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[Crossing Eden]

I still disagree, as I had infinite problems, but this thread really isn't the place for this debate. Sorry for contributing to derailment, let's just let this get back on topic which is technical and graphical achievements and not gameplay related.

Admittedly I always had way more of a handle with the controls than the average gamer, Unity included because watching co-op partners struggling to scramble to the top of building because they aren't pressing the right button is hilarious. I feel like I should make a tutorial video of how it works because the game certainly doesn't explain it very well. Next game needs an animusy parkour challenge course of some kind like in Brotherhood.

There's nothing "revolutionary" about the "fur effects". They just used existing tech in a novel way (multiple layers of polygonal shells with alpha maps). There isn't anything proprietary about it.

That is some ridiculously good looking fur though, regardless of the "trick" they used to get it to look this way.

 

[Summer Haze]

The game is also rendering a huge crowd, which explains the dips. Fine here is subjective. You've barely experienced a fraction of the game yet feel that you can make as many blanket assumptions about it as possible, even ignoring the context of the thread, like the pc version being at the top, as well as excusing GTAV's issues when the same explanations can be applied to AC:Unity. This is technical thread. Should we exclude Crysis 2 because the AI was glitchy? Should we exclude Arma? Please give us your arbritrary rules for why we shouldn't include certain games that btw, you've barely played if you have at all, meaning that your opinion on their technical aspects definitely aren't as well informed as those who have..

Lol, whatever you say. Many on this board know who you are and that you're known for defending this franchise to hell and back. Hell, you just blatantly lied about how well the game runs. So you keep on making embarrassing excuses.

And please, how long I played it for means nothing. Whether I've watched it being played for 2 hours, or watched 10 seconds of the video I just posted, either way I objectively see how poorly the game runs. No amount of first-hand experience can change that. Unless you're suggesting that the games performance gets better the more you play?

 

[TheRedSnifit]

I can't believe Doom wasn't chosen for 1993 (or 1994)

Just looking at the first-person space, Ultima Underworld 2 came out in 1993 and was more advanced than Doom (you could look up!), and System Shock blew Doom 2 out of the water in 1994.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Lol, whatever you say. Many on this board know who you are and that you're known for defending this franchise to hell and back. Hell, you just blatantly lied about how well the game runs. So you keep on making embarrassing excuses.

And please, how long I played it for means nothing. Whether I've watched it being played for 2 hours, or watched 10 seconds of the video I just posted, either way I objectively see how poorly the game runs. No amount of first-hand experience can change that. Unless you're suggesting that the games performance gets better the more you play?

Many on this board also would say that anything Ubisoft does is horrible or wouldn't dare give Unity credit for anything. And remember how there are several districts in the game, just like GTAV some run better than others naturally since some have less going on. There's also the interiors that run with nearly locked framerate, (depending on the building and what's happening inside said building).The poorly running thing is greatly exaggerated imo, especially since the game is doing different things each time you load up the game, (aside from crowds that are static and of course the positioning of objects in the world like buildings). Also first-hand experience>watching a game being played and/or playing the game for a short amount of time. I've also voiced my criticisms of the series multiple times in other threads, including criticisms of Unity.

 

[Summer Haze]

I'll take a combat system that lets me counter-kill entire groups of enemies over a combat system that makes every combat situation into a frustrating clusterfuck any day of the week.

I like counter systems too, but I hated how easy the combat scenarios were in past ACs due to the fact you only really had to counter the first guy, and the rest were then handed to you on a silver platter.

 

[Synth]

I can't believe Doom wasn't chosen for 1993 (or 1994)

Quake 2 for 1997
Unreal should have been chosen for 1998.
Quake 3 Arena 1999

I'll go with Giants for 2000 though.

DooM over Daytona USA would be absolutely senseless.

Quake 2 is another one of those situations where I'd say it'd still get beat even if it came out a year earlier (vs Virtua Fighter 3)

Unreal, I can see though. I think all of the nominations in the OP for that year would make some sense as the winner.

I don't know enough about Outcast to say much for 1999.. but of the games I do know I'd say it's either Quake 3 Arena or Shenmue for that year. I don't think Unreal Tournament gets much of a look in, with Quake 3 around at the same time.

