In the tech world, there really is only one way to go: forwards. Considering that it’s been barely 20 years since Quake, it’s fair to say that videogame tech has evolved in leaps and bounds. Whatever era you’re dealing with, the desired result was often always the same: to create the best possible visuals within the constraints of existing hardware. When CDs became a viable storage medium in the 1980s, FMV games made the most of it by adding limited player interactivity to live-action sequences: it was what videogames were always supposed to about—being a part of the movie.
Except, well, it really wasn’t. Before Quake and the first wave of hardware 3D accelerators, games like Ultima: Underworld trades horrendously low framerates for what were, for the time, unparalleled visuals. Today, though, with consoles and PCs that are thousands of times faster—and with a new wave of consoles imminent—the possibilities for videogame graphics are manifestly wider. We’re going to take a look here at 15 reason why the future of videogame graphics will be nothing short of jaw dropping.
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Unity 5.4 Better Visuals on Mobile
Although this wasn’t the case just 10 years ago, mobile is arguably the most important sector in game these days, at least in terms of the revenue publishers rake in. The Unity engine was designed with a focus on scalable, performant 3D and 2D visuals on mobile platforms. Unity’s ubiquitous on Android and iOS now, with everything from Dead Trigger to Shadowgun to Deus Ex: The Fall running on Unity. Moreover, because it’s free for commercial use, Unity became the engine of choice for Indie developers on all platforms. The latest iteration, Unity 5, employs modern techniques such as physically based rendering and volumetric lighting for some truly compelling visuals. As phones get more powerful and consoles become an increasingly indie-friendly space, expect to see mobile and indie titles with remarkable visuals in the years to come.
