Is It Just Me Or... [Concering HL2 Models]

[Amish-Technology]

Do some of the model renders look as real as the real world?

For example, when I looked at some renders such as NeoTokyo's Weapon Renders or Forsaken's Weapon Renders, they look incredibly real. It's as if they're just slightly modified pictures. Is it the same for anyone else?

 

[giant384]

its called concept art its will always look better than the original

 

[Greatgat]

Yeah, in-game models never look that good. Although, I do wonder about some of the Unreal 3 stuff... Sweet jumping Jesus on a pogo stick...

 

[[Dragoon]]

It was only a matter of time. Just a few years ago it would have taken hours to render the stuff that current day game engines renders in real time, and I suspect that a few years from now real time graphics will look just as good (or better) than CG graphics today.

 

[Pesmerga]

I fear graphics may be becoming...too real.

:-\

 

[Mechagodzilla]

What, so the polygons are going to start building games out of us?

 

[[Dragoon]]

What, so the polygons are going to start building games out of us?

I fear that soon the polygons will become self-aware. They shall form a vast empire, and together they will seek to destroy mankind. Fear!

 

[Jintor]

To late...

 

[ríomhaire]

The polygons will take over all computers, then spread to the internet until they find a mac and try to infect it, causing them all to crash out of control. Long story short: they will all be converted into sprites and the new obediant polygons will anihilate them.

 

[Chav]

I fear graphics may be becoming...too real.

:-\

Yes sure ...
If you cant make a difference between a game and real life, you should visit your shrink.

 

[ríomhaire]

Eventually we will be able to make real pictures of people we hate doing anything we want.

 

[Krabjuice]

I hear sprites are going to make a comeback
And I mean the global domination type of comeback.
There will be a sprite (or two) in every home

 

[jondy]

I hear sprites are going to make a comeback
And I mean the global domination type of comeback.
There will be a sprite (or two) in every home

Those crazy Cornish Sprites.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

I fear that soon the polygons will become self-aware. They shall form a vast empire, and together they will seek to destroy mankind. Fear!

i smell a Darth polygon Vader takeover :E

 

[BrimStone04]

they are getting more real, obviously, but its taking longer and longer for devolopers to make the games, personally i dont mind cuz it just makes it worth while. i read something that will wright (the sims) is working on some amazing way to make games quicker and just as good. but the more detailed they get, the longer it will take to get into our harddrives.

 

[Asuka]

Yeah, in-game models never look that good. Although, I do wonder about some of the Unreal 3 stuff... Sweet jumping Jesus on a pogo stick...

Agreed!

 

[Para]

For starters, we are still far away from getting global illuminated game environments. Unreal Engine 3 is made to look pretty, not realistic. Remember that realism is actually quite boring and ugly for a game no matter what you like.

As for the renders, as I already hinted the sample pictures you posted uses global illumination and/or a derivation of (multi-bounce) radiosity. This means that the renderer traces each beam of light and given amount bounces of light to achieve the desired result. It takes time to calculate that and even the sample pictures may have a render time from 3 to 45 minutes depending on settings and which renderer was used. So, to squeeze ~15 minutes per frame to 25 frames per second means that we have at the moment only 1/13500 of the power needed to get games with working global illumination. This is also the main reason why light maps and all kinds of workarounds for soft shadows etc. are used.

 

[Reaktor4]

Do some of the model renders look as real as the real world?

For example, when I looked at some renders such as NeoTokyo's Weapon Renders or Forsaken's Weapon Renders, they look incredibly real. It's as if they're just slightly modified pictures. Is it the same for anyone else?

Its easy to tell theyre not real. The pistols dont even come close to reality.

 

[Cukel]

Nah, hi-res textures rule. Those weapons are not concept art, those are _renders_. But yes, they usually do some jesus-christ-detailed textures and then lowen the quality from those. So in the game it wont be as detailed as that