Uncharted 4 Visual Downgrade- Deal with it

Give credit where credit is due. That has always been my mantra and sometimes it seems at odds with the core gaming community and the landscape in which it resides in, where sometimes, you feel like you are expected to pick a 'side' and stick to whatever default narrative that side has made part of its rhetoric in the virtual war against competing platforms. I like to think that I am somewhere in the middle of this war but admittedly I have always had a tendency to defend one side over the other, which will not be a secret to those who follow my caffeine-laced ramblings on a daily basis.

This latest topic will no doubt irk many people who already have a pre-conceived notion of where they think my allegiance lies but I state this with what I believe to be complete sincerity; Uncharted 4's visuals left me disappointed (I know its very EARLY footage) and I think we were misled by Naughty Dog regarding the visuals. The latest Dualshockers article stating that calling the visuals a downgrade is a 'Shameful display of ignorance' in my opinion shows incredible irresponsibility and continued bias on the part of the author- but that shouldn't be entirely surprising; what can you expect from a site that's named after a controller for the PlayStation.

So bear with me on this Monday morning as I state my case (instead of doing my work) as to why I think the aforementioned article is a joke, why the 'downgrade' is real and why we have every right to be disappointed and that this disappointment isn't based on any irrational or uneducated thought on the matter like many defenders on here are quick to point out.

1. Shameful display of ignorance?

What? Get off your high horse. There's nothing shameful about being misled about what to expect. And yes we were misled.

Have a look at this:

http://i.imgur.com/qmAGjRQ....

The footage was captured directly on a PS4. There you go. But you'll say, err, yes it was but it was cutscene footage with in-game assets- it doesn't say its gameplay. Okay. Well then explain this:

http://n4g.com/news/1526852...

Corrinne Yu confirms UC4 was running IN-GAME. Right, so you'll say the same thing- yes its true, in-game engine but for the cutscenes right.

So explain what was the rationale behind that post? Now look at the comments section on that article. Blanket praise, amazement even, that this is running in-game. And almost everyone there is under the impression that this is reflecting the GAMEPLAY visuals. Why on Earth would Corrinne even make that statement then. Why on Earth would we be impressed then?

In fact, look at this chap, who was far more clever than a lot of us in his statement.

http://i.imgur.com/J28ZvoN....

Look at the sheer number of disagrees he's got. Hold on a minute here; he's stating the truth isn't he? In fact, he's stating what so many defenders on here are saying was the OBVIOUS point. What happened now? Were we all shamefully ignorant back then? Why wasn't Dualshockers quick to our rescue with one of its articles telling people the truth?

In fact, have a look at this article from Dualshockers:

http://www.dualshockers.com...

Then read this statement:

"We finally get to see the game, and it’s absolutely stunning. We learn that the trailer is fully in-engine and the game will run at 1080p, targeting 60 FPS"

Fantastic GAMEPLAY trailer eh? Double standards galore.

2. The downgrade is real- well luckily, I haven't come across too many people stating that the E3 trailer and the gameplay are the same. Most people ARE admitting that the former was a cutscene. But ina bizzare case of people magically having their cake and eating it, some are relying on the above whilst also simultaneously stating that the model IS the same, albeit in different settings. No its not.

Even if we take your point on board and believe that Drake shown off at the start of the GAMEPLAY segment is of the same quality as the E3 trailer (its not) then just have a look at the transition taking place here:

https://farm8.staticflickr....

I mean, if you guys think its the same then your contribution to the resolutiongate was null and void because you obviously can't even tell the difference in what I think are quite substantial differences.

3. Haters gonna hate- Oh yes, that's a given. I'm not pretending that many people will be quick to deride the UC4 gameplay because they are fanboys. That's par for the course really. But the defense force is also something that needs to be called to account and boy are there many on here. Yes, I'm always having a spat with the Sony fanbase on here (and yes I do think they are the worst of the bunch- shoot me) but I do think that this kind of practice from devs is deplorable.

