So got to play the GTS demo yesterday on a PS4 phat, and I've played quite a bit of FM7 on a Xbox One S, no HDR on either, but here are some thoughts in comparison:
-GTS has the upper hand on tarmac and some of the environment textures, they just look more detailed. Guessing the Xbox One X texture pack will close the gap.
-Scenery looks about to be on the same detail level imo, Forza 7 seems to have a little less static scenery with a bit of moving stuff thrown in to liven the passing scenery up a tad more.
-Actual in-game car models look pretty on par, while cars into the distance both loose quite a bit of detail fairly quickly. Both games suffer from aliasing.
-GTS nails lighting more consistently. Although Forza can look just as good at times, while other times a bit off. I do like the dynamic weather approach in FM7 though, would be nice with a similar thing in GTS.
-Forza 7 seems to have the more clean image quality with better IQ, GTS has quite a bit of blurring going on.
-Cockpit view in GTS is nice, looking back on the analogue stick shows me a view through the back window which I enjoyed as a nice detail. Forza 7 cockpit is more immersive with more shaking etc, while GTS' looks somewhat static. Project Cars beat them both here though. I like that I can change the FOV in GTS though!
-Rooftop cam in GTS is a joke, could they really not be bothered to place a proper hood cam on the 86 chassies they have? Exterior camera in GTS is also very strange and requires tweaking in the options which seems really unnecessary.
-The seaside track and oval in GTS look great, while the rally track looks like a poorly designed 3D environment, it really stood out as ugly. Then again why play rally in a racer like this when Dirt etc has this covered so well?!
-Do we need huge, low res sparks constantly flying in the oval GTS? The sparks in GT3 were much less frequent and more subtle, even back then.
-The AI in GTS seems to jsut drive in a line with a set gap between each car, while the drivatar stuff in FM7 goes completely beserk at times with a destruction derby. Guess both need an overhaul here.
While the visuals heights of GTS look better than Forza 7, the consistency in FM7's visuals are better I think.
And the whole "GTS is a generation apart" BS needs to stop immediately, it's an embarrassing and stupid remark. They are clearly both very close visually, focusing on slightly different visual approaches. Both are beautiful racers on stock hardware for this gen.
To add to this as someone who has played both in HDR.
1, GTS HDR implementation is better than FM7. FM is a bit too dark and when boosted then loses out at the top end. However I think Horizon 3 has them both beat when it comes to HDR.
2, I'd say 8/10 times Forza looks better in race than GTS, certainly much less sterile. But due to the dynamic lighting you do get overcast races in Forza that look pretty flat.
3, GTS replays are far better. Forza camera work is poor. But GTS replays focus more on the car to try to hide some poor scenery. The various effects at work in GTS replays are superb, but I think it's the camera work more than anything that make them look much better than FM7. I'd love to see what FM looked like with good replay cameras.
4, GTS cockpit view is a bit sterile. And it's a shame there's no proper hood view. Forza 7's new "driver" view is something that GTS could have done with.
5, When looking its best GTS is the better looking game. But Forza 7 is much more consistent - and is doing more in terms of number of cars on the track, weather etc. The GTS low points are more obvious due to the inconsistency. Like playing the rally track and just thinking "eeewww".
6, Outside of race GTS is obviously the better looker - the focus on scapes etc.
7, I wish GTS had more options for the HUD. It's very much all or nothing. And the all is a bit much. FM7 offers more choice here.
They are both good looking games. One reaches some dizzying heights. The other is more consistent. With camera/car movement, weather, lighting changes, - Forza is more thrilling in race. GTS is a lovely showcase of cars, and replays and scapes are amazing. Though I'd prefer more of the focus to the most important part - in race.
Thanks to yesterday's improved Nvidia driver I've been playing more PC than Xbox FM7 over the last 24 hours. Playing in 4KHDR. It'll be interesting to see how similar the Xbox One X version is to that or whether there are some other tricks for that version. Oh for a replay mode that did justice to how FM7 looks in 4K. GTS owners are in for a treat when it comes to replays. But I race more than I replay.
I'm still unsure whether to get GTS for my Pro. At times it's gorgeous. But it feels a bit soulless to me. And my last four games purchases are Dirt 4 (PC), WRC 7 (PC), PCars 2 (PC) and Forza Motorsport 7 (PC/Xbox). I might be too full of cars for now
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