 

[Tailzo]

Great thread, I agree with many of them.

 

[TGO]

Seems some people don't know what "technically-advanced" means.

I agree

 

[HTupolev]

Hey, let's not forget that Halo also:

1) used the same models for enemies/on the ground that the player held (most games use a lot lower-res models)

Let's be a little careful here, though, as dynamic objects in the game world do have significant distance LOD.

 

[orava]

1996 Quake should be at least mentioned.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Let's be a little careful here; dynamic objects in the game world do have some LOD popping.

Think popping is an inevitable part of having something be so open.

 

[The Artisan]

2008: MGS4, GTA4
2009: Killzone 2, Uc2
2010: gow3, Red Dead Redemption
2011: Skyrim, Killzone3, Crysis 2, Uc3
2012: Halo 4
2013: Crysis 3, GTAV (obviously), tlou, Ryse
last year: ISS, driveclub, asscreed Unity

off the top of my head, more or less

 

[Parhelion69]

2008: MGS4, GTA4
2009: Killzone 2, Uc2
2010: gow3, Red Dead Redemption
2011: Skyrim, Killzone3, Crysis 2, Uc3
2012: Halo 4
2013: Crysis 3, GTAV (obviously), tlou, Ryse
last year: ISS, driveclub, asscreed Unity

off the top of my head, more or less

Your list is way better than the OP's

 

[Trogdor1123]

That's a lot of sega...

 

[Synth]

Your list is way better than the OP's

His list is awful.

Pretty much the only choices that make sense, are those that overlap with OP's.

 

[Crossing Eden]

2008: MGS4, GTA4
2009: Killzone 2, Uc2
2010: gow3, Red Dead Redemption
2011: Skyrim, Killzone3, Crysis 2, Uc3
2012: Halo 4
2013: Crysis 3, GTAV (obviously), tlou, Ryse
last year: ISS, driveclub, asscreed Unity

off the top of my head, more or less

I feel like out of all the next gen games i've played so far that Infamous SS has aged the fastest. Great particle effects but aside from that I feel like it could've been crossgen. Are you just choosing best looking games?

 

[TheRedSnifit]

2008: MGS4, GTA4
2009: Killzone 2, Uc2
2010: gow3, Red Dead Redemption
2011: Skyrim, Killzone3, Crysis 2, Uc3
2012: Halo 4
2013: Crysis 3, GTAV (obviously), tlou, Ryse
last year: ISS, driveclub, asscreed Unity

off the top of my head, more or less

MGS4 and GTA4 over Crysis?

I feel like out of all the next gen games i've played so far that Infamous SS has aged the fastest. Great particle effects but aside from that I feel like it could've been crossgen. Are you just choosing best looking games?

Best looking PS3 games, more like.

 

[Trogdor1123]

2008: MGS4, GTA4
2009: Killzone 2, Uc2
2010: gow3, Red Dead Redemption
2011: Skyrim, Killzone3, Crysis 2, Uc3
2012: Halo 4
2013: Crysis 3, GTAV (obviously), tlou, Ryse
last year: ISS, driveclub, asscreed Unity

off the top of my head, more or less

So console only then?

 

[deoee]

Why Driveclub?

-Simulated volumetric clouds which act dynamically and behave like real ones
-unbelivable dynamic weather system with lightning seeking metal objects and strucking them if they randomly find one
-global illumination on everything i think i've read that even the front screen refracts and reflects light realistically
-the sound engine is insanely accurate. recorded sounds from at least ~15 sources for every car in game


and i bet there's much more which would put it at least on par with Unity.

 

[dark10x]

Battle Beast for Windows 3.1 was released in 1995. It was perhaps the best looking fighting game for its time. 640x480 resolution in digital monitors. No consoles or arcades could output that high resolution. Game was choppy and was one of the worst fighters though.
Still better than those MK clones with digitized actors.

Err, showing a static 640x480 background with characters moving at a low frame-rate is not impressive. At all.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Why Driveclub?