We are quick to rip into the likes of Ubisoft and others, why not apply the same thing here? Yes its Naughty Dog and it has an excellent pedigree (hence why people call them Naughty Gods etc) but please don't make excuses on their behalf and try and call out B.S when it exists.

Funnily enough, Uncharted 4 does look great, especially for ALPHA footage. I don't think its the BEST LOOKING game by any margin like some are proclaiming. It looks impressive, but the like of The Order look superior to me. And like I have said before, its really telling that people are disappointed with the visuals when they look quite impressive anyway. Its just the quality we demand from ND. Uncharted 4 does look great, just not as great as we were led to believe or expected it to look. Not in its alpha stage anyway. This whole fiasco could be a waste of time anyway because the final product might even match the E3 trailer and blow our expectations.

But for now, I think the people who display shameful ignorance are the ones who seem to have ignored all the reactions the first reveal generated.

By the way, I could have easily made this a Gameondaily article and obviously something like this would get heat anyway. But I don't give 2 s***s about making money off my site. I do this because I have a passion for the industry, not because its my sole means of living. So pardon me if I get a little peed off by people and their blatant hypocrisy/bias when it comes to things like this.

[christocolus]

Spot on Septic. I'm a big UC fan myself but not a naive one and nothing will stop me from picking up and playing the game when it finally comes out but we have to be realistic here.in all honesty 95% of ps fans thought that the e3 reveal was a direct representation of gameplay visuals atleast going by the comments in those articles. There is no need trying to lie about it now. The comment from the guy (crx88) was spot on but he was crucufied for saying it as it was back then. Those who lashed out at him should be ashamed and DS. Should stop trying to cover their a**s

Same dualshockers critisizing folks for calling out a downgrade on the latest uc4 demo actually put up an article just after the e3 reveal calling it “UC4 gameplay unveiling” that's so ironic and it shows some major double standards for sure. Why would DS call it gameplay unveiling and later critize people for thinking it was gameplay? In their most recent article its now called CG using in game assets..smh. Guys really? Same thing happened to watch dogs, Forza5 and a few others and gamers where quick to call them out on it so why isn't it being applied here too?is ND above it all? Guys let's call a spade a spade. Its obvious that in its alpha state UC4 is clearly not as impressive as the e3 reveal. It would be a lot more understandable if Sony&ND had shown a build much closer to the aplha build at pSX back at the e3 reveal.

[Volkama]

It's the same guy that said anyone who criticised DriveClub was just too stupid to like good racing games, and then went on to push about 16 stories about how good DriveClub is. If a man can defend DriveClub as staunchly as that then you better believe we'll be seeing more pro Uncharted propagander to counter any negative word on it.

I also fully expect a "look at the superb moustache in glorious 1080p" video article for each and every character in The Order.

Personally I thought Uncharted footage looked pretty fantastic on my mobile screen. I am just not a fan of the DualShockers Sony PR crusade.

[Gazondaily]

"I am just not a fan of the DualShockers Sony PR crusade."

That's what irks me the most.

How on Earth can you on one hand make an article accusing people of 'shameful display of ignorance' and then prior to that have an article titled: GAMEPLAY TRAILER and lump in the accolades for the visuals at it running at 60fps.

That's nonsense and that's the kind of repeated bias Abriael showed on NeoGaf and on here with article after article on DriveClub as you said. Ah well, let people lap it up and make excuses now. I'll be waiting the moment that hypocrisy raises its head again.

[FriedGoat]

There's really no need to get so wound up by this.
There's a big difference between a cut-scene pretending to be in game footage to footage that is clearly a cutscene.

Uncharted made no attempt to pretend to be gameplay, if you are to assume it's going to come out looking like that, that's the fanboy's delusion.

Anyone who knows anything about naughty dog knows they captured their higher quality TLOU cutscenes from the PS3 directly too.

