As with all engines, CryEngine gets updated all the time. We met up with Crytek at GDC to see what shiny new bells and whistles they've added to their engine.

The first new feature is unique to Crytek. Pixel Accurate Displacement Mapping (PADM) is the studio's alternative to tessellation. It allows artists to add a displacement texture dynamically on objects "with no visible polygon edges on the silhouette of the displacement." In a real-time demo, we saw a tree trunk's displacement dynamically altered--a neat trick for artists, to be sure.

See: CryEngine 3 in action »

At this early hour of the morning, treat your brain to what it really wants--to stare blankly at pretty things which require no processing or thought. Huzzah, then, for a new trailer from Crytek showing off CryEngine 3, its cross-platform engine powering Crysis 3 and other games.

Watch: Things move and look nice »