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So how will next-gen games look like?

C

Chrono

Banned
Every time this topic comes up, there's no clear answer. Some say people will be disappointed, others say we'll be wetting our pants at E3. We know about Cell, and Xbox 360 too. Not enough to be exact but definitely enough for a good estimate, right?

So, if you're a game developer or know your stuff, post pics of what you think next-gen games will look like in this thread. :D


I'd be happy if games will look like this FFIX CG intro in real time... No idea if it's possible or not.

http://psxmovies.ign.com/media/previews2/video/ffix/FFFullIntro.mov
 
Chrono said:
I'd be happy if games will look like this FFIX CG intro in real time... No idea if it's possible or not.

http://psxmovies.ign.com/media/previews2/video/ffix/FFFullIntro.mov
Click to expand...
Well, if they're allowed to stick with 15 low resolution frames per second, they might get pretty close. :)


EDIT: To cease being a jerkface, based on recent PC graphics I'd say next gen console graphics attaining a look similar to decent PS1 FMV isn't out of the question. There's the matter of putting enough work into all the models so they'll look and animate to some gamewide uniform, though. Obviously already a lot of work like that is done to make the FMV/prerendered backgrounds in the first place, but to create dozens of such unique detailed monsters and all their necessary animations will be a bit of a manpower-sink, just for starters.


Of course, if a few developers would rather skimp out on a bit of that detail to save themselves some time and allow things to always stick at 60 frames per second, that'd be nice too.
 
Anybody have pics of that forest demo for the cube?

man I was just googling for that and found the videos that showed GCN mario/zelda for the first time. I almost went insane after seeing link's new look that day. :lol
 
Well, I guess it's gonna be the same cycle of initial disappointment with the early titles, which usually is followed by the first (usually Japanese, might be different this gen) pretty titles that impress graphically. I fail to see why the upcoming generation of consoles should be any different from this.
 
The current-gen ports and PC ports, which will probably populate the initial X360 lineup to a fair degree, aren't going to look phenomenal. But there will be titles built specifically for the system from day one that should hopefully surprise people.
 
I figure the "plastic" look (in some current pc and xbox titles) will be greatly reduced on next gen games due to higher resolution normal maps and more subtle specular lighting.
 
Pimpbaa said:
I figure the "plastic" look (in some current pc and xbox titles) will be greatly reduced on next gen games due to higher resolution normal maps and more subtle specular lighting.
Click to expand...

it's all about sub surface scattering maps
 
nathkenn said:
it's all about sub surface scattering maps
Click to expand...

Is that where light can penetrate the surface of the material? That would make skin look much more realistic. ATI has some demo of that with a marble statue, looks fantastic.
 
Pimpbaa said:
Is that where light can penetrate the surface of the material? That would make skin look much more realistic. ATI has some demo of that with a marble statue, looks fantastic.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's the one. Here's what it looked like (or what it was based off anyway)..not sure how feasible widescale effects like that will be next gen though:

000000B400083432.jpg


I think art has a role to play too in that "plastic" look too (?)
 
gofreak said:
Yes, that's the one.

I think art has a role to play too in that "plastic" look (?)
Click to expand...

I think technical reasons could be the reason for the plastic look. Look at all the games that use specular lighting with normal maps. Seems like they apply the same level of shininess all over the model. Surely that can't be intentional if they were able to vary the levels of shininess according to location on the model.
 
Chrono said:
Every time this topic comes up, there's no clear answer. Some say people will be disappointed, others say we'll be wetting our pants at E3. We know about Cell, and Xbox 360 too. Not enough to be exact but definitely enough for a good estimate, right?

So, if you're a game developer or know your stuff, post pics of what you think next-gen games will look like in this thread. :D


I'd be happy if games will look like this FFIX CG intro in real time... No idea if it's possible or not.

http://psxmovies.ign.com/media/previews2/video/ffix/FFFullIntro.mov
Click to expand...


Technically speaking I believe it's possible since next gen consoles will have all the features needed to produce that kind of graphics (except for ray casting).Everything will depend on the raw power of next gen hardware.
Anyway looking at the kind of graphics produced on a '99 hardware as the Ps2 in games like MGS3,GT4,GOW I'm pretty confident that 2d and 3d gen PS3 games will look really similar to FF9 CG.
 
I think one of the biggest diffrences we will see will be in lighting...

More advanced lighting algorithms (phong, radiosity,better shadow volumes, HDR) combined with more available pixels on screen will make really awesome looking pictures...

Check out these new pix of Metronome (possibly an Xbox 360 title)

mn10.jpg


mn3.jpg


mn8.jpg


mn9.jpg


Beyond the texture quality, it is the dramatic lighting that is making such a big visual impact, IMO....
 