[izumo_lee]

Guess a lot of people missed this video from NX gamer where he describes in detail everything from the Uncharted 4 gameplay demo. The video is pretty clear on what it is trying to say. Make your own assumptions after seeing it.

http://youtu.be/VcQ_VJX0BNo

Not gonna say if Uncharted 4 is downgraded or not but seriously this is Naughty Dog we are talking about not Ubisoft or any other 3rd party developer hyping up their mediocre games.

[Gazondaily]

I've seen that video and its good but its not tackling the subject matter at hand- i.e, the disparity between the E3 stuff and gameplay reveal.

But I'm not saying Uncharted 4 is a terrible looking game or not impressive. Not at all. It impresses for sure (just no where near as much after the E3 showing). And yes, I remain fully confident in ND delivering a great game. Its my third most anticipated title after No Mans Sky and Zelda for a reason.

[izumo_lee]

Not disagreeing with you Septic but i just wonder what do people really expect that a game will look like their cinematic throughout the game. When has a game look like cinematic all the way through?

Naughty Dog has come closes in my opinion from in-game cinematic to in-game gameplay. So in a way all this talk of 'downgrade' are either from stubborn people or just plain 'butt-hurt' people, who can't accept that a game can look this good so early in development.

If people have a Playstation & played games from Naughty Dog they will know the pedigree of these guys. Than they will not come up with these 'downgrade' articles. Just saying.

[Gazondaily]

"Not disagreeing with you Septic but i just wonder what do people really expect that a game will look like their cinematic throughout the game."

Well the statements from ND were the prime culprit in making us think that's what the gameplay will look like.

"Naughty Dog has come closes in my opinion from in-game cinematic to in-game gameplay."

We'll have to agree to disagree here.

"So in a way all this talk of 'downgrade' are either from stubborn people or just plain 'butt-hurt' people, who can't accept that a game can look this good so early in development. "

I'm not one or the other. Sorry.

"If people have a Playstation & played games from Naughty Dog they will know the pedigree of these guys. Than they will not come up with these 'downgrade' articles. Just saying."

Well I'm just saying, I've played nearly every single ND game and I know their pedigree is great (as I already stated in my blog above) and that does not excuse people calling out on a discrepancy. No one is free from that.

[SteamPowered]

Why do you do this to yourself Septic? Posting a negative PS4 opinion piece? Surely you must know better by now...

[TFJWM]

"Well the statements from ND were the prime culprit in making us think that's what the gameplay will look like."

Umm no where does anyone from ND say its gameplay. Not sure why anyone would think in-game means gameplay. As to why say it, most likely to respond to all the tweets about it being run on a pc

[DarXyde]

Good grief...

Let's just wait until the game comes further along. Does it look worse and run at half the frame rate of the reveal? Yes. Is Naughty Dog done making the game? No. If it stays downgraded, it stays downgraded. Won't make the game any less fun, and it certainly won't be ugly.

This blog seems a little silly. Time tells no lies and we'll know the truth with time.

[Amuro]

not silly, because he is not exposing the downgrade of visuals but the double standards of certain people are websites. But yeah, graphic polish don't happen till the final stages of development.

[DarXyde]

Oh I can agree on the double standards. 100%.

I just don't think that any conclusions should be drawn about the game just yet. Based on what we've seen, great points are made here, but I think this would've been a better read in a couple of months when the game comes further along.

We'll take it as it comes, eh?

[uth11]

There's no misleading here. This is a work in progress. Things are going to look different as it progresses. It's not like it's been released and looks nothing like the gameplay.

Games do not start off looking good then get downgraded, they start off looking bad and get polished. ND was polishing and adding 60fps up to the last minute in TLOU:R

[freshslicepizza]

so your saying to ignore the downgrade even though the e3 teaser came out before the alpha footage?

