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[Portugeezer]

Biggest issue for this is most likely time/budgets.

 

[midnightAI]

In terms of what we see being output to the screen, then yes, we are approaching it and in some scenes in some games we exceeded what we see from CGI years ago.
That doesn't mean to say that we have surpassed CGI using non raytraced methods (or even raytraced methods), it just means that what we see is definitely above early CGI in its look, giving a close enough approximation of what we see from CGI (which is much more accurate obviously).

Things will improve too, as raytracing is used more and more for things other than just reflections. Global illumination and shadows becoming more commonplace will certainly help with that (I believe many engines are concentrating on this, such as Decima), volumetrics too are being improved as are realtime simulations of wind/cloud, water and particles. I think reflections will be dialed back a lot to be more realistic (currently they are over used and over reflective, kind of when other technologies started happening like bloom which when it first came our was overused and overdone massively (still is in some games).

I think part of the problem with the question is there are those who just outright dismiss it because there arent millions of rays being traced, absolutely zero aliasing, infinite polys (practically) etc. and that cannot really be achieved easily as these were done on mass render farms, taking hours for a single frame (its not quite so bad now, but still takes a long time), but really, does all that matter if the output is good enough to fool you into thinking its CGI? There is some CGI out there that is awful (low budget movie awful), but even that 'technically' is superior to realtime game graphics, but does it 'look' better? the answer to that is a no (depending on the game of course)

So basically, have we matched it? no, but its close enough to fool us into thinking we have.

 

[RoadHazard]

Indeed the studios good at graphics are progressing nicely.

But art style is as important as fidelity for me. The real wow moment and true next gen feeling to date is still Demon's Soul remake. The combination of well baked graphics, particle effects, lights and Dualsense haptic feedback created the true next gen experience for me. Hard to believe it's been four years.

It's hard to believe because it hasn't. It has been three years and three months.

But I agree it's still one of the most impressive things I've played this generation. Very consistent high asset quality etc.

 

[Aaron Olive]

Surprised DF hasn't done a video about the state of gaming coming to midpoint of the life cycle and what to look forward to in the future.

I found these hidden gems on UE YouTube channel and they look Amazing, also a short film project named Capture from Vincent Toujas

 

[HighPoly]

In terms of what we see being output to the screen, then yes, we are approaching it and in some scenes in some games we exceeded what we see from CGI years ago.
That doesn't mean to say that we have surpassed CGI using non raytraced methods (or even raytraced methods), it just means that what we see is definitely above early CGI in its look, giving a close enough approximation of what we see from CGI (which is much more accurate obviously).

Things will improve too, as raytracing is used more and more for things other than just reflections. Global illumination and shadows becoming more commonplace will certainly help with that (I believe many engines are concentrating on this, such as Decima), volumetrics too are being improved as are realtime simulations of wind/cloud, water and particles. I think reflections will be dialed back a lot to be more realistic (currently they are over used and over reflective, kind of when other technologies started happening like bloom which when it first came our was overused and overdone massively (still is in some games).

I think part of the problem with the question is there are those who just outright dismiss it because there arent millions of rays being traced, absolutely zero aliasing, infinite polys (practically) etc. and that cannot really be achieved easily as these were done on mass render farms, taking hours for a single frame (its not quite so bad now, but still takes a long time), but really, does all that matter if the output is good enough to fool you into thinking its CGI? There is some CGI out there that is awful (low budget movie awful), but even that 'technically' is superior to realtime game graphics, but does it 'look' better? the answer to that is a no (depending on the game of course)

So basically, have we matched it? no, but its close enough to fool us into thinking we have.

PERFECT !

Well, I think we are touching PS2 CGi level, except by cloth physcis, cause I don't really know what is the trick behind it...
Maybe higher polygon count, to make them flexible enough to create a physical reaction?
I mean, one character today, usually has 120k polygons...
I think we need another 120k polygon, only to make t-shirts and pants reacting flexibly to physics...

Don't know if 240k ~ 360k polygon is the bet for current gen consoles, or even the next gen!
We have things like photogrammetry, and this technology eliminates the massive use of polygons, making more resources to use on hair and clothes!

Well, in the end of the day, the most important thing is, how does it look like?
I mean, Art Style is extremely important... Look how beautiful Mario Odyssey looks like, running with low poly characters.
Or how beautiful Crash Bandicoot and Spyro The Dragon Remake looks like, even with less polygons than any indie game today.

