Too Human at E3 2006: A look back and a new screen

If you recall, Silicon Knights received some very rough criticism about the state of Too Human at E3 2006. They had a playable demo on the floor that suffered from low frame rates, camera problems, and an overall unfinished look.

During our video interview, the game's producer mentioned a number of things that sounded very cool, but the team hadn't been able to implement them in time for the show.

After E3, Silicon Knights went silent.

Today, the company's president Dennis Dyack posted a rather emotional blog entry that explains what happened at E3. He also revealed a new screenshot, a testament to the progress has been made during the blackout period that followed.

It is a week before the show, and we already know the Too Human E3 demo is not what it should be going into E3. We are disappointed and tired. So many technical problems, so many sleepless nights trying to fix so many of these problems, but they never stop coming. I remember speaking to Ray from Bioware the night before the show. He asked me my thoughts on tech and I respond, "We are going to take some damage."

Since E3 we have not only fixed all of the problems we had going into the show, but we have made sweeping improvements across the board – multithreading, rendering, significantly better textures, seamless loading – all aimed at putting the Xbox 360 into overdrive. We have conducted focus tests on the game play, control, art and cameras, all aimed at making the game better. Soon we will start to reveal the story. We went into a very cold place in order to insure that Too Human’s next showing would receive a burning hot reception. Soon you will see this for yourself and our “ice bucket” experience will be over.

The new screenshot looks much better. Smooth shadows, enhanced reflections, and according to Dyack, no frame rate problems.