Rant Topic: GT5's mediocre visuals

I played the GT5 demo today and realized once again that I should take consolite's words with a grain of salt. Every time I get my expectations up, they come crashing down when I actually see the game with my own eyes. That's not to say that all console games are ugly, but that they don't look as good as people let on.

Previously, I had made a comment that F1 2010 would have better visuals and words cannot describe how right I was. I'll break up this rant into each element of the game's visuals:

Car Detail:

There's a lot of polygons, so the cars look extremely smooth, but the shaders are lacking so things can get a little rough when you look at them closely. Vehicle reflections are very poor- at a distance (chase cam), they look decent, but when I switched to the hood view, I thought my eyes would hemorrhage. The reflections are extremely low-res and a little choppy. You can barely make out anything up close. The interiors, on the other hand were very nice with good textures and plenty of detail. Damage modelling, while present was kinda weak. It seemed that awkward deformation and subtle scratches was all that there was to GT5's visual damage.

Track detail:

As I expected, it was pretty bad. The track textures were decent- The cobblestone roads of Rome were pretty nice, though asphalt wasn't much to look at. The guard rails were horrible- They were solid gray, flat and blocky with the grooves painted on. I there was any normal mapping, I couldn't see it. The trees were an eyesore as well. Considering the game doesn't have an arcady sense of speed and junkloads of motion blur, they were very noticeable and very ugly. They were flat, washed out, lacking in detail, and pretty rough around the edges. Buildings featured low-res texture, few polygons, little to no normal mapping, and extremely blurry, low-res (probably cube mapped) reflections on the windows. Hills beyond the guardrails had undefined textures as well.

Anti-aliasing:

While you could tell it was present there were still a good deal of jaggies that took away from the visuals.

Lighting/Post-processing:

This is the star of the show. It's because of this that the game still manages to be pretty. The use of motion blur and depth of field also do wonders for the game's visual styling and great camera work. Aside from the lighting being a little lacking in its sense of depth, I have no complaints here.

Overall, I have to say that I was right when I claimed that GRID, DiRT 2, and F1 2010 would have better visuals than GT5 considering they have great-looking tracks and still have nice cars. And while this rant was mainly negative, I'm not saying that GT5 is ugly; Just that it's not the best looking game ever. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

If you are referring to the time trial thing, that isn't an accurate representation of the visuals...

What demo? Incomming fail I sense. And Gamespot gave GT5 best looking console game for a reason. It's one of the best looking console games...

whats the number for the sony defense force

Just to get this cleared out, by demo do you mean prologue, or do you mean you actually played the final product somewhere? 110million

What demo? Incomming fail I sense. And Gamespot gave GT5 best looking console game for a reason. It's one of the best looking console games...

ArtisTool

*notices topic title* Okay, so maybe I did, but I was referring to the quality of what was there, not the visuals overall.

As long as it looks better than Forza 3... thats all that maters

As long as it looks better than Forza 3... thats all that maters

GTSaiyanjin2

A lot of those complaints - if true - are to be expected from this generations consoles games running at 60fps. Though GT5 is ALMOST 1080p if I recall correctly, and 60fps, whilst looking great for the most part. Give it some credit.SaltyMeatballs

[QUOTE="GTSaiyanjin2"]

As long as it looks better than Forza 3... thats all that maters

J-WOW

I'm still waiting for the final product to be released.(GT5)

[QUOTE="SaltyMeatballs"]A lot of those complaints - if true - are to be expected from this generations consoles games running at 60fps. Though GT5 is ALMOST 1080p if I recall correctly, and 60fps, whilst looking great for the most part. Give it some credit.windsquid9000

then you expect too much.

btw what demo are you talking about?

[QUOTE="J-WOW"][QUOTE="GTSaiyanjin2"]

As long as it looks better than Forza 3... thats all that maters

drspudz

[QUOTE="windsquid9000"]

[QUOTE="SaltyMeatballs"]A lot of those complaints - if true - are to be expected from this generations consoles games running at 60fps. Though GT5 is ALMOST 1080p if I recall correctly, and 60fps, whilst looking great for the most part. Give it some credit.crimsonsabre

then you expect too much.

btw what demo are you talking about?

[QUOTE="windsquid9000"]

I played the GT5 demo today... J-WOW

I stopped reading right there

[QUOTE="J-WOW"]

[QUOTE="windsquid9000"]

I played the GT5 demo today... johny300

I stopped reading right there

Pics or it didn't happen.

