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Updated graphics live yet? If not, when?
Oyjord
Member UncommonPosts: 571
Hi all,
I was a beta tester for AO, and played for a few months after launch. I really enjoyed the game, but my guild moved on to another game.
I read the graphic were getting overhauled. Has this happened yet, and if not, is there an ETA?
Thanks!
Oy.
Comments
it hasn't happened yet, no ETA either. The server hardware was just updated a few weeks back and they are still working out kinks with that as I type this. A lot of lag and disconnect issues. it was rough for a while because it was something like 3 min of freezing, 30 seconds of being able to move when I was on at one point. I just logged off and went and played COH instead.
Personally, my guess to when the graphics will be updated is probably sometime next year (spring or later summer)....IDK...they may do it sooner as funcom seem to have sped up their updates and things over the last 6 months. So just keep an eye out for announcements at the official site...they will let us know when they are close to the new graphics. I gotta say though, if the new graphics are anything like the pics of the new speeder bikes and mech units, then AO will become a damn good looking game that I'd pay double the normal current game fees of mmo's these days. because without the great graphics, the game is one of the best around, so the graphics will give it even more life and all these eye candy loving gamers will pick up and play AO...LOL it's a shame when your choice to play a game is because the graphics aren't state of the art...especiallly when the gameplay is top notch.....just my 2 cents anyway.
AO used to be the best-looking MMO for quite a while but it has since been surpassed by lots of other contenders. I agree that graphics are not the only reason why someone would play a game, but they are, IMHO, essential to immersion. It's a bit like watching "Forbidden Planet" or "The Day the Earth Stood Still". Great acting, intriguing concepts but the dated special effects really really distract from enjoying those classics. There's no reason why you can't have both, and I agree with you, I'd also pay quite a bit to play AO with cutting edge graphics. It would be the best MMO out there.I think AO has probably the best character customization options ever found in an MMO -- perhaps even too complex for today's ADD kiddies.
info on the graphics upgrade can be found here
http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=498971&highlight=new+graphics
at least a yr away from just testing but i'm looking forward to it
" What does this mean? In effect it means that we will be bringing the game engine up to date with more modern graphics technology that will, amongst other things, allow us to utilize the power of modern graphics processors. It doesn’t mean that the game will suddenly look amazing different overnight, but it does mean that we will be able to utilize the more modern technology to improve performance and introduce new effects down the line."
At DragonCon they said that the new graphics engine was about 50% done and able to be run on internal machines. When it is done, though, the game will look the same as it does now. The only difference initially will be that the graphics hardware will be rendering instead of the CPU, as is done now. As they add expansions and other new content after the new engine is in place, they will certainly make good use of DX9 effects. They did also suggest that they are contemplating going back and reworking nano effects currently in-game to make use of the new engine.
~\_/~\_O
New engine hopefully makes the lag go away so fights goes smoth, they sould also insert a autologg off for ppl that is idle for around 5 min (paying) and 1 min for froobs. much of the lag i created by those. Many may whine about it but what is the reason to log in and be idle ?
You have no idea what an orgbot is and how it runs, do you? As well as Recipebot, Helpbot, and every other helpful bot in the game.
As far as the graphic engine upgrade it is again addressed in this thread: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=509842
"Our render coder is hard at work at the conversion but as mentioned before it is a longer term goal. I would imagine it would early 2008 for testing at the very least and (all going well) sometime in the middle of next year where we might see it on the live dimensions."- Craig ( Silirrion ) Morrison, Game Director.
And as has been stated by Craig in the last year, once the engine upgrade is in they do intend to redo the graphics themselves.as soon as it is viably possible. It takes time to redo all the art in AO, for starters. But the graphic engine upgrade alone will improve AO a hundred-fold. Imagine, AO with the newest DX9 architexture and all graphic processes made dependant on a players graphic card instead of their cpu.
Can't wait for the howling from the poor fr00bs when their 200Mhz Crapium can no longer run AO, and they'll actually have to upgrade to a newer computer hardware setup. But let 'em howl. It is time for progress.
Ofc i know the problem it will be with them, but if they allow idle players they are gona be laggy places like Borealis and such travel points. becouse more and more players are idle at such places. A thing could be a org regged bot.
And the "lag" you are experiencing is graphical lag, because the graphics currently run off your cpu. People with a better processor than you are able to show/see more players/objects/particles on screen than you before they get the same lag as you, for example. When DX9 is implemented, that "lag" will be gone.
This is why, even with the new state of the art servers they recently installed, you still get that lag. It's purely graphical, not server, lag. It has nothing to do with characters idling.
People often log in and then start chatting in various channels. Their chars may not move for hours, but they are hardly 'idle'.
~\_/~\_O
Next up, also looking to the long-term future of the game, I’d like to cover something that we have alluded to several times in the past and confirm that we are currently starting work on upgrading the rendering engine for the game.
What does this mean? In effect it means that we will be bringing the game engine up to date with more modern graphics technology that will, amongst other things, allow us to utilize the power of modern graphics processors. It doesn’t mean that the game will suddenly look amazing different overnight, but it does mean that we will be able to utilize the more modern technology to improve performance and introduce new effects down the line.
This is a long term project and it will most likely be next year before we are in a position to start to test the upgrade (as there is obviously a lot of work involved in such a process) but we wanted you all to know that the process is under way and our coders have started to work on the upgrade.
....
I'm so looking forward to this!
exactly what I want. Will begin playing AO again as soon as this fix hits. This means better performance + better looks. perfect combo