Graphics and shaders...

Hello!

DISCLAIMER:
First of all, this isn't a criticism of the game - I am not here to pick a fight, I come here for understanding. I also only have a vague understanding of the topics under discussion, so if I state something completely dumb it's mainly because I am ignorant - so apologies in advance.

So, with that out of the way, I recently upgraded my GPU to an RTX 3080ti (at MSRP miraculously) and could therefore max out all the settings in all my sim games - ACC, AMS2, rF2, R3E (maxed out anyway), iRacing (mostly maxed out before).

And when flicking between game to game adjusting settings and getting the look as I wanted it, I noticed that the 'shaders' on the cars in rF2 look vastly more 'real' than in AMS2.

What I mean is that the cars look life-like, in AMS2 there's a kind of cartoonish quality to them.

I understand rF2 uses PBR shaders (amongst other things) but will/is AMS2 going to update it's shaders to something similar? Does it not need to? Are their settings that I can tweak to get a better look?


Many thanks

 

Since you have a monster card, you could try using Reshade to make AMS2 look as you would like to.

 

Yeah got reshade, and have a filter applied, but I think, that applies filters on to the screen as a whole, not on the cars itself.

 

Yeah fair enough, I also wouldn't say one sim has the BEST overall. It would just be nice for an extra slice of realism

 

It's a matter of taste and art direction really. I really like the colorful vibe AMS2 is going for (which matches AMS1 nicely), compared to say rF2 and its depressing lighting (which is way inferior outside of a few specific time of day). It's colorful, but still not video gamey in-your face neon flashy. Vegetation in particular is the best of any sim in my opinion, in term of color palette and appearance.
The beauty of the Madness Engine is that you can make it depressing, drab and "super serious" looking if you wish: use overcast weather combined with Winter seasonal foliage. And you can add a touch of Reshade if you want to make it further post apocalyptic.
Speaking of rF2 the Screen Space Reflections (SSR) they added not too long ago is very buggy and just weird looking in many cases (rain in particular).

 

I've never thought of rF2s lighting as depressing. What times of day do you think it does not look good?

There are various things outside of the cars I don't think are that good, but the way the cars look and the way the sun casts shadows on the cars, IMO does look pretty realistic. But it's all subjective.

But yeah, the SSR needs more work, as does the shadows which draw seemingly right in front of you, which isn't annoying at all

That being said, ACC has quite nice shaders, as does iRacing allbeit to a slightly lesser extent.

R3E does good sparks.

 

AMS 2 looks nothing like AMS 1 to me, to its detriment.
AMS 1, while lacking a weather system and some of the lighting techniques of its successor, has a much more natural look and manages to be both clean and sharp and contain a sort of realistic 'grit' at the same time.
AMS 2 looks blue, bland and soft in comparison.

AMS 2's colour palette is my main gripe with the game, everything looks like it's composed of only the basic RGB colours and there is very little realistic richness and subtlety.

In my view trees and grass actually look worse than in any other sim in all their radiant artificiality, with the possible exception of some of AC's greenery.

Cars are another eyesore, not only are a lot of liveries incredibly plain, the way AMS 2 renders their material properties makes them look like matte painted toy cars rather than real world vehicles.
The difference with ACC, iRacing or Raceroom is staggering and even good 'old' AMS 1 looks much better.

AMS 2 actually has got a lot going for it, so it's incredibly frustrating to me that its graphics are such a huge spoiler of my immersion into the sim.

 

I cannot agree:

But yes, AMS2 cars are missing the metallic material. No idea why it was not included.

 

When i first played ams2, this is something i instantly noticed. Brands hatch has a completely different look in ams2, compared to acc or ac. It is all cartoony vibes when you drive brands and other ams1 ported tracks in sunny weather (overcast improves this slightly). Ive been to Brands Hatch irl and the acc version looks the most accurate (from a graphics perspective).

However this is not the case with newer tracks like spa, long beach and road america. These tracks look a lot more realistic.

 

Really?

Perhaps these newer tracks are an improvement in detail, but that typical cool, blueish and 'cartoony' colour tone is still quite obvious; Project Cars 2 does sunny better than AMS IMO and even the otherwise often very dated looking iRacing is superior in this particular aspect:

 

I use amd coulour calibration just change saturation and now looks far more realistic and not cartoon even pcars2 and assetto corsa lookmuch better

 

In the end, how one likes the color palette of a sim and find it "realistic" is highly subjective.
I fired up rF2 following the new RC and made some laps in various track / time of day / weather conditions. With some combos it can look OK and even good, but most often than not, it falls into that "uncanny valley" where you can feel something is not quite right.
AMS2 is by far the most consistent in term of lighting/coloring at whatever time of day/weather/location combo, and is to me the most immersive. Another aspect that contribute it to make it extra immersive is that all graphical elements on display (track, other cars, 3d objects, sky) always blend perfectly, making a cohesive image. It's a bit hard to explain but for me rF2 look a bit more composite where these elements do not blend as well as a cohesive whole. Let alone that rF2 (and other sims) do not have seasonal foliage and 3D grass. The green of grass in rF2 is ... eeeehhhh.
Anyway, a race in AMS2 spanning several hours (with time acceleration) with variable weather looks incredible and consistent, for maximum immersion.

 

Yes I stand by what I said

Quite possible though. It may be the post processing filter used in ams2. But i am convinced that tracks like Spa look better because of textures used in the grass and the road surface are less cartoony IMO

 

Would you mind sharing your setting please? I am also an AMD user thanks!!

I think if they add a bit more reflection, it will be even better, but reflection is something that is very tricky to get the right amount of it and definitely cannot overdo it.

 

Hi yes when i get home will check and send yu but basic is reduce saturation

 

atached file with my settings
You can play with the saturation values