Ogle the Beautiful Models of PS4 Exclusive Ratchet & Clank; Movie vs Game Character Compared

During a presentation at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, Insomnia Games’ Character Artists shared some of the impressive work they did on the upcoming PS4 exclusive Ratchet & Clank.

[ABizzel1]

This is a really impressive technical read actually. Ratchet & Clank looks so good on PS4, but this just goes to show that consoles are still a ways off from achieving that true Pixar like quality.

The models movie models use 2x the polygons, superior UV maps, 6x the UV sets / switches, and significantly more textures and colors at 8x the resolution of the PS4 model for 1 single character alone.

But it also shows that the RAM and storage mediums need to improve exponentially as well, with a single character file being 4GB alone, which is going to eat up store when you have full game, and need a lot of processing power and fast RAM when you have multiple models on screen.

So we're not seeing true Pixar quality until the PS6 / XB5 at the earliest, where 4k is standard, where CPU, GPU, and RAM have significantly jumped in performance while maintaining lower TDP and heat output for a console, and finally storage has adapted to provide significantly more space, or at least we're able to come up with significantly better solutions.

PS5 / XB4 will bing the models much closer to the movie versions in almost each category, but they simply won't have the full processing power / storage solution to render this kind of content over a 6+ hour game.

So next gen needs to be able, improving the storage medium, and compressions so we can still have great quality imagery, but not the demanding multi-gigabyte files (so PS6 / XB4, storage are non factors...PS6 / XB4 is probably where cloud based gaming is going to take off, since it addresses and fixes both of these issues).

[theXtReMe1]

While I agree things need to improve, the models in this game and many games actually exceed what Pixar had done just 10 years ago. While we haven't caught up to modern day, I don't believe we would see that for 10 to 20 years down the line. You are talking about doing full screen realtime ray tracing with every light projecting, hitting and bouncing around the entire scene. Which is what makes the Pixar movies looks so realistic. Not to mention, adding controls and AI and story features, effects.... I remember last generation they were talking about ray tracing and some games used a mild form of it, even at the beginning of this generation, Killzone used it and ray bouncing to achieve some of its effects. Which is amazing, though some of the effects were prebaked.

Truthfully, pound for pound, I don't think ray tracing will ever be a useful solution in games. You would rather use that processing power for other features. Primarily, making the worlds feel more alive and giving true AI to everybody in it. Making more buildings accessible, anything to make the world feel more like our own. I also think there is going to be a bigger push for real-time voice recognition and intelligent response in the next 10 years. Especially, with VR around the corner. That will give players the ability to talk to any character in the game and have a meaningful conversation that they will recognize, reciprocate and remember for future interactions. I always tell people to reference the movie Her, for what I'm talking about. I would also like to see smell o vision make a return with a unit that could be able to project thousands of smells and be able to mix them properly in order to replicate what is happening on screen. Whether that be you just walking through the forest and smelling pine trees and other forest like smells, or in the heat of action and smelling gun discharge and sweat and smoke. Giving players a true multi sensory experience. For that experience, I tell people to go to Disney's Epcot and ride Soarin'. Which not only gives you that smell o vision, but also gives you a preview of what VR could be and how it could make you feel, like you were flying high in the sky over top everything and looking down and getting that stomach drop for fear of heights.

The future looks bright as long as they make full-fledged games in VR, not just applications that show off the technology. I want to play games like The Witcher 3, COD and GTA in VR, not just showcases of technology, like The Heist.

The good thing is, technology is moving fast which makes it cheaper faster and allows system manufacturers to put very powerful hardware inside these little boxes to allow us to play games with quality that, only 10 years ago, we thought impossible. Games that are coming close to mimicking what we are seeing on Hollywood screens... and are only going to improve with every passing day. Im playing The Witcher 3 now, on the PS4, and am amazed at what they have achieved in such a large mass of land. I can only imagine what will be possible in just a few years, when developers squeeze every drop of power out of these systems and we start talking about the next round of consoles.

Feel blessed, my friends.

[abstractel]

Offline rendering is always going to beat out realtime rendering. That doesn't mean we can't appreciate how amazing games are looking these days. I feel this generation has truly allowed artists and game designers to truly show art. I go to Neogaf's screenshot threads and I'm always amazed.. Driveclub, Tomb Raider, SFV, The Order etc.

Driveclub and The Order are probably the two most technically and artistically well made games so far this generation in my opinion. Even if they aren't the greatest games (I still like them a lot), they are gorgeous. Ratchet and Clank looks crazy good too although I feel some areas look better than others.

Batman AK looks amazing on PC (it runs great on my PC) and it still looks great on consoles. Most underrated game of 2015 IMO, I know I am in the minority with thinking that but I just loved it.

[Jivesh]

This looks so damn good, can't wait to experience the magic of R&C again

[LuckyChamCham]

Same here brother :)

[nevin1]

You guys still haven't tried the demo yet? Man the boss Battle does look really good.

[Duke19]

Pretty clear that a ton of work is going into this game - looks awesome

[tulholdren]

Day 1 just waiting till I get my hands on this exclusive powerhouse. Cant wait to play this story out.