Although we deny it, one of the things that those of us who play video games like the most are the graphics. The quality of the modeling and the resolution of a game does not make the title good for this alone, but it does guarantee a realistic and very enjoyable immersion. In each generation of consoles, realism has been slowly advancing thanks to advances in computer architecture and new 3D design engines. We knew that one day, video games would be as realistic as life itself. And that day seems to have already arrived hand in hand with Unreal Engine 5.
Video games can still be more realistic
I still remember the first time I put on my Nintendo GameCube the FIFA 2003. I was stunned playing with Real Madrid on my little 15-inch tube TV. At that time, there seemed to be no difference between a broadcast of a real match on Canal+ and that video game —until Raúl scored a goal and they focused on it with the cinematic, of course—.
Currently, that sixth generation of consoles seems almost a joke to us. Video games have been gaining more and more realism in each generation. To the point that, at present, it can be difficult to differentiate a photo of Mbappé captured by a photographer from a render taken from FIFA 22. And that wouldn’t be possible if it didn’t exist software capable of keeping up with the hardware which is released every year.
Unreal Engine 5 demonstrates its full potential with the work of this artist
Already in December 2021, Unreal Engine 5 He demonstrated his abilities with a matrix demo. The idea could not have been better, because the images that were seen in the video were so realistic that it was difficult to differentiate them from those recorded with film cameras. Since then we have seen quite a few demonstrations of what this Epic Games engine is capable of, but the artist Lorenzo Drago has surpassed everything we knew by making a recreation of the Toyama train station, which is located in Japan.
Drago has uploaded several images to the art station gallery, and neither would make you suspect that it is a render. Each image is full of unique details and patterns, as well as dirt and even imperfections that make each Photography render is perfect.
According to the artist, his goal has been get the most photorealistic result which has been enabled by Unreal Engine 5. Every model, texture and lighting has been created from scratch. To give the set randomness, Drago has used the Quixel Megascans tool, a software capable of generating unique patterns on rocks, plants and surfaces. The result is a set of images that we would all think at first glance that they have been captured at least with the camera of a high-end smartphone.
Finally, Lorenzo Drago has climbed a video of your 3D model that can be a bit scary. It is a recording that simulates being made with a smartphone, and that you would never think that it is a simulation if it were not for the fact that all of a sudden, the Sun goes out and we go to see the station at night. Apparently, this effect has been simulated using the VR tools integrated in Unreal Engine 5, with which it has also managed to simulate the pulse of a person holding a mobile phone and a flashlight.
Obviously, this precision work is still a lot of material for a console like the Xbox Series X or the PlayStation 5 —and even for a PC worth several thousand euros—, but it makes us dream of that day when we will play a video game that it may be even more realistic than reality itself.
