Best E3 2006 In-game Graphics

[liolio]

I've watch a FFXIII trailers at gametrailers, and al I the only one who think that there is strange change in IQ during that trailer.
there's a scene where the girl fight some kind of robots in a corridor, this not that impressive but close up are impressive.
So what I think In game is for me not that impressive (anyway the game is nowhere close te be finished). I don't question if it's realtime or not, but at least I think Square use a tweaked engine for cut scene and close up.
so i will not consider FFXIII it's too soon. more the quality of the trailer was quiet bad

Ps3 haven't seen all the trailers.
But HS shown what great game and art design can do.
animation are very good, action is quick, lightning really add emotion to the gameplay, camera moves are nice. So i found nothing that impressive technically but one of the overall best looking game out of E3.

foe 360
i've loved
Mass Effect
Gear of war
lost planet
too human
halo3
huxlay is nice too.

 

[London Geezer]

FFXIII easily was the best looking, but realistically it won't be in my hands for two years or so. Will it be as breathtaking compared to PC games of 2008? Probably not.

I must say, the battle scenes in FFXIII showed that the lighting isn't very advanced, and if it is, it looks a bit flat, especially compared to the depth Heavenly Sword conveys, with its shadows and rich colours. It's probably just a matter of different colour tones, HS seems to be using very warm tones. Whatever it is, HS's lighting looks much more sophisticated and realistic than FFXIII, which still has that cartoony feel (familiar to FF games) to it, even though the character models are very detailed.

 

[Npl]

I must say, the battle scenes in FFXIII showed that the lighting isn't very advanced, and if it is, it looks a bit flat, especially compared to the depth Heavenly Sword conveys, with its shadows and rich colours. It's probably just a matter of different colour tones, HS seems to be using very warm tones. Whatever it is, HS's lighting looks much more sophisticated and realistic than FFXIII, which still has that cartoony feel (familiar to FF games) to it, even though the character models are very detailed.

Hmm.. apart from the obvious excellent looking girl, the other models seemed to be PS2-Quality assets. Likely simply a matter of lacking time, like GT4HD was using old models.

And yes, there was absolutely no shadowing on models.

 

[avaya]

Hmm.. apart from the obvious excellent looking girl, the other models seemed to be PS2-Quality assets. Likely simply a matter of lacking time, like GT4HD was using old models.

And yes, there was absolutely no shadowing on models.

The game was originally being developed for PS2 till early last year so that could explain these issues some what.

 

[Lycan]

1) The Naughty Dog engine...amazing lighting; tons and tons of geometry;incredible animations...It compares to average CGs...Terrific ! And physics seems to be really hot : When the car goes into barrels or when weapons fall of the table...So natural !
2) MGS4 : Gorgeous in motion. I've never seen so well modeled faces. Some insane geometry getting in. Superb lighting... ut of this world:
3) Heavenly Sword : I loved environnements. Top quality texture, incredible animations...I am holding my breath till I see the game in all its beauty later on. Very good job devs !

I was not that impressed by 360 offerings. Not that the visuals were bad, but because I am more of a geometry guy than a mapping one (I don't know if I drove the point home). Though I might say that GoW was pretty damn impressive...

 

[Sdw]

I've watch a FFXIII trailers at gametrailers, and al I the only one who think that there is strange change in IQ during that trailer.
there's a scene where the girl fight some kind of robots in a corridor, this not that impressive but close up are impressive.

That's because the robot fighting scene is realtime, the rest is pure CGI.

 

[Phil]

That's because the robot fighting scene is realtime, the rest is pure CGI.

It's anyone's guess really, but there are a few that are convinced that forrest sequence was realtime as well. Watching the HD footage IMO underlines this.



As for the thread:

For me, it would have to be MGS4, hands down. The animation, the art-direction, the action going on, the authenticy to it and how it all feels real makes it the title of choice for me. The trailer also shows off how much we might be seeing in the game itself (i.e. destructable environments, how those Metal-Gears walk, climb, jump etc) which makes it even more impressive. Not only that, but the engine seems to be able to draw quite complex surroundings with many buildings and a very far draw-distance. Lighting is very smooth and not exaggerated...

I am also very impressed with Heavenly Sword. The animation is superb, as is the lightening and action going on.

Another game that also impressed me is Insomniac's FPS... nice explosions, lots of actions and a very quick framerate.

Naughty Dog's game looks excellent and is really impressive as well. Too bad I'm turned off by the art-direction. :-/

Gears of War also looks very impressive, though I must say I am not convinced by the animation and the framerate from the footage I've seen. Still, strictly visually speaking, it's hard not to be impressed by it.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

MGS gets my vote, as along with the great engine it had excellent direction on art and style and content. The opening sequence with trucks etc., fantabulously convincing.

