Videos games, getting so close to photo realistic.

[gzoom]

Video games is my vice, it's my way out and distraction from the world. Been gaming for as long as I can remember, from running Avra with a 14.4k dial up modems to Uni Halo LAN parties (ethernet cable hanging out of halls), and currently own 3 generations of Xboxes.

But last few years with family life and a heavy focus on career progression gaming has taken a small stepback. Haven't got time for hardware faffing these days, but Stadia gave me a taste of hardware free gaming, and now using GeForce Now with 50+ games in the library.

With the house now done, this holiday period I've been able to really get into some my favourite games like Forza, and the F1 series.

Hooked up to and 100inch projector, with graphics settings turned up to 'ultra' and 5.1 surround sound, gaming on Forza is taking things to the next level!!! The ingame graphcis are now better than pre-rendedered from even just a few years ago, and the game play it self is just fun. The immersion the current gen of games can give you is simply phenomenal, than there is the YouTube reviews of GT7 in VR..........

Anyone else here into gaming? With the way the tech is progressing I cannot wait to see how games will look at close in on 2030 .

 

[si_c]

Yep, although I found Geforce Now to be quite laggy compared to playing on a regular gaming PC so I've kept my PC up to date. Forza is a go-to of mine although I only recently got 4 as it's not been on offer much. Also play a lot of open world games - Cyberpunk is incredibly good looking for example.

I play quite a few casual games as well - recently got myself a Steam Deck and it's brilliant - highly recommend, aside from being able to play games on the couch I can stream them from my PC as well which works better than cloud based gaming as it runs on the local network so much lower latency.

My steam library has stagnated lately but it still has around 300 titles in it.

 

[cyberknight]

I still dabble in a mmog that is 20 year old this year , i must have spent over a thousand hours over that time and it is still my goto since it got shutdown, devs running a pirate server then official sanction from the owners .
I hardly log on these days but it is still feels like that comfy old chair

 

[wiggydiggy]

Graphics are great but I personally farvour FR over graphics, my favourite genre is racing games and it's really hard to play any game that's less than 60FPS.

That said there's nothing more impressive than great graphics, Forza Horizon 4 for me has been most impressive in the last few years as it was set in the UK and featured many locations I've visited IRL and was great to see in game. FH5 may look better car model wise but the scenery in FH4 is much more relatable.

I personally game on Xbox Series S so not even 4k but I find that's good enough. I'm not likely to go 4k until my current TV needs replacing.

 

[PaulSB]

I've never gamed but have occasionally seen F1 games. For me it's very difficult to see a difference between the top quality games and the live cockpit cameras.

 

[MontyVeda]

I bought myself Snowrunner on the Xbox for xmas before last... sometimes i just have to stop my truck and admire the view or watch the sunset.

 

[MontyVeda]

Graphics are great but I personally farvour FR over graphics, my favourite genre is racing games and it's really hard to play any game that's less than 60FPS.

That said there's nothing more impressive than great graphics, Forza Horizon 4 for me has been most impressive in the last few years as it was set in the UK and featured many locations I've visited IRL and was great to see in game. FH5 may look better car model wise but the scenery in FH4 is much more relatable.

I personally game on Xbox Series S so not even 4k but I find that's good enough. I'm not likely to go 4k until my current TV needs replacing.

the lakeside approach into Ambleside is pretty much spot on.

 

[wiggydiggy]

I've never gamed but have occasionally seen F1 games. For me it's very difficult to see a difference between the top quality games and the live cockpit cameras.

Some F1 drivers have their own setups at home, and stream themselves racing. Hardly tell the difference to me.

 

[gzoom]

I've never gamed but have occasionally seen F1 games. For me it's very difficult to see a difference between the top quality games and the live cockpit cameras.

If you ever get a chance have a go at the latest driving games I would recommend it, especially with a decent setup.

I've long accepted I'll never be in position in life to own something like a F40, let alone race one at Spa in the wet. After doing a couple of laps in my fantasy F40 I'm not sure I would have the balls or skills to drive one IRL even if I had the funds/ability.

Pure fantasy for me, but immersion of these games are so good now it really does give you a feel of what it would be like to drive one of these things IRL.

Next step for me would be try one with a wheel and/or VR setup, for me, piloting these things in the virtual world is 'real' enough for me!!

 

[fossyant]

I used to be upto my mid 20's but life and kids meant I didn't Eee, my GeForce "what ever" Platinum edition was lots of money 20 years ago. Got two young adults into gaming - daughters is on a 4070 TI with 32gb PC Ram - mainly for her digital animation degree and the rendering power, rather than the games she plays.

I don't have time now.

 

[fossyant]

My son has done lots of racing sims, and that's actually lead him to being quite handy on the track in his heavily modified Fabia - certainly gives much more powerful cars a run for their money. He has Porsche brakes and is running 180 bhp in a stripped Fabia.

 

[AlanW]

Funny this should thread should pop up and quite timely really. Despite not being a gamer, a few months back l bought a pretty decent gaming PC with a upgraded graphics card together with a pretty decent 25" gaming monitor.

I bought really to plan routes on RWGPS, run Zwift and with enough spare capacity to hopefully cover any other avenues that I chose to look at it going forward. The Flight Simulator being one of them.

However, my son who is a die hard gamer convinced me to download Automobilista 2 over Christmas. He already had the G29 steering wheel and pedal box, so within minutes l was good to go.

Oh boy, how good is it!!! Its so realistic it's scary to be honest, the graphics and the sound is simply unbelieva

Trouble is, l want a proper racing seat now...🤣

 

[gzoom]

I'm lucky enough to have been to Spa to watch a F1 race, but even I'm amazed how real the graphics are now. VR I think is something I have to try for racing games. But equally I enjoy been able to jump in and game at any opportunity, though clearly a 7inch screen offers a different experience from the 100inch one .

 

[icowden]

Anyone else here into gaming? With the way the tech is progressing I cannot wait to see how games will look at close in on 2030 .

They do get better all the time. I was blown away by the animation in Last of us II. I know it's all motion capture, but the level of detail, and therefore emotional involvement is extraordinary.

Same in Red Dead 2 where you can see individual blades of grass, the footprints that your horse leaves etc.

PS4 footage from LOU2:-

View: https://youtu.be/Iss5bRQ7yVM?si=Zs6q0gUZ0AborRSc

 

[Electric_Andy]

They are amazing - the most recent gaming phase in my life was Grand Turismo 5 on the PS3, and I thought that was good. A few years ago I then watched my mate playing F1 and Colin McCrea rally on the ps4 using a full seat and steering wheel set-up. It was so good it almost didn't feel like a game, but more like one of those simulators you used to get in arcades.

I do wonder where it's going now, what can they improve, what will they improve? With TVs it was a race from HD ready to 1080p and now to 4K. I have seen some 8K TVs but I really wonder if it's worth the extra pixels when the screens themselves have evolved from LED to OLED.

Perhaps the response rate etc can be improved a bit but I've never noticed anything poor enough to make me think I need <1ms rather than <5ms. I wonder if it'll reach a point of maximum goodness and then they'll have to come up with more ideas to make it better, perhaps using ancillary deviced that squirt water in your face when you drive through a puddle? Or blow air at you when you're in a convertable car