Unigine has released the first DirectX 11 benchmark called Heaven. It also has native support for OpenGL, DirectX 9, 10 and 11. You can download it for free from here.
http://unigine.com/press-releases/091022-heaven_benchmark/
It will be much sooner than we think when games will be like movies we play a role in and less like games. Especcially MMOs if they reach this level of detail in graphics and can add to that making everything in the background an object that can be interacted with with it's own physics. When that happens, we will have the first of the primitive forerunners to Star Trek type holodecks.
What a far cry for this geezer to think when I was shooting things on my TV screen on an Atari 2600 that games would come this far.
You are right. But when it comes to MMOs, it will we veeeery long time till a serious leap in visuals takes place because these games' graphics are toned down on purpose to appeal to a wider audience. So when overwhelming majority of PC owners can run a photo realistic looking game, MMOs will look the way you described.
Do you think that would be desirable? I know some would like ultra realist games, but I like the small degree of separation between real and fantasy. Some people take things way too serious the way it is, games are supposed to be a break from what is real (unless your into playing "Happy Ending Massage Pallor III: Lotion in Motion). Even shooters... do we want people to become that desensitized to killing another? Flight and driving sims might be fine (and useful), but IMO there can be too much reality.
That may not be much longer than you think. Eve dropped support twice. Once for Windows 98 SE and another for Windows ME in 2005 or 06. They also revamped all thier graphics in 07. Blizzard also increases thier specs as well, dropping support ifor ME and 98SE in 2007. They also increased bare min. spec to P4 1.3-class processors and 512 MB from AMD Duron and 256 MB (which still would run WoW almost unplayable) That is also after only 3-4 years. We are already at affordable 1 Meg cards and the newer Vista machines are at 5 to 8 GB memory. Three years from now, the Win7 machines will be at 10-12 GB with 2 GB video. XP will be phased out. This will be in the next 2-3 years. Those MMOs arent going anywhere. It will be the same ones with one or two newcomers. The graphics will approach cinema unless the dev wants a cartoony look.
Well, some of the gore on the TV is pretty realistic. It doesnt make most sane folks want to axe murder folks. I guess you will always have these fruits in any media. Just like some news story I saw about a juror showing up to someone's trial in a Star Trek uniform because she "wanted to represent Federation Values". But, fruitcakes are always around no matter what is there. Video games/ MMOs will become a replacement for TV action-dramas over the next decade. The first of this is sooner than we think.
Yes, I think this would be desirable. As long as you had many choices as to what reality you wanted to slip into and the in-game advertisements didn't get too obnoxius.
I think we may see a movement away from photorealism in games. Sure, it looks nice, but it takes huge amounts of resources to create such a game with such amazing levels of detail. The problem is, when all games start looking photorealistic, people will realize that everything looks more or less the same. Once the variable of the style of art is taken out, the only real difference in looks which is left will be the scenery itself. And while there are plenty of possible scenery items for games to use, by realistic looking shooter #5937, people will be getting tired of graphics which, while impressive because of the processing required, really aren't all that fun.
A good example of this is TF2. Think about what the game would have been like if it didn't have the colorful, cartoony graphics. I don't think it would have been nearly as popular without its distinct and funny graphical touches which only straying from realism can give. Sure, there would still be quite a few hardcore shooter fans who would play it, but I don't think there would be nearly as many people who just play for fun. The sheer over-the-top factor of the graphics adds quite a bit to the game.
Man I know exactly how you feel. I'm only 31 and when I look back on how far technology has come in just the last 20 years I'm amazed. I can't wait to see what the next 20 or 30 years will bring. Sadly, I'm sure I'll die of something or another the day before Holo Decks are sold to the publick...LoL. That would be just my luck too.
Well, at least when the Terminators kill off humanity I'll already be gone. Just wait till you see the TV adds they run.
Terminators, Killing Humanity one laser beam at a time.
"The Extinction of the Human Race is brought to you by the power of Windows 13.5 Beta"
Hey I LOVE that game... j/k
I downloaded the Heaven Benchmark. I can run DX11 and it is SWEET!!! I'm averaging Frame Rates in the 60's and 70's unless I look at the sky at which point it hits the high 90's. You can even move around the world and look at stuff in the benchmark. Most other benchmarks I've seen and tried don't give you control like that. Normally it's just a walkthrough where your view is restricted to following the pre-set camera path. Very nice indeed.
IMO it's not about realism anymore but diversity and cost. How many 3d models do you see in the average game? How much do they cost to make? How long til they don't all look like the same person with the race changed? Why is that tree the same as the three million others in the game?
It's fine to talk about photorealism, but if that was the only thing that mattered games would already look absolutely fantastic. Lack of diversity is the only thing that really breaks the visual immersion, for me.
I got a VERY hard time believing that....
I got Core 2 Duo 3Ghz, 4GB Corsair XMS2 800Mhz and GeForce 8800GTS (G92) and with everthing on maximum with Direct X 10 and 1280x1024 I get 9 FPS....
My friend with a Phenom II x4, 4GB DDR 3 1600Mhz and Radeon HD4890 gets 30 with my settings.
I'll take screen shots if you wish. The GTX 280 runs Dx11 just fine. I have a Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.67Ghz. The 60-70's Fps is when I'm up close to the dragon statue. If I look up into the sky it hits the mid 90's.
Note: Besides why would I lie? LoL Like I honestly care what a bunch of strangers on the internet think about my gaming rig? No, not really.
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