Is it me or it really looks ugly?

daemon

Watched this game for a long time now... and I keep seeing uglyness everywhere.

Just saw the latest screenshots and I dont know if its me or the characters and npc models look totally ugly like a game 6 years old...

Sure the water looks nice the sky looks nice but I see some kind of choppiness and cubic unpolished bad models , textures and all that in every damn screenshot.

Ugly cubic edges and ugly clothing options just scream of really old game graphics.

What do you guys think?

Keogh

 

The main focus of thre game is ship combat, not running about as a human avatar. The personal avatar system was not in the original concept for the game but was added much later by popular demand.

So, the personal avatars are weak, but you really don't use them that much in the game.

 

beauxaj

If it plays well and I enjoy it, I could care less about the graphics, These days sooo much is spent on looks that often the gameplay and core mechanics of the game are placed second.  I can appreciate a scenic vista and impressive graphics, but I'm there to enjoy the GAME not what the game looks like.  It maybe because I'm old old old school but I prefer depth over flash.

daemon

Originally posted by Keogh


 
The main focus of thre game is ship combat, not running about as a human avatar. The personal avatar system was not in the original concept for the game but was added much later by popular demand.
So, the personal avatars are weak, but you really don't use them that much in the game.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 Ok I get your point. The personal avatar system was introduced so they have someting more then EvE online has.
You can walk around, do abit of questing on foot etc. So what if it looks totally crap right?
Lets say thats fine but the ship combat stuff which is the main focus of the game will be limited to a few ships getting into combat and server will limit it to that. dont know whats the maximum allowed 20 or 25 ships and thats it nobody else can get into that place. Well I personally think that sucks.
I dont think they are putting this limit because of the beauty of the game and number of polygons and stuff that can drop your FPS low enough to not be playable.
Even in EvE hundreds of ships if not thousands can get into same place and have a huge battle. Eve being years old by now and still looks awesome.
If its ship combat then let them have huge battles, let a huge fleet swarm the waters and be in total freedom of getting in any conflict.
Stupid limits and ugly cubic flags and canons, ships badly textured should mean FLEETs, thousand of ships in the same place in a smooth game!
I dont get the developers really, this game shows so much potential but ... eh

 

Dremac

Avatars have improved quite a lot recently, but yeah there's still a lot of work to be done there.  I think it will look pretty good by release.

Elikal

Never trust into screenshots. They never do the real graphics justice, in both directions. VG looks much more sterile in real than the PR screenshots of Sigil before release and LOTOR or WOW look much better in real than if you know only screenshots. (And NO, I am REALLY ONLY referring to the graphics atm! Its ONLY about the relation between screenies and game here! Before any flame war erupts.)

brihtwulf

I'm not impressed with the on-land look of the game at all.  All of the characters and shots look pretty bad.  The characters are a bit blocky for such a new game, and their faces/hair are downright UGLY!  The shots with ships are nice and look better than the lower-end graphics of Voyage Century, but Sid Meyer's Pirates also looked pretty cool and it was released like 3 years ago...  If they were going to include avatars, they should have done a better job making them look good.  It seems like a cheaply thrown together afterthought,...

Keogh

Originally posted by daemon

Originally posted by Keogh


 
The main focus of thre game is ship combat, not running about as a human avatar. The personal avatar system was not in the original concept for the game but was added much later by popular demand.
So, the personal avatars are weak, but you really don't use them that much in the game.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 Ok I get your point. The personal avatar system was introduced so they have someting more then EvE online has.
You can walk around, do abit of questing on foot etc. So what if it looks totally crap right?
Lets say thats fine but the ship combat stuff which is the main focus of the game will be limited to a few ships getting into combat and server will limit it to that. dont know whats the maximum allowed 20 or 25 ships and thats it nobody else can get into that place. Well I personally think that sucks.
I dont think they are putting this limit because of the beauty of the game and number of polygons and stuff that can drop your FPS low enough to not be playable.
Even in EvE hundreds of ships if not thousands can get into same place and have a huge battle. Eve being years old by now and still looks awesome.
If its ship combat then let them have huge battles, let a huge fleet swarm the waters and be in total freedom of getting in any conflict.
Stupid limits and ugly cubic flags and canons, ships badly textured should mean FLEETs, thousand of ships in the same place in a smooth game!
I dont get the developers really, this game shows so much potential but ... eh

 

No total freedom, all ports, missions, avatar and ship combat are instanced, with open water fights locking out all that aren't in the immediate area. Port missions can have several ships involved, but then again, you need to have fought in that area to get in and it is still a closed instance.