So, what's your opinion, about what I said? Do you think we've at least surpassed 90's PSONE cgi ?
RE2 Remake and RE3 Remake surpassed the original CGi level? Whats next?
What to excpect from the next Ratchet Clank for example?

 

[HighPoly]

It's hard to believe because it hasn't. It has been three years and three months.

But I agree it's still one of the most impressive things I've played this generation. Very consistent high asset quality etc.

this game is beautiful, but it seems like PS5 could make even more!

DS2 and Wolverine will bring us the reality of this new generation.. I hope..

 

[Blood Borne]

Onimusha 3 intro is beautiful, but DS2 and Hellblade 2 will probably surpass...
I don't know what Naughty Dog, SAnta Monica, Sucker Punch and BEND studios are doing...
But games starting from now will use all hardware resources...

Damn. You just reminded me of the legendary Onimusha 3 opening.
It’s been years since I’ve seen it. Going to watch it now.

 

[HighPoly]

Damn. You just reminded me of the legendary Onimusha 3 opening.
It’s been years since I’ve seen it. Going to watch it now.

It's confusing, I mean, we are running PS2 CGi, but when we compare to Toy Story 1 and 2, we don't believe it, even being 90's CGi...

Are we running Toy Story 1 and 2 and PS2 CGi ?

 

[Audiophile]

...

That's damn impressive, my brain knows it's not real but the uncanny valley is almost gone.

Feels more convincing overall than most CGI versions of actors like Leia and Tarkin in Rogue One or young Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy.

The power required to do this in-engine in a mainstream title is probably just round the corner; beyond that it just seems to be a case of one more push on the systems and artistry front.

For about half the duration of that clip I found myself intermittently thinking: "is that real? have they secretly merged some real footage in?".

 

[Redneckerz]

Look what I found

this is much better than FF7 Rebirth! I know cutscenes are amazing, but gameplay has several texture problems!

You aren't addressing anything i said.

Do you believe PS6 will be able of making at least FF7 Advent Children? I'm trying to be less demanding...

To quote The Rock: ''It doesn't matter''. It all comes down to what artists want to set or to achieve.

I'm remembering rumors saying PS6 and Mark Cerny are trying to make the best Ray Tracing machine, Path Tracing whatever...
But in my opinion, They should waste hardware on Physics, Cloth Physics, Hair...

You should join Sony then. I am sure their daily bulletin featuring HighPoly will be most useful to them.

 

[E-Cat]

interesting comment!!!

I've thinking about that everytime!
Have we surpassed the FFX CGi graphics? Or at least equivalent?

In some elements I think we have done, when comparing textures definition and motion capture...
But things like geometry or cloth physics, in some PS2 CGi are still superior...

It seems so complex to compare, cause art style changed year after year like, photorealism today is better than 90's and early 2000's CGi era...
Sometimes I think we've reach Final Fantasy Spirit Within level, and sometimes we don't...

What do you think about it? Are we at least running 90's CGi era? like high end PSONE CGi?
Is Hellblade 2 comparable to FFX or FF Spirit Within?

I think FFX CGI also has better lighting than any real-time game today. FF Spirit Within has superior image quality / a "clean" look thanks to micropolygon rendering.

 

[HighPoly]

I think FFX CGI also has better lighting than any real-time game today. FF Spirit Within has superior image quality / a "clean" look thanks to micropolygon rendering.

Yes, I understand when you speak about image quality, but we always need to forget when talking about real time rendering
Except when consoles start running native 8k with no DLSS or FSR...

But I think we're starting to play games with PS2 CGi level, I mean, except by fact consoles are not able of making Path Tracing, even on a small scenario...
Don't know how it looks when we put path tracing on Alan Wake 2, using RTX 4090, but that must be the closest FFX CGi visual for now...

Maybe Hellblade 2, DS2, Alan Wake 2, Crysis 4, Pragmata, Next Resindent Evil, Insomaniac Wolverine, Naughty Dog's ip and Bend Studios ip, will bring us FFX CGi level...
But we need to consider FFX-2, that is so far ahead from what we can get now... Yeah, we have a long road to match PS3 CGi in real time, and maybe the next step are all those PIXAR and Dreamworks movies, between 2001 to 2005... Only on next gen consoles...

I can't imagine PS5 or Series X rendering this Millions of blue Sullivan hair, in real time...