Console graphics feedback
Hello everyone! This is my reddit post link I've originally posted this on. If you don't want to be redirected to Reddit, I have copy&pasted the contents of the said post below:
So, the early access is already here and the game will be "officially' out in two days.
Gameplay is sick and highly addictive, there is no denying about that. It's amazing.
I want the game to improve because it's a good, enjoyable and addictive rally game, so don't take this post as hating, because it's not.
Back to the graphics though:
While maxed out PC settings can look good on high resolution (but stutters like hell), the game really lacks in the graphics department on console(s).
As I only have a PS5 right now, I will comment about the PS5 mainly, but I reckon the same can be applied to XSX.
I know the game runs on Unreal Engine 4 (? from what I know it's UE4, not 5, need confirmation to be 110% sure), but it's totally disappointing how the game looks on PS5 regardless of the used game development engine.
We were told the console version will be equal or almost equal to the High preset and target 4K60.
While there are significantly less performance problems on the PS5 (occasional stutters, frame drops and screen tearing with VRR enabled are all present and still need work), the render resolution and texture resolution are both seriously bad, and it's not even nitpicking from me. The only thing rendered in 4K is the UI I believe, but just like in other console games (besides some native 4K gems, but they run in 30, 40 and only sometimes in 60fps modes) we probably shouldn't expect native 4K with a 100% render scale here.
My main problem is with the resolution, render scale and environmental texture resolution.
Cars look okay-ish, but once you see everything around the car on the stage, it can't be unseen.
While I am not an expert in game graphics, these are things you can spot almost immediately after starting any stage that is not covered in snow. Foliage and ground textures look like they were taken from Microsoft Flight Simulator, where you don't see them most of the time and when you see them you immediately regret that you decided to do so. You get the point.
I also think the game completely lacks ambient occlusion? I might be wrong here, but it all looks rather flat.
And the look of these stages at night?
These kind of graphics should be allowed only on Halloween. I hope it's an inside dev joke, because preorder early access released on Halloween and we will get our quality graphics back in a patch :D
Why it's so important?
Foliage and ground textures are the main antagonists in the lore of sim rally in general, so we have constant contact with them and see them 100% of the time while rallying.
Here are my screenshots (no, it's not bad screenshot quality, it's how I see the game live on my 4K TV).
Water splash (my favorite! last time I've seen this kind of graphic fidelity in Tomb Raider 2 pools :D):
Night-time photos:
Daytime photos:
Can we have any feedback from EA / Codemasters regarding this?
