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[Dictator93]

that first gif looks really bad IMO. no transitional animations, he just instantly switches between routine. you cant say that looks anything like the animation in the crysis 2 tech trailer segment.

crytek has always had poor animation in its games during actual gameplay up until ryse. ryse was decent.

I think I will just have to disagree here. There are a hilarious amount of tiny animations put into combat for Crysis games (even since the first). For example, Koreans could trip while jumping, walking over stuff.

In crysis 2 and 3 there is hit reaction and I think it captures well enough. It isn't as impressive as euphoria (i think german law gets in the way of that) though.

 

[Crossing Eden]

But we aren't talking about the PC version, I know full well that you own the PS4 version and are talking about the PS4 version when you reply to me. So lets not being up PC as a way to further make excuses for the game.

And the difference between GTA V and Unity is that one was marketed as a true "next-gen" game (lol), with an engine built from "the ground up" (LOL). And the other is a game made for consoles with 521MB of RAM. GTA V has valid excuses for it's framerate drops. ACU does not.

I was also suggesting GTA V for the 2013 category, not 2014.

The same excuses as GTAV, it's a game pushing a ton of technical advancements on console hardware, only difference is that one is next gen only and the other is not, (and the fact that one did not experience production issues at some point during development), I don't own the pc version myself. But a lot of what has been posted in the thread, including the screenshots are from the pc version. Which have some exclusive features for pc only while the console version runs some ultra settings at 900p. Open world alone is a valid excuse for having framerate drops. How many open world games on ps4 don't have framerate drops? How many look anywhere near as good? Btw what's with teh condescending lols? The version of the anvil next engine they used along with the world they produced is very clearly next gen, it's Ubisoft, i'm very sure that if they could get it running on last gen consoles without huge sacrifices to the world's geometry, character animation, AI, crowd size etc they would've.

 

[Dragon1893]

Scrolling through that list and going from all that Sega arcade awesomeness to FPS city was kinda depressing lol.
Anyway, personally I'd give 1998 to Daytona 2.

 

[oneida]

I think Smash 3DS or Wii U should be the most technically advanced games for 2014.

Smash 3DS: A game that looks almost as good as brawl and runs at 60fps, with tons of content, on an extremely poor piece of hardware.

Smash Wii U: 8 player 60 fps action, with gorgeous visuals. Not a stutter even when complex items get involved.

this post is adorable

 

[nib95]

Is there a thread showing these wonderful Driveclub screenshots? I haven't really followed the game...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=716795&page=334

There's over 100 gameplay screens I've taken in this Album. Not a single shot here is a Photo Mode one. The majority were taken before the Weather and Photo Mode patch were even released.

http://s5.photobucket.com/user/nchoudhury/library/DriveClub?sort=3&page=1

 

[icecold1983]

Is there a thread showing these wonderful Driveclub screenshots? I haven't really followed the game...

nib95 has posted a lot of non photomode gameplay shots of the game in the console screenshot thread.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=149766467&postcount=16659
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=147347006&postcount=16410
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=147561836&postcount=16435
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=148162424&postcount=16461
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=147200384&postcount=16392
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=133927982&postcount=14262
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=147286997&postcount=16397

 

[twobear]

It pushed thousand npc with multiple layers of pop in and bitmapped trees in the long distance. Yes it used bitmapped trees, you can check it when you synchronize the map.

I didn't say it has absolutely no tradeoffs, though, only that to suggest that there's no excuse for ACU to have dodgy performance on PS4 because GTAV runs on PS3 is disingenuous.

By that token, by the way, DriveClub is also not impressive, since it clearly also uses 2D trees in the distance.

 

[RoadHazard]

It's like nothing significant happened between 1971-78 (which is a pretty long time for computer graphics), and then HOLY SHIT 3D!

 

[Joseph Merrick]

GT3 along with MGS2 and Rogue Leader should be contenders for 2001. That year consoles were well and truly ahead of PCs technically.

operation flashpoint came out in 2001. game over consoles.

also dwarf fortress for 2006

 

[Summer Haze]

Is there a thread showing these wonderful Driveclub screenshots? I haven't really followed the game...

