SSAO really is awful but it’s the best performing AO we could get for a long time afaik. It’s such a hallmark of 00s and 10s rendering that I laugh every time I see it in a modern release. There are some new solutions hitting the space, I believe RTGI/PT inherently handles AO, and there is even a new method called ‘FidelityFX CACAO’ which does look considerably more realistic. Things are improving… slowly.

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Maken 14 hours ago | parent [-]

AO is an approximation of how indirect light behaves. If you have an actual global illumination solution you don't need these tricks.

	▲	gmueckl 14 hours ago \| parent [-]
		AO is derived from full GI with some extremely crude approximations. Anything that simulates full GI more accurately is implicitly a more physically accurate replacement of AO. Still, AO is not dead because it is still a rather simple and cheap cheat to add more visual definition to concave corners and highly shadowed areas. Sometimes, artists decide that their scene should have this extra touch.