With the courtesy of DUmb and others screenshoters...
And that seals it, nothing, nothing gets close right now. With every new racer released, you have people coming in and compare it to DC, sometimes the very same people we have here, declaring any new release the new graphics king amongst racers. I saw it with Forza6, I saw it with FH2, I saw it with NFS and now we're seeing it with FH3, only to become quickly shot down with pics and footage/gifs. You have to be really disingenuous to present FH3 against DC and say with a straight face that FH3 is better visually.
Look, you have people discussing clouds, where the volumetric clouds in DC is much better as it relates to movement and flow, notwithstanding it's just better on a technical level. Can you imagine if FH3 had volumetric clouds, how this conversation would be reversed?
Lighting is not even a question, when I said Forza looks cartoony in a prior thread, it had nothing to do with cartoony in the traditional sense but rather the plastic looking nature of Horizon's cars and certain environmental details. That dune buggy looks like plastic on many angles and in general the detail on the cars in FH3 is lacking and does not give off a realistic look in comparison to other racers. Interiors are not close to being as good as DC and that also includes the driver, the baked and less impressive lighting in FH3 does not do it any favors in a comparison either.
So less detail on cars and environments, worse lighting, worse weather effects, worse
lod and draw distance detail in FH3. As for the last point, look at any picture of FH3, how far do you really see into the distance, try to resolve intricate detail in the distance as you can in DC. The draw distance is much better in DC, and you can see detailed mountains in the distance, detailed foliage in the distance. Then when we compare the immediate environment in DC, and yes that has been put under the lens many times, the detail in the immediate environment is staggering in DC compared to other racers, even under high zoom.
I've heard two things that seems to get propagated in these threads.
1.) The water splashes are better in Forza Horizon.
No, there are water puddles specifically placed in the environment in FH3, just like Forza 6, they don't look at all realistic when your car go through them, if anything it's a very cheap looking effect that looks the same and sprays the same volume everytime. It's been the first thing that stood out to me as odd when I first saw FH3. Another thing with those pools of water is how static and flat they look before you approach or engage them. They almost look 2D in nature on approach. Driving towards water sources look really odd to me in FH3 and this again lends to the lack of detail you can resolve into the distance in the title.
2.) The IQ is better in FH3....
I believe this can be argued, because the IQ in DC have been improved quite a bit from launch. People keep saying that, but even at launch DC was never a jagfest of a game, it had some good AA coverage, but that has improved since then.
I hear people keep bringing it up, but it's easier for me to sport Jaggies in the Horizon titles than I can in DC. That's why I have maintained that the 4xMSAA in FH3 is dynamic and not fixed. Try to pick up jaggies on the cars in DC as opposed to the cars in FH3, Look at the envronments and try to pick up jaggies on the powerlines and distance objects in DC. I think we can all agree that DC is a very clean game in that respect.....
Which brings me to the next point, maybe people are referring to AF and this is an area that I believe DC can improve, but is FH3 using Aniso? or is it using more Aniso than DC. I don't think so. We have seen many instances where it looks like they may be using trilinear, no AF or very low, so on the count of IQ, I do not think FH3 wins here either.
Summary...
I wish I had more time to do a more comprehensive post with pics et. al, but I think much can be deduced with the pics we have spread out in this thread and other threads. Just look at any FH3 pic/vid and check it's LOD as I mentioned, try to resolve detail far out. Tbf, just in the last page or two, I've seen people post FH3 pics with huge amounts of fog masking detail with a very small draw distance even, and we must remember, this is an open world game, yet DC's draw distance and detail is much more impressive.
Anyway, look at this video....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McWg3sHzs0U
Splashes don't look dynamic, it's all the same, as for what I said about 2D looking puddles. Look at the hummer, during cockpit view or inside view you can see those flat pools of water splashing water on the windscreen. Hmmmm...this is a hummer folks, how would it even reach, which shows how fake lots of things are. Also, looking at the hummer from side angles as it treads through water, you can see those flat pools of water splashing near or pass the height of the hummer...and yes, you bet, that looks very odd too, but that's not the biggest take..... Look at the hummer towards the end of the video, you realize how dry that hummer is which just got splashes of water all over the windshield is now dry with no water drip, tires which just went from water to sand are now squeeky clean and black as if just bought, and the very comical indentation or trails in the sand from the back cam is now gone when the camera loops around the car and environment in the last few seconds?
Yes, all of these things make FH3 deficient in the visual department and these are but a few of the anomalies I've noticed........FH2 had some low res grass effects as you plied through vegetation seen through a low back cam, but I would think that was fixed in FH3, I mean it had to be, but I haven't checked.....
