UC4: Best looking gameplay? *SPOILS*

[Pixel]

Mate, you can blow TR to 8k and it still wont change a damn thing about its cross gen assets, level quality and primitive lighting. The foliage and lighting are just down right embarrassing, even to modern standard. I'm pretty sure which game destroys which in their similar levels.
TROTTR PC
UC4

Exactly. We need to remember that ROTTR was designed around the Xbox One so it should come as no surprise that the foliage and trees in similar environments sport higher polygon count/density in Uncharted on PS4.

At the end of the day even with these highend rigs we are still bound by the development decisions and economics constraining multiplatform games.

 

[Warchild]

Seriously impressed with the range of animations this game has both cutscene and realtime! The first screen is gameplay

 

[Clukos]

Some screenshots from the Madagascar demo area

Very detailed textures in an area you are supposed to just drive through in an ideal gameplay scenario, very nice use of specular here as well

Use of dynamic shadows on almost everything in this level

Incredible draw distance for a console game (foliage, shadows, shaders)

Throw in some tessellation (you don't have to go overboard, perfect example is Battlefront, just increase the lod), increased AF and even increased draw distance and you have a game that will scale incredibly well on a potential Neo "patch" or a Ps5 remaster.

Edit: One screenshot from Scotland (nice soft shadows, draw distance, lighting, specular)

 

[Warchild]

^excellent shots Clukos! The game has so many little details. Here i'm experimenting with the enemies flashlights:

 

[Globalisateur]

Some screenshots from the Madagascar demo area

Very detailed textures in an area you are supposed to just drive through in an ideal gameplay scenario, very nice use of specular here as well



Use of dynamic shadows on almost everything in this level




Incredible draw distance for a console game (foliage, shadows, shaders)



Throw in some tessellation (you don't have to go overboard, perfect example is Battlefront, just increase the lod), increased AF and even increased draw distance and you have a game that will scale incredibly well on a potential Neo "patch" or a Ps5 remaster.

Edit: One screenshot from Scotland (nice soft shadows, draw distance, lighting, specular)

That would be a waste IMO. It wouldn't improved the game significantly because of diminishing returns. There are others way to significantly improve the look of the game, and much simpler : Activate freesync, uncap fps, unlock Neo mode and voila!

 

[Clukos]

Playing through crushing, not caring as much about the pacing anymore and taking my time with each level. Got to say, very impressed with Madagascar in general, lovely looking level and very impressed by how well the TAA works with such dense and varied foliage without blurring it at all

More with grass/foliage
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7676/26959580131_aebff3f434_o.png
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7390/26933857692_63b5d88a73_o.png
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7114/26994686086_240ed641e9_o.png

These should be a nightmare to cover correctly, especially at 1080p, yet the TAA just works.

Wet surfaces and mud looking great on this level

What is more impressive though is that this level is primarily a driving level, meaning that most players will just run through all these details and never notice.

 

[rockaman]

Pretty amazed that anyone thinks ROTR looks anywhere near as good as U4. Resolution does not good assets make... probably not the best idea, but the same thing can be see with Forza on PC. At 4K or 8K the asset and effects quality still can't touch DriveClub (yes 60 versus 30 fps on consoles though).

I mean ROTR is a pretty good looking game, but it is not that far ahead on effects or shader quality in terms of visual effects compared to the pipelines used in last-generation, and it's nowhere near the fidelity of Uncharted 4 in any way. U4 completely blows it out of the water in virtually every respect visually.

IMO this is the new normal for graphics rendering. We're slowly approaching a point where depending on horsepower for resolution isn't enough, because asset quality is increasingly difficult to max out (not just blowing up texture and shader resolution). As we move forward, production pipelines I think are going to be increasingly important in how effectively developers can utilize however much available resources there are, which is getting more and more massive each generation by ten times I guess.

The ability to fill out ten times more resources with the same consideration as it was for ten times less resources the previous generation, I can imagine the workflow is extremely, extremely important, more so than ever. I wish sincere good luck to all developers on all platforms to be able to take advantage of the new horsepower in the same way that Uncharted 4 takes advantage of the increasingly underpowered (relatively) PS4 console.

It takes a lot more work to overcome the inevitable difficulties with the "diminishing returns" and I think that the production pipeline and smart utilization of different visual features is the key. Blowing up textures and shader resolution is easy, but using effects together in a measured and intelligent way to optimize that "visual oomph" that Uncharted 4 has is probably a lot harder and takes a ton of foresight on the part of the developers. But I guess that is their expertise!

By the way, interesting detail if not pointed out already (I'm sure it was ), but Nate's watch actually works I believe, I'm not sure if it's just the seconds hand though.

Can't wait for the inevitable Neo patch of this game.

Also dat nose compression... things like this... amazing.

 

[Clukos]

Yeah i noticed the nose too

You can even see the E3 demo area from up here, love details like these (Souls games are usually full of them)

 

[ultragpu]

Best foliage in the business? I think so.

 

[Graham]

I'm playing through U4 right now, and struggling as more than a couple of hours gives me a bad headache.
I suspect the temporal AA. It's not as obnoxiously awful as QB was - *holy crap*, that game... I simply couldn't play it at all - but still really heavy (in a subtle 'something is wrong' kind of way).

