Mass Effect Andromeda Uses Physical Based Rendering For Graphics Tech, May Possibly Use DX12

[Dohc-WP]

There has been a lot of talk, since Mass Effect: Andromeda was first announced about just how nice the game looks. Apparently, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that the game is as good looking as it is, considering the engine and the software that has been used to put it together. It turns out the game uses a physical based rendering technique for its graphics and the way this was found out was when someone was asking about Star Wars: Battlefront.

Johan Andersson was interacting with fans on Twitter about Battlefront and one user complimented the way that game looked, while also wondering whether Andromeda would make use of PBR. Andersson replied that all the games that use the Frostbite engine will also make use of PBR technology. The company said there is actually a bit of a transitive operation going on right now that is allowing them to make sure all games working with Frostbite are also going to be using PBR tech.

Another big piece of current generation technology is the arrival of DX12 and there are plenty of people who are wondering when it might be a part of the Frostbit engine. One user asked this exact question to Stefan Boberg on Twitter and he was given an answer that could also be a hint at DX12 being part of Andromeda. Bohberg responded that DX12 is already a part of the Frostbit engine and that it isn’t yet known what game will be the first to feature it, though he did put a smiley symbol at the end. This seems to indicate Mass Effect: Andromeda could be that first game.

Source: GamingBolt

[HavocXphere]

An entire article about a new technology (PBR) without explaining WTF it is.

No matter - I shall salvage this. Unlike the author I'm now an expert on this after an exhaustive 120 seconds of googling.

PBR uses shaders to dynamically calculate how an object should look when light hits it. So an object might be marked at shiny but reflect light diffusely (like brushed alu) or not shiny and not reflective (like a tennis ball). Previously such things had to be incorporated into the textures and/or via trickery designed to achieve a specific effect.

Its got nothing to do with DX12 and has been included in StarCitizen for a while.