Inside the AI-Powered Rendering Tech Polyphony Digital Is Building for Gran Turismo’s Future

[RobertHammer]

Yamauchi has gone on record saying 240fps is the true ideal for racing sims. You aren't hitting those numbers with brute force alone, even on next-gen silicon. They need these surgical, AI-powered optimizations to bypass traditional rendering overhead if they ever want to make that 240Hz goal a reality. It’s about efficiency over raw power.

I would be happy with stable 4K 120 with full HDR

 

[SirRealDeal]

Excellent read. Thanks for translating.

 

[phillgt2002]

This looks like a highly specialized pipeline designed specifically to push frame boundaries. In modern general-purpose engines, geometry virtualization (like UE5’s Nanite) tackles the same bottlenecks automatically and with higher visual fidelity, but it’s essentially a 'brute-force' solution that’s extremely heavy on the hardware.

The fact that Polyphony is doubling down on this custom AI-driven culling instead of a Nanite-style approach suggests a very specific long-term play. I’m betting this tech is the foundation for PS6 (desktop & portable).

Yamauchi has gone on record saying 240fps is the true ideal for racing sims. You aren't hitting those numbers with brute force alone, even on next-gen silicon. They need these surgical, AI-powered optimizations to bypass traditional rendering overhead if they ever want to make that 240Hz goal a reality. It’s about efficiency over raw power.

Which is exactly why I'm not really against DLSS, Frame Generation or neural network graphical computing. My only worry is that that my time spent racing, playing games, etc. is being used to create models that can be spun for more nefarious or outright useless means.

 

[o000o]

its amazing to think this this game can actually get visually better,

Still I hope by this there won't be re-render cars or tracks again and thus everything starts from scratch again like GT3 or GT5 Premiums before.

 

[mef]

Which is exactly why I'm not really against DLSS, Frame Generation or neural network graphical computing. My only worry is that that my time spent racing, playing games, etc. is being used to create models that can be spun for more nefarious or outright useless means.

DLSS now encompasses changing art direction on the fly with dlss 5.0, which you may be against.
I am certainly against, totally the wrong place to change the look of things and suspect NVIDIA is only doing it there, rather than at dcc level, because they want to sell expensive rtx 5.0 hardware 👎

Using ai to improve path tracer samples is good, using ml to change the creative look is not. It deserves to be called ai slop, push back is justified

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I trust PD when it comes to visuals...mostly...but I grow more and more disillusioned with the state of game visuals when there is just non-stop visual artifacts from screen-space effects. Games often look pretty but so, so smeary and messy. I find it hard to play the Oblivion remaster because as nice as of an upgrade as it technically is, there is just relentless Unreal-jank that jettisons me from the experience*. I'd honestly rather play the original game.

*I'm trying to think about why it does this. I think it's because it makes everything feel fake somehow, like it's all a series of tricks holding everything together, rather than an honest art direction. Older eras of game development prioritized visual stability...it felt deterministic and made those games feel persistent. Newer games just feel so visually unstable and probabilistic, like nothing is the same twice.

 

[Walter44]

I would be happy with stable 4K 120 with full HDR

I would take 4K 90fps with full HDR, ray tracing, and path tracing, plus all of that in PSVR2.

 

[ScottPuss20]

I'm sick of AI. AI this, AI that, AI everything! Although to be completely honest, when it isn't being used for slop, it can be quite helpful.

 

[RareHero]

I might be wrong, but my guess is that they're finally going to implement a new, efficient asset streaming system similar to what Playground Games developed for Forza Horizon series on the Forza Tech engine.

I always thought the weak point of PD graphics engine was its LoD system and asset management. The current engine carries the improvements made from the transition from GT6/PS3(CELL-RSX) to GTS(AMD-X86) and I imagine that an emphasis on fast dynamic asset streaming wasn't planned at the time. With the advancements of the fast SSD in the PS5, it was expected that GT7 would take advantage of this with some code optimization, but having the obligation of a PS4 version would make rethinking the engine's rendering base problematic and costly.

My expectations are high, i hope we'll see new paradigms in things like vegetation and the infamous trees surrounding the tracks, as well as an improvement in the granularity of micro-details. I couldn't be more excited for what's to come.

 

[Lux Klonoa]

I'm sick of AI. AI this, AI that, AI everything! Although to be completely honest, when it isn't being used for slop, it can be quite helpful.

It's mainly generative AI that is the problem, for a lot of reasons. Everything else like AI upscalers (I.e. PSSR 2) and AI translators, though, are okay in my book. Useful, even.

