Uncharted 4: A Thief's End [PS4]

[szymku]

I see something Liam Neeson'ish combined with some Harisson Ford'ish

Or rather

 

[Nesh]

Mileage, its being married that does it to you.

 

[Arwin]

Assuming the game works as previous, then the game is simply rendering the cutscenes in-engine. In the previous Uncharted games, that did not have to be real-time. They were also played back as fmv, and helped hide load-times.

If they make the whole game 1080p 60fps though, and if load-times are no longer a real issue (and considering how open-world games can stream such high detail, like in AC4: Unity, that seems likely), then they may be better off now to really use in-game engine cut-scenes rendered in real-time.

But right now, none of this means a lot to me. And I say this as a huge fan, for whom Uncharted 2 and 3 were definite graphical highlights last-gen. Especially Uncharted 2 blew me away, both in terms of texture quality, detail, art, poly-count, dynamic animation, variation in enemy models, use of physics, lighting, shadows, etc. AC:Unity is the first game that shows me environments and indoor rooms (especially in that co-op trailer) that look more beautiful than the stuff in Uncharted 3.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

The clothing is the least impressive from what I see.

Least impressive of what? Compared to other games, or least impressive part of that video? If that latter, it highlights the overall video quality, as the least quality part is still pretty exceptional.

It's all shiny and bumpmappy plastic looking.

That doesn't match at all the video. The opening moments, his left shirt arm is matte like cotton. It's only shiny where it's sopping wet at the front. The silhouette shows clear modelled crease that are deforming with the bending of the arm. Likewise the creases at the back on the bottom of the shirt.

I can only conclude from that comment that you base your interpretation simply on the obvious wet shader on the shoulder, that is all shiny and bump-mappy. Rather than fobbing off the whole video on a few obvious (yet still well executed) effects, you should look more critically.

Here's the final moment. Barely a jaggy to be seen (although camera effects mean vaseline, as is the fashion). Incidentally, what's the best image sharer for 1080p files? PostImage shrunk the image despite requesting not to, but maybe that's because I don't have an account?

 

[TEEDA]

Drake god old... but power of PS4 is there to make him look awesome.

Nice details on the face as well. I really love the hair. Maybe the body proportions are a lil off IMo. But that looks so fantastic. I believe we won't see this title till early 2016

I like his actual face. Looks to be closer to uncharted 2 Drake than Uncharted 3 Drake. If I remember correctly most of the team from U2 are returning and most of the programmers. Damn Corinne Yu I love you. Can't wait to see more. Especially on the animation side. i loved the different poses and animation Drake had in uncharted 1 while being in cover. they didn't put all those back in U2 and U3.
I believe this game is probably or will use more advance devkit tools.

 

[iroboto]

It game and captured on the PS4 yet pre-rendered.. right..
.

This is actually what people docked Ryse on. Captured on the Xbox One, yet pre-rendered to save on loading times. I'm not going to comment on U4 in particular, too little information about it to form an opinion. I frankly don't care if it's pre-rendered or not, just imo.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Literally every single strand of beard and hair are rendered. The facial animation omg...

Just saw the 60 fps Gamersyde footage !
Holy Monoly ! Holy shit, freak.. fuck... shit ! THey fucking killed it , ND fucking wowed me even though the expectations were sky high ! THat lighting on trees, on skin ....hahahaha !

But why, oh god, why no gameplay demo? and why 2015 ? You have had so much time ND ! WHy ?

If that is just a target render, then I am disappointed that they are so far away from finishing it ! I was very sure this would be out this xmas ! But them still saying they are "targeting 60 fps" and not showing a extended trailer, no gameplay demo either !

 

[-tkf-]

Whatever it is, it's done in real time, on a PS4, it looks fantastic, it will be another example of the superiority of the PS4, i just hope it also moved the goalposts in other ways

 

[DieH@rd]

One user from gaf tweaked the brightness and saturation, turning the night into day:

http://i.minus.com/ibdRXJqeM8dbYH.gif

 

[Orion]

Should we expect the same quality for gameplay though? Not likely.

maybe not technically but 1080p with decent AA produces virtually imperceptible iq problems from 5 feet away on a large display. I'm also told infamous had a nice AA solution which may be shared by sony teams.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

One user from gaf tweaked the brightness and saturation, turning the night into day:

http://i.minus.com/ibdRXJqeM8dbYH.gif

Wow !

 

[SlimJim]

I am sorry but while the new Drake model; if realtime, then indeed, looks better than anything ever rendered in realtime (on sub $ 10.000 hardware at least), I think the old model looks 'better'.
This one is too different. If they did a reboot then okay. But how would they explain his change of facial features??

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Did they give any mention of a target date?

Just "2015". I'm guessing they're aiming for November/December. Amazing detail but Naughty Dog's use of tech has never been in question. How the game fares is another matter although I'm very optimistic with Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley (The Last of Us) making the creative decisions

 

[Orion]

I am sorry but while the new Drake model; if realtime, then indeed, looks better than anything ever rendered in realtime (on sub $ 10.000 hardware at least), I think the old model looks 'better'.
This one is too different. If they did a reboot then okay. But how would they explain his change of facial features??

