Thoughts about the graphics...

[XN-Sigma]

So, I was looking at the newer screens, and this one in particular caught my attention. I've been noticing this same problem on several screens from AC, while the tracks always look absolutely perfect, some cars look kinda cartoony depending on the reflections and/or lack of shadows, maybe the vibrance of the colors too, I'm not sure what it is, but it bugs me to no end.

Somehow videos recorded from a camera look more real for some reason, probably because the colors look more washed out and blurred.


So what are you guys' opinions about the current graphics? Need improvements? Yes? No?
And before anyone says "Who cares about graphics, the physics are what matters". Yeah well no, in a game that tries to simulate reality it is logical it should not only feel real but look real too.



PS. Sorry if this is stupid somehow, I'm half asleep here, going to bed now...

 

[Dinca Andrei]

In first picture the light looks more bright on pCars than AC and in 2nd its the other way around.These are 2 different engines but they are pretty close and because we will run them both maxed out,and got 15-30 fps for pCars,i will bet my money that AC will not give that low fps...
Besides,pCars photo mode isnt realy what i want to see...As you can pointed out yourself,the pictures you took were not in photo mode and it shows.This is what you see in game on both games.
As a side note the last picture of pCars the track looks good and more closer to asphalt bitumen color.but is that the color of the Monza track?

And check this video..the image quality isnt to good but the sounds.....

 

[XN-Sigma]

As a side note the last picture of pCars the track looks good and more closer to asphalt bitumen color.but is that the color of the Monza track?

I'm not sure about the asphalt color because it can change a lot depending on lightning conditions and position of the camera. I don't know exaclty how laser scanning works but I'd guess it gets the color of the surface too?

PS. Orgasmic sound is orgasmic.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

The comparison with PCars, AC won by technical knockout easy, in every single department.

Frankly PCARS looked like crap in those photos you showed. (i know PCARS looks absolutely beautiful in others)

But still, AC looks like it will be the new leader in the graphics department and not just in the physics department (after watching that Fiat jump the curb like a boss)

 

[XN-Sigma]

Frankly PCARS looked like crap in those photos you showed. (i know PCARS looks absolutely beautiful in others)

Indeed, there are many factors to that though, like the track being kinda incomplete yet (like having no grass though the current grass in pCARS is nowhere near as good as the new grass in AC).
However, the lighting is the most important factor, and pCARS has always annoyed me in broad day light time/weather, I always play it in clouded weather and later hours when it isn't so bright, it looks much better that way, which isn't the case with AC.
I've said this before and several people seems to say the same, that AC has a natural feel to it, it's all thanks to the well balanced lighting. Which is why I end up nitpicking on some stuff, because the closer you get to the uncanny valley the easier it is to see what is not right.

 

[traind]

The comparison with PCars, AC won by technical knockout easy, in every single department.

Frankly PCARS looked like crap in those photos you showed. (i know PCARS looks absolutely beautiful in others)

But still, AC looks like it will be the new leader in the graphics department and not just in the physics department (after watching that Fiat jump the curb like a boss)

Hmmm, not sure how you are arriving at this? Both look great to me of course, but an "easy technical knockout" for AC in graphics over pCars? I don't think so.

pCars looks bloody fantastic when playing it on my pc. Forget screenshots. Set the time of day to early morning or twilight and nothing I've seen in a racing game comes very close when you are actually in cockpit mode and driving. Now, I admit I have not seen AC in person and the recent replays look absolutely terrific. But I don't think anything is technically knocking out pCars at least with regard to graphics anytime soon. At best it might end up a draw with AC when all is said and done.

Handling feel, car & track selection etc. are more important by far though and that's where the real competition will play out. pCars is coming along nicely in that regard but even though most of us have not "driven" AC, Kunos certainly gets the nod for the early lead due to their past titles FFB and physics. And RF2 will have something to say in all of this too!

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Keep in mind i talk strictly about the screenshots..
Also note the "(i know PCARS looks absolutely beautiful in others)"

 

[Mapu]

Warning, this is no fanboy message! (how can I when I haven't tried both products)

Looking at the afore posted pictures in this topic to compare pcars with assetto corsa pictures I have to say that assetto corsa looks graphically superior. Just take a look at the screenshot of the Zonda. Even when posted alone, without the pcars screenshot for comparison, it is a piece of art! It is much more pronounced (colors, brightness, contrast) and therefore the picture has much more depth. The pcars Zonda looks a bit shallow and pale.

Of course, the in-game weather and day time can play a role. Also the game settings. But one can see the quality difference.

 

[Pablo Lopez]

what about the wheels placement between both? it seems in AC they are really well placed and in pCARS they have another suspension attached hmmm

 

[2CV SUPER GT]

I think AC will be more interesting than Pcars cause drive feeling and especially, modding tools wich make everything possible. With this modding tools, even a bad or casual simulator (and AC will be not one of these) may become very good because we can build our own simulator as we want to feel, that's why AC is undertitled/called "Your Racing Simulator". What the we don't have, comunity might create it, so I do not matter about game content at the release but just what it's authorized to create with this game.

But I admit too that Pcars have great graphic engine, better than AC in my opinion. Yes the screenshots from AC are beautiful and more simple ("natural" is not the right word I think, but I understand what you would to say) close to the "clean colors" from a GTR2 in its time. Pcars have a load of optionnal visual effects that can be put on off. It's more admirable when you think the game have real time large weather, day & night cycle and season. Blimey/SMS have to worked on their engine from many years (starting at Ferrari Project in 2006?), that's "natural" to get this level.

 

[Mr Whippy]

Hmm, is pCARS running a HDR tone-mapped renderer?

Dave

 

[XN-Sigma]

Hmm, is pCARS running a HDR tone-mapped renderer?

Dave

Yes, pCARS has several HDR filters, I was using the "Photorealistic" one.

 

[Mr Whippy]

Hmmm, but is that a HDR effect filter, or a tone-map filter?

In any case, it's a horrible filter if it's called photo-realistic because it doesn't look photo-realistic hehe


Usually a proper HDR rendering pipeline with half-correct values will look realistic, hence me wondering if it's not HDR and so the balancing of lighting is what is letting it down... hmmm...

Dave