Judging by the frankly phenomenal progress that DriveClub has made over the past year or so, we reckon that more games would benefit from a meaty delay. In the slipstream of today’s hardware bundle announcement, developer Evolution Studios has released the first footage of its PlayStation 4 exclusive racer’s rain effects – and the results are nothing short of spectacular.
We could spend the next two or three paragraphs talking about just how stunning this looks, but a picture paints a thousand words, so we’ll let the 15 second snippets do the talking. It’s a shame that the studio’s resorted once again to such short clips to promote its upcoming game, but given the exceptional contents, we’ll let it off.
It goes without saying that there’s a little more going on here than wet tarmac. Much like the game’s dynamic lighting model, everything that you see is rendered in real-time, meaning that the density of cloud cover will affect how much rain falls. Moreover, the height of the sun will dictate how quickly this water evaporates once the storm has dispersed, allowing you to watch the road dry as you race around it.
While the studio’s only showing a torrential downpour at the minute, snow will also feature in the game, and this will be affected by wind speeds as well as your altitude – you’ll have to deal with heavier blizzards when you’re at the top of a mountain in locations such as, say, Norway. And, naturally, there’ll be thunder storms, too.
Unfortunately, the weather’s not going to be quite ready until after the game’s release, but the organisation's promising that it will be finished by the end of the year at least. The reason that it’s taking a little longer on the feature is because it wants the various environmental effects to affect vehicle handling too, meaning that your wheels will slip a little more on soggy surfaces.
It sounds fantastic, and seriously looks the part to boot; we reckon that these video clips rival photorealism in places. But don’t just take our word for it – check out the videos, and let us read your impressed impressions in the comments section below.
[source blog.eu.playstation.com]
Comments 15
Well, well...
This is the first thing I've seen of this game that has really impressed me.
Sure what they had shown before this looked good,but I'm not admiring the stitches in the seats or the leaves on the trees while I'm racing.
But this.. This is a step above all that because this actually changes the thing I do watch,the road.
Nice to have really, but so can't wait to actually "feel" the handling. That's all that matters in a game like this!
If pgr could do it 5 odd years ago I dont really see the big deal. It should have been there anuway.
Now that looks gorgeous. Time to check something.
Damn! I'm not a car racing kind of guy but this game looks crazy. It might just make me a Beliber. Hahah!
@scarecrowknife Erm, are we looking at the same thing here?
@scarecrowknife oh come on mate. Sure rain effects have been around in racers for a while, but to nowhere near the level thats shown here!!
The audio is just as impressive as the effects. You can hear the pitter-patter of rain to a unbelievable extent.
Epic! Now THAT looks good!
@hadlee73 I agree. I love when it rains in watch dogs. Looks very pretty especially with all the lighting
I hope this is what the final actual game is like. Thanks to Ubisoft I no longer believe pre-release trailers of games (Watch Dogs, FC3 etc) until I see the game running on my own console!
Extended footage here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e7b1qeFcww#t=64
WOW! + It would be cool if i could park the Car up and get out in the Rain and put my arms in the air and put my face up into the Rain and Shout out 'THIS IS PLAY! ! !' (maybe in a future DLC, maybe Evolution Studios)
So what is available at launch? Has the number of cars.. online players etc been confirmed yet? Can you customise your car?
@Carl-G That would be even better with VR, if you set up a steering wheel and pedals on a bucket seat next to a smart shower in your house.
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