 

[!eVo!-X Ant UK]

That's because the robot fighting scene is realtime, the rest is pure CGI.

The first 25 seconds of the trailer are CGI, the rest after that is Real Time.

 

[Rolf N]

My graphics list (alphabetical ordering ...):
Crysis

Heavenly Sword

Lost Planet really impressed me

Super Mario Galaxy. Don't beat me up for that. In perspective with the overall cartoonish art style, I think this one's looking really good. It looks like it uses proper AF for one, the material shaders are nice and fit in well, and it's smooth as silk.

Warhawk ... no, really. The gameplay as demonstrated I can qualify only as a horrible joke, but I think visually the game is impressive.
_________

Not on my graphics list:
Gears Of War. It does look pretty but it just wasn't smooth enough for my tastes.

Red Steel. This may just be about the style, but I'm not that impressed by the graphics overall. Animation is very good though.

_________
Gameplay notes:
Genji 2. Worst presentation of the show IMO. Boring and overall pointless.

Ninety-nine Nights. Looked really fun, which I honestly didn't expect myself saying. May be a bit on the too-easy side, and still needs some polish (cutscene transitions, hud/on-screen text arrangement, awkward "idling" of soldiers), but they'll take care of that, I'm sure.

Too Human. The previous material was amazing, and I felt really let down with the newly shown in-game stuff. The camera was basically miles away all the time, and when it switched positions it didn't always make sense. The "decap the mech by jumping on its head" thing didn't really work as promised (visually; it was just *cut* and you're standing on the head all of a sudden).

Disclaimer: may have seen slightly different things than you. Some was shaky-cam from the show floor. The crappy IGN plugin crashed my browser halfway into the Sony press conference, so I skipped the rest in frustration. I know some video feeds have issues with gamma and compression artifacts. Eg I've seen four different captures of the same Super Mario Galaxy footage, and only one of them looked good.

 

[PeterT]

Regarding overall realtime visuals, FF13 wins this E3 for me. I watched the trailer at least twice as often as any other footage I downloaded. Of course, I'm a huge fan of the art direction so that obviously has something to do with it. Probably also because it is one of the few games announced that I'm actually interested in playing. MGS4 was also very nice, but since this thread is purely about graphics the partly abysmal framerate reduces its score in my book.

On the playable side, I like Warhawk and HS. I just don't see why some people dislike the clouds in the former, I think they look great, and they are very impressive technically.

Genji 2. Worst presentation of the show IMO. Boring and overall pointless.

Agreed.

 

[Phil]

Genji 2. Worst presentation of the show IMO. Boring and overall pointless.

IMO, that vote goes to 20 minutes of wasted time showing GT-HD. If it'd be a presentation showing the emulation and backwards-compatibility feature of PS3, it would have been different - but as a next generation showing?

 

[inefficient]

The frame rate issues in MGS4 did bother me as well. Several scenes seemed to dip in to the low 20's at least. But I'm sure this stuff will be sorted out by the final version.

As a whole the 15 min version of the trailer was DAMN impressive. I have a theory that Sony originally commisioned Kojima to make the 15min trailer for the head of the ps3 presentation. But Sony backed away from it for one reason or another and put up 15 boring mins of GT4 HD video instead. Maybe because of the framerate glitches. Maybe because a some of the scenes were too violent for a mainstream press event. Especially the scene of him putting a gun in his mouth.

 

[rounin]

I'd have to say Worst of Show needs to go to Tekken 6 handsdown.

And as for people saying Gears of Wars framerate not being smooth, I can't say I've noticed any problems in that respect at all.

 

[NBK - Steve]

Isn't that MGS4 video just CGI? If so how can anyone even put it on the list. Pre-rendered videos don't mean a damn thing as far as i'm concerend. Correct me if i'm wrong.

 

[inefficient]

Isn't that MGS4 video just CGI? If so how can anyone even put it on the list. Pre-rendered videos don't mean a damn thing as far as i'm concerend. Correct me if i'm wrong.

It has already been confirmed by Kojima that it is 100% realtime on actual ps3 hardware

 

[scooby_dooby]

It's realtime but it's certainly not in game.

I would have to give it to Gears, Heavenly Sword, or Mass Effect which were all REAL games being played.

I don't see how you can put MGS4 up there and leave off Halo 3, if we want to talk realtime cinematics Halo 3 is far more impressive.

 

[NBK - Steve]

It has already been confirmed by Kojima that it is 100% realtime on actual ps3 hardware

That is pretty impressive then but it's still not in-game so I couldn't put it on the list, it's not playable....

 

[inefficient]

The Halo 3 trailer did peak my interest. But I think its the music that really sucks you in. The visuals themself were just... Halo.

 

[scooby_dooby]

The visuals themself were just... Halo.

Ok....and MGS4 was just...MGS.