DriveClub and PS4: setting the look and feel of next-gen driving games | TheGaurdian

Keith Stuart: "In the second of our reports from Evolution Studios, we look at advances in lighting technology and how visuals affect handling."

Evolution’s art staff went on months of field trips to research architecture, geography and habitats for DriveClub.

"The mountain we're driving up is two kilometres high. In the distance, a patchy landscape of tea plantations and scrublands stretches out toward the horizon. Above us, bulbous clouds crawl by, scattering vast grey blankets of shadow."

[slimeybrainboy]

I so hope this game comes out looking like the screenshots and trailers. I love how realistic the lighting looks and the colours.

[Salooh]

I only liked the first trailer but after that i felt that the game is different . I dunno , i'm waiting for judgement until i play it my self from ps+ . Then i will say my opinion .

[cozomel]

"All the detail we're putting in is equivalent to PC first-person shooters," says technical art director, Alex Perkins. "And then we're throwing a whole dynamic lighting system over the top."

"Everything is then lit via a true 24-hour day/night system, rather than a baked in sequence of pre-set lighting changes. "We've developed our own capture technique so the lighting in shadow, the lighting in direct sunlight and the way the car highlights fall off over distance – they all maintain proper energy conservation values," says Perkins. "We had to redesign our entire materials system – how we actually collect the information; it's much closer to the process you'd have on a film set for compositing CG elements into a live action image."

"For a while, we've seen effects like lens flare coming into games to mimic the sense of viewing filmed footage through a screen, the sense that you're somehow in a movie; but this is all becoming much more complex as lighting technology matures.

"None of the direct light or shade is faked anymore," says Perkins. "It's at the point where you can see things like dynamic lens flare when you look at the sun and you can see a bit of chromatic aberration because we're mimicking slightly cheaper film lenses to capture deliberate imperfections that will make the game more lifelike."

But there is more to it than simply making nice effects. It's about using environmental lighting to build atmosphere on a macro level. "One of the big things we're trying to do with the game, is to keep things as dynamic and changeable as possible," says Perkins. "The whole look and feel of the game changes dramatically based on the cloud covering – there's massive variation every time you play. And the light scatters properly, so when the clouds are injected into the scene, we get a real sense of scale."

Car models too surpass anything Evolution has done before. While Motorstorm vehicles maxed out at around 23,000 polys each, DriveClub models are hitting 250,000, with interiors alone requiring around 60,000. Everything is authentic, from the fully functional speed and rev dials on the dashboard to the materials on the seats. Principle vehicle artist Neil Massam tells me that manufacturers are now having to rethink their approval procedures for racing games because the level of detail is so high."

Sounds like all the naysayers might be eating crow once this comes out. Sounds good and I cant wait to see it/play it. I know Pacific Rift looked good and had really good lighting.

[Salooh]

It sounds great , I just want to see it in action , no bad videos , i don't really know anything about the graphics or gameplay and i feel like the videos are misleading since these are motor storm developers , that's why i'm waiting until i try it my self like motor storm where i was really impressed with it , wow factor was huge in it's time .

[mewhy32]

Here's another Sony exclusive setting the high mark for others to follow. Sony is defiantely leading the industry this gen. They're setting the tone for the gaming business and the tone is sweet.

[TwistedMetal]

yep this is an innovative driving game right here in the design of everything around the cars and not just the cars like every forza game is basically copy and paste the same old crap you can play the old forza and it will be just like the new one. with drive club theres actual innovation here its worth the 60 bones or heck get the psn+ edition for free.

[nosferatuzodd]

Wow now if this game really looks like this im sold nice

[DoesUs]

Pre baked lighting is so last gen. Realtime dynamic weather should be the norm going forward.

[gaelic_laoch]

The PS4 truly is leading the way into the next Generation of consoles! I hope the competition can keep up so as to keep Sony on their toes!

[windblowsagain]

Would be nice if the title was spelt correctly.

Guardian.

The game is looking good though and i really want to see new tracks, vista's etc.

[dirty_ripper]

Funnily enough, the Guardian is often referred to as the Grauniad since it used to have a terrible reputation for spelling errors.

[DeadManV]

Not usually interested in racing games, but this has definitely piqued my interest.

[Destrania]

I know I'm going to have a blast playing this at launch along with all the other games I pre-ordered.

[Williamson]

Don't normally buy racing games but drive club looks fun from what I've seen. We haven't even seen direct footage yet, imagine how good that would be, lucky ps+ gets the plus edition.

[Gster]

Anybody got any interesting or amusing names for what they're gonna call their Club?

[jaelegend]

i would share but you would take it lol

[WeAreLegion]

Tobias Is Queen Mary

[Tatsuya]

"Toward the end of the studio visit, I bring up that reference that Perkins made earlier, about the intricacy of the landscape, and how it resembles the detail of a PC first-person shooter. I ask, not entirely seriously, if we're heading into a possible future of shared servers – could Evolution get together with Guerrilla and build an online landscape that will house both racing and FPS games; so you'll have supercars jetting it along highways as infantry battle all around. "It's technically possible," says one of the game directors. "I like that idea."

THIS. If SONY actually do this then boom! No competition, PS4 easily wins the whole next-gen and I'll be one very satisfied supporter :)

[Sevir]

This is a great read from a graphical performance, and I know the physics are pushed far for a launch title, and the online will be great considering how they much they are working and marketing the social racing nature, but what about the AI, Motorstorm games are intense but the AI was rubber band AI where you dominate and leave the AI for the first 2 laps only to have the AI rocket back to first or second place... I'm hoping the with the PS4 they pay more attention to the AI and the fairness and reward system for the single player portion of the game. Looking forward to playing this game the full release...

[Holeran]

"While Motorstorm vehicles maxed out at around 23,000 polys each, DriveClub models are hitting 250,000, with interiors alone requiring around 60,000."

This alone is amazing sounding.