idk if you have heard about this game - Mumbai Gullies
From what I saw from the gameplay, yes the graphics are better but,
The physics is still wonky
They haven't even worked out the HUD and even the NPC models.
There is still soooooo much work left that I believe this game is not coming out anytime soon.
Imagine how far the standards of games will have gone by the time this game releases. GTA 5 is already considered a very old game at this point.
I appreciate the work put in considering this is the first such major project but saying that this is comparable to other games coming out at that point is just useless.
Still will complete the game at least once to see what it has to offer.
Also, the environment graphics is the only thing that looks good in the game, that is easy to achieve using prebaked lighting. GTA 5 has dynamic lighting in most places btw. Just look at the character models to see what the graphics truly looks like. The main character in this game looks like plastic and the same is true for NPCs. Using pretty standard shaders from unity/unreal. But sure, whatever works.
Also regarding NPC models they have some character design as well but it would have taken them a little bit longer to put it in game but they didn't had time as they promised to showcase the gameplay in IGDC(16-19 Nov). Also the playable character isn't the actual character here's some of the actual character design they are working on they showcased it in IGDC i was attending but didn't record but gladly some other guy put it in yt.
I know right? it's unfair. I don't understand why an indie game studio wants to make a AAA title. All game studios need to make a good game with a good concept before moving on to such a huge project.
At the same time, I can feel the pressure on the devs because Indian kids cannot play anything apart from AAA titles cause they think graphics is the only thing to be seen in the game. No appreciation for indie games whatsoever.
It was not the pressure but it was actually the wish of CEO nikhil malankar that he wanted to created an open world game like gta but based on india. Also he is getting tons of support from indian youtubers & celebrities like raftaar & they have already secured funding of 3.2 crores which maybe doesn't look much compared to what gta v budget was but still it is a huge amount. i think you are kinda confused with term AAA title in the video game industry, AAA (pronounced "triple A") or Triple-A is a classification term used for games with the highest development budgets and levels of promotion. So it will be called an indie game only.
because thats how companies grow , they keep small games and develop it in a short time and publish them and earn some money and invest some of that money in their long time projects ( just like Mumbai Gullies) , people are excited to play such games and if this game becomes successful the company can grow very rapidly
I hope so it is first time a company is trying to create such a huge game project in our region. They got like 3.2 crores rupees of funding already which equals to around 430k dollars but if you take cost of living into account it is roughly equal to what 1.7 millions dollars funding would have been to an US company.