Disapointed by new screenshots.

Phoenixs

I was looking at the latest screenshots from E3:
 http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/vanguard/screenindex.html

I'm kinda disspointed. Look at the mountains in the background and the terrain itself. It looks so ugly
Tree just look splattered around, it's so far between all the objects on the terrain. So empty and so bland. So dull and grey. Mountains are like small pointy peaks, not mighty vistas. On some of the screenshots it starts to look like D&L wich isn't a positive thing, at all. Many of the earlier screenshots looked nice, but now when they are revealing more of the world it just looks so empty and generated. It looks like they have lost their vision for the enviroments, and now it's turning into a mish mash of different styles and bored enviromental artists.

Note: I'm not talking about technology here. So don't come with the gameplay > graphics thingy here. For me believable enviroments is a important aspect of the gameplay in a rpg. I can't play a game where I don't feel comfortable in the world.

What do you think?

beautyisin

I have mixed feelings i think some of it looks pretty nice and other bits look uninviting, sparse,bland. I think the water, tree's and the meadow look really nice the thing i am not a big fan of is the open soil look, the brown is too overbearing and  the landscape ends up looking sparse. for some reason they seem to be using a lot of the earthy tones, which in itself isn't bad but they haven't got the balance right and it does look very empty in some of the screenies.

BlackWhysper

Some parts did look "bare", but over all i loved them.

Neurox1

looks boring to me .. nothing new .. nothing original .. whats the difference between this and eq2?

Droigan

The fact that the characters look better

The ground and grass looks better

The view distance is extremely well done

Sky is very well done

The mobs do not look like plastic

The players actually seem a part of the world, and not "put on it" like they did in EQ 2 due to the massive differece of polygons from character to ground.

And screenshots are nothing compared to the game in motion.

BUT, graphics is also a very subjective thing. Some like certain things, others do not. Many find the WoW graphics pretty, while I'll go along with saying that they are stylized, they are complete, but they look shitty.

Neurox1

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Originally posted by Droigan

The fact that the characters look better
The ground and grass looks better
The view distance is extremely well done
Sky is very well done
The mobs do not look like plastic
The players actually seem a part of the world, and not "put on it" like they did in EQ 2 due to the massive differece of polygons from character to ground.

And screenshots are nothing compared to the game in motion.
BUT, graphics is also a very subjective thing. Some like certain things, others do not. Many find the WoW graphics pretty, while I'll go along with saying that they are stylized, they are complete, but they look shitty.

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yes i agree .. they are  a subjective thing ... but i just dont see the backgrounds or the buildings in vanguard looking special ... they look like they are set in a world similar to lord of the rings ( middle earth) but just less spectacular

Droigan

Oh there are many spectacular sights in Vanguard. Trust me on that.

But they have stated many a time that you will never see the highest end or the "nicest" places and such as screenies. This is to give you the "ohhh" moments when you actually play the game

There is little diversity in the screenies due to Thestra having been the main focus so far (but there have been shots that are drastically different). However,  Kojan shots are now coming from E3. So will most likely see more differences now.

But the LOTR refences I get too. And if there was any sense in the world, the Vanguard graphical approach is what LOTR would have taken too. But nope, they went the cartoony style. Moronic. People now, like you did, associate LOTR with "realism" graphics due to the adaptations by Peter Jackson. Sad that it is now a cartoon based game.

But anyways.

Graphics don't make a game. I am more interested in the features of Vanguard. They are what appeal to me, as well as the graphics.

paade

is that a hobbit on a toy horse on the left? lol


http://i.i.com.com/cnet.g2/images/2006/129/920083_20060510_screen018.jpg

sparkatb

I thought the environment looks ace, the hills etc.

I dont like the look of the characters though, i think EQ2 characters look awesome in comparison. Yet some people would say the opposite...

Scaris

So far I think the graphics look fairly bad for a game that isn't even released yet. I like DAoC's graphics better and that is a hell of alot older of a game, even the newest expansion with the latest graphics redo. I am hoping those aren't the final player models at launch however the game in all looks like they skimped on the polygons a tad to much.

