5 Days till GTA IV

On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:54:08 -0700 (PDT), SAMF2000
<SamuelF566.TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote:

> With GTA IV We can expect way better graphics but But with cars no
>where near photorealistic like In Forza or GT5. The open world has so
>much to render that it would be impossible.

It's not so much the amount, but how much of it a game like GT5 can be
done in the studios not at runtime. GTA has to dynamically light every
surface at runtime because sometimes it's night, sometimes it's day,
sometimes it's raining etc.. The color, shading, reflection and
lighting of the scenery in GT5 is always the same and therefore is
simply pre-drawn artwork. That's why they always shy away from car
damage, since it has to be done at runtime, not months before at the
developer studios. Car damage will hit their frame rates massively and
they'll have to make cuts elsewhere. The tracks scenery is always
drawn to be seen from a certain angle too. This helps them to 'fake'
shadows and reflections by literally drawing them onto the images. In
GTA you cannot rely on the viewing angle of the player since they have
*so* much more freedom. The shadow and reflection effects have to be
done in real time. The same goes for Burnout Paradise, which looks
superb, but everything plays at the same time of day and with the same
conditions (though of course it has car damage). GTA actually has the
better and more accomplished graphics engine of them all, but the
nature of it means that it can look poorer in a simple side-by-side
screenshot, but when you see it going, it looks *far* more realistic
and far far better.
 >> Stay informed about: 5 Days till GTA IV 

GMpartsguy wrote:
> Maybe we'll get some downloadable content somewhere down the
> pipeline if we're lucky.


If you own a 360 you will.

Well, last I heard anyway.
 >> Stay informed about: 5 Days till GTA IV 

Ed Chilada wrote:
>
> On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:54:08 -0700 (PDT), SAMF2000
> <SamuelF566.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > With GTA IV We can expect way better graphics but But with cars no
> >where near photorealistic like In Forza or GT5. The open world has so
> >much to render that it would be impossible.
>
> It's not so much the amount, but how much of it a game like GT5 can be
> done in the studios not at runtime. GTA has to dynamically light every
> surface at runtime because sometimes it's night, sometimes it's day,
> sometimes it's raining etc.. The color, shading, reflection and
> lighting of the scenery in GT5 is always the same and therefore is
> simply pre-drawn artwork. That's why they always shy away from car
> damage, since it has to be done at runtime, not months before at the
> developer studios. Car damage will hit their frame rates massively and
> they'll have to make cuts elsewhere. The tracks scenery is always
> drawn to be seen from a certain angle too. This helps them to 'fake'
> shadows and reflections by literally drawing them onto the images. In
> GTA you cannot rely on the viewing angle of the player since they have
> *so* much more freedom. The shadow and reflection effects have to be
> done in real time. The same goes for Burnout Paradise, which looks
> superb, but everything plays at the same time of day and with the same
> conditions (though of course it has car damage). GTA actually has the
> better and more accomplished graphics engine of them all, but the
> nature of it means that it can look poorer in a simple side-by-side
> screenshot, but when you see it going, it looks *far* more realistic
> and far far better.

I agree. I find the pretty spectacular work on the 360 version of TDU
to be one of the prettiest driving games I have seen, but due to the
ability to come at things from all directions there is often slight
problems with slowdown etc. Also the lack of people in the environment
is spooky but it would probably have been that step too far, being as
there are obvious areas where the machine is struggling to deal with
how much is going on.

I did mean to ask about GT5 and the lack of crash damage. It drove me
away from GT4 and towards Forza last time round. I really like the
look of the internal view on GT5 but I am not buying a new machine to
play it.

--
Paul (We won't die of devotion)
-------------------------------------------------------
Stop and Look
http://www.geocities.com/dreamst8me/
 >> Stay informed about: 5 Days till GTA IV 

In message <sq6dnUrJDcUIYInVnZ2dnUVZ_gOdnZ2d.RemoveThis@comcast.com>
"GMpartsguy" <kb1cih.RemoveThis@cPoImScSaOsFtF.net> wrote:

> From the few helicopter clips, the new Liberty City looks plenty big for an
> asphalt jungle. Maybe a little more than half the size of GTA:SA ?? Hard to
> tell.

It was revealed by Dan Houser very early on that the new Liberty City
is smaller than San Andreas, but far more detailed.


Cheers,
Rob
--
..__ __ |__ |__ .|__ __ | Rob White, Half Man Half Biscuit.
| / \| \ | | || ||| /__\ | robthemod.RemoveThis@googlemail.com
| \__/|__/ |_|_|| |||__\___ | Wimbledon, London, England.
"Do sugar cubes have dots or is that a dice I just put in my tea?"

To the world you are somebody, but to somebody you are the world.
 >> Stay informed about: 5 Days till GTA IV 

On Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:44:27 GMT, Paul Heslop
<paul.heslop.TakeThisOut@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

>I did mean to ask about GT5 and the lack of crash damage. It drove me
>away from GT4 and towards Forza last time round. I really like the
>look of the internal view on GT5 but I am not buying a new machine to
>play it.

It's not so much the lack of visible crash damage, but the lack of
actual disadvantage to doing so. It's hardly a realistic "driving
simulator", if the best technique is going into a corner way too fast
but making sure you're on the inside of someone else and going
door-to-door with them to stop you sliding off the track. This worked
in previous versions and it's inexcusable that it's still a valid
tactic in a supposedly modern driving simulator. Oh and it's still
really poor how if you career towards a fence that appears to consist
of nothing but a bit of rope, you come to a crashing halt and no-one
who's stood behind it bats an eyelid or attempts to move. Very
last-gen.
 >> Stay informed about: 5 Days till GTA IV 

Ed Chilada wrote:
>
> On Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:44:27 GMT, Paul Heslop
> <paul.heslop.RemoveThis@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>
> >I did mean to ask about GT5 and the lack of crash damage. It drove me
> >away from GT4 and towards Forza last time round. I really like the
> >look of the internal view on GT5 but I am not buying a new machine to
> >play it.
>
> It's not so much the lack of visible crash damage, but the lack of
> actual disadvantage to doing so. It's hardly a realistic "driving
> simulator", if the best technique is going into a corner way too fast
> but making sure you're on the inside of someone else and going
> door-to-door with them to stop you sliding off the track. This worked
> in previous versions and it's inexcusable that it's still a valid
> tactic in a supposedly modern driving simulator. Oh and it's still
> really poor how if you career towards a fence that appears to consist
> of nothing but a bit of rope, you come to a crashing halt and no-one
> who's stood behind it bats an eyelid or attempts to move. Very
> last-gen.

Yes, i'm so glad I passed on this one. Love the looks but really, not
much changes except that. I did enjoy 4 to a point but it soon became
a real chore rather than a pleasure to play. I also never enjoyed the
obvious bias towards AI in some races, and stuff like if you hit the
other car in the rally sections you got penalised but the other car
never did.

--
Paul (We won't die of devotion)
-------------------------------------------------------
Stop and Look
http://www.geocities.com/dreamst8me/
 >> Stay informed about: 5 Days till GTA IV