I'm sorry if this sounds stupid(I know nothing about how games are developed) but one thing I don't understand is why we don't see near-perfect curves in games. I was playing Ratchet & Clannk 3 the other day and as impressive as the graphics are I couldn't help but notice that most structures are designed using long straight lines jojned together to create an illusion of a curve, edges of buildings and street are polygonal and blocky; look at the light in the first pic Kleegamefan posted, its an octagon; what limits it from being a near perfect circle(or at least a circle consisting of multiple short lines)?
 
sly said:
I'm sorry if this sounds stupid(I know nothing about how games are developed) but one thing I don't understand is why we don't see near-perfect curves in games. I was playing Ratchet & Clannk 3 the other day and as impressive as the graphics are I couldn't help but notice that most structures are designed using long straight lines jojned together to create an illusion of a curve, edges of buildings and street are polygonal and blocky; look at the light in the first pic Kleegamefan posted, its an octagon; what limits it from being a near perfect circle(or at least a circle consisting of multiple short lines)?
Click to expand...

You need more polygons to have perfect curved surfaces or you have to use interpolation based techniques to create the illusion of a curved surface.
Both have a significant cost in terms of hardware power.
 
gofreak said:
Yes, that's the one. Here's what it looked like (or what it was based off anyway)..not sure how feasible widescale effects like that will be next gen though:

000000B400083432.jpg


I think art has a role to play too in that "plastic" look too (?)
Click to expand...

I've seen some demonstrations of it on next gen hardware and the difference is pretty damn impressive. Hopefully it will show up in some actual games.
 
We can all pray the graphics look like anything close to that Metronome pic. Unbelievable. The lghing and textures look close to life.
 
Elios83 said:
You need more polygons to have perfect curved surfaces or you have to use interpolation based techniques to create the illusion of a curved surface.
Both have a significant cost in terms of hardware power.
Click to expand...


I see. Thanks for explaining. :)
 
mas9055 said:
We can all pray the graphics look like anything close to that Metronome pic. Unbelievable. The lghing and textures look close to life.
Click to expand...

The "lighting and textures" look nothing close to life :lol Let's not overstate ourselves here. Metronome technically looks nice, but I think the art is what does it really. The pics you're looking at there are running on current PC hardware on an engine not designed around one particular system. There's nothing there that really makes me go WOW in the same way that certain games did at the start of this gen, and in the same way that I'm sure certain early next-gen games will.
 
Hopefully the leap beyond this gen should be as big as the last one... But as I recall there were some (still here) that claimed games such as Ridge Racer V looked like a PS1 game.... You can't please everyone, but I just want true HDTV support, and almost no jaggies what so ever... everything else is gravy.
 
Any games developed by Rare or Factor 5 will probably be a good indication of what 360 is capable of. They were both able squeeze a lot of power out of the Cube pretty quickly.
 
Take a look at the Unreal Engine videos from this year GDC here, especially the 4th one. This is from Gears of Wars who will be released on X360 sometimes in 2006. Of course there it's just a flyby of the level, no gameplay.
And I've even been told that this is not the best looking X360 game that will be at E3 this year. Can't wait to see these games :)
 
Quality of the graphics next-gen will be as diverse as they are now.
Depending on the developer, budget and of course talent.

Some amazing looking titles, some modestly amazing and most titles looking only a bit nicer )probably) then high end games from the last cycle, as was the case with this cycle.
 
Since turnabout is fairplay, its going to be fun to post "I'll be buying the superior PS3 version" in every multi-console game thread.
 
krypt0nian said:
Since turnabout is fairplay, its going to be fun to post "I'll be buying the superior PS3 version" in every multi-console game thread.
Click to expand...
He why not? If PS3 is actually better than X360, it's only fair game :)
Of course there is a big chance that X360 will still have a superior online infrastructure, so choosing between better graphics or nicer online could be quite difficult for some games.
 
Blimblim said:
Take a look at the Unreal Engine videos from this year GDC here, especially the 4th one. This is from Gears of Wars who will be released on X360 sometimes in 2006. Of course there it's just a flyby of the level, no gameplay.
And I've even been told that this is not the best looking X360 game that will be at E3 this year. Can't wait to see these games :)
Click to expand...

The goal should be moving that city with an advanced physic simulation,special effects and a lot of characters on screen with analogue detail,at 60 fps,HD.That would really be NEXT generation.
 
Brosa said:
Can we get Marco Spitoni quality in real time? He works as senior artist for EA already, just hand him the metal and I promise to buy both these games... :)
Click to expand...
His website says he works for Milestone. :)
 
Kobold said:
His website says he works for Milestone. :)
Click to expand...

Right, I read that "... known as Milestone who worked with Virgin IE and EA Sports, for which I still work as senior artist." as aiming at EA and not Milestone. My bad...