-Simulated volumetric clouds which act dynamically and behave like real ones
-unbelivable dynamic weather system with lightning seeking metal objects and strucking them if they randomly find one
-global illumination on everything i think i've read that even the front screen refracts and reflects light realistically
-the sound engine is insanely accurate. recorded sounds from at least ~15 sources for every car in game


and i bet there's much more which would put it at least on par with Unity.

I hope it comes out on PS+ soon, because it does seem to look amazing in action while doing a lot of technical things that aren't done in other racing games.

 

[ChanDangle]

OP pushing that PC bias from 2003 on.

 

[Frillen]

2008: MGS4, GTA4
2009: Killzone 2, Uc2
2010: gow3, Red Dead Redemption
2011: Skyrim, Killzone3, Crysis 2, Uc3
2012: Halo 4
2013: Crysis 3, GTAV (obviously), tlou, Ryse
last year: ISS, driveclub, asscreed Unity

off the top of my head, more or less

You're obviously not a PC gamer,

 

[Booshka]

PC bias when against Consoles, but not an Arcade bias against Consoles.

hmmm.

 

[IcyEyes]

I really disagree with your list, but it's pretty nice after all (you are too much focused on PC)

Too much Crysis and not always deserve all these spots.

 

[bananafactory]

I hope it comes out on PS+ soon, because it does seem to look amazing in action while doing a lot of technical things that aren't done in other racing games.

Unfortunately the PS+ edition only includes India tracks, which are the least visually impressive and most inconsistent. Kind of an odd choice to try and sell the game with. Still, the weather effects will impress people.

 

[Rean]

Didn't think 2001-2013 would be all shooters.

 

[Quixz]

Was expecting CoD and Fifa back to back

 

[Synth]

Too much Crysis and not always deserve all these spots.

It deserves those spots because it still was still ahead of the competition. It was just that far ahead in the first place.

It's like if Sega had only released Virtua Fighter 3 upgrades, and made no other Model 3 games. They still would have likely taken 1996-1998.

Didn't think 2001-2013 would be all shooters.

I did

 

[jim2point0]

Before you stop and say "such and such game deserves year XXXX" maybe actually list the reasons that game is more TECHNICALLY advanced?

There are far too many "this is the best looking console game of year X so it should win!" But I don't think this is about the best looking games, but rather the most technically advanced. That's why Crysis was chosen for every year it was released. CryEngine is just that damn good.

And also, there's a pretty clear reason why PC games are being chosen. It's not bias. You have to make too many technical compromises to get games playable on console hardware. That's why you might think GTAV is a great achievement for PS3 hardware, but if it came out on PC in the same year, it wouldn't seem like a technical achievement at all. The improvements on the PC version won't make it a contender for 2015 either.

2010: gow3

An Unreal Engine 3 game over Metro? What in the actual fuck? Metro was insane. It still is insane.

 

[CozMick]

Seems some people don't know what "technically-advanced" means.

Which is the reason why Driveclub isn't listed?

Day/night cycle.
Dynamic weather system
Physics based rain
Real time global illumination across the board
Volumetric clouds
SSR
POM
Incredible draw distance

And effects that i've certainly never seen in a video game, including vehicle parts (wing mirrors, steering wheels and rear wings) and shadows being reflected into the cars body.......yes! the damn shadows from the car.

Other cars being reflected into the side panels of your car and the environment.

Not including Driveclub is an insult to Evolution tbh.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Unfortunately the PS+ edition only includes India tracks, which are the least visually impressive and most inconsistent. Kind of an odd choice to try and sell the game with. Still, the weather effects will impress people.

Wow that sucks. ._.

 

[omonimo]

-Great example of how to do Physically based shading and rendering, every material looks accurate, from metal to leather to silk.
-Global Illumination that is affected by cloud simulation, even down to the interiors of buildings, some of which are 1:1 scale
-Cloth Simulation that deforms the cloth dynamically based on whatever movement is being made by the character instead of it being a canned animation, this extends to every character, including the tons of npcs, and even down to the type of cloth that's being worn, (leather is different from silk).
-Top Notch facial capture and also top of the line Hair scanning
-Examples of the AI simulation are something that I already noted earlier in the thread.

Most of those things are nothing of new. And AI simulation give me some hysterical laugh with all respect. Yes npc in the screen it's impressive but I repeat the pop in issues help a lot here.

