A brand new gameplay trailer for Turn 10’s sim racing game, Forza Motorsport, was revealed at the Xbox Showcase, and it’s now possible to do a graphical comparison with Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo 7.
The video below shows a side-by-side comparison between different graphical aspects of Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo 7, including lighting, model detail, texture detail, weather, and environmental detail.
It’s worth noting that the Forza Motorsport footage is from a pre-release development build that is not representative of the final quality. Based on this build, however, it appears that the game doesn’t have RT reflections enabled during gameplay. Instead, the gameplay footage actually appeared to be using cubemap reflections that updated every 2 frames, as pointed out by Digital Foundry’s Alexander Battaglia. According to the developer, real-time ray traced reflections will be available on track. It’s likely that the feature has not yet been implemented in the current re-release development build. Meanwhile, Gran Turismo 7 does not feature real-time ray tracing on track, as the feature is limited to replays and the game’s model viewer.
Not all tracks in Gran Turismo 7 feature dynamic weather, while all tracks featured in Forza Motorsport will have dynamic weather available.
Among the main new features in Forza Motorsport is the advancement made to its physics model, which is said to be greater than the physics improvements seen in Forza Motorsport 5, 6, and 7 combined. According to the developer, this makes the driving experience more enjoyable and rewarding in the way that the car accelerates, corners, and brakes. The tire collision model in Forza Motorsport has 48 times more fidelity than previous entries. Previously, it had a single point of contact with the track surface and moved at 60 cycles per second. The new model has eight points of contact with the track surface and runs at 360 cycles per second. Players can choose between hard, medium, and soft tire compounds, each with unique grip and wear characteristics.
Gran Turismo 7 has also made improvements to its physics and tire models compared to its predecessor, GT: Sport. Notably, the handling of the cars exhibits a heightened sense of delicacy compared to prior entries. This refined experience can be attributed to the improved tire model, developed in collaboration with Michelin, which offers greater accuracy. It is now easier to overheat your tires when navigating long sweeping corners. With update 1.31, developer Polyphony Digital further upgraded the game’s its physics engine, with improvements to suspension and tire physics as well as aerodynamics.
