Support NeoGAF

[cyberheater]

I'm playing Star Wars Battlefront and it's one of the most realistic games I've ever seen. A truly stunning title and it's due in large part because of physically based rendering or PBR.

An example.

Taken from the Unreal Engine docs.

What Does Physically Based Mean?

Physically based shading means we approximate what light actually does as opposed to approximating what we intuitively think it should do. The end result is more accurate and typically more natural looking. Physically based Materials will work equally well in all lighting environments. In addition, the Material values can be less complex and interdependent, resulting in a more intuitive interface.

This results in around 4 material parameters. These are base colour, roughness, metallic (reflectivity) and specular (gloss). Here is an example.

Here is another example from a game. Note how the reflectivity and gloss is physically accurate.

I really love this technique. It looks wonderful in games and I hope to see more of it.

Do you have anymore examples of games that implement this technique.

 

[Denton]

Alien Isolation looks photorealistic at times thanks to PBR. I love this technique.

 

[raven777]

Probably not the most technically amazing game, but upcoming DOAX3 changed their shader to physically based according to Hayashi, and recent screenshots and trailer seems to show more natural skin

Spoiler

http://i1.ruliweb.daumcdn.net/uf/original/U01/ruliweb/564D84653A1A08001F

Spoiler

http://giant.gfycat.com/LikableScornfulEgret.gif

 

[Oppo]

The Order as well.

I didn't know BF used this.

edit - ugh. DOA is so fuckin dumb. sorry but that gif is just... not cool.

 

[Wace]

Dagor Engine 4.0

There's also huge article with technical details: http://warthunder.com/en/devblog/current/806

 

[213372bu]

I really like the effect of PBR in lots of games lately.

I wonder if this will become the norm later on in the console life, when hopefully devs can take full +optimized control of what they have on PS4.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Probably not the most technically amazing game, but upcoming DOAX3 changed their shader to physically based according to Hayashi, and recent screenshots and trailer seems to show more natural skin

That does not look "natural" in any way.

The Witcher 3:

Assassin's Creed Syndicate:

 

[Harlequin]

Most current-gen games use PBR but not all of them use it well. PBR's effectiveness really relies on the artists creating materials with accurate values.

 

[cyberheater]

There's also huge article with technical details: http://warthunder.com/en/devblog/current/806

That was a great article. Thanks.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Makes games look so much better especially with a good art team.

Probably not the most technically amazing game, but upcoming DOAX3 changed their shader to physically based according to Hayashi, and recent screenshots and trailer seems to show more natural skin

That's not what skin looks like...

 

[diaspora]

That does not look "natural" in any way.

The Witcher 3:


Assassin's Creed Syndicate:

Inquisition has hella good skin too though it doesn't use PBR iirc.

 

[Elixist]

I think the order uses this really well, it is a really fantastic looking tech.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Inquisition has hella good skin too though it doesn't use PBR iirc.

Yeah it doesn't which surprised me tbh. But then someone pointed out the overly-shiny metals + the fact that wood and rock in the environment look the same. But it does a really nice job without it imo.

 

[MDSLKTR]

cod aw is such a looker, love that tech

 

[DOWN]

The Witcher 3:

Witcher 3 has some of the weakest and most selectively applied PBR of the year, so let's not. The screens look awful.

 

[PleaseBeGentle_]

Makes games look so much better especially with a good art team.

The character animations in that FFXV are amazing. So fluent :O

 

[Whompa02]

Makes games look so much better especially with a good art team.

god I need this game.

 

[Zoloft Sonic]

PBR is the defining visual feature of this gen, IMO. It's the single biggest leap over last gen in changing how the visuals feel.

 

[Karl Hawk]

Witcher 3 has some of the weakest and most selectively applied PBR of the year, so let's not. The screens look awful.

Let's. I know you have a fetish against Witcher 3.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Witcher 3 has some of the weakest and most selectively applied PBR of the year, so let's not. The screens look awful.

What are you talking about? It's super obvious on clothes.

 

[DeepEnigma]

That does not look "natural" in any way.

The Witcher 3:


Assassin's Creed Syndicate:

Yet you post Witcher 3 which looks just as "sheen"? Look, I can't care less about DOA, but I would not use W3 to describe "natural" looking skin shaders. They still have that cartoonish plastic like look.

The Order was much more natural, all around.

 

[DOWN]

What are you talking about? It's super obvious on clothes.

That's my point. Most of the world's materials are missing it, as are some outfits. It's very limited and poorly showcased by the game, particularly in the regular gameplay screenshots. It just has a weak gross sheen version of PBR in most of that game's rare uses of it. That hood cloth looks very badly lit.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Probably not the most technically amazing game, but upcoming DOAX3 changed their shader to physically based according to Hayashi, and recent screenshots and trailer seems to show more natural skin.

Please use spoiler tags for NSFW images, especially in threads not marked for the potential of NSFW content.


Also, Battlefront has the best graphics of any game I have ever seen. It's a combination of the PBR, photogrammery, and advanced lighting.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Yet you post Witcher 3 which looks just as "sheen"? Look, I can't care less about DOA, but I would not use W3 to describe "natural" looking skin shaders. They still have that cartoonish plastic like look.

The Order was much more natural, all around.

PBR isn't skin (well it might be used for that), what makes skin shaders look so good this gen is subsurface scattering. TW3 looks like that because it's not using SSS as much as other stuff is.

 

[tuxfool]

That's my point. Most of the world's materials are missing it, as are some outfits. It's very limited and poorly showcased by the game, particularly in the regular gameplay screenshots. It just has a weak gross sheen version of PVr in most of that game's rare uses of it. That hood cloth looks very badly lit.

*cough*

Fallout 4 wins that title. It has the most haphazard implementation of PBR, where even similar materials on different objects have vastly different effects.