I know that saying "it looks much better in motion" is a cop out...but it really does look better in motion. XD

Here's the OT for the photo-mode anyway:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rubies-Sonic-Hedgehog-Child-Medium/dp/B002VM7KGM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422896918&sr=8-1&keywords=sonic+dress

Edit: The REAL link:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=935041

 

[Oneself]

Like other posters mentionned earlier, it's missing Uncharted 2, GTA3, TLOU, Driveclub.

Maybe Hard Driving or Race Driving depending on their release year... Maybe the original Killer Instinct release should be included as well.

 

[bananafactory]

I didn't say it has absolutely no tradeoffs, though, only that to suggest that there's no excuse for ACU to have dodgy performance on PS4 because GTAV runs on PS3 is disingenuous.

By that token, by the way, DriveClub is also not impressive, since it clearly also uses 2D trees in the distance.

I don't recall where but I was positive they had said all trees were fully modeled (not 2D).

 

[hotnheavyload]

I didn't say it has absolutely no tradeoffs, though, only that to suggest that there's no excuse for ACU to have dodgy performance on PS4 because GTAV runs on PS3 is disingenuous.

By that token, by the way, DriveClub is also not impressive, since it clearly also uses 2D trees in the distance.

DriveClub seems to be very inconsistent. It looks great generally but can also look grotesque at times.

 

[icecold1983]

I think I will just have to disagree here. There are a hilarious amount of tiny animations put into combat for Crysis games (even since the first). For example, Koreans could trip while jumping, walking over stuff.

In crysis 2 and 3 there is hit reaction and I think it captures well enough. It isn't as impressive as euphoria (i think german law gets in the way of that) though.

i have all the crysis games, and i see it completely different. there are a lot of subtle animations but they all look very wrong. agree to disagree indeed.

 

[twobear]

I understand perfectly well why, I just don't agree with those things being used as an excuse as to why it runs so patchy. Imo could have easily made a game that was both technically impressive and ran well, but their eyes were too big for their stomachs.

You said that GTAV has excuses for its framerate drops, but ACU doesn't. ACU does have excuses, which is that it's an massive-scale open world with a huge amount of visual detail and bleeding edge rendering techniques (in that sense, it's got a better excuse than GTAV, which wasn't using bleeding edge rendering techniques at the time of its release). Regardless of whether you think they should have scaled it back to get the performance where you'd prefer it, to say that there's 'no excuses' is just plain silly.

'No excuses' for its performance vs. visuals is something like Deadly Premonition, where the only reason it looks like it does is because of lack of budget, lack of time, and lack of technical proficiency.

I don't recall where but I was positive they had said all trees were fully modeled (not 2D).

I've said this a few times in a few threads, but I think you should always be sceptical of claims like 'all of the trees on every hill in the distance are fully rendered!' or 'we never swap the LOD models for gameplay vs cutscenes!'. It's just throwing away rendering power. If anything if anyone were to do that, it would be a sign of an inefficient and wasteful renderer and a lack of artistic skill, since 2D trees on distant hills are going to have only a marginal impact on the visual quality while freeing up horsepower for genuinely meaningful visual details.

 

[Rafterman]

I think The Vanishing of Ethan Carter absolutely needs to be on the list for 2014. It's easily one of the most beautiful games I've ever played.

 

[Crossing Eden]

I don't recall where but I was positive they had said all trees were fully modeled (not 2D).

On a racing game where you can't leave the track I can't imagine that they'd truly do this if they did say that. Tons of games use tricks.

 

[HTupolev]

What is RtCW doing for 2001? Great game, but I don't recall anything particularly special about those graphics. They were extremely... adequate?

I mean, even if we're just talking FPS to keep the discussion vaguely like-for-like, what puts RtCW over something like Halo? Halo was using vastly more advanced shading (normal-mapped specular reflections from dynamic lights on environment surfaces, including spotlights, for instance). Halo received much more reknown for high quality across large environments (compare the second level of Halo 1 to that sniping stuff on mission 3 of RtCW, for instance). Halo's AI (and their use in large complex encounters) have a good reputation to this day.

Rogue Squadron 2 is another game I'd put over RtCW in a heartbeat.

I don't recall where but I was positive they had said all trees were fully modeled (not 2D).

I'd have to take a closer look, but the trees in the distance definitely look like grouped flat surfaces.

