The Game Technology discussion thread *Read first post before posting*

[grandmaster]

No discernable motion blur in the PS3 code. It's very noticeable on 360 - you can even see it when Lara's far away from the camera.

 

[vanquish]

Insomniac Games updated their R&D page with some new articles, I did a quick scan and didn't see that it was posted here befo.



http://www.insomniacgames.com/tech/articles/1108/files/Ratchet_and_Clank_WWS_Debrief_Feb_08.pdf

and this http://area.autodesk.com/index.php/ext_stories/insomniac_interview/ an interview with a senior character artists. It mention number of tris used for the models etc. 60K for the big bosses and on average 5K to 10k on the models.

Thats is an interesting article, wonder what changes were made for R2.

With regards to the TRUW discussion, is the 360 version's motion blur an edram benefit?

 

[fellix]

Motion blur is typically a render-to-texture effect, so on XB360 hardware a read-back from the main memory pool should be performed for the purpose, as the eDRAM is used only for frame-buffer data (colour/depth).

 

[jaidek]

Here are a few more images showing the lack of shadows on the Xbox 360. The PlayStation 3 version is on the left and Xbox 360 is on the right:

 

[TASE]

The screen caps above are taken from the cut scenes in the game. For some reason Crystal Dynamics have either chosen not to use shadows in those scenes or they've forgotten to include them but shadows are enabled in the actual playable sections.

Can we get some actual in-game shots for a comparison? I don't trust cut scenes at all.

 

[kots]

The 360 version has shadows , even in the cut scenes . Sucks about the resolution though .

 

[TASE]

It's got patches of light and dark areas but there are no actual shadows in the cut scenes as far as I can tell.

Plenty in playable sections though. That's why I'm interested to see a test on the actual playable scenes.

 

[user542745831]

Here are a few more images showing the lack of shadows on the Xbox 360. The PlayStation 3 version is on the left and Xbox 360 is on the right:

Thanks. From what source are those?

 

[grandmaster]

The 360 version has shadows , even in the cut scenes . Sucks about the resolution though .

Correct, however, the shadows are differently placed in the 360 game, as though the light sources are in different places. It's also worth pointing out that the only place I've seen it so far is on the scenes involving Lara's boat. That's the area of the game where all the shots have emanated from too. The rest of the shots I've taken - cut-scene or in-game - are pretty much like for like, AA and resolution aside.

Saying that the 360 version has no shadows is basically incorrect.

 

[TASE]

Thanks for clarifying that. As I said before, I couldn't really see any shadows in the cut scenes but they were very apparent when playing the game. I just assumed they'd been forgotten or disabled.

I'm just a little baffled as to why they've got two totally different light sources in the PS3 and 360 versions of the game. I would have assumed that they would have been identical.

 

[Nesh]

there was a comparison in some other site I cant remember, that showed dynamic shadows on the PS3 in some environments whereas on the 360 they were static

 

[Reynaldo]

there was a comparison in some other site I cant remember, that showed dynamic shadows on the PS3 in some environments whereas on the 360 they were static

That was corrected, it's a game bug in both PS3 and 360 version that disables some effects when starting a new game in the middle of another game, IIRC.

 

[Nesh]

That was corrected, it's a game bug in both PS3 and 360 version that disables some effects when starting a new game in the middle of another game, IIRC.

I am not sure if we are talking about the same think. The shadow was present on both. The difference was that the shadow reacted to the fired torches on the walls in the PS3 version, whereas the shadow on the 360 version did not react at all. They were static.

edit: one more think. I am referring to actual gameplay and not cut scenes

 

[Reynaldo]

I am not sure if we are talking about the same think. The shadow was present on both. The difference was that the shadow reacted to the fired torches on the walls in the PS3 version, whereas the shadow on the 360 version did not react at all. They were static.

edit: one more think. I am referring to actual gameplay and not cut scenes

Yes, I know. It was on Lens of Truth, but they have removed and updated the info with what I wrote. And from having played the 360 version, I can confirm that shadows are dynamic.

 

[Dot50Cal]

Hey guys, I just finished an article for my site on the Biohazard 5 demo for the 360 and PS3. I could use your input on helping to improve it with some real technical expertise. If you all want to have a look, here it is:

http://www.the-horror.com/index.php?id=features&s=bh5demo

and some uncompressed shots:
http://dot50cal.the-horror.com/b3d/ps3-1.png
http://dot50cal.the-horror.com/b3d/ps3-2.png

http://dot50cal.the-horror.com/b3d/360-1.png
http://dot50cal.the-horror.com/b3d/360-2.png

 

[Nesh]

There is some noticeable difference in some of the shots. I am not talking about aliasing. I am talking about texture detail. There is one specifically that shows a significant change in what appears as a sharp detailed texture on the 360 its blurrier with less defined details on the PS3 version.

I wasnt expecting that difference

 

[Arwin]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but why on earth would you use AA while you're doing motion blur? To me it makes perfect sense to only do AA when you need it, especially as I can imagine motion blur and AA competing for resources. And this game does seem to have very specific use of motion blur in that it seems to activate when you are doing certain actions only.

 

[Arwin]

When you are talking about the sharpness of component output on the 360, is that what you really mean, or do you refer to the fact that the 360 always seems to output at a higher contrast level than the PS3 (regardless of HDMI or Component outputs)? As I think I"ve shown in another thread, the 360s contrast is typically so high it seems to lose color information.

 

[ultragpu]

ouch, the difference between the ps3 and 360 version is day and night. The textures are way too blurry on the ps3 and the specularmap is totally weak. The lack of some selfshadows and smoke just totally suck. Don't know about the heat haze though coz it'll b hard to tell since they're moving constantly and there is a certain degree of haze in the ps3 version. Overally I'm totally dissapointed by Capcom's effort if DMC4 is anything to go by.

 

[assurdum]

There is some noticeable difference in some of the shots. I am not talking about aliasing. I am talking about texture detail. There is one specifically that shows a significant change in what appears as a sharp detailed texture on the 360 its blurrier with less defined details on the PS3 version.

I wasnt expecting that difference

It's the qaa effect to worse the texture in general but it's very strange so blurried ..I suspect these shots are 'something' wrong, bad capture, cable connection etc...