Lighting and shadows downgrade on foliage

[BiohazardBGR 178]

Every year the F1 game's visuals improved and 2019 was a huge jump over the early games with the introduction of the PBR lighting. This year unfortunately the lighting in the environment took a dramatic hit on the foliage. Trees no more interact with the light, rim lights and highlights similar to GT sport were removed, resulting in the trees look out of the scene similar to 3d software preview viewport. Compare to the road and other surfaces everything looks defused and flat like during an overcast light. Shadows on the trees no longer look deep and now they look flat or absolutely missing even on high contrast lighting scenarios. In some examples below you can see a big difference. I really hope this is an issue to the early version of the game and the day one patch will fix this because this lighting is a huge step back even 2018 look better over this year. Coddies I really hope you can improve this part of the rather stunning looking game. 

Edited July 8, 2020 by BiohazardBGR

[GBPolesitter 99]

I have noticed the surroundings of the track have definitely been downgraded. The tower in Bahrain is quite hideous now in fact. I would say the cars look slightly better but the environments, shadows and reflections as you say aren’t as good as they have been. It’s a shame really. I won’t even venture into split screen and if that’s the reason we’ve had these downgrades I’d rather not have it included to be honest. 

[DarkRyderShane 2]

I have a feeling it's  been downgraded  deliberately  so if they release it on next  gen they can show the greater graphics  

[SASColfer 56]

I'm definitely noticing some sort of downgrade which is a bit disappointing.

[TomAAA 449]

Same. Also noticing the cars kind of look out of place, like the lighting makes them as if they are not sitting on track.

Also the mist/haze this game has on replays/spectating is still there always looks like fog 

[Nightfire1964 161]

maybe they have downgraded to try and make it more stable to play. it could be trying to then make online more stabler to play then

[KillingJoke197 49]

There are way too many spruces in Monza, looks like Spa! Why Codemasters, why? The surroundings in Monza have more deciduous treefs.

[BiohazardBGR 178]

Reflections in the game compared to 2018 are much low res, in GRID they are far superior. Hardware advanced Codemasters regress. In MotoGP 19 the foliage is similar to F1 2020 but this is a game made by far smaller teams in unreal. I was expecting 2020 to blow 2019 out of the water but this is not the case. Also, a lot of historical cars are missing and no practice and quality commentary cutscenes, what a shame what the hell happen Codemasters? The more I play the more things pop up.

 

Edited July 8, 2020 by BiohazardBGR

[HDR10 164]

What platform are you guys on? I haven't noticed a downgrade on PC.

If you're on PC, have you enabled SSRT shadows? That increases the quality of the shadows. 

[chen255 30]

I must be blind because I cannot see a downgrade. But I have read so many people mentioning about a graphics downgrade so perhaps it’s true.

Edited July 8, 2020 by chen255

[SAL_LippiArsenal 105]

I already complained about reduced overall graphics in another thread. It seems that as soon as you start the game it reduces the resolution. How did I noticed it? When I’m in the PS4 main menu everything is crisp and sharp. Then I start the game and press the PS-button as the menu comes up and everything looks pixelated, less sharp and you can clearly see less anti-aliasing. Unfortunately it’s hard to make a photo of the difference. 

[BiohazardBGR 178]

The last game had some downgrades but overall it brings a huge graphical jump on the lighting side now dis is undone. I used to watch preview gameplay with the work in progress sign on top and the first thing I saw was the interior lighting on the foliage and say to myself no way this is the final look this looks like a WIP footage. 

 

[magpieracer48 190]

21 minutes ago, SAL_LippiArsenal said:

I already complained about reduced overall graphics in another thread. It seems that as soon as you start the game it reduces the resolution. How did I noticed it? When I’m in the PS4 main menu everything is crisp and sharp. Then I start the game and press the PS-button as the menu comes up and everything looks pixelated, less sharp and you can clearly see less anti-aliasing. Unfortunately it’s hard to make a photo of the difference. 

Same. I haven't noticed a downgrade. I actually think it looks fantastic.

[viniciusrsouza 30]

The downgrade is clear. I was already pretty much bothered by all the videos available, because it was already noticeable. But I still decided to check the game itself and, yeah, 2019 is way more realist in terms of scenario, trees, etc.

Xbox One X here, by the way.

[GBPolesitter 99]

The texture pop in is even worse too. The my team car always looks bad in the garage. Driver selection is as bad as last year too

[GioProductions 216]

Lets wait for Digital Foundry to see what they will tell...

[BiohazardBGR 178]

1 hour ago, GioProductions said:

Lets wait for Digital Foundry to see what they will tell...

It is clear the lighting one of the most important parts of the game is worse and the most affected is the foliage, it's bearly interacting with the light. In some cases, like in the night, the trees can stand under a lamp and it's back this was not the case in 2018, 2020. The trees actually look have better shape but they lack light interaction at the same level as before. 

 

Edited July 8, 2020 by BiohazardBGR

[BiohazardBGR 178]

More comparisons 

 

[SASColfer 56]

While the lighting on the foliage is obviously worse, they do seem to have reduced the distance fog that I hated in 2019. Perhaps that the trade-off we have. You notice that it's a lot better on tracks like Baku where you can now see further than before I reckon.

[TomAAA 449]

Its seems the issue people are having including myself on Xbox is that it looks like the new game is overexposed and 'washed out'. If they reduced the exposure of lighting in the game engine it would fix the issues from the video.

A good example from the video above is the Austria shots and the Ferrari and cars in the showroom, proving its a lighting issue of overexposure i.e too bright white light.

Its not a graphical downgrade its the lighting being too harsh and washing things out they need to tweak the lighting 

Edited July 10, 2020 by TomAAA

[TomAAA 449]

@BarryBL I have found the cause of what people are blaming on the downgrade. It is making the game look bad when you come from F1 2019, its a lighting issue. I have put in a bug report on the correct page also. 

Here is good example of the 2020 game looking washed out and killing detail, it is not an issue with settings or tv etc its hardcoded in the game.

A lighting fix is needed as can be seen from comparing the two there is a total loss of colour and detail on the track tarmac and the car, all the exact same settings/time etc. Can also be seen in the video above in the showroom with Ferrari. This is why people are comparing about graphics compared to last years game

 

Edited July 10, 2020 by TomAAA

[HDR10 164]

2020 looks far more realistic, and on my setup (PC + HDR TV) it looks better than 2019.

[magpieracer48 190]

Interesting read from Digital Foundry. 

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2020-f1-2020-the-best-series-entry-yet

[marts 27]

Trees didn't look good in 2019 either, but 2020 they are horrible. The tracks and cars look good, but man... some corner-cutting has been made. Not a fan, not gonna buy 2020.

[SAL_LippiArsenal 105]

After a lot of tweaking I finally found a solution for the graphics to improve. I raised the sharpness on my TV and now it looks better. The reduced quality of the font still exists but I assume it’s because as soon as I start the game the console reduces the overall resolution to 1800 instead of 2160. 
 

Maybe I noticed it even more this year because m TV is much bigger now. 

Edited July 11, 2020 by SAL_LippiArsenal