Reflection and global illumination in Fortune Valley world trailer
by CM_dnegativeOriginal Post
Fortune Valley world trailer is so amazing.The map of Fortune Valley reminds me to the map of Undercover with separated zones and highway connections.I believe the world of Payback will be the best in NFS history.The trailer clearly have clips from different build version of NFS Payback.
Some clips maybe from pre-render sequences.For example,the left car can project other vehicles into reflection.
Some clips have film grain and others don't.
Some clips have much better reflection and global illumination.
Some clips's lighting and reflection are just slightly better than Need for Speed Rivals.In some cases, the lighting is very flat and the reflection of the car looks like plastic.But the car wraps and tree leaves texture are clear and sharp.Unlike Need for Speed 2015,everything will blur if TAA is turned on.
The lighting and reflection are very good in earlier cop chase gameplay.The lighting reminds me to Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2010 CG sequences.
The feeling to me is that the developers have compromised between the lighting and the texture.Reflection and global illumination are downgraded,but textures are enhanced.We will get a less blurry image.The overall graphics quality will more 'Forza Horizon vibes' than 'DriveClub vibes'.
It would be a pity if the reflection and global illumination was downgraded even in ultra high graphics quality.Other racing games don't have such good reflection and global illumination except DriveClub.After all, Need for Speed is a open world driving game,it needs to compromise in many aspects. I fully understand the developers' difficulties.Maybe we will get both of them in the next NFS.
Matt paint or metallic paint on the car body is not the point.The point is that the global illumination algorithm in recent clips is different from earlier screenshots.The recent clips uses an algorithm that is simpler but saves hardware resources.Take the Land Rover Defender 110 picture as an example, the first picture's algorithm simulates the scattering of the atmosphere and can sense the presence of air. Global illumination is used to simulate indirect lighting, making color and shadow changes more natural.The second picture, like many other games, such as Forza Horizon 3 and Watch dogs 2, are too 'clean' to be realistic.
Global illumination can make shadows,ambient occlusion and colors more realistic.Take the Derelicts for example. Although the body is rusty and has little reflections, its color and shadow blend better with the surroundings.
One more thing is that the elements of reflection are less. In the earlier version, the body reflected clouds.
In general, the wild environment graphics quality is similar to the Forza Horizon 3.However, the city graphics quality in NFS Payback is better than Forza Horizon 3.The last question is how much of the image is enhanced in the photo mode?If you take Need for Speed 2015 for example, the photo mode does not provide much image enhancement.Other games, such as Gran Turismo and Forza, image quality in the photo mode can be greatly improved, such as better anti-aliasing, high resolution texture map, more detailed shadow filtering, and so on.
In photo mode, the image is enhanced by sharpen filter.This gives you a clearer texture effect,such as the texture of the iron fence and the poles below.
But in photo mode, the lighting is downgraded.The scattering effects have been removed.As shown in the following picture, the scattering effect of the street light gives the world a slightly pink tone.