[uth11]

Yes!
it's not final and far too early to judge.
I have no reason to doubt Naughty Dog will make it look as good as they can

[isarai]

This reminds me of when people compared inFamous Second Son screens from two different times of day and conditions and were ranting on about the "massive downgrade" etc then the final game came out and it looked better than pretty much any screenshot or video gave it credit for. I'm not saying for sure there isn't or is a downgrade but there's some instability to your argument here.

1)I think the term you need to bring into the conversation is "Real-Time" because the reveal trailer and what seems to be all the cinematics this time around are all done rendered/done in real time on the PS4. that's what they are referring to, however real time =/= in-game. Even though it is done real time, during cinematics far higher res lights, animations, and sometimes chaders are turned up which is allowed by not having any AI or dynamic properties running at the moment. It's exactly like GTA cut scenes, they look great and really show good character detail and animation, but while actually playing things don't look quite as good and animations are not as fluid or detailed but it is all done in real time.

2)The "Swap" or pop you refer to does not mean the actual model was swapped, there are plenty of games that had similar transitions out of cinematics that always have a bit of a pop when going from the mo-capped cinematic animation to the in-game/gameplay animations especially when gameplay animations have physics or IKs applied to them. Also if you watch the ND pannel from the PSX they show the model of Drake stating it is the same model used for both the reveal trailer AND the gameplay trailer and that they are in fact the same model. When they last showed TLOU and U2 at this kind of panel they showed the separate models and rigs used for cinematics and gameplay, but this time around they only had one (aside from the U3 model for comparison) so it seems that this time really all they're doing is upping lighting, shader, and animation res while in cinematic. I mean we already see a VERY similar system already in play in The Order 1886 where in-game models are the same as cinematics so i really don't get why people are having such a hard time believing this is a possibility for U4

3)Just to reiterate i'm not saying it's for sure one way or the other but you seem to only be looking at all this "evidence" with a single perspective, also i find any graphics comparison, especially one of such minute details, done through compressed videos is just plain dumb

[Volkama]

Naw he isn't really looking at the evidence that hard. He's attacking the article from dualshockers and the the other defense-mode responses.

And he's right, there is nothing shameful about making the observation that it doesn't look the same as the reveal trailer.

[uth11]

There's nothing wrong with making that observation.

It's claims that we are being somehow 'deceived' or they have downgraded a game that hasn't been released yet. It's far too soon to make judgements like that.

[Death]

I have to disagree Uth. If any developer shows off a game and claims it is "in game" and it turns out to be CG, it's pretty misleading. If they make the disclaimer that it's their target in game quality, that is completely different. I also disagree that games are always more polished in their final release. As more is added to a game as the development process goes on, less resources are available. Devs don't have unlimited resources to play with. Scaling back on visual fidelity is a very real thing that happens in game development.

[Paprika]

Its about time devs realise we, as gamers, are not dumb! The hype of the next gen machine is done... they aren't that special. Its time to stop releasing stunning footage claiming its in game then later reeasing stuff like this. Just cut it straight, cut scene visuals or actual gameplay. I'd have been very accepting of this new footage months ago but it'd blatant deceit! Ubisoft are easy to hate. Naughty dog are great, but this is pretty much the same story as farcry!

Still, it absolutely will look amazing! If this is ps4's uncharted 1.... let's just imagine uncharted 3's equivalent!

[KeeseToast]

Nope it is not a "Downgrade", Uncharted 4's cutscenes will look like the e3 trailer and the gameplay will look like the psx reveal or even better because it was alpha footage so no it is not a downgrade.
Second, of course the cutscenes will look better that is because cutscenes have a fixed camera so in cutscenes it only has to render the parts of Drake you see while in gameplay it will render the whole model easy as that.

[Kayant]

Hmmm maybe people want to wait before calling a downgrade when for one -

- The lighting scene was not the same
- The trailer was an extreme close-up even more than the intro of the new gameplay showcase(by a tad)
- The fact Nathan Drake hair/clothes were wet in the reveal.

