This is it – the first direct head-to-head comparison of GT5 Prologue and Forza 3.
And we do mean “direct comparison”. Same car, same circuit, same resolution (1280x720), same capture equipment. There’ll be no bullshit accusations from desperate fanboys claiming we used GT HD instead of Prologue this time – this is as real as it gets.
As with the two demo comparisons (here and here), Prologue still looks more polished. The colour palette used is more natural and the anti-aliasing is streets ahead of Forza 3’s.
But Forza 3 is king by every other measure. Look at the structures dotted around the track – see how much more detailed they are? The backgrounds are much more noticeable, and the tarmac and grass textures far more varied and detailed.
The shadowing is also much more realistic in Forza 3, even though it makes the game look considerably darker in these shots.
Want to disagree? Bring it on. Comments are below.
USER COMMENTS
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360 Standard Reference levels = PS3 Limited RGB, Super White OFF
or
360 Expanded Reference levels = PS3 FULL RGB, Super White ON
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For the record, we do these comparisons out of curiosity. And we've done this one because despite there having been a lot of Forza vs GT5:P comparisons already, they've been from the demo. This is not from the demo. Which is obvious to anyone who's seen the demo, as the track used here isn't in it.
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We currently have our consoles set to: 360 - Expanded; PS3 - RGB Full Range, Full. Super White, ON
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colors more realistic so are shadows... the last screenshot with the finish line in Forza the building looks more like model and in GT it looks more like real building. But Forza has more details in environments except the grass, grass is way more realistic in GT.
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Why is everyone doing this?
GT5: Prologue is an extended demo and is about 18 months old, while the Forza 3 demo is a current build lifted from the finished game.
GT5:P has the better lighting, AA and colour palette still, while Forza 3 has its advantage in the textures and distant object detail.
But still, you can't compare an 18 month old extended demo to a new demo lifted from a game gone gold.
When GT5 comes out then compare that with the latest version of Forza 3 (by that I mean with the latest patch).
Also, calibrate your equipment and consoles correctly, you have your blacks, whites and RGB settings completely wrong there.
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Very nearly erased your message on the grounds of tedium, but so many people seem to make the same mistakes and ask the same questions, let's respond. Line by line.
"Why is everyone doing this"
I can't speak for everyone, but we do it out of curiosity. As has been pointed out elsewhere.
"GT5: Prologue is an extended demo and is about 18 months old, while the Forza 3 demo is a current build lifted from the finished game."
"But still, you can't compare an 18 month old extended demo to a new demo lifted from a game gone gold."
We can and we have. The fact is, we can compare whatever we like. They're both racing games and they are in competition as the big-name racing sim franchises on each console. Oh and the Forza grabs are not taken from the demo. You'd know this if you had bothered to read anything before posting.
"When GT5 comes out then compare that with the latest version of Forza 3 (by that I mean with the latest patch)."
We planned on it.
"Also, calibrate your equipment and consoles correctly, you have your blacks, whites and RGB settings completely wrong there."
Both consoles are on their best settings (As mentioned above, sigh...) and images are extracted using pure-digital methods. It's as even as you'll find anywhere.
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http://www.cynamite.de/imgserver/bdb/82100/82101/original.jpg
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If GT5 were designed to only be a 720p game, then obviously it would have a LOT more memory and processing power free for more detail and better textures. GT5 prologue should be praised for reaching for the stars when it comes to resolution, it would have been easy to play it safe like turn 10. Point to polyphony in my book.
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If anything, capturing at 720p helps GT5P as the downsampling smooths off jaggies. Comparing both at 1280x720 is fine. Bumping them both up to 1920x1080 wouldn't do either any favours.
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GT5 in fact needs no help smoothing off 'jaggies'. The correct term is aliasing. Because GT5 is intended as a 1080 product, then when running at just 720p then anti aliasing increases from 2 x to 4 x. the reason is clear- rather than having to create two display modes with two variants of textures and optimise two different resolutions, they simply use the reduced load of a lower resolution to up filtering!!!
Its very obvious then that the game is intended to be taken as a 1080 product. Displaying a 1280 x 1080 game versus a 1280 x 720 one at the latters resolution simply favours forza 3 in the detail stakes. Its that simple. Sample again at 1920 x 1080 and see how forza's scaled image quality drops away more against GT5's, because indeed, it would do GT5 favours comparitively and diminish forza's image quality. Fact.
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Having had hands on with forza 3 now, its also clear the car model claims dont stack up to GT5 either. The boast of 400k polygons plus per vehicle is extremely embarassing as its clearly just not true, or simply poorly implemented. GT5 prologue lavishes more detail on the cars and their interiors, more resources applied in simply a different way to forza 3's distribution.
As it happens i commend polyphony for aiming for this lofty goal of 1280 x 1080, with extreme quality models and lighting. Trackside detail is important, but polyphony clearly think that whipping along at such pace in a racing game then its not quite as important as the models or overall image quality. I would be inclined to agree with them.
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And, despite GT5P having more pixels available and thus looking sharper than Forza, which has less, the simple fact would be that the backgrounds of Forza would still be more complex. Sure, GT5P's resolution may be responsible for the lack of processing available to the actual game, but still, the fact remains, Forza 3's backgrounds are better.
You're getting hung up on resolution because for some reason you feel the need to make excuses for GT5P looking worse, which you don't need to do. Everyone expects Forza 3 to be better. The comparison merely serves to show how much better and in what ways, to those who are interested. People shouldn't get so angry.
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In short its simply what people will feel looks better in motion, because this being a pair of racing games, thats what actually matters. I suspect that GT5 prologue looks better in motion. In my opinion it does anyway, possessing a 1080p HDTV the image quality really leaps off the screen versus forza 3. But then i am a long time PC gamer, resolution/image quality easily trumps lower resolution detail for me.
This comparison serves to show one thing, at forza's native resolution it does looks better. To forza's advantage i must say. This still remains a fact. Showcasing GT5 @ a mere piffling 1280 x 720 does not tell the whole story. THIS is what people should realise, and not get upset about....
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This is still all an aside from the idea this comparison was broken initially by the idea that this is finished forza 3 code versus ancient GT5 prologue code. Bring on the main event. GT5.
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Thus although this comparison is trying its best, its showing forza 3 at its absolute possible best- 1280 x 720. But for fairness sakes, GT5 prologue as seen here is definitely NOT being shown at its very best possible, running lowered to align the shots. Again this is a fact.
A very long history of boxers arguing over fighting opponents different weights, or fighter aircraft jostling for a dogfight at their preferred altitude. Add this to the list.....
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in my most humble of opinions, both are VERY similar, as if you were playing them seperately, you most likely wouldn't notice the difference... the shadowing & lighting looks better on forza 3, but GT5 just looks cleaner in general..... anyway, the deciding factor between the games in the gameplay, so the graphics debate is minor
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As both of these games feature realistic lighting, different object will appear lighter/darker depending on the 'time of day' the race takes pace.
In my opinion, a decent effort but not a true direct comparison.