How Far Into Realism Do WE Truly Want To GO?

[Bagnu]

As it stands, we have a cartoony look in SL. Would we ACTUALLY be comfortable if our SL were fully RL realistic, as if we were watching a movie? I don't know if I would be. Or would we like it more? Any comments on this?

[Luna Bliss]

3 minutes ago, Bagnu said:

As it stands, we have a cartoony look in SL. Would we ACTUALLY be comfortable if our SL were fully RL realistic, as if we were watching a movie? I don't know if I would be. Or would we like it more? Any comments on this?

I would like it even more.  I love immersion or feeling like I'm really there.  Not all the time perhaps, but I'd like the option.

[Bagnu]

Just now, Luna Bliss said:

I would like it even more.  I love immersion or feeling like I'm really there.  Not all the time perhaps, but I'd like the option.

Would we become even more addicted to SL than we already are? 

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

Nope, if I want to see myself in real life, I'll look in a mirror.

Give me my perfect self, my perfect house, my ability to fall off a cliff and not die.  I want my fantasy in here. 

[Nalates Urriah]

I would like a bit more realism. The PBR rendering will add more realism to our surroundings. However, until the Lab upgrades to Vulkan, I doubt much can be done about the unrealistic appearance of skin.

I would love some avatar-targeting controls... so lips would meet when kissing... maybe stretch the neck for a kiss. Getting other parts to fit would be a plus too.

Maybe something so via scripting, we could tell the system which parts to fit together.

Movement improvements... kinetics for animation would be nice.

[Zalificent Corvinus]

11 minutes ago, Nalates Urriah said:

However, until the Lab upgrades to Vulkan, I doubt much can be done about the unrealistic appearance of skin.

That has nothing to do with SL not using Vulkan, Vulkan isn't some magic wand that will guarantee "photo realistic skin" or anything else, it's just an API used by a render engine to send CPU generated output to a GPU.

You can see games with more realistic skin, running under DirectX, Das Studio managed skin shaders with subsurface scatter shaders over a decade ago, under... Open GL.

Skyrim, is over 12 years old, one of the commonly downloaded mod types are the "anti-metallic bronze skin" fixes, some of which work by DISABLING the subsurface scatter in the skin shaders, that again is under DirectX not Vulkan.

 

[Bagnu]

37 minutes ago, Cinnamon Mistwood said:

Nope, if I want to see myself in real life, I'll look in a mirror.

Give me my perfect self, my perfect house, my ability to fall off a cliff and not die.  I want my fantasy in here. 

I don't mean mirroring our RL selves. I mean having our AV's look real, and our surroundings.

[Rat Luv]

44 minutes ago, Bagnu said:

Would we ACTUALLY be comfortable if our SL were fully RL realistic, as if we were watching a movie? 

I wouldn't, personally...I always liked the cartoony side of SL, with giant rubber ducks in the sea, neon shopping centres in space, and falling thousands of metres like Wyle E Coyote, then dusting yourself off and getting up afterwards...things like that  

[Bagnu]

10 minutes ago, Rat Luv said:

I wouldn't, personally...I always liked the cartoony side of SL, with giant rubber ducks in the sea, neon shopping centres in space, and falling thousands of metres like Wyle E Coyote, then dusting yourself off and getting up afterwards...things like that  

Yes, but what if it all LOOKED real. Even the fantasy parts.

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

9 minutes ago, Bagnu said:

I don't mean mirroring our RL selves. I mean having our AV's look real, and our surroundings.

Okay, let me consider what I see now.  Cartoonish shapes with body parts that jiggle, tinies/dinkies, furries, werewolves, the super tall, aliens, and others.  Do I want to see a more realistic, super-sized freenis bouncing around?  Or actual blood and guts when I accidentally drive a golf cart into a wall?

I will stick with my original NO.

Maybe better animations that line up properly, so when I accept a dance from one of the freakishly tall avatars, I would actually be looking at their bellybutton instead of floating several feet off the ground.

I find nature regions real enough.  Feeling actual wind or spray from a waterfall is far off though.

[Saraya Starr]

In a word, No.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Nope, I don't need it. For story-driven games with full 5+ minute cinematic cutscenes, absolutely love it. Don't really see much point in having that here, though.

[Rat Luv]

Just now, Bagnu said:

Yes, but what if it all LOOKED real. Even the fantasy parts.

Hmm...I think I am struggling to imagine how fantasy characters would look if they were more 'photorealistic'...one example, I think the tinies look good, but it would be a bit weird to me if they looked like actual photorealistic hamsters...

