Shadow of the clouds

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jghara

jghara

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Joey Hara
Hi everybody!
It's nice to be back again! =)

Today I was playing some racing games and suddenly I noticed that there was something lacking in every game... from Need for Speed to Gran Turismo, none of them had THAT thing. I just couldn't figure out what exactly was "the thing".

But then, when I decided to stop looking for it and began to watch some old F1 races, I found out what was missing in the games! It was the shadow of the clouds!

Well, I thought I was going crazy for thinking that something so sutile would make such a big difference, but hey... take a look at this video and pay attention to the shadows on the entire environment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=newX-mvGlm8

You see? In the real life video the sunlight is high... and then it lowers... and then high again, but it changes. And it changes a lot! In GT5 it looks like it's static.

So, here is what I think they could do: add weather changes WITH cloud changes, and with the clouds throwing their shadows on the ground.

I also noticed that the Sun seems to be a lot closer in GT5 than it really is, since the highlighted areas in GT5 are much brighter than in real life, while the dark areas are much darker as well.

These effects also make the game look as if there were no clouds in the sky, so the rays of light that come from the Sun go all the way to the ground without any interference.
With clouds effect that light would be spread all over the place, as you see in the real life video (even when the driver turns the panel keeps receiving light, whereas in GT5 the highlighted area go all the way to the shadows when the driver turns the car).

(Oh dear god, what a huge post! I really hadn't that much to say o.o)

To sum it up I'd like to show this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EBcJ2kl4G8
(It's not me)

This is how I would like GT6 to be. Of course - It's my humble opinion. All I know is that it is easier to do than making the damage system more realistic... =P

What do you think??
 
This is a great observation. I love these very small details whcih all add up to an immersive and most importantly - FUN - game.

Everyone know GT looks good in still shots but in motion it can look very static and barren. F1 2011 by codemasters is an excellent example of the opposite. The coulds are real time dynamic. This is especially noticible on the Valencia night track. The coulds move about and shift in the sky. Adding shadows to the track would add an extra layer of immersion and a sense of actually being at the track. GT5s skybox low res jpeg clouds are not impressive, especially in motion.

Yes i know F1 2011 runs at less than 30fps therefore they have more time to render things like this etc...but it would be cool.
 
This is cool... but would require a lot of resources and would be a HUGE hit on performance.

What you're wanting would require dynamic clouds (already extremely taxing) and dynamic lighting that adapts to the clouds.

Don't get me wrong I would love to see it... Just don't think it's going to happen.
 
OP i know what you mean. Like weather in STALKER you mean?
It would be great, but too hardware consuming i think.
 
I also like this idea. Details like this will make it much more life like. I can also see how this might take quite an effort to add when there is still so many other things they need to get right first.

If GT5 comes out on the PS3 then i'd say leave it out since they seem to be lacking processing power as it is. If it comes out for PS4 on the other hand then I can see them taking a stab at it.
 
If they ever did do it, then it would be great if they modeled in the track surface temperature change, and the extra speed that comes with it.
 

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