Pics or it didn't happen.

mitu123

Honestly, TC is wrong. Drop dead wrong. I don't know where you are coming out with your facts. It's much worse than you say. I've seen games on natal look way better than GT5, it's not even funny. Poly did a really bad job on this game.

TC is in denial.

http://e3.gamespot.com/best-of-e3-2010/special-achievement/index.html?page=2

http://gamescom.gamespot.com/story/6274171/gran-turismo-5-speeds-off-with-gamescoms-top-prize/

http://tgs.gamespot.com/video/6276370/?tag=updates;title;5#toggle_video

I agree OP. I'm not impressed with GT5's visuals either. Let's just allow these fanboys to continue ranting at everyone who has any critical comments regarding GT5.The_OT_Man

TC is in denial.

http://e3.gamespot.com/best-of-e3-2010/special-achievement/index.html?page=2

http://gamescom.gamespot.com/story/6274171/gran-turismo-5-speeds-off-with-gamescoms-top-prize/

http://tgs.gamespot.com/video/6276370/?tag=updates;title;5#toggle_video

Gue1

EDIT: And if you actually read my post, I'm not saying that the game is ugly, but that it simply has a plethora of visual flaws that other games don't have [to the same extent]. It's understandable that it is praised for it's visuals- it's a pretty game- but it's not without flaws and because of these flaws, I do not believe it is the best looking racer.

TC is in denial.

http://e3.gamespot.com/best-of-e3-2010/special-achievement/index.html?page=2

http://gamescom.gamespot.com/story/6274171/gran-turismo-5-speeds-off-with-gamescoms-top-prize/

http://tgs.gamespot.com/video/6276370/?tag=updates;title;5#toggle_video

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

TC is in denial.

http://e3.gamespot.com/best-of-e3-2010/special-achievement/index.html?page=2

http://gamescom.gamespot.com/story/6274171/gran-turismo-5-speeds-off-with-gamescoms-top-prize/

http://tgs.gamespot.com/video/6276370/?tag=updates;title;5#toggle_video

windsquid9000

EDIT: And if you actually read my post, I'm not saying that the game is ugly, but that it simply has a plethora of visual infidelities that other games don't have [to the same extent]. It's understandable that it is praised for it's visuals- it's a pretty game- but it's not without flaws and because of these flaws, I do not believe it is the best looking racer.

TC has played the game....the rest of you guys have not. I wonder who I should listen to. Btw TC, play PGR4, it's my favorite racer this gen and one of the best looking racers. The weather effects are phenomenal. It has real time weather unlike GT5.drspudz

[QUOTE="windsquid9000"]

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

TC is in denial.

http://e3.gamespot.com/best-of-e3-2010/special-achievement/index.html?page=2

http://gamescom.gamespot.com/story/6274171/gran-turismo-5-speeds-off-with-gamescoms-top-prize/

http://tgs.gamespot.com/video/6276370/?tag=updates;title;5#toggle_video

lbjkurono23

EDIT: And if you actually read my post, I'm not saying that the game is ugly, but that it simply has a plethora of visual infidelities that other games don't have [to the same extent]. It's understandable that it is praised for it's visuals- it's a pretty game- but it's not without flaws and because of these flaws, I do not believe it is the best looking racer.

[QUOTE="drspudz"]TC has played the game....the rest of you guys have not. I wonder who I should listen to. Btw TC, play PGR4, it's my favorite racer this gen and one of the best looking racers. The weather effects are phenomenal. It has real time weather unlike GT5.gaming25

[QUOTE="gaming25"][QUOTE="drspudz"]TC has played the game....the rest of you guys have not. I wonder who I should listen to. Btw TC, play PGR4, it's my favorite racer this gen and one of the best looking racers. The weather effects are phenomenal. It has real time weather unlike GT5.drspudz

[QUOTE="gaming25"][QUOTE="drspudz"]TC has played the game....the rest of you guys have not. I wonder who I should listen to. Btw TC, play PGR4, it's my favorite racer this gen and one of the best looking racers. The weather effects are phenomenal. It has real time weather unlike GT5.drspudz

[QUOTE="windsquid9000"][QUOTE="Gue1"]

TC is in denial.

