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[adamsapple]

Here are a couple of really good comparisons showing just how much better the hair look with virtual shadow maps on. Epic really needs some quality control on these games. VSMs should be standard in every UE5 game.

Is this why the hair always look like they're glowing in the PS5 screens people are posting? The console version doesn't have VSM?

 

[SlimySnake]

Is this why the hair always look like they're glowing in the PS5 screens people are posting? The console version doesn't have VSM?

No version has vsm. They cause some blocky shadows in cutscenes. Probably why bloober left them out because the performance hit isn’t that bad.

 

[ZehDon]

They'd probably do the same if everything was basically a PC, why optimise for 4 or 5 SKU's? Just tweak some .ini settings on each console version.

I'm not calling for exotic hardware (mostly due to price), but devs are definitely taking the easy route these days.

Doubtful. When looking at the last vestiges of the old guard, we see development houses like id and games like Doom Eternal. Each of its multiplatform versions were given their own optimisation pass, allowing each version on each console to represent the best-in-class on that hardware. Not only is id tech extremely capable, the developers took the care to make sure each version was as solid as they could realistically get it.

 

[kevboard]

It still boggles my mind how nanite solves geometry, lumen lighting, vsm for shadows, and now megalights. We're really reaching the peak graphics era, just need the devs to catch up. And it being broadly available, means that even indie/smaller games can look stellar. Super exciting times.

none of of these things solve anything.
not in the here and now at least. if you have infinite GPU power... maybe...

at this point, in most games, using any of these is often a sign of devs just pressing a button to get easy results to the detriment of performance.

Nanite is only even remotely good if you use extremely high polygon counts. and even then you can often get better performance by not using Nanite. Nanite is a shortcut for devs that allows them to not needing to do proper LODs.

Nanite Performance is Not Better than Overdraw Focused LODs [TEST RESULTS]. Epic's Documentation is Dangering Optimization.

!!!UPDATED MEGA THREAD!!! This post has been updated to include every major performance test against LODs posted through the current 142 post included here. There is no need for mindless scrolling over opinions and arguments for the facts. Note, these tests get progressively more complex and...

forums.unrealengine.com

Lumen often looks like absolute shit, especially software lumen, which has a blotchy and unstable look in indirect lighting conditions nearly 100% of the time. while Software Lumen reflections look like absolute crap as well, heavily relying on Screen Space Reflection overlays, and therefore defeating the reason to use RT in the first place.
and games like Silent Hill 2, which have nearly 100% static lighting, should never even think about using Lumen GI, yet they do, due to the aforementioned easy shortcut it is compared to manually adjusting lighting and baking the GI.

and Megalights still has to proof itself.

Unreal Engine 5 often leads to devs using quick and fast solutions that run worse, instead of proper optimisation to run well and look exactly as good or even better than using Nanite or Lumen.
while this isn't UE5's fault, it is clearly influencing developers to go down that path, because it's simply easier and therefore cheaper.

 

[mrqs]

none of of these things solve anything.
not in the here and now at least. if you have infinite GPU power... maybe...

at this point, in most games, using any of these is often a sign of devs just pressing a button to get easy results to the detriment of performance.

Nanite is only even remotely good if you use extremely high polygon counts. and even then you can often get better performance by not using Nanite. Nanite is a shortcut for devs that allows them to not needing to do proper LODs.

Nanite Performance is Not Better than Overdraw Focused LODs [TEST RESULTS]. Epic's Documentation is Dangering Optimization.

!!!UPDATED MEGA THREAD!!! This post has been updated to include every major performance test against LODs posted through the current 142 post included here. There is no need for mindless scrolling over opinions and arguments for the facts. Note, these tests get progressively more complex and...

forums.unrealengine.com

Lumen often looks like absolute shit, especially software lumen, which has a blotchy and unstable look in indirect lighting conditions nearly 100% of the time. while Software Lumen reflections look like absolute crap as well, heavily relying on Screen Space Reflection overlays, and therefore defeating the reason to use RT in the first place.
and games like Silent Hill 2, which have nearly 100% static lighting, should never even think about using Lumen GI, yet they do, due to the aforementioned easy shortcut it is compared to manually adjusting lighting and baking the GI.

and Megalights still has to proof itself.

Unreal Engine 5 often leads to devs using quick and fast solutions that run worse, instead of proper optimisation to run well and look exactly as good or even better than using Nanite or Lumen.
while this isn't UE5's fault, it is clearly influencing developers to go down that path, because it's simply easier and therefore cheaper.

I know this forum post you're referring to. The kid is also a YouTuber or something. Might be true, but I've seen devs counter it a few times already. I think the future will tell!

Even though all these technologies have problems, which I agree with, it's the first step to infinite geometry, lighting, lights, etc., for any video game. The gold era for gaming is still not here, but technologies like that empower devs to not be concerned about some aspects (like bake lighting, etc.) that might be a drawback to some teams.

Results speak for themselves, and early results from UE5 games using these technologies show a pretty clear step up compared to in-house engines.