For those who haven't caught on yet, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is shaping up to be the next graphical benchmark. Still a long way from completion, we're already seeing some truly mind blowing visuals. Most notably in the way flora will be rendered in the game engine. Take a quick look back at the previous .gifs The Astronauts (still one of THE best dev names of all time) graced us with a few months back, then feast your eyes on the new ones above and below.

We also have a lengthy blog update talking about tricks that devs often rely on to reduce engine load and make things look more aesthetically pleasing. Such as making grass three times its usual size...yeah. That's some monster grass right there. But this time around, because of all the advances made in rendering technology, and because The Astronauts are just that damn good, Ethan Carter's foliage is shaping up to be some of the most realistic, and organic, looking foliage, well, ever.

It's a fascinating read, and I'm calling it right now. When the game launches (soon I hope) it's going to knock Crysis off its spot as the go-to game for ZOMGS AMAZINGS GRFFIX!

Mark my words.