And you know have comparable footage as to the same scene before crying the downgrade is "real".

And looool at trying to pin dualschockers at not trying to "coming to the rescue".... Really come on. Do you a expect a site to write an article about user's comments on an article they don't even submit here. Like really.

You should clam down a little with all these double standards and what not because you can't claim the downgrade is real when we don't have the same scene with the same variable to say there is a downgrade.

[Kayant]

Also games look better at night more often then not look at driveclub daytime vs night time. Also wetness helps.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Here look at that - From an ND dev(Thanks to dualshockers).

http://www.polycount.com/fo...

Here are just a couple of things about those comparison shots.

1.Time of day is different in both. – Our first trailer is at night, moonlight. Our gameplay demo is early morning. So the moonlight is slightly over exaggerated to give more contrast to give it that night feeling but enough light so you can see whats going on. Dawn is not a time of day where you have a lot of contrast.

2. His face is so spec-y [editor’s note: specular] in the first image! – Have you seen the trailer? He literally just gets up out of water so his face/chest/shirt are wet and have a high sheen. Bottom one he is not wet so of course he looks dry.

3. Trailers are Art Directed for every frame – A trailer is not gameplay so we have the ability to do a lot of art direction in that shot, that could otherwise hamper gameplay. It allows us to give a lot more emotion to a trailer.

[Gazondaily]

So the texture set is the same? Why on earth do the textures look vastly different? Just how 'art directed' is Drake in the E3 trailer compared to what was shown at the gameplay? Its so massively art directed to create THAT much of a discrepancy?

But hold on, you're in the camp that's saying it ISN'T downgraded or defending that side. What about others who are saying that it's obviously just a trailer that doesn't reflect actual gameplay?

To me, the discrepancy is obvious. There is a big difference between the two bits of footage. So all this nonsense about in-game assets is a waste of time if the trailer is so heavily art-directed that it doesn't match what was shown.

Based on the two lots of footage, its an obvious downgrade for me. But yes, the final product might just match or who knows, surpass it (like I said in my original post).

"
And looool at trying to pin dualschockers at not trying to "coming to the rescue".... Really come on. Do you a expect a site to write an article about user's comments on an article they don't even submit here. Like really. "

Well of course Dualshockers won't dare make an article deriding a Sony exclusive like this. But for that incredibly strong stance the author took, accusing people of a 'shameful display of ignorance', you'd think he would have the decency to clarify the points instead of making an article prior called GAMEPLAY trailer.

[Volkama]

Dualshockers wrote an article correcting and condemning comments about a downgrades, so it seems reasonable to suggest they could have done an article correcting people that thought the original trailer represented gameplay footage. What's the difference?

[Kayant]

@Volkama

Generalising vs cherry-picking... The downgrade comments have been made everywhere vs cherry-picking a comment made on a submission here as some kind of evidence of double standards when the majority of people didn't know what the footage represented at the time.

@Septic

What Textures exactly? Because if you're talking about hair you do know they are not really 1:1 given on is wet and the other isn't and from the gameplay water was shown affecting clothes and his hair.

Am more in the camp that they cannot be compared 1:1 because of different factors and claiming a downgrade is silly apart from the cut scene vs gameplay differences you see with basically every game ever. The E3 trailer was labelled a trailer not gameplay so yh it wasn't going to represent gameplay in the first place. It saying it was captured on PS4 doesn't equal it to gameplay either was it's said to be so.

I'm Not a dualshockers expert but good one ;). We will just have to disagree to agree until the full game is out and the same scene can be compared.

[ashen122]

sorry but up close I don't see a down grade just a change in lighting.