I think having more detail is great (so it doesn't look like it's 2008)...and agree with Nalates that it would be good if you properly space things like kissing, drinking, driving a vehicle. But I don't think some things would translate well to an exact RL look? I just can't see them, though, some might work!

 

[Arielle Popstar]

After seeing a fair amount of photos from people who put their avatars through various Ai's, I certainly wouldn't mind it a bit if the looks duplicated some of the ones I seen.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

Options. SL has, at least in theory, always been about choice in terms of how we represent.

I'd like to see more realistic avis because it would be better for photos. But I wouldn't want to see everyone compelled to go that route. Maddy, for some years, represented (and still occasionally does) as a small black cartoon demon. And that was cool too.

[Bagnu]

5 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Options. SL has, at least in theory, always been about choice in terms of how we represent.

I'd like to see more realistic avis because it would be better for photos. But I wouldn't want to see everyone compelled to go that route. Maddy, for some years, represented (and still occasionally does) as a small black cartoon demon. And that was cool too.

The small black demon COULD look realistic too, similar to "Gremlins". This is all pure conjecture though. None of us know how we would actually react emotionally to being in a fantasy world that appears as if it were RL.

[bigmoe Whitfield]

I'd like to stay how I look in SL.  not wanting to get into being a realistic looking sox.  

[AmeliaJ08]

I say we are 10 years from a photorealistic-ish game so I'd say there's little chance of it coming to SL for at least 15

We're getting there though for sure, it's pretty fascinating to witness the sudden leaps especially in the past decade.

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by AmeliaJ08

[Istelathis]

I prefer cartoonish looks, over realistic ones.  SL is kind of a smattering of both, some areas look realistic, others look cartoonish, some look like a mix of both.  I love the look of Winter Wonderland, which I consider much more cartoonish than a lot of areas in SL.  I also believe it holds up a lot better with time, things that are created to look more realistic start to show their age really quick in computer games, what is considered cutting edge and realistic  this year, will look outdated, and horrible in another five years.

Take for example Meauxle Bureaux

I'm not sure how old this is, it is from before my time in SL, but being that it is done in a cartoonish design it holds up well, despite possibly being 12 years old (according to about land)  

Another Example, Robotech BattleCry released in 2002 for the PS2, compared to other PS2 games that went for a more realistic approach at the time were seen as amazing at the time, but when comparing them with today's standards they look incredibly dated.  Robotech, for the most part looks okay still despite being nearly 21 years old

 

It is just a matter of taste mostly though, for me, I like more cartoonish worlds and games.  

Edited December 17, 2023 by Istelathis

[xXSuicidalIdolXx Candycane]

I fully support this. Shut up and take my money! But seriously though I'm all for pushing second Life to look more real and for those who want it to stay the way it is or as it stands cartooney they have that choice but for those of us that want more realistic touches all for it. Way to go OP!

[Alwin Alcott]

more realistic, oh yes, welcome

more real? no thanks. For me there has to stay a difference so that we keep realizing RL is real, and SL a phantasy.

There are already enough people who run for RL issues to gaming or other online replacement.

[Robberinthemuseum]

40 minutes ago, Alwin Alcott said:

more realistic, oh yes, welcome

more real? no thanks. For me there has to stay a difference so that we keep realizing RL is real, and SL a phantasy.

There are already enough people who run for RL issues to gaming or other online replacement.

Says the man with a freakishly realistic looking avatar 😜

[Robberinthemuseum]

9 hours ago, Bagnu said:

As it stands, we have a cartoony look in SL. Would we ACTUALLY be comfortable if our SL were fully RL realistic, as if we were watching a movie? I don't know if I would be. Or would we like it more? Any comments on this?

Some landscaped sims are incredibly realistic in my opinion. Avatars not so much. I'm okay with that though 😁

[Zalificent Corvinus]

7 hours ago, Bagnu said:

None of us know how we would actually react emotionally to being in a fantasy world that appears as if it were RL.

With mocking laughter at the whole concept, aa small black demon looking like a REAL foam rubber puppet from a 1980's movie, instead of the cartoonish small black demon.

Oh yes a vast and urgently needed improvement.

No. really.

🤣

 

[Theresa Tennyson]

11 hours ago, Bagnu said:

As it stands, we have a cartoony look in SL. Would we ACTUALLY be comfortable if our SL were fully RL realistic, as if we were watching a movie? I don't know if I would be. Or would we like it more? Any comments on this?

In Second Life you could set up the most perfectly realistic static scene you want and then the second things start to move it would all go kablooey as avatars bend into natural human positions that make them look like balloon animals and float over the land and furniture instead of them mutually deforming realistically.