Studios will be leveraging ”physically-based” rendering and lighting, he adds. We’ll see ”way more” difference in realistic games than ”cartoony” ones.
“I think that we’re still going to see a big leap in graphics. In terms of technology I think we’ll see developers taking advantage of physically-based rendering, physically-based lighting,” Julien Merceron said. It could lead to an easier sharing of media assets.
“I think people will take advantage of global illumination, or at least some form approximation of global illumination, so that could have a significant impact on graphics quality.”
If the games industry takes on board techniques used by film and animation studios then we’ll all be richer for it. Videogames haven’t reached a graphical peak and the more realistic looking games will continue to prove how far advancements have come.
“If you take most of the Pixar movies from the last five to six years… do you see a big difference between one that was released five years ago, and one that was released last year? I’m actually not sure we see a huge difference,” he said.
“But if you take a film like Avatar, there’s a huge leap in the graphics techniques that are being used and the level of realism. The conclusion I would draw from that is we might end up seeing the difference way more in realistic-looking games, rather than those trying to achieve a cartoony look.”
“At some point, with all these games going for a cartoony look, consumers might get the feeling that it’s plateauing. But for games striving for a very realistic look, it’s going to be easy to see all the improvements, all the time,” explained the tech director.
Have any games lately had your jaw dropping to the floor for visuals? Grand Theft Auto IV was considered a crowning achievement when it was realised, and now a very tech savvy modder has managed to outstrip Rockstar’s accomplishments.
Surely it’s gameplay that matters most, right?