[Revolver_X_]

Always calling hypocrisy when there is none. We dont give anyone else the benefit of the doubt? Thats why everyone was so disappointed with Watch Dogs right? Gamers treat ND no different. We all believed Ubi with WD. Until it was so close to release that those had to be the real graphics. ND has explained what they've done. If you cant believe them, then your cynicism is in high gear. Look at the cut scenes in TLOU. They look better then the gameplay. They are cutscenes using in-game assets, not CG. Same goes for U4. Just as it was stated in the E3 trailer, in-game footage.

[BitbyDeath]

The E3 footage was a scene from the actual game. The ACTUAL game.
It is not CG, it is not pre-rendered, it is using in-game assets.
Yes, even the close-up on Drakes face at the beginning of the clip.

The PSX footage was from a DIFFERENT part of the game.
DIFFERENT needs major highlighting as it is not the same scene, it is not the same lighting, and the water effects add a gloss to the characters skins.

They are both scenes from the actual game, none of it is pre-renered and none of it is CG.

It should be easy to understand, there is no downgrade they are just DIFFERENT parts of the game.

PS3 needed to use pre-renders in order to hide backend load times to keep the actual game load-time free.

PS4 does not. The game runs the entire time, you will be able to easily tell this as you won't get a split-second of black between the gameplay and the part you do not have control.

Again the game has not been downgraded just wait until you see the E3 part again and you will because it is an actual part in the game, it is not a made up scene. It is part of the game.

[thorstein]

I agreed with you, but to be honest, I think you are misinformed about the PS3 needing prerenders.

That was the claim for the famous (Killzone 2) "Bullet Trailer." In reality, the trailer was in engine, as is much of ND's trailers.

It is hard for people to wrap their heads around this idea but these companies have been doing this for years without prerendering.

[freshslicepizza]

yes its part of the game but once again its smoke and mirrors because when the actual gameplay kicks in and the player has complete control the graphics get downgraded. you can render graphics at much higher detail when you dont have to take in graphics, a.i. and other gameplay assets. it also explains why quick time events look so much better as those scenes are pre-rendered.

[zero_gamer]

I am not jumping the gun that a downgrade actually happened. The graphics still look fine, but the gameplay is what I play any game for. Double standards piss me off to no end, but again, not jumping the gun just yet.

[CervantesPR1]

no downgrade at all
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[miyamoto]

This video owned Septic and the rest of them Xboxers. Seriously.
Their ignorance is xtremely xposed!

[memots]

#retardes

Thats funny.

[rainslacker]

I like you Septic. You're generally pretty well reasoned, and make valid arguments more often than not but are you really that worked up to write such a long blog over fan boy bickering?

Anyhow first line of your blog..."Give credit where credit is due".

I agree 100%. I give Naughty Dog credit to be able to deliver, because they've earned their due. Every UC game last gen was the pinnacle of graphics quality for the generation and set new standards upon their releases.

Was there a "downgrade"? Not to me. From what I can see it seems typical ND UC/TLOU fashion where the cut scenes, which are rendered "in-engine"(hence not pre-rendered and done from the PS4) look better than actual game play, and the game play has less detail in both lighting and texture quality. That's why I don't see it as a downgrade, and how anyone could judge such a thing based off a rather simple staged scene and a build at least a year away from final release is just trying to downplay the fact that UC4 will probably be the most visually stunning game of this console generation upon it's release....history has proven it.

Anyhow, if all this is upsetting you that much, maybe it's time to step away from the comments section of UC4 articles. You know this stuff happens, and will continue to happen without you just throwing more of the hypocrisy fuel onto the fire. The arguments annoy me too, because people don't take the time to really learn anything and will jump at the chance to downplay something in favor of console preference. It's not exclusive to UC4 downgrade talk, and you of all people know this. Once UC is released, everyone will move onto the next thing, and it's not worth getting annoyed over it every time it happens.

[Gazondaily]

Yeah I guess I should have probably not bothered but I'm a stubborn sod and that terrible attempt at PR for Sony from DS just set me off. Looking at his past articles, the comments on here and just all round Hypocrisy was too much to bare.

