Update Speculation thread

One of the main advantages of things like 'PBR', when implemented properly, is that it moves a majority of the computation onto the gpu.
Gpus are waaay more efficient and powerful for this type of thing than any cpu could ever be. And for Beamng we need all the cpu cycles we can get.
And I bet most with any decent gaming gpu will have no problems running the PBR graphics as some form of that is used in most modern games.
Thats the main reason the current shadow, ssao, and reflection implementation is so costly with performance. They use the cpu too much for those effects currently.

This is how the new consoles have nice graphics with terribly weak AMD APUs.

 

My GPU is quite low end of gaming GPU's, but maybe it will give actually boost in performance despite being heavy effect.

Whatever lower graphics thread load for CPU is of course good thing as it is quite near the practical limit currently.

When I look those pretty screenshots, it is hard to believe it would be only postFX fix, so I like to gamble that PBR might be close, of course these is pure _speculation_

 

Doesn't look like pbr to me, the materials look the same, just looks like pretty textures.

 

Depends on which gpu you speak of. Even low end gpus have quite a few compute units in them at a nice clock speed.
The biggest issue with low end gpus is the video memory bandwidth they are paired with, which is more worrying for things like texture resolution and game resolution for performance issues. I would bet most of our gpus are under utilized already in beamng, especially if you get rid of the old shadow, reflection, ssao, etc. effects. Beamng as it is, is not very heavy on polygons, textures, or shader effects in general. I believe there is a fair bit of our gpus they can make use of for things like PBR. Which would take care of shadows, reflections, lighting, etc. all in one package in a sense.

Of course directx is rather garbage though so it is up to their programming savvy on how far they can take the graphics side of beam.

I would also really like to see this stuff ingame as well because good lighting is very important to me, but I think I would rather get some AI stuff first myself.

 

Definitely no PBR in those shots, if you look at the chrome and windows its still the old 100% shine everywhere. PBR would look alot more realistic, the door window in the moonhawk image is a good example.

And yeah for your other question, PBR would replace specular maps completely. (which means no more awkward convoluted alpha diffuse and inverted specular maps to deal with) personally can't wait for that lol.

 

I do hope the vehicles performance will be lower with these configs. Just like the oldsmobile mod, the cars suspension was weaker and rust was everywhere rather than just on the body panels. The chrome looks like it is in perfect condition, same thing for the windows. The engine looked brand new too. I don't think a abandoned rusted car would look that good despite some body rust to it. Some 'beater' mods/skins looked better than this.

Graphics seem to be improved and the automation thing, is what i'm excited for mostly. Hopefully the new car will be in the update too. I hope those skins/configs are improved upon before the 13th, otherwise i'm pretty excited. PBR would be veryy nice too.

 

I'm still wondering if the bus's price will finally be reduced to realistic values (anything less than $50K works for me). If its price will be lowered, great; if it stays as ridiculous as it is...well, at least it wouldn't be $3 million. (I still would be irritated, though, as that would show that the bus's price was not a mistake at all, and may even be permanent into career mode.)

 

What's the current story with the Aircooled Flat 4 RR vehicle that was shown awhile back?

 

No news outside of the two images shown - the white car with the engine exposed, and the yellow car with AB badging.

Bodystyle, country of origin, exact age, and performance options remain unknown with one week to go until the update - additional teaser images might surface fairly soon.

 

Well, most people agree that is a 1st Gen vw beetle. There also another picture released of the logo, which means it's a new make
Update is coming on July 13th

 

I scoured news about BeamNG in case they decided to sneak out images like they did with the Wentward DT40L, but there was nothing on the new vehicles.

On the other hand, I found an article that revealed just what sort of discount was planned for the joint release - 20% off of Automation for Beamng owners, and vice versa.

Of course, that article also claims a release date of June 13th, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

I heard somewhere that it is indeed a 20% discount. I thought it was an official source but I don’t remember exactly where.

As for the June/July typo, that’s an honest mistake.

 

It's pretty much gonna be the same situation as the Wentward, where the. Well, we'll have to see what the car will be like once the update releases (probably packed with the Automation-BeamNG update, and maybe Italy as well, since no progress on that map has been released since May 31st.)

 

I can confirm that the discount is available before July 13 (I bought Automation a couple weeks ago for $25.49, an 18% reduction over the original price).

 

You sure that’s not a summer sale? It was on sale for unrelated reasons not long ago

 

Yeah that is what I did.

 

It is rust stains on the urethane

 

If you look at the forest , you can see a road. The developers hinted at exploration, and this is proof. Also, this map seems to be massive aswell, it possibly could be ECA sized. It could be much more than just a raceway.

 

here's something that's nagging at me that i didn't notice until now:


see how only certain things are bold? only the most important parts, like;

- Export your car from Automation
- We've also joined forces to recreate the Automation test track.
- cross promotional sale!
- July 13th

and finally
- New Zeland

all of the others make sense, as they are in essence the "highlights" of the blog. What the update is (Export your car from automation), the fact that the two companies have joined forces to re-create the track, the sale, and the date on which the update will be released. But New Zeland? that doesn't really seem important enough to be in bold... unless... a new zeland-themed map at some point, maybe an expansion to this one?

i don't know, just a thought. maybe (probably) a mountain out of a molehill, per say.

 

The Automation Test Track is set in New Zealand.