Neurox1

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Originally posted by sparkatb

I thought the environment looks ace, the hills etc.
I dont like the look of the characters though, i think EQ2 characters look awesome in comparison. Yet some people would say the opposite...

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the thing is the detail and bueaty in those shots are in high res, high quality texturing ...

most likely, most people wont have their settings that high ... to show the detail you see in those buildings .. and without those high res buildings .. the grass the stone roads .. the characters .. look bland .. there also isnt enough environment encapsulating the scene in my opinion ....

not enough trees or brush or mountain the background .. the sky is very plain ... it doesnt feel "alive" to the imaginary senses

Droigan

Huh?

The environmental and sky shots of Vanguard are equal if not superior to that I've seen in Oblivion, which has some of the lushest environment I've seen.

jimmyman99

I think the question was not about if graphics are high quality but rather if they were pleasing. I found some screens to be great and some arent sogreat (especially that mountain OPer mentioned, it looked like a bunch of clay mountains stacked together). Char models have something very common with EQ2 models, but surprisingly look lively enough to not annoy my eye. Water looks great and some mountains look great too. Buildings are OK - too classic in my opinion but i guess we cant have everything, because if we did we would all have computers the size of a room becuase theyd have to render so much more details.

Maldach

In defense of Vanguard  texture detail / resolution isn't a high priority in beta. Some things should improve before release.

Now, on to the bashing  the black (can't refer to them as African-American, as they are neither African nor American in Vanguard) character models look bad, really bad. Actaully, most of the character models look not so good after re-reviewing them. The elves have the too sharp facial features that EQ2 suffered from for some races (wood elves primarily).

The armor/world/environment looks good to me, the character models need work. EQ2 had this problem as well, to me at least.

anarchyart

It's all a matter of taste and perspective. I reviewed all of those shots and I love them for the most part. One thing I don't like so much is that the HUD is looking like EQ2, but who cares I'll have T.King mod the first week or two of release I'm sure.

On the character models, I thought they looked great and very realistic looking and life like. But I like realism. Some people thing WoW's graphics are the greatest so it's a lot about taste.

On a side note, I'm glad everyone's pissed off at Vanguard of late. So many of the people I consider people I don't want to play with seem to have jumped right on that bandwagon.

Morneblade

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Originally posted by Droigan

Huh?

The environmental and sky shots of Vanguard are equal if not superior to that I've seen in Oblivion, which has some of the lushest environment I've seen.

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While I dont think that the SS's look bad (it is beta afterall) they are not even close to Oblivion.

joshl68

the games graphics will improve as they get closer to release, because of the fact of ever new graphic designs and such they are normally not to there peek till around phase 4 or open

Kem0sabe

The graphics you see are the graphics you are going to get at release, unless Sigil decides to scrap the unreal 2 engine and move to the unreal 3 engine, because the older engine vanguard is using can only do so much *shrug*

At the state the beta is in, i would say that the EQ1 updated gfx aswell as DAoC´s are clearly superior to vanguards in every aspect, especialy player models and animation, and those are old old games.

joshl68

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Originally posted by Kem0sabe
The graphics you see are the graphics you are going to get at release, unless Sigil decides to scrap the unreal 2 engine and move to the unreal 3 engine, because the older engine vanguard is using can only do so much *shrug*

At the state the beta is in, i would say that the EQ1 updated gfx aswell as DAoC´s are clearly superior to vanguards in every aspect, especialy player models and animation, and those are old old games.

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lol they don't even compare to Vanguard.

SpiritofGame

Mmmmkay.  I saw those "disappointing" screenshots....

I'm sure it will be quite awful riding mounts under a clear blue sky over rolling grassy hills and past flowering trees.  Yeah.  Just awful.  Would probably be worse when the whole scene is set in motion and ambient sound, background music, horses' hoofbeats added in.  Ick, just awful. 