[miyamoto]

No, Septic. No just stop it. If you can't grasp universal logic we understand. But for your own good just let this go.Its a lost cause. No use elaborating on this all the evidences against your claim is displayed to you. I just hope when you play Uncharted 4 you'll be brave and honest enough to admit to yourself that you were wrong with this whole "downgrade" thing.
Happy Gaming, mate.

[Gazondaily]

@miyamoto

"No, Septic. No just stop it. If you can't grasp universal logic we understand. "

What universal logic? That people have double standards and I've shown you evidence of that in my blog?

That the words GAMEPLAY trailer have been used by the same person now deriding people for being shamefully ignorant?

" I just hope when you play Uncharted 4 you'll be brave and honest enough to admit to yourself that you were wrong with this whole "downgrade" thing. "

You talk as if you have played the final product.

" No use elaborating on this all the evidences against your claim is displayed to you."

What evidence? That people first claimed it was gameplay. Then I showed you that and then claimed it was a trailer...then no its gameplay? That people mass-disagreed with someone for stating what they are now stating themselves?

"Its a lost cause."

Yes. But for entirely different reasons.

The gameplay footage did not have the same visual fidelity of the E3 trailer. Whatever excuse ND employ, including the ones Kayant linked above such as trailers being art directed (which also seem to add some great textures it seems) the discrepancy is clear, well at least to me.

[BitbyDeath]

"That people first claimed it was gameplay."

I think you are confusing gameplay with an in-game, in-engine, cutscene. I don't think anyone ever thought you will be playing drake at that moment. Just that is what the graphics will be like in the game using in-game assets.

That part is not wrong. There is no actual downgrade unless you yourself thought the E3 cutscene was player controlled.

[Imalwaysright]

Uncharted 1 to 3 and TloU cutscenes are pre-rendered. They might be made using the engine but ND adds better AA, better effects, models with higher poly count, better lighting... You can't do that with real-time cutscenes which are rendered on the fly using the same exact assets as the gameplay portions.

This whole downgrade talk began with Corrinne confirming that the reveal wasn't pre-rendered and with the fact that the gameplay shown, although imo looking great (and will definetely look much better when it releases), doesn't look nowhere near as good as the reveal. It just doesn't. The disparity in graphical fidelity is something that we would only find in 2 completely different games and excuses like "it's different scenes, different lighting or the Drake was wet/dry" just don't cut it.

So, if we trust Corrine's word that the reveal wasn't pre-rendered then what could explain such graphical disparity? A downgrade.

Also what people aren't talking about is the fact that the reveal was running at silky smooth 60 fps and the gameplay shown was running at 30 fps. I personally don't care about a downgrade in graphics but a downgrade in FPS is disappointing to me and I hope that ND doesn't sacrifice their 60 fps target just to prove me and the people that believe that there was a downgrade wrong.

[rainslacker]

Pre-rendered is when the cutscene is rendered outside the game engine. Similar to any CGI movie where the frames are rendered one by one using some means other than the game engine. The cutscene is then streamed off the disc when needed. Kind of like the Final Fantasy games from the PS1/2

In-Engine means that the cutscene is rendered in real time on the platform itself. It typically uses in game assets, and with ND games they use a higher level of detail, better textures and lighting,and all the other things that you would expect to see in a cutscene. That's why the cut scenes look better than the normal game play.

To me, the difference between the first video and the second is about the same graphical difference margin that you see in ND's PS3 games.

@Septic above

I know the feeling. I read things some times that tend to get me worked up, and I've written stuff in the heat of the moment which was probably not neccesarry.

[Imalwaysright]

Pre-rendered is anything that isn't rendered in real time. Uncharted cutscenes aren't rendered in real time, reason why when you use a different skin while you play an Uncharted game the cutscene displays the default model of the drake (although with higher poly count because it's pre-rendered). This doesn't happen with games that use real time cutscenes like MGS4 where the camo you're using while playing is the same that will appear in the cutscene.