One just has to look at the wreckages of plastic looking cars in that game.

 

[DOWN]

The Order, Assassin's Creed Unity/Syndicate, and Battlefront are the best extensive uses of PBR.

 

[aasoncott]

Witcher 3 has some of the weakest and most selectively applied PBR of the year, so let's not. The screens look awful.

There's no such thing as "selectively-applied PBR". If your game is using PBR, it's probably what you're using for almost everything in the game.

PBR isn't a look, it's a pipeline.

 

[AlStrong]

Most current-gen games use PBR but not all of them use it well. PBR's effectiveness really relies on the artists creating materials with accurate values.

There may also be differing BRDFs used.

 

[DeepEnigma]

PBR isn't skin (well it might be used for that), what makes skin shaders look so good this gen is subsurface scattering. TW3 looks like that because it's not using SSS as much as other stuff is.

I stand corrected. The clothing still looks far more natural in The Order. As well as world objects. W3 still has a cartoonish look, and it is probably from the over-saturated pallet.

The Order, Assassin's Creed Unity/Syndicate, and Battlefront are the best extensive uses of PBR.

Agreed.

There's no such thing as "selectively-applied PBR". If your game is using PBR, it's probably what you're using for almost everything in the game.

PBR isn't a look, it's a pipeline.

So the games he mentioned above make better use of the artistic rendering abilities afforded by the pipeline then. Semantics I suppose.

 

[VanWinkle]

Oh I love PBR, but some games fake it really well, too, like Batman Arkham Knight. The materials all look great on that game, despite not technically having PBR.

 

[JordanN]

Ratchet & Clank deserves a mention.

There are very few next gen games that combine both PBR with cartoon stylizing, which makes me very sad.

 

[tuxfool]

There's no such thing as "selectively-applied PBR". If your game is using PBR, it's probably what you're using for almost everything in the game.

PBR isn't a look, it's a pipeline.

This. Though its effectiveness/accuracy of different materials can be highly variable. Not to mention that sometimes it also requires artists to let go of their artistic creativity.

 

[DOWN]

There's no such thing as "selectively-applied PBR". If your game is using PBR, it's probably what you're using for almost everything in the game.

PBR isn't a look, it's a pipeline.

Surely you understood that by applied, I mean appropriately applied material values to give them a noticeably realistic resemblance. Few objects in the Witcher 3 have the visible benefits of PBR in the way that some of the clothing's leather/metal have it in the game. Most of the world is unremarkably flat.

 

[Jedipottsy]

Pbr isn't necessarily better looking that traditional approx shaders, both can produce incredible looking images, the main advantage is that pbr sanders are much more initiative for the artist and more reliable under different lighting conditions

 

[JordanN]

This. Though its effectiveness/accuracy of different materials can be highly variable. Not to mention that sometimes it also requires artists to let go of their artistic creativity.

It's actually the opposite.

You can be very creative under PBR with the roughness/glossness maps. Things like dirt or rust allows you to give history to how a material came about.

 

[Shin-Ra]

iSS still has some of the best texture work I've seen.

But when PBR goes wrong...

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Oh I love PBR, but some games fake it really well, too, like Batman Arkham Knight. The materials all look great on that game, despite not technically having PBR.

Yes! Also on the topic of skin...

Arkham Knight's was incredible. Especially when you consider how well it runs on consoles. Amazing.

Also in terms of not having PBR, it helps that Arkham Knight takes place in the rain so everything looking a bit shiny is excused.

 

[tuxfool]

It's actually the opposite.

You can be very creative under PBR with the roughness/glossness maps. Things like dirt or rust allows you to give history to how a material came about.

That would be them using the properties of a PBR pipeline, and isn't what I'm referring to. I recall reading instances where the artists unduly compensated on their textures when they personally felt it looked better. There was a thread with examples of this.

 

[EvB]

iSS still has some of the best texture work I've seen.

Best evar

 

[Garrett Hawke]

But when PBR goes wrong...

But when PBR goes right:

 

[tuxfool]

But when PBR goes wrong...

That just looks like it isn't doing energy conservation.

edit: oh wait, that RoTR, yeah it definitely isn't doing energy conservation.

 

[Trace]

Star Citizen has some of the most fantastic PBR I've seen.

 

[potatohead]

The Order and Killzone Shadowfall also have really incredible PBR.

Killzone was the first game it was so obvious, and maybe the first game that used it.

It was so easy to really see the difference in materials lighting between metallic and rough items.

This is one of my favourite examples between the tarp and concrete and metal elements.

Even Infamous SS uses it really well.

Another great example would be MGS Phantom Pain. It's not even that great in environment detail actually, but the shaders and ambient occlusion and perfect lighting engine make it look much better.

PBR and screen-space reflections have so greatly increased IQ it's just amazing.

 

[Shin-Ra]

Best evar

I don't think that's quite lossy enough! I can still see some texture detail.

 

[Face it Tiger..]

I wish Fallout had it.

 

[Trace]

I wish Fallout had it.

It does.

Just not the most well implemented.

 

[Dombrowski]

I've yet to see a better use:

 

[Crossing Eden]

Yes! Also on the topic of skin...

Arkham Knight's was incredible. Especially when you consider how well it runs on consoles. Amazing.

Also in terms of not having PBR, it helps that Arkham Knight takes place in the rain so everything looking a bit shiny is excused.

I kept saying "HOW" during that game, especially during that scene. I mean goddamn.

 

[potatohead]

And of course DriveClub.

And Order I mentioned before.

 

[brainchild]

PBR looks great when done right, and nearly invisible when done wrong.

If I didn't know any better, I wouldn't have even guessed that Fallout 4 used PBR. Its implementation is quite unremarkable.