http://e3.gamespot.com/best-of-e3-2010/special-achievement/index.html?page=2

http://gamescom.gamespot.com/story/6274171/gran-turismo-5-speeds-off-with-gamescoms-top-prize/

http://tgs.gamespot.com/video/6276370/?tag=updates;title;5#toggle_video

gaming25

The attention to detail on the tracks is very impressive.. The LEVEL of detail is not. And I'm not nitpicking. I'm pointing out clearly visible elements of the game's graphics. I'll see if I can clarify things so you can see where I'm coming from:

Because of the insane number of polygons, the cars are the smoothest I've seen and the textures are great as well. BUT, the reflections are heavily pixelated up close and the surface of the car looks somewhat artificial when you pay attention to how light interacts with its surface. This isn't an observation made from pressing my face against the screen, I simply looked at the car from the various views the game gives you. The hood view clearly shows how low-res the reflections are and the replays/display cars give you a good enough look at the cars to show that something is a little wonky about the surface. These cars may be the most detailed, but because some elements fall far short of cars in other games, they are arguably not the best looking.

The tracks, while the attention to detail is about the best I've seen, are very lacking in their level of detail. Elements in the environment aren't nearly as defined as they are in other games. That's not a biased opinion made by a GT hater that glanced at a video or two, that's an observable fact visible to those who have played the game. Other games have fully rendered guardrails. GT5 does not. Other games [may] have 3D trees. GT5 does not. Other games [may] have normal mapping, well defined textures, and detailed back-drops. GT5 (for the most part) does not.

You may be wondering "if the game's visuals have all these flaws, then why do people praise them so much?" Well, that's because of excellent visual styling. Lighting, use of motion blur and depth of field, attention to detail, camera work, level of detail (as far as the cars are concerned), etc. all come together nicely to make a great looking game and may lead some to ignore the aforementioned flaws. But that doesn't change that they are there and that doesn't change my stance.

PGR4 looks great, but not better than Forza 3 imo... both do have different styles, but overall Forza 3 has more detail. But I'll admit I do like PGR4 as the better game. The PGR4 video is my upload btw

Forza 3

PGR4

A console gaming not having fantastic visuals.........ill alert the media.

You want good visuals and great gameplayget a PC and enjoy the fact that console gaming still provides fantastic gameplay/games.

i'm confused right now...how did you play the GT5 demo if i haven't seen any demo, and if it has bad visuals...it has to be that so called car damage

[QUOTE="gaming25"][QUOTE="windsquid9000"] TC has played the game (at least the most recent "public" build of it which looks to be the same as what they played). I'm not going to change my opinion simply because an official gaming site says otherwise. I base my opinion on what's actually there.windsquid9000

The attention to detail on the tracks is very impressive.. The LEVEL of detail is not. And I'm not nitpicking. I'm pointing out clearly visible elements of the game's graphics. I'll see if I can clarify things so you can see where I'm coming from:

Because of the insane number of polygons, the cars are the smoothest I've seen and the textures are great as well. BUT, the reflections are heavily pixelated up close and the surface of the car looks somewhat artificial when you pay attention to how light interacts with its surface. This isn't an observation made from pressing my face against the screen, I simply looked at the car from the various views the game gives you. The hood view clearly shows how low-res the reflections are and the replays/display cars give you a good enough look at the cars to show that something is a little wonky about the surface. These cars may be the most detailed, but because some elements fall far short of cars in other games, they are arguably not the best looking.

The tracks, while the attention to detail is about the best I've seen, are very lacking in their level of detail. Elements in the environment aren't nearly as defined as they are in other games. That's not a biased opinion made by a GT hater that glanced at a video or two, that's an observable fact visible to those who have played the game. Other games have fully rendered guardrails. GT5 does not. Other games [may] have 3D trees. GT5 does not. Other games [may] have normal mapping, well defined textures, and detailed back-drops. GT5 (for the most part) does not.

You may be wondering "if the game's visuals have all these flaws, then why do people praise them so much?" Well, that's because of excellent visual styling. Lighting, use of motion blur and depth of field, attention to detail, camera work, level of detail (as far as the cars are concerned), etc. all come together nicely to make a great looking game and may lead some to ignore the aforementioned flaws. But that doesn't change that they are there and that doesn't change my stance.

The graphics are VERY inconsistent. At times it look somewhat photorealistic. At times they look very good. At times they look Forza-ish. And at times theyre just bad.

Not to mention, the 2D trees. The reason for 2D trees isnt that PD decided to put attention to other areas. its that the engine cant handle it. Fact.