Same way professor x and magneto have different facial structure in the new xmen movie... the magic of aging

 

[RudeCurve]

Least impressive of what? Compared to other games, or least impressive part of that video? If that latter, it highlights the overall video quality, as the least quality part is still pretty exceptional.That doesn't match at all the video. The opening moments, his left shirt arm is matte like cotton. It's only shiny where it's sopping wet at the front. The silhouette shows clear modelled crease that are deforming with the bending of the arm. Likewise the creases at the back on the bottom of the shirt.

I can only conclude from that comment that you base your interpretation simply on the obvious wet shader on the shoulder, that is all shiny and bump-mappy. Rather than fobbing off the whole video on a few obvious (yet still well executed) effects, you should look more critically.

Here's the final moment. Barely a jaggy to be seen (although camera effects mean vaseline, as is the fashion). Incidentally, what's the best image sharer for 1080p files? PostImage shrunk the image despite requesting not to, but maybe that's because I don't have an account?

Yes in the beginning when he's crawling about to get up the clothing is detailed especially the leather shoulder straps and partial wet shader but when he gets up and is standing the wet shader looks horrible. What is more impressive in this specific cutscene to me is the foliage and the overall foggy moon lit atmosphere...it is not the facial animation, skin shader or character model.

This is actually what people docked Ryse on. Captured on the Xbox One, yet pre-rendered to save on loading times. I'm not going to comment on U4 in particular, too little information about it to form an opinion. I frankly don't care if it's pre-rendered or not, just imo.

Yes and those people are uninformed because some of those cutscenes were real time and look really good. I too don't care if UC4's intro cutscene is prerendered or not given that it's not all that impressive compared to what's been shown by other games.

 

[Strange]

I am sorry but while the new Drake model; if realtime, then indeed, looks better than anything ever rendered in realtime (on sub $ 10.000 hardware at least), I think the old model looks 'better'.
This one is too different. If they did a reboot then okay. But how would they explain his change of facial features??

Age I believe.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Yes in the beginning when he's crawling about to get up the clothing is detailed especially the leather shoulder straps and partial wet shader but when he gets up and is standing the wet shader looks horrible.

That's rather subjective. It probably looks more like slime than wetness, but that's easily tweakable, and only a small part of the image.

.it is not the facial animation, skin shader or character model.

Having looked up some Ryse vids, I agree that a lot of the high quality artwork isn't new to this gen. Some of the Ryse stuff is exceptional in its cutscenes. As such, the clothing in this U4 clip makes it stand out IMO, as the thing is strong in every area.

Yes and those people are uninformed because some of those cutscenes were real time and look really good. I too don't care if UC4's intro cutscene is prerendered or not given that it's not all that impressive compared to what's been shown by other games.

You mean no more impressive, yet equally impressive? Or no more impressive because it's old news? Or just this U4 clip looks poor because it's doing everything well except a single wetness shader?

I wouldn't say this U4 trailer was mind blowingly good, head-and-shoulders above the rest, but it shouldn't be unduly detracted from either. It's a technical reference piece of getting everything right and production values combined with technical savvy. There are zero glowing faults. The clothing looks like clothing instead of pipes. The lighting is convincing and pretty robust (I noticed one point where the lighting on the holster looked out of place on a repeat viewing). The face looks facey. The hair looks hairy. The water moves like water and the plants move like plants, and there are no give-away jaggies or vertices. About the only thing it doesn't do strongly versus other titles is scope. Maybe variety of surfaces too as it's limited to the jungle? Oh, and it could be criticised for a less than perfect sand effect, which although it deforms does not do so convincingly (when you watch it freeze frame several times!), as if the mesh was just presculptured. We're getting into seriously critical analysis at this level though. As a whole, it's an excellent masterwork of contemporary game graphics, which should come as no surprise from such a technical powerhouse given the inordinate financial backing of Sony wanting a flagship title!

 

[Laa-Yosh]

The main difference in UC4 so far is that the character still looks completely hand crafted, whereas Ryse was using 3D scanning for all the characters (although they did apply some stylistic changes).

Both approaches are time consuming, but scanning will almost always produce more realistic visuals. It takes a lot of talent and experience to get hand crafted artwork appear as good.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I don't see anything unrealistic about Drake here, save the shading which is in the Uncharted non-photo-realistic vein. Proportions, animation, etc. all look very realistic. Maybe to the trained eye the muscle movements of Drake are a little jarring or unnatural?

 

[SlimJim]

Still, I think this is raising the bar too much. I didn't mean that as fanboys-style hyperbole, I meant is an honest gamer. If PS4 games are to have production values like The Order or Uncharted, then even Infamous:SS is going to look 'low budget' in the character model/animation department..

This game might hurt gamers as well as developers, because games with these graphics only come about 5 times a generation.. everything else will look sub par

edit:

The main difference in UC4 so far is that the character still looks completely hand crafted, whereas Ryse was using 3D scanning for all the characters (although they did apply some stylistic changes).

Both approaches are time consuming, but scanning will almost always produce more realistic visuals. It takes a lot of talent and experience to get hand crafted artwork appear as good.

I respectfully disagree: with 3d scanned games like Ryse it often appears as if not all facial muscles are connected. Looking at random screenshots as an experiment, the Ryse guy almost in every shot looks like he suffered from, or is suffering from a stroke. Sometimes it even looks as if a "photo skin" is stretched over a lower definition polygonal mesh. The wrinkles were 3d scanned but don't actually move like wrinkles should.
So I think it rather takes a lot of talent and experience to get 3d scanned models to appear good, because the illusion is broken much faster