 

[ShutterMunster]

I want to give the OP props for this thread. A lot of research was done and it was cool to take a look at games that shined some 20 years before my birth.

I would take issue with 2014's champion. AC Unity was such a mess technologically speaking it almost seems sacrilegious to champion it. Driveclub can be penalized for the same thing to a lesser degree. I definitely think DC is the more impressive of the two. I have fooled many an individual into thinking DC was real (which is exactly the reaction it's going for).

 

[gelf]

I'm surprised by how much I agree with that list. Good job OP. Its a shame almost everything after 2001 is a FPS though, not that I disagree with most of the choices I just wish there was more variety.

 

[KKRT00]

And effects that i've certainly never seen in a video game, including vehicle parts (wing mirrors, steering wheels and rear wings) and shadows being reflected into the cars body.......yes! the damn shadows from the car.

Thats standard SSR behavior, nothing extraordinary about that.

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.

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

---
Dat poor animation

 

[Dictator93]

Thats standard SSR behavior, nothing extraordinary about that.




---
Crysis 2 gifs and such

I also enjoy how the barrel explosion causes the metal of the containers to buckle and bend.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Good list, but 2009 really should have been Killzone 2 or Uncharted 2. Its also the entry where you yourself admit you're feeling like you're hugely reaching. ARMA 2 is just not an impressive thing to me at all with it being ultra buggy and super craply optimised, especially in its launch year. K2 and U2 were doing some sweet-ass stuff. Okay they weren't touching Crysis graphically obviously, but in other ways they were really pushing stuff.

 

[Lulubop]

OP pushing that PC bias from 2003 on.

Which? Does he need to mention consoles game so you can feel better?

 

[CozMick]

Thats standard SSR behavior, nothing extraordinary about that.

But isn't it extraordinary that it has never been used so extensively before?

So on a technical level its certainly up there with the best, if not the best.

 

[Dezeer]

The correct answer for 2013 is Retro City Rampage for NES. It's GTA for the third generation console. /s


It's weird how you should bring some games to the podium just because its made for old hardware, especially if there are more technically advanced games for other hardware. If that was so, should we also list games that were made in the recent years for the Dreamcast or any other old home console?

 

[sora87]

Oh Sega, what happened
Also 2009 belonged to Uncharted 2 imo, and 1999 to Shenmue.

 

[KKRT00]

But isn't it extraordinary that it has never been used so extensively before?

So on a technical level its certainly up there with the best, if not the best.

It is used the same as in every game with SSR [except for CoD:AW], because this exactly how SSR works, for every surface on the screen.
Like here, where You have impact sparks reflected on guy's suit: http://i.minus.com/ibluENrOs7NcXA.gif

 

[eot]

I would pick Quake 3 for 1999 but that's just me.

 

[petran79]

Err, showing a static 640x480 background with characters moving at a low frame-rate is not impressive. At all.

characters were traditionally animated instead of being sprite based or 3D cgi, so low frame-rate is tolerable.

but in 1995 there were no alternatives.

There was no similar fighter with traditionally animated characters, except Vampire Savior 2 years later, but in lower res. Skullgirls would arrive 15 years later to bridge that gap with full framerate and in HD.

 

[a.wd]

Great thread thanks, also DC over Unity? lol no.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Thats standard SSR behavior, nothing extraordinary about that.

Feel like this could also be applied to the day/night cycle too. Many games have a day/night cycle. Not many have a day/night cycle with GI though.

 

[Booshka]

I would pick Quake 3 for 1999 but that's just me.

This too, the engine is amazing and the netcode was pretty revolutionary.

 

[KKRT00]

Feel like this could also be applied to the day/night cycle too. Many games have a day/night cycle. Not many have a day/night cycle with GI though.

With GI it is slightly other way around All games with GI can have day/night cycle, this is just a pros of having real-time lighting solution.

 

[shandy706]

Which is the reason why Driveclub isn't listed?

It should be listed as a contender for 2014, as should Ryse be listed for 2013.

Both are great technical feats.

It's why I said a lot of people don't know what "technically-advanced" means.