Insight on PS4 XBox One Environment art specs

ClockworkBeetle

Hey,

So I'm putting together a "Next Generation" portfolio to specifically target techniques used in the PS4, XBoxOne generation of games, and I was hoping some of you might have some insight as to techniques, shaders, polycounts texture types or texture sizes would be typical for this generation?

It would be easy enough to assume a higher poly than last gen with a higher texture size and physically based shaders, but is there anything else that you would consider ubiquitous in this generation of prop making?

Anything that would really impress studios, or anything that they would be looking for ability in?

Cheers,

Dave

Kwramm

From what I see from our clients is that there is a need to get Gen4 quality for Gen3 budgets. That's why there's such a huge interest in tools like Substance, Marvelous Designer, Quixel suite, Allegorithmic Painter, etc. Anything that avoids that actual budgets get even more inflated due to increased technical budgets.

oh, btw, another Shanghai Polycounter! Ni Hao

Rick Stirling

As always, it varies from project to project, engine to engine, but on a hardware level:


With the increased memory the textures sizes have at least quadrupled (2X and 2Y).

However, processing hasn't made the same leap, so the polycounts have't gone up quite so much. With that in mind, people are packing less into verts and more into texture maps.

Shaders have become more complex, with branching being easy and pretty cheap. This is making displacement cheaper, and since maps are cheaper than verts.....you get the idea.

For your portfolio, just make awesome art within sensible constraints - a prop that measures 6 inches in the real world doesn't need a 2048 texture on it.

Xoliul

If you can do efficient art, you shouldn't have trouble scaling things upward.
Unfortunately, doing good-looking but wasteful art does not mean you can be efficient, so keep that in mind. Relaxed constraints are not a reason to open the floodgates all of a sudden.

FelixL

I'd say it means no more cut corners. No more un-chamfered building corners, no more damage and edge wear without smooth blending, no more elements with just a tiling texture thrown on to minimize texture usage, etc. I want to see some unique localized detail!
Using a 4096 map, but still use these types of old-school workflows doesn't make it next-gen. The aim for environments is very much prerendered CG quality, at least in a 30fps title.

Rurouni Strife

A lot of what I'm about to say is based on some tests from last year and going to GDC and asking questions this year.

I actually disagree with FelixL when it comes to the tiling textures. That's not going away. It's still very efficient to have tiling textures for large assets and to blend them with other tiling textures to get a great effect. What HAS changed is the detail you can pack into those maps. With source textures being 4K now, you can pack that unique detail into a texture, have it tile, and have it look good.

Poly counts for next gen only titles have gone up-some of the Santa Monica Studio guys said they just use Decimation Master to get their low polies out now. There's probably some clean up with that but nothing that's super crazy.

RobeOmega

Im just waiting until we can have 128k textures on small objects with our 256k monitors and enhanced eyes.