MLB 2014 [PS4]

[Shortbread]

The animation, crowd and stadiums look damn good. That IQ...

Video: http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/7/5591648/mlb-14-the-show-ps4-trailer-stadiums
Pics: http://gamesided.com/2014/04/07/new-mlb-14-show-ps4-screenshots/

 

[Karamazov]

More polygons in a crowd character than in a main chatacter of a ps2 game lol

 

[DieH@rd]

For game that is running in 1080p60... crowd looks awesome.

Entire game looks extremely well crafted, visuals and animations are awesome. I'm not a baseball fan [never watched it], but looking at track record of previous MLB games from Sony, this one will most surely gather great reviews.

 

[Shortbread]

For game that is running in 1080p60... crowd looks awesome.

Entire game looks extremely well crafted, visuals and animations are awesome. I'm not a baseball fan [never watched it], but looking at track record of previous MLB games from Sony, this one will most surely gather great reviews.

Agreed. The animation looks top notch, and the stadiums (especially Ford Field, Tigers home stadium) looks very authentic.

 

[Wynix]

Youtube video.

I think the players on the field and the field itself are a little disappointing, hopefully they are improved next year.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Youtube video.

that one's better as the contrast is correct. Original had overblown lights.

It's a very interesting game regards visuals. On the one hand, it's incredibly detailed. Some of the players and shots looked very convincing. There are 1000 spectator models and blades of grass up close. On the other hand, the spectators are still so clearly computer graphics - it just highlights that's there's a huge ways to go with computer graphics. Rendering main characters with realism is taxing. Getting a whole crowd to look good is crazy. I suppose the smart thing to do would be to have some 'close up' cam shots that substitute the ordinary crowd models with fancy, detailed models, leaving the cheap models for the crowd scenes. Judicious use of DOF would have the closeups only need a few detailed characters.

What this game is really lacking though is the next-gen-ness of chromatic aberration everywhere. And it needs motion blur to smear everything together. And a shaky handicam camera (as if optical image stabilisation hasn't been invented) and JJ Abrams lens flare. Then it'd look truly real and awesome.

 

[DieH@rd]

Much better look at the game @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm_qKkdHTYw&hd=1

 

[Deleted member 11852]

It looks good but I'm getting severe uncanny valley from just watching the videos - admittedly not the best way to appreciate the game.

I'm guessing they won't be closing in on the crowd much if their mouths never open because that looks weird. Very noisy fora crowd who's mouths are all closed

 

[Shortbread]

Much better look at the game @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm_qKkdHTYw&hd=1

The animation and lighting this early on with PS4, just begs the question; "what are we in for, 3-4 years down the line?".

@shifty - I see lots of what you're asking for "crowd wise" DOF/Blur in DieH@rd newest link.

 

[HTupolev]

It's a very interesting game regards visuals. On the one hand, it's incredibly detailed. Some of the players and shots looked very convincing. There are 1000 spectator models and blades of grass up close. On the other hand, the spectators are still so clearly computer graphics - it just highlights that's there's a huge ways to go with computer graphics. Rendering main characters with realism is taxing. Getting a whole crowd to look good is crazy. I suppose the smart thing to do would be to have some 'close up' cam shots that substitute the ordinary crowd models with fancy, detailed models, leaving the cheap models for the crowd scenes. Judicious use of DOF would have the closeups only need a few detailed characters.

Or they could just not have a crowd. There could be a single guy in the stands who yells "YOU SUCK" whenever you make a mistake.

 

[djskribbles]

Much better look at the game @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm_qKkdHTYw&hd=1

Incredible for year one. Don't see how they can improve things much visually. It almost looks perfect IMO.

 

[Billy Idol]

Some scenes give a 'it is real' vibe for a split second...nice.

 

[DieH@rd]

Incredible for year one. Don't see how they can improve things much visually. It almost looks perfect IMO.

Very rarely, animation blending is not perfect. I dunno why, but grass in wide shots does not look quite perfect to me.

But overall, game looks stunning.

 

[djskribbles]

Ya, the grass from top view looks a bit off for some reason. From field level it looks great. Transition between animations still looks a bit jerky, but I have yet to see a sports game with smooth transitions. Soft cloth physics would add another level of realism. Dust/dirt debris from sliding/running in the infield could be improved. Overall, in motion, it looks very convincing though. I don't expect it to be perfect in year one. MLB 07 -> 08 on PS3 was a pretty big jump IIRC. This is a very good first attempt on PS4. The lighting and detail are amazing. Also looks very clean.

 

[ultragpu]

Looks pretty nice generally speaking but I a few places that could use improvements are adding sweat shaders and soft cloth physics. Have to say tho, the crowd looks ultra nextgen.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

The long shots with the fluid, natural animation are very convincing, and some of the full-player shots too. There's still plenty of ways to go with cloth physics, skin shaders, etc., but for baseball fans this is the closest yet to controlling the TV action.

This combined with Project Morpheus and Move might move a few boxes

 

[djskribbles]

Ya, MLB The Show and GT7 would be killer apps for Project Morpheus. At least those are two titles I would be interested in trying with it.

 

[Billy Idol]

The long shots with the fluid, natural animation are very convincing...

Exactly. However, the impression breaks when transition of animation happens...this seems to be still quite difficult to do right.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Or they could just not have a crowd. There could be a single guy in the stands who yells "YOU SUCK" whenever you make a mistake.

White Sox home opener. Honestly, I saw pics and they were maybe a couple thousand people in the stands, scattered around.

 

[Shortbread]

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/05/06/mlb-14-the-show-hits-ps4-today/

We weren’t content to simply port over this year’s game to PS4; our talented team has invested a great deal of work into this next-gen debut. This includes completely rebuilding all 30 MLB stadiums from scratch; textures are four times as large and environment polygon counts have jumped from 150,000 to more than 1 million. We’ve made advancements in countless areas: players are more detailed, down to the hairs on their face; fully rendered grass adds vibrancy to our grand cathedrals; a revamped lighting engine simply stuns, especially during night games; fully redone HD crowd audio leverages the vast resources of PS4; and much, much more.

Joystiq: 4 out of 5 Stars

The PS4 version of MLB 14 is much crisper in its details, thanks to much sharper textures. Hair now stands out on players' heads, and close-ups of their faces show more freckles and blemishes. While players' overall facial structures haven't changed, Sony San Diego wasn't afraid to bring the camera closer to players on PS4 to show off the details, as seen in post-game celebrations, for instance. The camera is also pulled a little tighter to the batter's box by default when hitting, though that may be a bug in the camera options (as the "catcher" and "catcher 3" batting angles look identical).

More striking are the diverse character models and animations for the crowd in every ballpark. I spotted spectators walking through a distant hall past right field, beyond a sea of people that appeared to move more independently than on PS3. Even without the same visual fidelity found in the athletes themselves, cut-scenes featuring fans looked more natural and (dare I say) "human." The crowd's booming cheers and hastened quieting sounded a bit more reactive and pulled to the front of the game with its bump in volume.

I will be picking this up soon... :smile: