rFactor 2 WIP HDR comparison screenshots

Tim, you have implemented replay feature? Maybe if it's done, do some short video?

 

Lighting is good but the shadows are ugly.
If you look the car shadow it seems the shadows has a very low resolution.
In another image http://rfactor.net/web/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/rFactor_2_HDRsingle_01.jpg the shadows seem very good.

Why this kind of different result??

Anyway, I'm very curious about a demo because these last images are too much different from themselves to have a clear idea about aestethical state of art about the graphic engine.

 

Shadows look good, resolution is also ok.

There is probably bumpy surface and maybe heat haze and that's why shadow is little deformed

 

Yes, i thought that too; actually looks really good to me!

EDIT:

I'm trying to piece together tracks we have seen at least bits of:

Estoril
SPA classic
Mills Metropark
"Charlotte" Motor Speedway
Palm Springs
Sepang
1 off road course
1 kart course

Wonder how much of the content they are teasing us with!

 

In rF1 every object casted it's own shadow which meant you could create high quality shadow for single car, but with more cars you would only pay with dramatic framerate drop.

rFactor 2 is using something called cascaded shadow maps. This means there's one big shadow for everything with quality dropping further away from camera.
Shadow on that car can seem to have a little to low quality, but if you took that picture from cockpit of another car you wouldn't see that difference so much. It seems that there is a good balance between performance and quality, then.
I'm pretty sure there will be options for setting shadow quality, so screenshots from external cameras can look good aswell.

Look at this screen: LINK
Look at shadows on building - right next to rFactor2 logo you can see pixels of a shadow clearily. They're pretty small but still distinct. A little blur and it will look just right.
It's enough quality even for hands of mechanics standing there, although it wouldn't be enough for fingers

Further away from the camera - again on the building - you can see shadow quality is halved. That's how cascaded shadow maps work - quality drops with distance.

If you think that shadows should be perfect nowadays because modern hardware can handle it you're wrong. Everything in realtime graphics is some kind of compromise. These shadows are probably 4 levels 1024x1024 each. More quality would require let's say 4 levels 2048x2048 each - think about it as running the game in 4096x4096. That should give you the idea what it may cost to have higher shadow quality.

 

thanks for your replies.

In fact it seems that it's as you wrote.


Anyway when a demo will be ready everyone can test own hardware and set the right graphic options.

 

This is my only gripe about the rFactor game engine. There are parts on the car models that just shouldn't be lit by the sun, and yet they still are. This is most pronounced on the wheels in the original rFactor, but I see that rF2 still hasn't seemed to solve this problem.

If you look at the apparent angle of the sun, this portion of the car should be shaded, but it is not. It's receiving sunlight through the car magically somehow.

 

It is not the problem. It is wrong lighting model in overall. Unfortunately
we pointed to this issue a year ago when the first WIPs have been shown. Again, looks like those suggestions have been ignored. So, we probably will get improved rf1-like gfx engine, nothing more.

 

Tim, can you show us another cars ( F1 and Indycar)?

 

That could be caused by a few things.

It seems like shadows aren't applied correctly yet. For now I just assume it's the WIP thing and it will not be so in release.
If it is, then I see if I can fix it from outside of the engine (in shaders) and if not, then I'll send feedback to ISI for first patch

In the meantime I'll just let them work. It will be easier to discuss eventual flaws in rendering engine when I have rF2 installed on my computer.

 

The shadows shown here on the non-compressed version of this image are very good quality. There's no jagged edges, and you can even see the cut outs in the wing mount. These are by far the best quality shadows produced in an ISI engine based game, and I see no reason to complain about them.

 

Like I said - camera is lower so it's more difficult to see drop of shadow quality. So we have a good compromise for in-car camera and that's just right.

If you look close enough then you'll see that rear of the car is in the highest shadow quality area, but left mirror is allready in next area where shadow quality is halved. I think the edge passes somewhere under left right wheel. That's cascaded shadowmaps right there

I was actually hoping for cascaded shadowmaps in rF2 instead of the whole shadow mess from rF1 and was relieved to see it on one of WIP screens some time ago. This seems to be the most reasonable technique for outdoor sceneries. You can see it in many games nowadays like Battlefield or Call of Duty.

 

You're quoting Someone and point out he shouldnt complain but you talk about a different screen that he was complaining about...

 

guys, so what I said, it's just evolution rF1. Tightened graphical effects, just a little tweaked physics. + Overstated the system requirements. Until now, no where visible contamination of asphalt and dirt roads work. For too long, do rF2.

 

you have the shadow of the fences on the track is?

 

All the people who are here, they know what they want from rF2.
You, the creators of rF2, know what you are doing?

 

Of course it's an evolution of rF1... it's rF2

I don't know what you want from rF2, but it's looking pretty good to me.

 

I do not see.
1. Dirty roads.
2. The shadow of the fence.
3. Dirty car.
4. The lateral resistance of tires.
When it begins
5. Open beta testing of the car physics itself. Damage, destruction, and so on.

 

I wonder how HDR will work at nighttime...

 

Dammit.. Ruined now. Kinda like the sound of an empty brass shell hitting the ground at the end of Watchmen when he drops the lead bullet from his hand.. RUINED