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[Durante]

But the buildings already block the direct light so there is no direct light left that the characters can block. It looks bad because of the lack of contact shadows/AO on the characters, not because they don't cast directional shadow.

This is true, what's missing there is indirect shadowing (or, ideally, GI), not direct shadows. It will probably look better with HBAO+.

Err, no? Eliminating sub-pixel shimmering improves image quality even if some people perceive it as blurry.

Yeah, TXAA at native resolution is completely incomparable to whatever seems to be going on in these shots (which is a combination of sub-native rendering and probably a single-sample AA solution which blurs heavily and doesn't catch all edges).

 

[DjRalford]

So after a year this is now....

The generation of parity!

Spoiler

for a price

 

[UrbanRats]

So after a year this is now....

The generation of parity!

Spoiler

for a price

What has parity to do with anything?

 

[VFX_Veteran]

Light probes are not pre baked though (unless I am incorrectly guessing what you mean by pre baked here), it's just like Farcry 3 I suppose. The game probably has a dynamic TOD so they need light probes rather than lightmaps.

Light Probes are pre-baked unless they are generated on the fly (i.e. Alien:Isolation). Even in FC3, they generate the probes when the level loads up. Querying them for lighting information makes it semi-dynamic.. but it's not a total dynamic system like in Alien.

 

[nOoblet16]

Self shadowing and shadowing shading always happen, look at the uncharted screenshot. Can you see how while Nathan is standing in the shadow of the pillar, his ear is still casting a shadow on his face?

The ao is unrealistic. Besides, the hand of the lady to the far left also dissappears in her dress. It almost looks like she is missing a hand because there's no dept.

I think you posted the wrong screenshot, this is what you posted and this certainly isn't Uncharted.

 

[eot]

This is true, what's missing there is indirect shadowing (or, ideally, GI), not direct shadows. It will probably look better with HBAO+.

Haven't they said they have prebaked GI (which is why there's no dynamic ToD)?

 

[Backfoggen]

That looks great.

At 359x202.

 

[nOoblet16]

Light Probes are pre-baked unless they are generated on the fly (i.e. Alien:Isolation). Even in FC3, they generate the probes when the level loads up. Querying them for lighting information makes it semi-dynamic.. but it's not a total dynamic system like in Alien.

I ought to read more on this, but if they are pre generated then how do they work with the real time TOD in FC3?

 

[Savantcore]

Guys, stop looking at the shadows/lack thereof around Arno's neck and see how fun this looks to play. Paris looks so good!

 

[Wind's Howling]

At 359x202.

Is this better for your GIF standards?

 

[VFX_Veteran]

Yeah, and they seem to be grid plced everywhere (like Far Cry 3).

IMO, it is perhaps the best indirect lighting we will see in a release game till Tomorrow Children or Deep Down comes out.

To me, that's not true dynamic GI unless it can change on-the-fly. For example, when I can wear a red costume being hit by direct light and the red light bounce on a wall as I'm walking, then I'll say it's truly dynamic.

In Alien, the flash can be turned on at any time and it will bounce that light around the room (same with the other light sources).. so that's truly dynamic too.

-M

 

[VFX_Veteran]

I ought to read more on this, but if they are pre generated then how do they work with the real time TOD in FC3?

Assuming they are using light probes for day/night cycles, they would just get updated every few seconds or so instead of 30+FPS like everything else.

 

[UrbanRats]

To me, that's not true dynamic GI unless it can change on-the-fly. For example, when I can wear a red costume being hit by direct light and the red light bounce on a wall as I'm walking, then I'll say it's truly dynamic.

In Alien, the flash can be turned on at any time and it will bounce that light around the room (same with the other light sources).. so that's truly dynamic too.

-M

This reminds me, that in Last of Us, near the start of the game, you're infiltrating some building with colorful walls, and shining a light on them paints the whole room of said color.
Later on in the game however that effect doesn't repeat on every surface (almost none, actually) which kinda weirded me out.

Not that i was expecting a ps3 game to have real time GI, though.

 

[DjRalford]

What has parity to do with anything?

I just think they should concentrate on making games as good as they can be on each platform, something they seem to have not bothered to do.

With better efforts I would think they could optimise both versions to a better fidelity, but this is Ubi and they've never understood what optimisation is.

 

[eot]

Is this better for your GIF standards?

The leg on that guard lol, and then he just spins 180 degrees for no reason.

 

[Sodding_Gamer]

The leg on that guard lol, and then he just spins 180 degrees for no reason.

Correction his entire lower torso spins 360 lol.