 

Hexxeity

I've seen a live demo, and it reminded me very much of the early days of DAoC.  This is not something to be proud of.  In particular, the animations are APPALLING.

BigEPratt

They are still massively polishing the avatar content.  Remember that it was the last content that they released and so it hasn't been polished as much as the other stuff.  Don't worry, the game will look darn pretty!

Scriar

Yeah they are quite outdated graphics, but as long as the gameplay is good i could care if it looked like Sid Miers pirates!

GormandY

Originally posted by daemon

Originally posted by Keogh


 
The main focus of thre game is ship combat, not running about as a human avatar. The personal avatar system was not in the original concept for the game but was added much later by popular demand.
So, the personal avatars are weak, but you really don't use them that much in the game.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 Ok I get your point. The personal avatar system was introduced so they have someting more then EvE online has.
You can walk around, do abit of questing on foot etc. So what if it looks totally crap right?
Lets say thats fine but the ship combat stuff which is the main focus of the game will be limited to a few ships getting into combat and server will limit it to that. dont know whats the maximum allowed 20 or 25 ships and thats it nobody else can get into that place. Well I personally think that sucks.
I dont think they are putting this limit because of the beauty of the game and number of polygons and stuff that can drop your FPS low enough to not be playable.
Even in EvE hundreds of ships if not thousands can get into same place and have a huge battle. Eve being years old by now and still looks awesome.
If its ship combat then let them have huge battles, let a huge fleet swarm the waters and be in total freedom of getting in any conflict.
Stupid limits and ugly cubic flags and canons, ships badly textured should mean FLEETs, thousand of ships in the same place in a smooth game!
I dont get the developers really, this game shows so much potential but ... eh

 

Have you played EVE? because your avatar in EVE is just a picture and plays no part in the game...

trozyxxx

thing about graphix is its each to his own, what i like could be awfull to you.

I mean some people like wows cartoon look

POTBS looks good to me the ships are very good

Keogh

The ships are very nice, and if you are a good artist and have PhotoShop, you can create and submit art for use in the game.

That is the nice feature. However, getting your art through the approval process can become its own quest. lol

 

Mimzel

I suspect people looking forward to POTBS really want it to be "the next big thing". Understandibly, since I am so totally over fantasy themed MMOs, and was really looking forward to POTBS as well. Now, before I continue, I'd like to add that the stress test was flawed in one single vital aspect - just prior to launching the stress test the developers BROKE the GFX quality slider bar in the menu settings. The only setting available was medium graphics quality... I have a hard time beliving it was really a mistake as the devs later proclaimed. How do you make such a mistake and fail to correct it before one of the biggest happenings in the entire development of that game? Yes, it was THAT big, since the stress test really meant opening the game up for the world. They should rather have admitted that they didnt want that feature to be available for the public. Nevertheless, it made the game look like something from the late 90's.

That aside, and letting it slide, I still feel let down. The landmass never really looked like anything other than DATA. The illusion of realness never appeared, except out on sea and zooming down to see my crew aboard my ship. The ship itself looked like a toy to put in your bath tub as it sailed close to land. The details on land were so lacking that big mountains really felt like pebbles - making my ship look even smaller... The ports themselves looked like ant hills slapped on an otherwise flat terrain as you came sailing in from the open sea.

Prior to the stress test I once read a post of a newbie in the POTBS forums. The poster was a woman stating her fears for the game: How interesting will it really be to have the majority of the visuals center around the sea and sky? And oh boy was she right! It is not very interesting. Sea and sky have always been a "filler" with me. I love when they look great, but who gives a damn if the place you actually have to play through looks uninspired?