 

[Dorygrant]

I know that saying "it looks much better in motion" is a cop out...but it really does look better in motion. XD

Here's the OT for the photo-mode anyway:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rubies-Sonic-Hedgehog-Child-Medium/dp/B002VM7KGM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422896918&sr=8-1&keywords=sonic+dress

I don't think you posted the right link lol

 

[XiaNaphryz]

It's like nothing significant happened between 1971-78 (which is a pretty long time for computer graphics), and then HOLY SHIT 3D!

Well, back then it would take a whole tower full of gear to get the equivalent of a frame buffer, which had cost well in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Hell, the alpha channel wasn't created until the late 70s and finalized until the mid 80s.

 

[wazoo]

Maybe the original Killer Instinct release should be included as well.

There is nothing impressive in KI. The game is from 1994. Same year as Ridge Racer.

 

[Dictator93]

I mean, even if we're just talking FPS to keep the discussion vaguely like-for-like, what puts RotCW over something like Halo? Halo was using vastly more advanced shading (normal-mapped specular reflections from dynamic lights on environment surfaces, including spotlights, for instance). Halo received much more reknown for high quality across large environments (compare the second level of Halo 1 to that sniping stuff on mission 3 of RotCW, for instance). Halo's AI (and their use in large complex encounters) have a good reputation to this day.

Yeah, definitely think halo is more deserving. Although, the playe rcounts for RTCWs online were pretty intense.

 

[wowami]

1998 can only be Unreal.

3dfx and Unreal brought a generational leap.

 

[thelastword]

Consoles usually had a small chance in the launch period, at best.
Because before arcades (eighties and most nineties) and later PC with dedicated 3D cards offered superior specifications.

FF7 was released when it was already available a monster like Sega's Model 3.
From a technical point of view Virtua Fighter 3 was far above anything PS1 could have hoped to render.

There were better looking 3d games but ff7 as a whole was a technical marvel.

Sega Model 3 was cool, but Vt3's animation system and levels were never really impressive, I found Tekken 3 to be much more impressive.

There are 4 games that really impressed me in 2014:
Infamous
Ryse PC
Unity PC
Driveclub

I played both PC games maxed out on my 970. The other two on my PS4.


Infamous has probably the best dynamic lighting and particle effects I've seen, along with great IQ, animation with no slowdowns. The city is a little empty though

Ryse looks great, but I'd say it's the least impressive out of these four, animations are laughable, everything is too confined and while it has some great shaders and lighting, the geometry is at times a little too simple.

Unity is for now, the most impressive PC game I've seen yet. It does have some big issues, like NPC LOD, but the ammount of detail is staggering. The more you see about the city the more you realize this, textures, geometric detail, material shaders, shadows, etc. are a sight to behold.

But the winner is Driveclub, without doubt. Specially after the weather patch. The global illumination lighting was already impressive, absurd card detail, SSR, volumetric clouds, etc. you name the technology, it has it. But after that patch, now it has ridiculous status, it left me speechless, my jaw was at the floor. All these incredible effects are working together, with no hint of slowdown. This is a technical achievement, no doubt about it. No game touches it (yet) graphically.

Agreed with most of what you said because it's my exact take for that year more or less, with the exception of Unity, which I would not add but I've always given it props for it's artstyle. I never really considered Ryse on the xbone due to it's low rez and framerate, but on the PC I think it's in standing due to it's artsyle and tech, however it's lacklustre animation system, samey npc's and small levels does not elevate it beyond ISS or Driveclub. DC wins in the end, by a fair bit too, as you have so eloquently stated, good post all round.

Ikusagami 2005

It was 65535 units, limited by VU1 memory of 16kB on ps2.
Game ran nice 60fps.. without hickups.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vYo7SstRgU

Ahh, my bad on the 2. 60fps, several times the npc's of unity and several times the framerate, I find that to be great tech in 2005.

 

[Gusy]

I think the Bespin level in Rogue Leader is a good example of why it should take the 2001 spot. Given the geometric complexity and effects it manages to run at 60 fps most of the time. It still makes my jaw drop.

The level of detail while flying in a chopper above vinewood in GTAV on PS3 is something that i can't simply understand. It's crazy what they achieved on 2007 hardware. To me, nothing touches this on 2013.

