I made a couple of posts in the graphics thread that you may have already seen and while my topic isn’t exactly what you’re talking about it’s a bit adjacent it might interest you:
Because I agree to an extent. I personally think the models and the track detail and a lot of it is good but yes there are some issues with some texture detail, some car materials (which is often hidden with liveries), and so on. But I do think they nailed the technical aspects of lighting which is hugely important for making a realistic looking game.
My posts are about aiming for “video realism” rather than photorealism. But I think the end result is an impressive looking visual. Feel free to watch my videos at 2X because you won’t be missing much. I’m not a polished presenter so I sort of rambled but I did cover a lot of stuff in both videos.