Ok, so how will it look when you crank it all up to maximum graphics quality? That is yet to be seen, of course, and we can all hope - but I'm afraid it end up being a good-looking ant hill slapped on flat terrain... But perhaps, if the economic, trade and pvp aspect of the game are really great, and you are really into the aspect of fighting for your business and fatherland, maybe all of the above really doesnt matter. Just like EVE, which has a superb economic system, everything else takes the back seat. I have to mention, though - I left EVE for the very simple fact that I never felt I "bonded" with any of the chars in the EVE universe. The lack of real avatars, and the fact that the ship itself kinda became your "toon" crippled my game experience. So I left. I've since heard they plan on implement those things in the future, and the major difference compared with POTBS is then that EVE has polished their game for YEARS now and have time to focus on doing this in a well thought out way.

nightbird305

Originally posted by GormandY


 
Originally posted by daemon

Originally posted by Keogh


 
The main focus of thre game is ship combat, not running about as a human avatar. The personal avatar system was not in the original concept for the game but was added much later by popular demand.
So, the personal avatars are weak, but you really don't use them that much in the game.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 Ok I get your point. The personal avatar system was introduced so they have someting more then EvE online has.
You can walk around, do abit of questing on foot etc. So what if it looks totally crap right?
Lets say thats fine but the ship combat stuff which is the main focus of the game will be limited to a few ships getting into combat and server will limit it to that. dont know whats the maximum allowed 20 or 25 ships and thats it nobody else can get into that place. Well I personally think that sucks.
I dont think they are putting this limit because of the beauty of the game and number of polygons and stuff that can drop your FPS low enough to not be playable.
Even in EvE hundreds of ships if not thousands can get into same place and have a huge battle. Eve being years old by now and still looks awesome.
If its ship combat then let them have huge battles, let a huge fleet swarm the waters and be in total freedom of getting in any conflict.
Stupid limits and ugly cubic flags and canons, ships badly textured should mean FLEETs, thousand of ships in the same place in a smooth game!
I dont get the developers really, this game shows so much potential but ... eh

 

 

Have you played EVE? because your avatar in EVE is just a picture and plays no part in the game...

I'm pretty sure he was refering to the upcoming trinity expansion which not only upgrades the eve graphics engine, but also adds avatars to the game and world atmosphere flying.

AtrusV

It looks like Sid Meier's Pirates!, but it's enough for me if the gameplay is good.

 

And remember, it's easier to improve the graphics than the gameplay, specially if it sucks from the beginning

GreenChaos

Originally posted by Keogh
...not running about as a human avatar....

hmmm, that's what Auto Assault  said.

Zarraa

Originally posted by trozyxxx


thing about graphix is its each to his own, what i like could be awfull to you.
I mean some people like wows cartoon look
POTBS looks good to me the ships are very good

Problem is the to each his own argument only flies when the title is at least in the ballpark (not EQI circa 2001).

To be fair, the Sea battles actually look halfway decent. On the other hand the Avator graphics, combat and animations simply don't cut it for 2007.

Taram

Has NDA been lifted or something?  Seeing an awful lot of folks posting in game type stuff considering it hasn't.

Confetti

Originally posted by Taram


Has NDA been lifted or something?  Seeing an awful lot of folks posting in game type stuff considering it hasn't.

The NDA has NOT been lifted yet.

Taram

Originally posted by Confetti

Originally posted by Taram


Has NDA been lifted or something?  Seeing an awful lot of folks posting in game type stuff considering it hasn't.

The NDA has NOT been lifted yet.

I know

I'm just sayin....

Praetoriani

This game is not ugly.

Phos

Any screenshots of said ugliness?

- Phos

Taram

Game is still under NDA.  Only screenshots available are a bit dated. 

Syncrosonix

Originally posted by beauxaj


If it plays well and I enjoy it, I could care less about the graphics, These days sooo much is spent on looks that often the gameplay and core mechanics of the game are placed second.  I can appreciate a scenic vista and impressive graphics, but I'm there to enjoy the GAME not what the game looks like.  It maybe because I'm old old old school but I prefer depth over flash.

quoting for the truth and because i'm in agreement.