 

[bananafactory]

I know that saying "it looks much better in motion" is a cop out...but it really does look better in motion. XD

Here's the OT for the photo-mode anyway:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rubies-Sonic-Hedgehog-Child-Medium/dp/B002VM7KGM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422896918&sr=8-1&keywords=sonic+dress

Lmao what the fuck

 

[capitalCORN]

What is RotCW doing for 2001? Great game, but I don't recall anything particularly special about those graphics. They were extremely... adequate?

I mean, even if we're just talking FPS to keep the discussion vaguely like-for-like, what puts RotCW over something like Halo? Halo was using vastly more advanced shading (normal-mapped specular reflections from dynamic lights on environment surfaces, including spotlights, for instance). Halo received much more reknown for high quality across large environments (compare the second level of Halo 1 to that sniping stuff on mission 3 of RotCW, for instance). Halo's AI (and their use in large complex encounters) have a good reputation to this day.

Rogue Squadron 2 is another game I'd put over RotCW in a heartbeat.

How about 1024x768 on even modest machines and a fantastic particle system.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Lmao what the fuck

What in the world?

 

[Oneself]

I also remember playing an hologram based arcade adventure game in the late 80's / early 90's... Can't remember the name though.

 

[Parhelion69]

I know that saying "it looks much better in motion" is a cop out...but it really does look better in motion. XD

Here's the OT for the photo-mode anyway:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rubies-Sonic-Hedgehog-Child-Medium/dp/B002VM7KGM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422896918&sr=8-1&keywords=sonic+dress

It links to a (rather embarrasing) sonic costume. It's ok, everybody's got their shit.

 

[MickeyPhree]

I just want to chime in and say this is one of the most informative posts I've seen in my nine years of being a gaf member.

 

[Booshka]

I take Riddick over Doom 3 for 2004 personally.

Great list, Winning Run blows my mind.

 

[Summer Haze]

The same excuses as GTAV, it's a game pushing a ton of technical advancements on console hardware, only difference is that one is next gen only and the other is not, (and the fact that one did not experience production issues at some point during development), I don't own the pc version myself. But a lot of what has been posted in the thread, including the screenshots are from the pc version. Which have some exclusive features for pc only while the console version runs some ultra settings at 900p. Open world alone is a valid excuse for having framerate drops. How many open world games on ps4 don't have framerate drops? How many look anywhere near as good? Btw what's with teh condescending lols? The version of the anvil next engine they used along with the world they produced is very clearly next gen, it's Ubisoft, i'm very sure that if they could get it running on last gen consoles without huge sacrifices to the world's geometry they would've.

Agreed, but ACU takes it to the next level. It's by far the buggiest and worst running open-world game I've ever played. Even more so than Skyrim on the 360. For example - GTA V on PS4 pretty much only dips when traveling through the city at high speeds. ACU dips frames when doing next to nothing. It's not just the odd dip here and there, it's constant enough to impact the game's enjoyment. I mean...which other open-world game in recent years, besides Skyrim, has been under so much scrutiny for running so poorly? All of those bells and whistles are awesome...if the game actually runs well enough for you to appreciate them.

And I disagree about the game being "very clearly" next-gen. I simply didn't get that 'wow factor' feeling from playing it like I've gotten with other titles such as Driveclub, Killzone, and Ryse. It didn't make me think "now this is next-gen". Maybe it would if I saw it on PC, but it didn't on PS4.

 

[bananafactory]

It links to a (rather embarrasing) sonic costume. It's ok, everybody's got their shit.

He deserves a tag for that. Incredible. The best part is that "sonic dress" is still in the search field.

 

[omonimo]

I didn't say it has absolutely no tradeoffs, though, only that to suggest that there's no excuse for ACU to have dodgy performance on PS4 because GTAV runs on PS3 is disingenuous.

By that token, by the way, DriveClub is also not impressive, since it clearly also uses 2D trees in the distance.

Wow O_O. They didn't said it is full 3d world? Good Lord.
But still I continue to think Unity it's so full of compromise which I find completely useless the npc numbers achievement.

 

[Shining Sunshine]

Your own list?

Pretty terrible list really.

 

[Summer Haze]

It links to a (rather embarrasing) sonic costume. It's ok, everybody's got their shit.

