These Driveclub photos will blow your mind

No freakin way...

Don't you just love it when a developer continues developing an already great game? Driveclub has been receiving steady updates since its rather troubled initial launch, adding new cars, tracks and modes. Including this. This... sensational photo mode. Seriously, you know a photo's going to be good when a machine as powerful as PlayStation 4 takes 10 seconds to render a single frame. This one was taken by NeoGAF user dr guildo. The doc done good.

The community has been taking pictures for a while now and the results are simply astonishing. So join me as we take a look at some of the finest images ever to come from a console racing game...

NOTE: Hit the arrows in the top-right of the screen to see the image at full resolution.

Lens Flare (by me)

It's fascinating to sit and watch the PS4 retouch the picture in real-time. It blurs the track in accordance with the camera's exposure time (that you set), then goes about rendering the streaks of rain in the night air, adding touches in small dots until the whole line is there. Breathtaking final product.

Double Rainbow (by NeoGAF user Lucas Japonicus)

It's even darker between the two rings. I wonder whether this is a pre-rendered rainbow that is inserted into the environment, or whether Evolution has actually programmed light to accurately refract through billions of raindrops. The latter is (seriously) unlikely, but at this stage I honestly wouldn't put it past them.

Original post here.

Scratches and water (by NeoGAF user Melchiah)

I'm running out of superlatives here. So instead, let me explain that there are several different filters you can apply to each photo. They change the primary real-time shot immediately, but then the post-processing does its thing, making it look (even more) amazing in front of your very eyes.

Original post here.

'Really in the agricultural business...' (by NeoGAF user benzy)

This one should probably be illegal. It's obscene. The car is pushing against foliage, bending it towards the ground, while illuminating it with its headlamp. Personally, I think the film grain effect wasn't necessary (you can choose how much there is with a slider bar), but I can't really complain. This is fantastic.

Original post here.

Japan at night (by me)

If ever a shot deserved to be blown up full-screen, it's this one. Look at the reflections in the rain-soaked tarmac. The tree trunks silhouetted against the brightly-lit sakura. The concentric circles on the ground as raindrops hit the surface of puddles. Simply amazing detail.

Hands on the wheel (by Steibernard on Twitter)

Astonishing. I really did think this was a photograph of a real person with their hands on a real steering wheel. But it's Driveclub. Apparently. At this stage I don't even know any more. Who am I, again?

Original post here.

Wheely Good (by NeoGAF user benzy)

This arguably looks better than a shot you would get in real life from having a Ferrari up on a treadmill. Look very, very carefully and you can just about make out the edges of some polygonal angles around the slots cut into the metal. But we're talking about just about being able to notice minor compromises in roundness rendering on 3D slots inside the rim of a wheel in a racing game. Madness.

Original post here.

Mural (By NeoGAF user Orthodoxy1095)

You can just about tell that this is computer-generated, but it's getting so close to photorealism, you might be fooled if you weren't looking at it in a gallery of amazing photos from Driveclub. I love the way the reflective paint in the roof of the tunnel shows up even when everything else has plunged into darkness.

Original post here.

Ferrari time (by Sebfache on Twitter)

Clearly, puddles are the new thing in graphics rendering. I've never seen puddles like these before. Probably because the real-time reflections in the game proper, while pretty, are replaced by mega reflections as the PS4 takes its time to do it right. Lovely sense of motion in this shot, too.

Original post here.