I don't blame them though. They've done a damn good job of it and I'm struggling with TAA at work too. It's something I'm very sensitive to, I guess I prefer aliasing to smearing/blur.

Still. Their production values are (naturally) off the chart and I'm really happy to see them push Sony's internal light baking tech to its limits. The house scene alone.
The game is the ultimate expression of what a huge budget plus a ~300 person team - all at the top of their game - can do when *all of them* practically dedicate their lives to a project for 4 years (for better and worse). I suspect few people understand the simply *monumental* amount of work that went in to U4.
The results an naturally incredible. But at the same time it annoys me as it has set such ridiculous expectations that realistically aren't going to be met anytime soon.

As someone recently told me; Enjoy the golden age of gaming while it lasts.

 

[Warchild]

 

[pjbliverpool]

Best foliage in the business? I think so.

It looks awesome, but I disagree that it's the best foliage in the business. I still think Battlefront has it beat (handily) in that regard. I'd put it roughly on par with Farcry Primal in the foliage department.

I do hate to keep being a voice of negativity in this thread as I'm not blind to what Naughty Dog have achieved here, the game looks absolutely amazing in every respect and is most certainly top of it's field in several areas - I would pick it up in a second if it released on PC and have even flirted with the idea of getting a PS4 just to play it. But this constant insistence that it has to be the absolute best at every single area is getting a little wearing and I feel does need a balancing voice.

#

 

[London Geezer]

I have Farcy Primal on PS4 and I can tell you that ON PS4 there really is no comparison, even just because the IQ in UC4 is so much cleaner it makes everything look better. Also it just looks more diverse and just better. In my eyes. On PS4.

 

[Clukos]

One thing i really like about foliage in U4 is that it picks up lighting information around it, if a sniper is aiming at you with a red laser grass gets a red-ish hue and i also like how characters have contact shadows when passing through the foliage. It's definitely more complicated than "the best" since both titles (FC Primal/Battlefront/U4) have areas where they beat each other and in the end it comes down to personal taste as far as looks go (not sure about the technical side of things as i haven't played all extensively). Personally from what i've played (Primal excluded) i prefer U4 for the reasons i posted a page or two ago, i also really like how varied the foliage is (multiple locations). Interactivity is another strong point in Uncharted 4, everything moves and interacts with the characters, explosions etc.

 

[pjbliverpool]

I have Farcy Primal on PS4 and I can tell you that ON PS4 there really is no comparison, even just because the IQ in UC4 is so much cleaner it makes everything look better. Also it just looks more diverse and just better. In my eyes. On PS4.

I think one important point to consider in that regard is that UC4 is fairly linear whereas FCP is open world so there is an opportunity in UC4 to perfect each area in a highly artistic way as per the shots ultragpu posted above. However FCP doesn't have that luxury so while the 'average' area in FCP may not look as good (I'd certainly agree with that) I think it can look as good or better when you catch a really good area at the right ToD like the shots I posted above demonstrates.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Just played the first four chapters of UC4 and I think my opinion will suitably annoy everyone - I'll currently give UC4's visuals an 8/10.

IQ is amazing. Materials are amazing. Animation is pretty good, but lip-syncing is unconvincing. Detail in the house is mind boggling. Lighting though is pretty problematic IMO. It's inconsistent. We have areas where they're glowing and shouldn't be. No contact shadows when holding pieces of paper. Dark shadows on sides of fingers but no similar darkness of shadows cast against whatever's being held. Reflected light when in an underwater container, but not from walls. Gorgeous lighting of scenery inside, but questionable illumination. The whole thing just doesn't hold well enough together - the best of UC4 clashes against its low quite significantly. I think plenty of the best moments are per-scene hacks and tricks. eg. The example given before of reflected red light from the storage container, I'm guessing that's a scripted light source. If it were a true dynamic secondary light solution, it should work just as well outside or running through corridors or holding a large sheet of paper, and it doesn't.

Also I found the moments of 60 fps really off-putting and feeling strangely like really cheap TV. At the docks in front of a DOF-blurred background, the characters' lighting conflicts with the scenery and it looks like a weak green-screen backdrop of a studio production. Coupled with the high framerate, it looks realy tacky! Not Hollywood at all. There are also plenty of workarounds like reflections, which are clearly faked, and background scenery that's proper naff as already showcased elsewhere.

The general composition of character and scenery thus doesn't work so well. It's all a little floaty and disconnected. When you have incredibly photorealistic materials, and solid scenery lighting, the contrasty people and lack of grounded dynamic lighting really contrasts in a bad way.

Note though this was pre-patch disc release. 5GBs of download would have meant no play tonight so we skipped it, if that changes much.

 

[Globalisateur]

Thanks for the laugh Shifty!

But I think the 60fps part is too early in your post. Should have mentioned it at the very end for a better effect...

 

[Recop]

Primal :

Uncharted :

Uncharted is much better to me. HRAA blurs everything on Primal (even worse away from you)

 

[manux]

Just played the first four chapters of UC4 and I think my opinion will suitably annoy everyone - I'll currently give UC4's visuals an 8/10..

Visuals get better and better as you progress in the game. I would wait judging until the very end.

 

[Globalisateur]