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2008 and graphics can't seem to get better yet !
delete5230
Member EpicPosts: 7,081
This is not a shot at AoC. I played most all MMO's, at least the heavy hitters. And I spent most all day outside but I was thinking about graphics and how far they had advanced in the last few years, and my OPINION is not very far.
WoW= cartoon
EQ2= a little better, but something just seems off
Vanguard=same as EQ2
D&D= a little better, but thats just me
Lotro= same as WoW, but I guess it got better from what they say ( kind of smart, by doing it with a patch )
Tabula Rase=same as EQ2 but the terrain is not as flat
From old to new they just don't seem to get much better, Warhammer seems as if there playing the safe road and just do the WoW thing, BUT Age of Conan is trying to give what a lot of people are screaming for high end graphics. And of coarse I'm not a dev., but to do this it seems as if they have to have smaller zone's and load times and maybe even walls, like a lot of off-line RPG's and they just were not prepared for people to not except that.
So I guess technology is not their yet, maybe not even close. So i guess they have to make a choice. I guess in 2008 good graphics still comes with a price tag.
Comments
Make it pretty or make it functional. There's rarely a balance that will please everyone. WoW may be cartoony, but take the engine, upgrade it a little, take out the cartoony and you still have an engine that can adequately serve many people while not looking like complete crap. If AoC wants the high end graphics they're gonna have to make sacrifices. As you said, the technology isn't here yet.
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A human and an Elf get captured by Skaven. The rat-men are getting ready to shoot the first hostage with Dwarf-made guns when he yells, "Earthquake!" The naturally nervous Skaven run and hide from the imaginary threat. He escapes. The Skaven regroup and bring out the Elf. Being very smart, the Elf has figured out what to do. When the Skaven get ready to shoot, the Elf, in order to scare them, yells, "Fire!"
Order of the White Border.
Here is the thing, graphics are not the problem. AoC and DX10 has not doubt given us some of the best screen shots in gaming. The quality of the screen shots can not be denied. The problem is, to play the game at the quality of those screen shots, i.e. on max settings to play the game with the same graphic quality as the screen shots shown, you are going to need one hell of a system. Most people are not going to want to spend $1,500 to $3,000 to play a game on max settings.
A lot of people bought systems and monitors one to two years ago in anticipation of this game. Lets just hope those same systems can handle the game with any upgrades Funcom has made to the engine or graphics since then.
Fear not fanbois, we are not trolls, let's take off your tin foil hat and learn what VAPORWARE is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporware
"Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product."
Well, the way I see it on the players end you need a better system, but on the Dev.s side it still has its problems also, so were both right
Page great post, I agree. The other thing that, atleast, I'm wondering about is the multi-platform release. For the console it may be a better solution to have multiple zones.
As for graphics on the pc, I'm sure it's going to test out my rig. There's no way I'm playing with max settings, I just can't see it.
* Life is not black or white, it's shades of grey. But, at it's best/worst, it hints at 32bit color. -Me (a.k.a. RuthlessTimes)
* I do not need to know how to make a better game than you. I just need to know how to cancel my subscription. -Antarious(a slight misquote but the sentiment remains)
How can you compare LOTRO graphics with WoWs?
I have several hundred screenshots from LOTRO that shows it has nothing in common with WoW what so ever.As of now LOTRO has the best graphics out there in a mmorpg and it has one of the best engines that allows it to be run on fairly old systems.
AOC looks good to but i have to wait and see if the graphicengine is just as good coded as LOTRO's.
Let me find some of my older screenies from LOTRO and post them.Not all of them is taken on highest settings but it still kicks WoW's butt any day.Off course it all depends what graphicstyle you like.
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OK Ok Virtuella, relax a sec
, I only played the beta in Lotro, and I guess your right but not by much during beta in My OPINION and I think I had stressed quite well that they got even better.
I'm not attacking any game, thats not the point at all of this post anyway, I even have the feeling that Lotro could be the best graphics to date, but I not sure I don't play Lotro.
This looks like WoW?
I'm relaxed,I just don't like people comparing Lotro's graphics with WoW
Here my minstrel is at a little lake in breeland
Here i'm looking at a few people in Lonelands
Here we're beating a bigger guy
Here is my dwarf in Rivendale
My champion
Here i'm in Angmar
Here is a statue in Evendim
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Thats beautiful Virtuella it really is !
Are they actual screen shots Virtuella ?
If they are you may have just proved my post wrong and graphics have improved !!
I work with a guy who says he can't tell the difference between LOTRO graphics and WoW. He's played both, but is a diehard WoW addict (52 hours a week). He only played LOTRO on the lowest settings, and I think that was because he didn't want to see any difference. I kept putting screenshots of both as comparisons on my desktop at work and he would just say they both looked the same, or that WoW looked better. Either he really convinced himself, or he would never admit that LOTRO looked better. I just kept doing it to make him mad. WoW addicts are easily angered.
I can vouch for him that they are all in game screenshots. And not cutscenes or anything, but when your walking around in the world.
LoTRO may have its faults but the graphics and engine were not among them. They did a great job on optimization, not to mention world design. And a lot of freedom to move around the world.
Waiting for: A skill-based MMO with Freedom and Consequence.
Woe to thee, the pierce-ed.
Yeah these are actual ingame screenshots.
The fun thing is that not even one of them is DX10.They are all DX9 taken before the DX10 patch released in LOTRO.