LMAO...holy shit. Me and a friend were laughing uncontrollably at how bad that Sonic costume was after I posted the link to him on Skype. I swear to God I accidentally came across that and it is not something I have bought. I wouldn't even fit into a 'normal'. Haha. You know what, I'm not even gonna edit it out, that shit needs to be seen. I'm just going to add the Driveclub link as well:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=935041

XD

Holy shit, those replies are killing me. Best thread derail ever.

 

[Justin Bailey]

I also remember playing an hologram based arcade adventure game in the late 80's / early 90's... Can't remember the name though.

Probably Time Traveler (1991) --

 

[twobear]

And I disagree about the game being "very clearly" next-gen. I simply didn't get that 'wow factor' feeling from playing it like I've gotten with other titles such as Driveclub, Killzone, and Ryse. It didn't make me think "now this is next-gen". Maybe it would if I saw it on PC, but it didn't on PS4.

Well to that I add my own anecdote, which is that friends who played KillZone remarked that they don't really see any reason to upgrade from 360 graphics-wise whereas playing ACU, during the cutscenes some people have asked whether I'm watching a movie.

 

[Setsuna]

People need to stop downplaying Unity

 

[Oneself]

There is nothing impressive in KI. The game is from 1994. Same year as Ridge Racer.

I was definitely more impressed by KI's tech. Animations were way better than most 2D games, sprites were huge and very detailed, the moving pre-rendered background were amazing looking, the definition certainly was higher than most games at that time as well.

Also, tech wise, Fear Effect was stunning for a PSone title.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Me and a friend were laughing uncontrollably at how bad that Sonic costume was after I posted the link top him on Skype.

Riiiight.

It's okay, GAF won't judge!

 

[bananafactory]

LMAO...holy shit. Me and a friend were laughing uncontrollably at how bad that Sonic costume was after I posted the link top him on Skype. You know what, I'm not even gonna edit it out, that shit needs to be seen. I'm just going to add the Driveclub link as well:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=935041

XD

Holy shit, those replies are killing me.

There's no need to make up excuses. If you're into Sonic role playing we won't judge.

 

[Caayn]

I don't recall where but I was positive they had said all trees were fully modeled (not 2D).

They may have said that but there are plenty of 2D trees to be found in Driveclub. Can't blame them for using 2D trees, but don't claim there are only 3D trees when that's not the case.

DriveClub seems to be very inconsistent. It looks great generally but can also look grotesque at times.

Agreed, it can look really stunning at times, especially with the weather enabled which helps hide some of the IQ problems. While at other times it looks like crap.

 

[thelastword]

I always thought Crysis 2 had perfectly fine animation

This doesn't hold a candle to Killzone 2 from much earlier.

 

[omonimo]

People need to stop downplaying Unity

Our apoligies if we want a game and not a pre alpha.

 

[Oneself]

Probably Time Traveler (1991)

Yes, exactly. It wasn't good nor fun but it felt like playing "the future"... And that was good enough for me!

 

[SMOK3Y]

2013 should be Ryse for Xbox one. It even won that sicgraph or whatever its called award. So think that is a given.

Yes the PC version iirc

 

[Bl@de]

Our apoligies if we want a game and not a pre alpha.

This thread is about technology ... not the bugs of the game. And Unity looks amazing on the right PC. Forget consoles for Unity. Not worth to mention.

 

[HTupolev]

How about 1024x768 on even modest machines and a fantastic particle system.

You're rebuttal to Halo 1 is particle system?

Take the Halo 1 assault rifle, for instance. If you fire it at a wall, you can produce around 10 environmentally-colliding sparks per bullet impact, which happens 15 times per second, allowing you to single-handedly create a crazy spark shower. That's on top of the ejected rounds bouncing around. Note that a lot of particles make noise as they collide in the environments.
And everything is in on the action. Driving around on ice creates loads of ice shard particles. Hitting a natural wall with a rocket creates a massive shower of rock and dirt debris. Hitting something with an overcharged plasma pistol shot causes it to emit sparks for a couple seconds. Etc.

The core of the Halo 1 particle system made it into Halo Anniversary graphics in 2011 with relatively few additions and changes, and even then there were people calling it impressive.