 

[GBalao888]

Still I hope by this there won't be re-render cars or tracks again and thus everything starts from scratch again like GT3 or GT5 Premiums before.

There wouldn't be a need for that. Besides none of the stuff are graphically behind (if it's anything with GT5 and GT6 with standard vs. premium car assets, and to some extent, tracks).

Besides, GT7 is expected to have 600+ cars and 43-45 track environments (given the update structure) before GT8 is inevitably announced some time in the future, where we could see like what, 700-750+ cars and roughly 50 track environments.

 

[o000o]

There wouldn't be a need for that. Besides none of the stuff are graphically behind (if it's anything with GT5 and GT6 with standard vs. premium car assets, and to some extent, tracks).

Besides, GT7 is expected to have 600+ cars and 43-45 track environments (given the update structure) before GT8 is inevitably announced some time in the future, where we could see like what, 700-750+ cars and roughly 50 track environments.

More like how the Premium PS3 cars GT5 and GT6 had aren't really future-proof in the models starting from scratch again as for GT Sport.

 

[karelpipa]

were you surprised by that? I did not.

 

[Theufcveteran]

More like how the Premium PS3 cars GT5 and GT6 had aren't really future-proof in the models starting from scratch again as for GT Sport.

They added a GT6 premium into GT Sport. The BMW Z8 I think. That one did actually look kind of blocky in certain areas, not sure if it was because it's a convertible, because the tessellated GT6 premiums were super high detail.

You can see a comparison here by @emula: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/gts-vs-gt6-cars-comparison.370800/post-12615098

emula says this about open top cars brought over from GT5/GT6:

all the open top cars imported from GT5 / GT6 (Ferrari 330 P4, Jaguar XJ13, BMW Z8) don't use tessellation . It can't be a coincidence but there must be some technical limitation

 

[Fossilized]

The disconnect between what players want, and where the development money is going is pretty evident. What PLAYERS want are better physics, and MUCH better penalty detection, better AI competitiveness, and the usual more tracks and cars (when do we get back GT6's course builder?!).

Given those, who would object to the graphics remaining at the already excellent level they are?

Graphics are a diminishing return investment. More and more money needed to make smaller and smaller improvements. Better stewarding shows immediate massive playability improvements. Quite honestly, after some noob rams you off track for the umpteenth time, do you really give a rats about the visuals during your trip into the wall?

 

[mef]

The disconnect between what players want, and where the development money is going is pretty evident. What PLAYERS want are better physics, and MUCH better penalty detection, better AI competitiveness, and the usual more tracks and cars (when do we get back GT6's course builder?!).

Given those, who would object to the graphics remaining at the already excellent level they are?

Graphics are a diminishing return investment. More and more money needed to make smaller and smaller improvements. Better stewarding shows immediate massive playability improvements. Quite honestly, after some noob rams you off track for the umpteenth time, do you really give a rats about the visuals during your trip into the wall?

You are generalising what gamers want. A lot of gamers naturally gravitate to buying the latest, best looking game. Graphics has been and will be the number 1 determinant of they are going to pick up a game or not. That’s probably because it is the first thing gamers can see about a game in marketing terms. If the first impression is not strong, eyeballs move away..
I think that’s true for the majority, you and I may have different preferences. I’m definitely in the norm camp, graphics matter a lot to me, more than physics even. If gt7 had **** graphics but even better physics id place it in the bin.
Graphics is also too narrow a term to describe a “visual experience” when playing a game. I prefer the term “presentation”.
It’s not just the game graphics, it’s also menus, camera movement, transitions in and out of gameplay. If done poorly you get something jarring like AC. Done well you get gt7. Gt7 presentation is best in all racing games for me.

 

[Sir Crashalot]

You are what gamers want. A lot of gamers naturally gravitate to buying the latest, best looking game. Graphics has been and will be the number 1 determinant of they are going to pick up a game or not. That’s probably because it is the first thing gamers can see about a game in marketing terms. If the first impression is not strong, eyeballs move away..
I think that’s true for the majority, you and I may have different preferences. I’m definitely in the norm camp, graphics matter a lot to me, more than physics even. If gt7 had **** graphics but even better physics id place it in the bin

I think you're also generalizing. IMO (for me) it depends on the type of game. I agree that for a driving/racing sim graphics are a huge factor. For story driven games though, like RPGs, adventures, action adventure and so on, the story, atmosphere and gameplay mechanics are much more important than graphics.

