Naughty Dog, Realtime Graphics, and Comparisons Part 2! : Particle effects, lighting, secondary character models and AA, oh my!

2009-01-31T13:42:00.000-08:00

Part 2 of the comparison is now here! My apologies for the delay. For those who have not seen my previous comparison (Part 1) you should go check it out. As promised this comparison examines lighting, AA, particle effects, secondary and enemy models. For those interested I have a public gallery of images that were used in my comparison. Currently there are over 230 images and I will be adding more images soon. Also as requested by popular demand in emails. I will do an Uncharted 2 and Gears of War comparison when Naughty Dog's next game releases. Thanks for all of those who emailed.

*Click on the images for the original full resolution 720p image*

Secondary and Enemy Character Models

Sully

Random Pirate

Navarro

Eddy Raja

Random Locust Soldier

Kantus

Cole

Baird

Giant Lake Monster

Inside the monster

Lighting

I noticed in Gears 2 that there was some strange things going on with the lighting. For example in the next two captures below it would appear that the light from the glowing plants isn't real light but, perhaps some kind of strange cloud or blue blur?

In this part of the under ground cave level there were some cases of the blue cloud disappearing when I approached the plants.

In this shot it seems the lighting has no effect on the character model.

Here is one example of the best lighting I was able to capture on Dom.

Particle Effects

Click here to see the video

I noticed in Gears 2 that many of particle effects such as flames, smoke, and torches are 2 dimensional. This is very noticeable in the sunken city of Lima areas.

Click here to see the video

Click here to see the video.

Anti Aliasing

Since doing the previous comparison I was informed that the blurring was how Gears 2 handles aliasing, so I decided to see how uncharted matches up in covering aliasing.

Naughty Dog, Realtime Graphics, and Comparisons!

2009-01-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

Since the unveiling of the Uncharted 2 footage just before and during the Spike TV awards many have been questioning and speculating about the visuals they received concerning gameplay. Naughty Dog has of course responded to the skepticism and has stated the trailers were rendered using the title's in-game engine. Given history one would have right to doubt and question these things. Sony once before tried to pull a fast one on us with the unveiling footage of killzone 2. Sony showed us what was CGI footage and attempted to pass it off as in-game graphics; however, Naughty Dog was quick to note that they have a good track record with showing game footage they claim was in-game, but how genuine is their claim? Is their track record credible?

Naughty Dog in a few interviews after the release of the original game claimed the character models in both cut scenes and in-game are one and the same. According to ND the characters use the exact same textures and polygons. I have decided to test that claim.

Due to the default nature of the in game camera it would be hard to see any similarities between in-game models and those in cut scenes. The problem is that the camera is set back to far away; however, there are several times and places where the camera can be zoomed in allowing you to get a closer look at these in-game models. After working around with the camera in these select situations I was able to do some close up capturing of the in-game characters. Hopefully with this comparison any doubt can be laid to rest concerning Naughty Dog and their credibility with in-game and trailer/cut scene graphics.

Click on the images to view them in their original 720p full resolution.

In these images one particular thing to note is Drake's gun harness.

Cut scene

In-Game

The focus here is Drake's hair.

Cut scene

In-Game

In-Game

Cut scene
In-Game

Notice Drake's hands.
Cut scene
In-Game

Here the focus in on the face, gun, and general upper body.

Cut scene
In-Game
In-Game

It seems that Naughty Dog was not telling a tall tale concerning the character models. The cut scene model appear to be same as the in-game models just only zoomed in. It is amazing how well the characters look that close up in-game, but how good are they compared to a similar rival in the genre? How does Uncharted stand up to the Crown Xbox graphics king, Gears of War 2? The following comparison was made at the request of friends from GAF and the Gamespot Forums.

Click on the images to view them in their original 720p full resolution.

One thing I noticed in Gears of War 2 was that there seems to be some strange blurring effect going. I have no idea as to why this was happening, but I had to redo some character shots because some of the subjects would come out blurred. I had to set my software to capture every individual frame coming in so I could discard the blurry captures from the non blurry ones. Below are some examples of the strange blurring I noticed.

More images are coming soon. I have yet to upload the comparison of enemies and other secondary characters. I also will have images of smoke and explosive effects to compare. Stay tuned!

Also to all the Sony fanboys, Gears' gameplay >>>>>>>>>>>>> Uncharted.

Kinetic Ninja out!
*Disappears surreptitiously into the tenebrae of the taciturn night. . . to play Gears of War II *

Gamejitsu

Naughty Dog, Realtime Graphics, and Comparisons Part 2! : Particle effects, lighting, secondary character models and AA, oh my!

Naughty Dog, Realtime Graphics, and Comparisons!