First part, I dont believe you can never get that pic. The interwebs is amazing.
The second part I totally agree with. I am very glad for the advances in technology, and to see it carry over to gameplay visuals.
My point I guess is not to downplay it, it just seems like a lunchbox. I dont care what the lunchbox(photomode) looks like as long as the food(gameplay/racing) in it is awesome. People at the table can show off their box's, but the important thing is the food in the end.
If they could focus on more real tracks, real race rules like qualify/races, flag system, and skip that photo/autovista I would love it. Just my opinion.
The lunchbox thing makes sense and I see what you're saying and agree, but I have a different image in my head. FM4 itself is a meal, all the features inside make up the food. Now when T10 made this meal, they knew millions of people would be eating the same meal, so they made enough different food to make sure anyone could enjoy thier meal. Now the racing is the big juicy steak of this meal, absolutely, but the rest of the meal can't just be a cracker and a glass of water. T10 made sure that even people that have a hard time eating meat still won't go hungry. They gave painters some potatoes, replay editors coleslaw, tuners a pitcher of beer (or Coke for those of us that don't drink)
I guess what it comes down to at the end of the day, is that it seems T10 is really trying to improve everything for everyone that plays thier game. Not everyone got everything they wanted, but what has been added has been done well, and there is something new for everyone.
-The physics, from any early accounts, are night and day improved over FM3. We have a ton of new race modes, some new tracks, new cars, more tuning options, etc. For the hardcore, this is great news. The better physics will also benefit replay editors and photographers ass it will be easier to find a shot where the car looks right on the track.
-The track surfaces have been re-mapped to better represent wear, age, pavement type and now transfer much more of that to the driver. This will have no benefit to painters, and replay editors, but the tuning community will have to tune to accomodate these track variations now.
-The visuals are obviously a big step up which benefits just about everyone. Racers will be more immersed in thier surroundings, paint jobs will look better on the track, photographers will have better pictures, replay editors will have better movies.
-Autovista is an extra thing that nobody has to use, but for people like me that have to explore every corner of any game they play, Autovista will be great. I'll be wasting a ton of time with it, guaranteed. Autovista is responsible for T10 using IBL, and that has had a dramatic effect on the game across the board.
-Photomode is again quite obviously better equipped, as even the early shots taken by journalists are looking near photo-realistic. This should make the photographers quite happy. I have thousands of images from FM3 on my hard drive, I expect the same from FM4.
-The texture resolution of the liveries has reached the point where the paint jobs aren't pixelated, and the livery editor has two new pages of shapes designed by the community. I spend most of my time in FM3 painting, so this is huge news for me. They are also starting "cruise" events where everyone can join a hopper just to drive the track, see the other paint work, and take photos of the event. I enjoy cruise events in real life, but live in a place where it snows 6 months of the year so this will be my fix.
-Multiplayer has a ton of new features, both racing oriented and time-waste oriented. 16 player races will make weekend races more interesting, but the new fun modes will be great to mess around with when the serious racing is all over, great way to unwind after a long race, or even some night after work when I'm just too tired to run a 10-lap race and feel more like having a good laugh.