 

[Fossilized]

You are generalising what gamers want. A lot of gamers naturally gravitate to buying the latest, best looking game. Graphics has been and will be the number 1 determinant of they are going to pick up a game or not. That’s probably because it is the first thing gamers can see about a game in marketing terms. If the first impression is not strong, eyeballs move away..
I think that’s true for the majority, you and I may have different preferences. I’m definitely in the norm camp, graphics matter a lot to me, more than physics even. If gt7 had **** graphics but even better physics id place it in the bin.
Graphics is also too narrow a term to describe a “visual experience” when playing a game. I prefer the term “presentation”.
It’s not just the game graphics, it’s also menus, camera movement, transitions in and out of gameplay. If done poorly you get something jarring like AC. Done well you get gt7. Gt7 presentation is best in all racing games for me.

We're back to the classic 'gamers v. racers' argument here.

And you're making a big mistake claiming the choices are between '**** graphics' and physics improvements. The graphics are ALREADY great. Probably the best in the genre (other than framerate compared to high end PC rigs). So why work on making them even better?

But yes, if you're willing to admit that the only thing you play a game for is the graphics, have at it. I'm pretty sure that's not the priority of most people that sim race because they love motorsports.

Sure, you're battling some alien monster on a distant planet, there are no 'rules', you can't watch it live on TV and get mad if the alien in the game can make moves that the real alien can't make! How it LOOKS is the only thing that matters.

But let's say a soccer game modeled every blade of grass in the stadium, modeled every fold in the player's uniform, every spectator in the stadium. BUT... the game mechanics allowed every player to pick the ball up and run it into the goal and score. Is it still a great game?

By your criteria, it is! But no soccer fan would play it. Just gamers. And if a soccer game ignored soccer rules to concentrate on even BETTER graphics, quite honestly it would be heading to obscurity.

So sorry, but racers don't share gamers' priorities. A racing game that gets EVERYTHING right about racing but has PS4 level graphics is still BY FAR the better game.

You want ultimate graphics, stick to blowing up aliens. Who CARES if the physics are good..?

 

[sirjim73]

I did a paper on using neural networks to predict business failures... in 1994!
Things have clearly moved on since then.
Very interesting article @Jordan 👍

 

[km666]

I'm struggling to understand how better looking grass makes a game better.

 

[equalitus]

I'm struggling to understand how better looking grass makes a game better.

Agree, it's about the details that we can see, like trees & props & stuff that is close to the road but outside it.

 

[05XR8]

I'm struggling to understand how better looking grass makes a game better.

Oohhhhhhhh there are years of complaining how Gran Turismo’s trees have killed the immersion for players. There’s less to nil talk of that now. Safe to say PD have improved those assets. Still more to improve with other off track renderings at various circuits. Buildings at Le Mans being one of those circuits.

 

[Monkey Man]

Oohhhhhhhh there are years of complaining how Gran Turismo’s trees have killed the immersion for players. There’s less to nil talk of that now. Safe to say PD have improved those assets. Still more to improve with other off track renderings at various circuits. Buildings at Le Mans being one of those circuits.

Correct weight bro'.

 

[Fossilized]

You know what REALLY kills 'immersion'?

Getting punted off track by a car that drives off with no damage and no penalty!

Guess what you're NOT looking at while you get shoved into the wall? The trees... 🌴

 

[Lunard]

We're back to the classic 'gamers v. racers' argument here.

And you're making a big mistake claiming the choices are between '**** graphics' and physics improvements. The graphics are ALREADY great. Probably the best in the genre (other than framerate compared to high end PC rigs). So why work on making them even better?

But yes, if you're willing to admit that the only thing you play a game for is the graphics, have at it. I'm pretty sure that's not the priority of most people that sim race because they love motorsports.

Sure, you're battling some alien monster on a distant planet, there are no 'rules', you can't watch it live on TV and get mad if the alien in the game can make moves that the real alien can't make! How it LOOKS is the only thing that matters.

But let's say a soccer game modeled every blade of grass in the stadium, modeled every fold in the player's uniform, every spectator in the stadium. BUT... the game mechanics allowed every player to pick the ball up and run it into the goal and score. Is it still a great game?

By your criteria, it is! But no soccer fan would play it. Just gamers. And if a soccer game ignored soccer rules to concentrate on even BETTER graphics, quite honestly it would be heading to obscurity.

So sorry, but racers don't share gamers' priorities. A racing game that gets EVERYTHING right about racing but has PS4 level graphics is still BY FAR the better game.

You want ultimate graphics, stick to blowing up aliens. Who CARES if the physics are good..?