His work is awsome anyway :)
 
krypt0nian said:
Since turnabout is fairplay, its going to be fun to post "I'll be buying the superior PS3 version" in every multi-console game thread.
Click to expand...


You usually see this idea with Western multiplatform games. So if the Xbox 360 is only capable of pumping out the next-gen equivalent of Splinter Cell PS2 or Max Payne 2 PS2, its fans deserve the turnabout. I don't think there will be such a difference that a developer like Namco would produce an embarrassing version of a game, however. And I certainly wouldn't expect The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion to look different between versions, since just making these games takes enough time without having to utilize console-specific hardware abilities.
 
Blimblim said:
Of course there is a big chance that X360 will still have a superior online infrastructure, so choosing between better graphics or nicer online could be quite difficult for some games.
Click to expand...

That's more a matter of will, and your definiton of "superior". I think Xbox will probably always have a more integrated system than the others, since they (Sony/Nin) seem to favour a slightly more decentralised, publisher-orientated approach (though they may find ways to make the end-user experience more seamless while allowing publishers handle games individually). But that doesn't necessarily imply an inferior experience online. TBH, I've had more problems with Xbox online than PS2 online (though I admittedly have more online time with Xbox than PS2, so perhaps that's not a fair comparison for me to make).

And I'd agree that we should look to the likes of Rare and F5 for a more immediate indicator of what will be possible next gen (especially on a system that should be relatively tappable, like X360) - that's why I'm really really excited to see PD0. It should be X360's technical showcase at E3 and at launch, I think.
 
>>>Since turnabout is fairplay, its going to be fun to post "I'll be buying the superior PS3 version" in every multi-console game thread.<<<

You won't have a chance to turn it around. The people who bought Xbox to have the best versions of third-party games will buy PS3 and PS3 versions of third-party games next gen. I know I fall squarely into that camp.
 
gofreak said:
That's more a matter of will, and your definiton of "superior". I think Xbox will probably always have a more integrated system than the others, since they (Sony/Nin) seem to favour a slightly more decentralised, publisher-orientated approach (though they may find ways to make the end-user experience more seamless while allowing publishers handle games individually). But that doesn't necessarily imply an inferior experience online. TBH, I've had more problems with Xbox online than PS2 online (though I admittedly have more online time with Xbox than PS2, so perhaps that's not a fair comparison for me to make).

And I'd agree that we should look to the likes of Rare and F5 for a more immediate indicator of what will be possible next gen (especially on a system that should be relatively tappable, like X360) - that's why I'm really really excited to see PD0. It should be X360's technical showcase at E3 and at launch, I think.
Click to expand...

It had better come out at launch. If it's actually good (I've always loved the style/objective based FPS's from Rare) I'll have no choice but to get a 360 at launch. Even though Goldeneye/Perfect Dark 1 haven't aged well in graphics and controls, the gameplay there is still solid. Objective based FPS >>> all. And only Rare does it right IMO.

I just hope they don't Halo-ize it too much (controls are fine), but I don't want a Halo-type of massive battle after massive battle. I want a more focused, game, that takes place indoors, with objectives.
 
For PC gamers, imagine Far Cry/Doom 3/HL2 at max settings on a high end system, but about 5x more detailed especially in poly counts. I believe this will be the case because the consoles will use next gen based video cards which are expected to be 2-3 times faster. Then consider the efficiency of custom hardware and efficiency of code for a static hardware configuration. Easily it'll be 5 times more detailed.

For non-PC gamers, you'll notice huge leaps in textures, text and edges due to higher resolution. Better lighting too and effects.

For a while, they probably won't look much better than high end pc games or even really good xbox games.
Click to expand...

It'll definitely be above high end PC games, but for budget games they may look similar.

However if anyone makes a game, even on budget, that looks remotely as bad as Xbox, they should be shot.
 
teh_pwn said:
However if anyone makes a game, even on budget, that looks remotely as bad as Xbox, they should be shot.
Click to expand...


Agreed. If anything doesn't look leaps and bounds better, it's just laziness. EA really made their first round of DS games look (and play) like crap, so I wouldn't be all that surprised if they managed something similar with the Xbox 360.
 
Jeff-DSA said:
Agreed. If anything doesn't look leaps and bounds better, it's just laziness. EA really made their first round of DS games look (and play) like crap, so I wouldn't be all that surprised if they managed something similar with the Xbox 360.
Click to expand...

It seems like Sony systems get their asses moving. I'm really hoping that MS can get EA to make games around the 360 for launch rather than just getting slightly updated ports.

Oh, and is it conformed that 360 will have a connector to a PC monitor? That would be hot as hell, as my LCD monitor would take great advatage of that feature.
 
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