All the detail I saw in the PC's armor and clothing and NPC's armor and clothing, well, that's just horrible.  And those crafting stations shown, yeah, I can hardly picture my characters standing there.  And the variety of buildings -- dismal, eh?

Mmmmkay.  Oh, comparing it to Oblivion?  That's a MMORPG, right?  Isn't it?  Apples?  Oranges?

Evelknievel

HEY LOOK! Its and rehashed EQ Pic!

Sorry, is this considered spamming?

FikusOfAhazi

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Originally posted by Fadeus

So far I think the graphics look fairly bad for a game that isn't even released yet. I like DAoC's graphics better and that is a hell of alot older of a game, even the newest expansion with the latest graphics redo. I am hoping those aren't the final player models at launch however the game in all looks like they skimped on the polygons a tad to much.

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From the system requierments you'll need to run this i was expecting a noticeable difference. The way to reach the masses is to make a game playable on a $500 dell(casual gamer), and have a quality product. Maybe they've realized that. I doubt it. Frankly, i would rather have outstanding graphics and upgrade my pc if need be(hardcore gamer).

Phoenixs

I specially pointed out that I didn't want the thread to go into the technical details of the game. They are top notch. High resolution textures, seamless terrain and modern effects. You can't complain about that.

It's the design that bothers me. I don't how to explain it, but when I look at those screenshots I kinda see numbers, not a scenery. I get the feel that this is put together by a computer or a programmer, not by artists.
And it's kinda like every object is made for it's own world, and when it all comes together it doesn't feel like it belongs together. The game is being released this year and I fear that many of these issues can't be fixed anymore.

I was specially dissapointed by this movie:

http://media.silkyvenom.com/e3_2006_charandmounts.wmv

The flying mount part looked horrible. I really hope they are going to fix that. I fear that it becomes like EQ2. All the motion captured animations are exellent, like humans and creatures that you can motion capture. But the stuff you can't will look bad. Like the flying mounts in the movie above.

Neurox1

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Originally posted by Phoenixs
I specially pointed out that I didn't want the thread to go into the technical details of the game. They are top notch. High resolution textures, seamless terrain and modern effects. You can't complain about that.

It's the design that bothers me. I don't how to explain it, but when I look at those screenshots I kinda see numbers, not a scenery. I get the feel that this is put together by a computer or a programmer, not by artists.
And it's kinda like every object is made for it's own world, and when it all comes together it doesn't feel like it belongs together. The game is being released this year and I fear that many of these issues can't be fixed anymore.

I was specially dissapointed by this movie:

http://media.silkyvenom.com/e3_2006_charandmounts.wmv

The flying mount part looked horrible. I really hope they are going to fix that. I fear that it becomes like EQ2. All the motion captured animations are exellent, like humans and creatures that you can motion capture. But the stuff you can't will look bad. Like the flying mounts in the movie above.

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nothing seems extraordinary to me ... resoluation, textures .. seems pretty generic ...nothing really stands out as being exceptional ....in artistic design or in technics

what people also have to remember is ... those are the graphics working on an industrial machine ...

most people dont have machines fast or powerful enough to turn up the graphics to full slate .. so how will the mid-range quality look and play on an end user machine?

time will tell to see if they have the coding prowess to have smooth fps and animations on end user machines ..

from what i hear from the kids playing beta .. this isnt the case

beautyisin

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Originally posted by HiGHPLaiNS

HEY LOOK! Its and rehashed EQ Pic!
Sorry, is this considered spamming?

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Yes nonsensical spamming.

qotsa

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Originally posted by Phoenixs


What do you think?

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All of a sudden I think I get schwag weed and need you to hook me up with your dealer.

I thnk they look good. No worse than anything out right now. Looks better than WOW (more realistic looking)...Looks better thanEQ2(using more than two colors and plastic models makes this feat easy)....etc. By the way I'm not knocking WOWs graphics. They are good for what they are supposed to be.