 

[Blackthorn]

I hate it when shadows are disabled in real life too.

I mean, come on, I don't wake up in the morning for this downgraded shit.

 

[Zok310]

Next Gen???

 

[Wind's Howling]

The leg on that guard lol, and then he just spins 180 degrees for no reason.

I am done here. This Unity post bashing has reached a new low with your post. Despite there being positives you turn it around and only the see negatives in this game.

Please... Go ahead and play your perfect game on your perfect PC because imperfections in videogames is certainly not valid in your world.

Here you go.. For your amusement:

 

[Theognosis]

Props to Ubisoft for taking some risks here. They might have taken a cue from Minecraft where objects are ugly up close but look really good as a collection of objects from great distances.

I personally like this paradigm shift on how games are developed. It is time that we look at things from the macro perspective rather than the usual microscopic which does nothing to the gameplay. Limited resources in game development should be spent on creating vast interactive worlds rather than concentrating on the moles of the faces.

 

[VFX_Veteran]

I hate it when shadows are disabled in real life too.

I mean, come on, I don't wake up in the morning for this downgraded shit.

Huh? There are shadows in that picture..

 

[Alasfree]

AC games always had broken animations with limbs at weird angle, nothing new.

 

[quetz67]

Haven't they said they have prebaked GI (which is why there's no dynamic ToD)?

Yes, they have, but that is environments. Charcters would need to have seperate lighting models for direct and indirect light. Better solution as said would be a "cheap" AO algorithm as they all look pretty good.

 

[DarkLordMalik]

You forgot this one.

Note: These are from Beta version.

I hate it when shadows are disabled in real life too.

I mean, come on, I don't wake up in the morning for this downgraded shit.

Look closer to the feet of the people. They have shadows.

 

[stryke]

I hate it when shadows are disabled in real life too.

I mean, come on, I don't wake up in the morning for this downgraded shit.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm

 

[Masquerader]

It looks quite good, I guess. Pretty disappointing, but still nice enough.

 

[Joey Ravn]

Guys, stop looking at the shadows/lack thereof around Arno's neck and see how fun this looks to play. Paris looks so good!

You're making it sound as if an engaging gameplay was incompatible with technical prowess. Why do you need to disregard everything everyone is saying by stating "BUT GAMEPLAY!", when this thread deals with the latter (or lack thereof)? If someone brought up the technical shortcomings of this game in a thread devoted exclusively to its gameplay, everyone would be up in arms. Why isn't the opposite also true?

 

[Wind's Howling]

You forgot.

A lot of people here probably will not realize that those two GIFs are from the beta version.

They go with everything they can see like a moth to a flame.

 

[Camper182]

any links to the ps4 footage? the facebook ones are down

 

[cyberheater]

I hate it when shadows are disabled in real life too.

I mean, come on, I don't wake up in the morning for this downgraded shit.

I can see shadows under their shoes.

 

[Gaffercake]

You forgot this one.

Note: These are from Beta version.

I just don't understand how these are considerably sharper than the shots in the OP, especially since the beta ran at 792p

 

[Durante]

I hate it when shadows are disabled in real life too.

I mean, come on, I don't wake up in the morning for this downgraded shit.

Note the perfect ambient occlusion implementation though.

 

[Horp]

I just don't understand how these are considerably sharper than the shots in the OP, especially since the beta ran at 792p

You know about downsampling, right? Rendering at 4k and then downsampling to 1080p for example. That makes the image really sharp.

Watching these small gifs is exactly the same; they are downsampled and thus looks better.

 

[Jacobi]

I just don't understand how these are considerably sharper than the shots in the OP, especially since the beta ran at 792p

Shitty capture...

 

[Blackthorn]

Note the perfect ambient occlusion implementation though.

I force it at driver level.

 

[Wind's Howling]

I just don't understand how these are considerably sharper than the shots in the OP, especially since the beta ran at 792p

Tiny GIF but the screenshots in the OP are probably exaggerated and compressed for obvious reasons; to put more oil on the fire that is already burning at Ubisoft's porch.

If those shots are 100% accurate of the final version they will have some explaining to do. Ubisoft might get hated for releasing rehashed versions of the same game over and over again, but they are not terrible in delivering proper graphical titles.

Glitches and bugs? Sure, they happen in their games but they never looked like the blurry mess that those shots were. I am giving them the benefit of the doubt.

But a lot of people here already played the PS4 version on their own screen and know how terrible it looks.

Just in case someone did not realize it. That last sentence was sarcasm.

