world golf tour ? what kind of graphics

[skinsthegolf]

http://www.wgt.com/home.aspx
I am wondering what kind of graphics this game uses ? It looks like actual photos, extremely lifelike. Why haven't home simulators caught up to this kind of graphics ?

[psace]

Skins, they have a simulator called High Definition Golf which is also very expensive and not as immersive as 3d simulator software.

[rdh]

I posted a reply to this this morning but it seems it didn't go through. Grr.

Those graphics are photos. It is a step back from 3D rendered images. It's basically a 2D photo, and the software superimposes a ball on top of it.. It is a very limited approach:

1. Inaccurate collission detection with trees, etc.
2. Can't fly along with the ball or use other dynamic (moving) camera views
3. Can't have trees, etc. moving with the wind (it's just a photo)

World Golf Tour actually did a nice job implementing it, given the limitations. I played a simulator back in the 90s that used this approach, and it was HORRIBLE. The ball flight looked ridiculous, and it didn't react to objects properly.

The Links golf games took a hybrid approach. True 3D rendered terrain, but with photographic trees and objects placed on top. Again, you end up with limitations...but it looks great.

Frankly, I'm surprised we're in 2010 and 3D rendered graphics have still not reached a near-photo-realistic point. Some of them look great (Tiger Woods on the PS3) but it's still clearly a computer-generated landscape.