I have some cool DX10 screenshtos but i've sent them to a screenshotcontest so can't post them until i know if i won or not.
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Well Funcom, Lets step it up a noch with AoC, because I know Lotro is for the most part seamless
One last thing before i go to bed,
I understand that if needed you can lower the lotro settings so any computer can play it. However i'm not sure.
I like the Funcom graphics but Guild Wars 2 and Bioware MMO graphics will be better
you are a gw fan right... specially factions?
Yeah these are actual ingame screenshots.
The fun thing is that not even one of them is DX10.They are all DX9 taken before the DX10 patch released in LOTRO.
I have some cool DX10 screenshtos but i've sent them to a screenshotcontest so can't post them until i know if i won or not.
I'm running dx 9 and that is what the game looks like on my rig too.....actual gameplay not just screenshots.
To say that someone can not tell the difference between WOW and LOTRO, they either need a new computer, monitor, and or graphic card, or there could be a physiologic explanation:
1) Vision problems. May need to get eyes checked. May need glasses...or if wearing glasses may need to clean glasses. If wearing contacts, make sure contact is not stuck to eyelash instead of in eye. May need to renew perscription.
2) Status post head injury. Some types of brain damage effect perception. An MRI or CT of the head may be needed. Check for a history of MVA, PVA, or fall.
3) Stroke. Emoblic versus hemorragic. When your friend smiles, is one side of his face drooping. Does he have speech deficits, changes in vision, ataxia, altered sensation, inability to move an extremity, change in gross or fine motor skills...etc. If these changes are acute, take to the nearest emergency room. If chronic and already identified, follow up on physical and mental rehabilitation.
4) Developmentally delayed. Is your friend mentally challenged. Are there other s/s of cognitive or perceptual difficulties.
5) Mental Illness. Psychotic? Delusional? A number of psychiatric illnesses can affect perception and cognition.
6) Brain tumor. Any other alterations in perception noted, like changes in taste, smell, vision. Frequent headaches, ataxia, behavioral changes, changes in motor skills, etc.
Any one of these things could explain why someone can not tell World of Warcraft from Lord of the Rings Online.
i'm sorry but guild wars looks like craptactualar asian based game, you can't even call it an MMO
bioware will probably outshine everyone, but no one will know until they even release for sure that they are even making an mmo, for all we know it still could be sonic online lol.
you are a gw fan right... specially factions?
Pretty much , been playing it for 2+ years. I have all the campaigns even EOTN. Factions by far the best looking campaign. As above I do like Funcom's graphics but the best is still yet to come.
today for the first time, when looking at some screenshots, I finally realized that Age of Conan will be significantly affected by the non-cartoon mature look
had heard others say it but I finally realized what they meant. I looked at the screenshots and imagined playing the game and realized that I was trying to play the game in the same mindset as I played wow.. and it was impossible. i found that i needed to be serious to enjoy the screenshot, rather than have the wow mindset, which I believe is ruled by an uncontrolled emotionally chaotic personality. from what i see from the screenshots it looks like I need to be in control of my thoughts/feelings to maintain focus, and am not able to throw myself to the wind
this game really is for a more mature audience
Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions.
Those screens of lotro look like AA switched off too-so they actually look even better and smoother than that. Turbine did a sterling job on the visuals.
Well there will be a problem when it comes to systems. I mean, there are alot of people who like to play casual, and wont keep there systems up to date with the "latest and greatest," hardware and software. So its hard to have a great looking game but have it be able to run on the average computer. Its almost mutually exclusive to a degree.
Btw, the only true way to tell if 1 gfx engine is as good as another is to swap the textures, and see what it looks like. Cause from the looks of it, it could be done and it would look the same.
Personally i think these graphics ar absolutely horrid. It looks like a twelve year old was modeling terrain. Wow might not be as realistic but its art direction is much greater than this. Seriously, when was the last time you looked at wow and was like, man this looks like a giant block with eyes.
i dare you to actually login to a server w/ a nice comp that can run directx10 and say that.. cuz the craphics in lotro are crazy and they run smooth as hell.. those pics do look bad tho.. low end system and the pics dont do it justice
lotro has crazy graphics.. and you can actually run them perfect smooth on "screenshot settings"
Remember Old School Ultima Online
I can attest to the fact that LOTRO graphics, especially the directX 10 engine is a notch beyond anything available today. They also play fantastically smooth (talking again about the directX 10 engine. Bravo to Turbine for making such a smooth graphics engine, an engine that was upgradable from directX 9 to directX 10 and is seamless as well.
Comparing LOTRO graphics on the highest setting to WoW graphics on the highest setting leads me to believe that people are either blind or delusional.
After playing LOTRO, I've never would have thought that somebody would make a game that looked so good and played so smooth at the same time.
That been said,
AoC's directX 9 graphics are a notch above LOTRO's directX 10 graphics. However they came with a price. The world of AoC is zoned as opposed to the seamless LOTRO (although I'm wondering sometimes whether AoC is zoned because they started with a zoned engine and build upon it, the graphics couldn't handle the graphics overload or the port to consoles dictated the choice).
All the AoC screenshots we've seen so far are indeed directX 9 and not 10. So I'm expecting to be amazed a bit more once I witness the directX 10 graphics.
That been said again,
LOTRO engine behaves a lot smoother. I guess we'll have to wait for AoC retail to see if the directX 10 engine of AoC is as smooth as it's best competitor out there.