I guess Gran Turismo, being a simcade racing game, It's a game that aims to appeal to both casual and hardcore players.
Casual players, such as me and others, wants good general presentation, such as menu design, campaign, game BGM and car customization, as @mef said.
Motorsport lovers, such as you and others, wants realism in physics and other Motorsport related mechanics, such as race car selections, penalty systems and car damages.
If you want a full realistic racing experience, more suitable for "virtual racers", I recommend you go play hardcore racing sims, such as Le Mans Ultimate, IRacing, Automobilista and Assetto Corsa Competizione.

Every improvement in the game will be welcome.
But maybe the best course of action would be to further balance the equilibrium between motorsport realism and casual gameplay, for please both publics.

 

[ProjectWHaT]

I think people are misunderstanding what PD is doing here. They're not improving the graphics or making it look more realistic, they're using a specially trained neural network to do more efficient z-culling. They're not making the trees look more real. They're finding better ways to render less things so you get more FPS

 

[RareHero]

I think people are misunderstanding what PD is doing here. They're not improving the graphics or making it look more realistic, they're using a specially trained neural network to do more efficient z-culling. They're not making the trees look more real. They're finding better ways to render less things so you get more FPS

I don't think it's a matter of misunderstanding, especially since, besides the handful of information we have from this presentation, we don't know for sure all the details of what the studio is doing to optimize and improve the performance and capabilities of the engine as a whole.

If they are investing in ways to alleviate the asset rendering load, it's natural to assume that they want to free up space not only for more frames per second, but also to improve everything else that makes up the presentation.

Therefore, optimizing how the engine handles the processing load of the scene as a whole is a logical and important step to free up processing resources and, from there, adjust the engine to handle any new improvements that will benefit from this performance gain, including more FPS, more possibilities for effects and graphic details in the scene as a whole, and so on.

Another thing to consider is that this type of optimization benefits the engine on PS5, PS5 Pro, and a likely PS6 version, and doesn't depend on features like the AI hardware embedded in the PS5 Pro and certainly the PS6, where you can count on things like upscaling, frame generation, etc.

 

[tonidavid5]

Therefore, optimizing how the engine handles the processing load of the scene as a whole is a logical and important step to free up processing resources and, from there, adjust the engine to handle any new improvements that will benefit from this performance gain, including more FPS, more possibilities for effects and graphic details in the scene as a whole, and so on.

I'm no expert here but freeing up more processing resources could well be also used to improve in other areas like bigger grids, better damage visualization and management, better AI, etc. Plenty of things that can definitely benefit both casual and hardcore (sim) racing gamers.

 

[RareHero]

I'm no expert here but freeing up more processing resources could well be also used to improve in other areas like bigger grids, better damage visualization and management, better AI, etc. Plenty of things that can definitely benefit both casual and hardcore (sim) racing gamers.

Yes, absolutely, code optimization, reducing execution time, that's the basics when looking to improve the performance of an existing engine or when you want to move on to a new iteration. Improving the overall geometry of the scene (more cars, more buildings), better physics for AI and simulation, etc...

The PS5's CPU is in a category of its own compared to the Jaguar on the PS4. GT7 on PS5 should have some specific customizations for the PS5, but a good part of it will likely be based on brute force, running code that was written with the PS4 in mind, far from something designed to take advantage of most of the PS5's possibilities. So there's a lot that PD can do to improve its code to take advantage of the instructions and features of the Zen 2 + RDNA 2 + SSD and 16GB GDDR6 on PS5.

 

[Fossilized]

I guess Gran Turismo, being a simcade racing game, It's a game that aims to appeal to both casual and hardcore players.
Casual players, such as me and others, wants good general presentation, such as menu design, campaign, game BGM and car customization, as @mef said.
Motorsport lovers, such as you and others, wants realism in physics and other Motorsport related mechanics, such as race car selections, penalty systems and car damages.
If you want a full realistic racing experience, more suitable for "virtual racers", I recommend you go play hardcore racing sims, such as Le Mans Ultimate, IRacing, Automobilista and Assetto Corsa Competizione.

Every improvement in the game will be welcome.
But maybe the best course of action would be to further balance the equilibrium between motorsport realism and casual gameplay, for please both publics.

I just find it hard to marry the desire for ultimate graphics fidelity, then completely unfaithful sport rules. To go back to my soccer analogy, do you play ANY sport games like soccer, basketball, American Football, baseball? Would you tolerate a sports game that completely broke the sport's rules but LOOKED great?

From what I see, most sports games adhere to the main rules. And quite honestly I'd hear the screams of disappointment from Madden fans or NBA2K16 if the game mechanics allowed completely illegal moves with no penalty. I wonder why motorsports has such a low bar?