PS3 Uncharteds and TloU cutscenes are made using a render farm of 8 networked ps3 debugging stations...

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

https://twitter.com/cbalest...

... and that's why ND can enhance them to look far better than the gameplay portions even if they're made in-engine.

[WeAreLegion]

What happened to you, Septic?

[gangsta_red]

What do you mean "what happened"?

Because he doesn't fall in line and kneel down to the status quo around here?

I mean this isn't the first blog to expose a game or company on it's bullshots, deplorable actions or a game that didn't live up to the hype.

So what did happen to Septic in your opinion? And how is this blog any different than others written on this site?

[WeAreLegion]

Septic is just very anti-Sony lately. He used to be somewhere in the middle. That's how he got so many bubbles.

Naughty Dog didn't say this was gameplay. They were very clear that it was in-engine. We all knew that and accepted it at the time. We knew when we saw gameplay it wouldn't look as good as something rendered in-engine.

[gangsta_red]

Anti-Sony eh? Well I don't know how he managed to get all those bubbles but I can definitely tell you it ain't from being in the middle. Not on this site.

I think the point he's getting at is most people were mislead. Doesn't matter what ND said, it's what people still perceived it as.

I mean he does have a bunch of links to support his complaint. This one alone let's you know that a lot of people believed it was how gameplay would look.

http://i.imgur.com/J28ZvoN....

Look at those disagrees as this person truly does tell people here that it was running in game cut scenes and not gameplay.

I don't think him having some criticisms of a few PS4 games or actions makes him Anti-Sony. But I can see where it might be perceived that way especially on a web site that is so heavily dominated by Pro-Sony members.

[TomRL]

Good article. Judging from the title alone I thought we were going to be told to stop complaining about downgrades lol

[Double Toasted]

Yup! Bravo!

[Helloween13]

oh here we go again, people can't get over the fact that ND are the best programmers around they have to try and downgrade them with every game they release (thats right Im looking at you Septic)there is no downgrade get over yourself and just understand that this will be game of the year and no matter what you or any other Sony and ND hater say will make any difference what so ever about the fans enjoying yet another truly epic game, hey go buy yourself a new TV as you really need to throw away your old analog TV and get with times
and yes you are a stubborn sod as you always want to be right but in this case you're not

and BTW it was a shit article and you are just crying for attention

[guyman]

I must admit, when i watched the demo, i immediately felt as though i was a bit misled into thinking that the graphics would be the same as what we witnessed at E3. I don't know, perhaps i was confused by the terms they were using i.e. in game vs in engine, etc. and came to the conclusion that those were the level of graphics we were going to see in gameplay. Therefore, i was disappointed initially by the demo. However, i then watched it a second time and realised how amazing the graphics were despite the so called "downgrade". The detail and fidelity of the environments, the lighting in the cave, Drake's clothes physics, water physics, etc. were amazing and this is only pre-alpha... graphics still look really really great.

Personally, i do not think there was a downgrade, i think people were just misled into believing the E3 trailer were the set in stone graphics. Heck, i remember Corinne Yu even saying they could improve upon the visuals in the trailer from E3. I can understand the negativity in that case, however, people are judging this game way too fast. I thought this was a solid way to introduce uncharted 4, i really can't wait to see more footage,and i am more than confident in ND.

[one2thr]

Its a Pre-Alpha...

[mezati99]

wow Septic just wow. dafuq happened to you man ? did sony kill your dog or something?

[JMyers]

For a game that is 11 months away it looked pretty dam good. Who's to say that the game won't look better and match the E3 trailer?

MS showcased Gears on 360, which looked stunning. Upon release and close insepection the game wasn't that impressive.

ND and Sony 1st party studios will continue to set the bar on what's possible on consoles. Just like they did last gen. Let's wait on release to judge and conmpare.