]

^ I liked the 03 and 06 the most. Vantage and 3DMark11 were not that entertaining to watch through... Looking at the 11, its just blurry moving images. Vantage (as I remember it) looked very meh (and was talked a lot too around the net).

[3870x2]

There is more orange glow than anything else.

[douglatins]

plox be something like freelancer, man i love space exploration so much some of those really end game systems made me scared to fly in, like that one with a huge black hole or something, i had tingles alll the time

[NC37]

Amazing how they can make benchmarks seem like they would be interesting games but when it comes to making games they suck big time.

[diopter]

Looks like they poached some models straight out of their shattered horizon game, chopped a few polies and added some cinnamon brown hue for maximum dystopian sci-fi of doom effect. Imagination factor = 0.00000000000001.