 

[Amir0x]

gross. but at least thanks to ubisofts nonsense parity behavior they made my choice simple anyway.

 

[NullPointer]

Game definitely runs at it close to 30 most of the time.

close to 30

most of the time

definitely

 

[Horp]

What I find strange in these threads is that it seems like it's the same people that:
1. Are very quick to determine a game will look absolutely awsome when good screenshots (usually bullshots) are released by the publisher/developer.
2. Debunk any leaked bad leaked screenshot that shows up saying it says nothing about how good a game looks.

When I see a really awsome screenshot I take it with a grain of salt; the bullshot trend is getting worse than ever. But of course it often says something about the game if you know what to look for (for example looking at lighting or model detail, and ignoring IQ)

When I see a really bad screenshot I take with a grain of salt; compression is getting worse than ever, especially from sites such as IGN. But of course it often says someting about the game if you know what to look for (for example looking at lighting/shadows or model details, and ignoring IQ).

Some people (very few in here, from what I can tell) always assume the worst. But there are a LOAD of gaffers that for some reason always assume the best, even though there are overwhelming historical proof suggesting otherwise.

 

[Insane Metal]

After playing the Xbox One demo at London Comic Con, I can agree with all of this. It was 20-25fps, went into 15fps in crowds, pop-up was ridiculous, and just wasn't that good. EVEN if it was a much older build, the fact that Ubisoft thought it was fit to show to the public is astounding. No way the Xbox One version comes out at release like that, otherwise it'll make Dark Souls Blighttown look like a picnic.

Holy shit, this sounds so bad. I've never been a fan of AC and won't buy this one either, but that sounds like the game will be a huge pile of shit.

 

[Thoraxes]

I just don't understand how these are considerably sharper than the shots in the OP, especially since the beta ran at 792p

Take this picture from the OP, shrink it down and voila.

 

[valkyre]

I hate it when shadows are disabled in real life too.

I mean, come on, I don't wake up in the morning for this downgraded shit.

I hope this is some form of double sarcasm because there are plenty of shadows in that pic...

 

[Fuz]

 

[Wind's Howling]

Some people (very few in here, from what I can tell) always assume the worst. But there are a LOAD of gaffers that for some reason always assume the best, even though there are overwhelming historical proof suggesting otherwise.

You hit the nail right on the head. There is a reason why reserving judgement is usually the best thing to do, so you do not look like a total schmuck when you are wrong.

There is no valid thing to say about Unity's graphical prowess until we actually have proper direct-feed screenshots and videos from anyone besides Ubisoft.

 

[Horp]

You hit the nail right on the head. There is a reason why reserving judgement is usually the best thing to do, so you do not look like a total schmuck when you are wrong.

There is no valid thing to say about Unity's graphical prowess until we actually have proper direct-feed screenshots and videos from anyone besides Ubisoft.

But Ubisoft never provides direct-feed screenshots, thats what I'm getting at. They provide cherry-picked staged bullshots, with some photoshop magic added to them usually.

I don't think you agree with me really, if thats what you took away from my post.
What I'm saying is; bad screenshots and good screenshots both tell something about a game. You can't rely only on just compressed screenshots, but you sure as hell can't rely on the marketing material Ubisoft (or most other publishers) put out, either.

Edit:
umm wait, I reread your post for a third time. "besides ubisoft". I'm a bit unsure of what you mean now; but if you mean direct feed from someone _else_, then we agree and I'm sorry!

 

[Wind's Howling]

But Ubisoft never provides direct-feed screenshots, thats what I'm getting at. They provide cherry-picked staged bullshots, with some photoshop magic added to them usually.

Edit:
umm wait, I reread your post for a third time. "besides ubisoft". I'm a bit unsure of what you mean now; but if you mean direct feed from someone _else_, then we agree and I'm sorry!

That is pretty much what I meant. You can not rely on Ubisoft from actually releasing proper screenshots without it being photoshopped into some technical marvel.

No problem. Sometimes I create sentences that need a little editing

 

[Jburton]

What's your problem?

 

[NullPointer]

What's your problem?

My problem is with new gen games that are close to 30fps most of the time.

To put it differently, you describe this game as getting close to meeting minimum performance standards, most of the time. I didn't invest in new hardware to play sub 30fps games.

 

[Beefy]

Why you dense fuck, I meant Unity is better looking than AC4, the laugh is on the lot of you that can't read.

Personal abuse? Sigh.

 

[Handy Fake]

I hate it when shadows are disabled in real life too.

I mean, come on, I don't wake up in the morning for this downgraded shit.

Where is this? It looks startlingly familiar to me...