Home Gaming Will we see photorealism this generation?

Will we see photorealism this generation?

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Realism

The “next” generation of gaming has kicked off, and it looks pretty damned good if you ask me. It’s not far removed from the sort of stuff we’ve been seeing on PC for ages already though. This isn’t really all that surprising. first generation consoles game in a new cycle tend to be far removed from the stuff you’d see at the end, or even middle of the generation. every year, developers have strived for – and gotten closer and closer to – real-time photorealism. Will we be seeing it this gen?

If this new 3D environment scanning tech, from Polish company Better Reality takes off, we certainly might. their new scanning tech, Thorskan, is currently in use by movie studios for creating highly realistic digital environments for film, but it’s creators say the tech can, and will be used for games.

A polish game developer, The Farm 51, will be using it for its upcoming PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 title, first-person shooter Get Even. They’re the folks who made Painkiller: Hell & Damnation.

Here are some screenshots from the game (which has no release date as yet), followed by a rather impressive video of the Thorskan tech in action. For a moment, however brief, you’ll swear you’re looking at real life.

Get_even_1Get_even_2Get_even_3Get_even_4

Here’s the thing though. As impressive as that is, I’d much rather more effort was made in making digital people’s animation more lifelike, if not necessarily more photorealistic. It’s 2014, and it’s really about time people in games moved and behaved more like….well, people. We’re getting there – we’re just not there yet.

Header Image via Gamasutra

Last Updated: January 6, 2014

15 Comments

  1. Alien Emperor Trevor

    January 6, 2014 at 15:36

    What we can currently get from games is good enough for me, I’d much rather have more interesting games instead of prettier games.

    Reply

    • VampyricSquirrel Monk

      January 6, 2014 at 15:42

      A lot of the games at the moment are damn pretty already… make the animations a bit better (more lifelike) and make the games more interesting and we’ll have winners!

      Reply

  2. Uberutang

    January 6, 2014 at 15:50

    Get Even does not look that great IMHO. Certainly worse than Skyrim with a few mods, or even good old Stalker….

    http://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/you-wont-believe-how-gloriously-amazing-skyrim-can-look/

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief in Vegas

      January 6, 2014 at 15:52

      Man I miss good ol’ STALKER

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        January 6, 2014 at 16:09

        No more Stalker makes me feel a sad feel.

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief in Vegas

          January 6, 2014 at 16:13

          You said it Trev

          Reply

    • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

      January 6, 2014 at 16:00

      I agree; Get even doesn’t look amazing – the Better Reality 3D scan tech demo is pretty impressive though.

      Reply

  3. Anon A Mouse

    January 6, 2014 at 16:11

    “It’s 2014, and it’s really about time people in games moved and behaved more like….well, people.” ~ Could not agree more. Even if the jewelery will start to move more realistic then I will say it’s a huge move forward. Heck if chains around the neck actually move, that will be a move forward.

    Reply

  4. Gareth L (That Guy)

    January 6, 2014 at 19:30

    We’ll begin to see convincing photo-realism in the practical sense next generation. Right now it’s great for still imagery, but once frame-rate, motion and practical effects become necessary in a fluid, realistic scenario the “uncanny valley” is still very obvious. It may seem great now, but a few years down the line we’ll look back at what is “mind-blowing” now and scoff at it.

    It’s the small things like hair, skin texture, eye-glossiness and breath-motion that still make human characters look obviously CG; the same way that water droplets pooling and spattering unnaturally are obviously CG.

    So, like I said we’re a generation away from reaching a convincing photo-real era in gaming.

    Reply

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

      January 7, 2014 at 09:02

      Not to mention the power needed to run this for the general public.
      The general public can’t afford to SLI 780’s or Titans which are needed to power these along with all the effects.

      So yeah agreed. At least a generation where the performance of the GTX780’s/R2980x’s/Titans etc are in the mid range cards. Then perhaps we will see mainstream photorealism in games

      Reply

    • Eeko Eight-Seven

      January 7, 2014 at 16:59

      I sort of agree with you, but many have said that 2 or 3 generations ago. A decade and a bit has passed, and I remember reading articles in PC Format about photorealism in games round about the time the GeForce 3 was about to be released. We’re still waiting!! That said, graphics have come a mighty long way. Although good, still quite a way off from photo realism (Infamous: Second Son looks damn good though). And for me right now, if there’s not too many jaggies, and the overall presentation looks good, framerate’s decent, and most importantly, the gameplay and storyline (either or) are great, then I am happy with a game.

      Reply

      • Gareth L (That Guy)

        January 7, 2014 at 18:36

        I hear your concerns with the “we’ve heard it all before” story, however this time you have to factor in how far technology has come. Just look at the latest gaming engines like Crytek 3, Frostbite 3 and the upcoming Unreal Engine 4.

        We are way beyond anything that the PS2 or Xbox could possibly render in real-time. The rate of advancement has escalated incredibly over the last few years.

        Reply

        • Eeko Eight-Seven

          January 8, 2014 at 16:39

          True. Cannot deny how far along graphics have come since the sprites of old. But I’m just at the “I’ll take it when I get it” and “I’ll believe it when I see it” phases. When it happens, it happens. Who knows? Quite possibly within the next 2-3 years on PC?? Specs of high end graphics cards are frightening these days. In the end though, once all developers and all hardware platforms are able to produce photo-realistic graphics, within a few years after it happening, we’ll all take it for granted. And graphics will be something we won’t really look forward to, or debate about a game anymore, unless its something cartoonish like Mario, Spyro, etc…But ja. Photorealism…for me, defo not the be all end all. Maybe with Oculus Rift, it’ll make for a more realistic looking experience. Whether one is immersed into game more because of life like looking graphics is debatable. If a game sucks, it sucks. Making it pretty alone is not gonna make me enjoy it.

          Reply

  5. Ricardo Harvey

    January 7, 2014 at 09:20

    I think pretty pictures only carry a game so far. I look at killzone on ps4. Looks stunning, but.. they didnt bring much to the table in terms of captivating gameplay. For me a great game is the one where you spend over 20 hours at least and dont get bored and to be honest…the ones that do that dont always look that great. Dark souls, Clash of heroes off the top of my head.

    Reply

  6. Gareth L (That Guy)

    January 7, 2014 at 20:33

    My original post was a bit off topic. With regard to the technology used here, I encourage you guys to check out LIDAR.

    It’s been used for a while now to capture environments like dinosaur dig sites etc. in perfect high resolution textured models and objects. It was featured in Iron-man 3 in the burned crime scene recreation, but all in blue wire-frame as Hollywood thought that the actual result would feel too farfetched.

    Reply

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