Graphics don't look so good

**Empirate** · 08-24-2007, 14:57

Oh my, oh my, oh my. I bought a new dualcore PC with a Geforce 7950 last year, yes, just to accommodate M2:TW. I hope I can play Empires at the highest graphic settings, else I'll be very disappointed. It's such a nice feeling to have everything run smooth at high resolution, with RT Shadows and everything for once. Don't wanna lose this feeling just because CA decide it's time to push the limit!

**Pantsalot** · 08-24-2007, 16:15

The troops in the screen shots have probably not completed, like
many other game creators, they make the units with good enough
graphics to like at the start for previews, then they l8er complete the
unit with new shading & effects. 1 note-able game this was done with
was Halo 3, in the beta then the graphics weren't complete either. nor
is quite alot of the screenies.

**Intrepid Sidekick** · 08-24-2007, 17:54

I can safely say what you are looking at is very early work. Things have moved on since then.

Lighting is a bit broken, textures are an early pass and the men are "placeholders" and not "the full monty".

Some of the ships are stuck "in irons" as a result of turning through the wind and as a result the sails, which are also not using the full sail model, look a bit ropey.

The naval AI is still being written.

Things will move on. I'm glad you still think it looks good though.

When you see the sea "in action" you will realise that it really is better than almost any game you have seen before.

**SaFe** · 08-24-2007, 17:58

Hopefully CA recognize that eye candy is not the most important thing for this game...

It will help nobody if we have a wonderful "sea in action" and stupid ai and broken diplomacy.

**Rodion Romanovich** · 08-24-2007, 18:32

@SaFe: Being a soon graduated computer engineer I would say the most time consuming part of making the sea is to program the wave model, LOD and setting up a basic reflection, which seem to have been done already in the screenshots. Only things left to do are probably small adjustments that can probably be done by one coder in less than 3 hours or so: for example fixing the specular lighting (there should be a bright line from the sun to the camera), and secondly making the surface look less oily (I think it's possible to do that with 1-10 lines of code).

Though I agree the AI and gameplay is most important and hope it will be given more coding hours than other aspects!

**Stig** · 08-26-2007, 00:15

Originally Posted by SaFe

Hopefully CA recognize that eye candy is not the most important thing for this game...

Eyecandy makes sure the game will be sold to the big public. All other things make sure that some people will play it longer than a month. Simple as that.
If you want to make millions with your game eyecandy is the most important part, face it most people buy games because of stunning graphics. Ever heard reviews: "look at this stunning looking game ... oh and it plays quite well as well, but it looks so good".

You might not agree, but look at things, every game that sells well as damned good graphics.

**ninjahboy** · 08-26-2007, 15:15

things are looking fantastic - some screenshots better than others :P
Hopefully itll be DX9 compatibile but mostly DX10 (hopefully illl have vista and a new graphics card by the time this comes out :D)

**Caius** · 08-26-2007, 19:37

Hard to please, aren't we?

If we are so hard to please with CA, why dont we help CA?

**andrewt** · 08-27-2007, 06:38

Originally Posted by Stig

Eyecandy makes sure the game will be sold to the big public. All other things make sure that some people will play it longer than a month. Simple as that.
If you want to make millions with your game eyecandy is the most important part, face it most people buy games because of stunning graphics. Ever heard reviews: "look at this stunning looking game ... oh and it plays quite well as well, but it looks so good".

You might not agree, but look at things, every game that sells well as damned good graphics.

Two of the best PC developers, Bioware and Blizzard aren't noted for their graphics. Blizzard makes pretty artwork from an artistic standpoint but they make graphics that are dated from a technical standpoint. Bioware's graphics are mediocre at best.

**Hoplite7** · 08-24-2007, 20:49

Originally Posted by Intrepid Sidekick

I can safely say what you are looking at is very early work. Things have moved on since then.

Lighting is a bit broken, textures are an early pass and the men are "placeholders" and not "the full monty".

Some of the ships are stuck "in irons" as a result of turning through the wind and as a result the sails, which are also not using the full sail model, look a bit ropey.

The naval AI is still being written.

Things will move on. I'm glad you still think it looks good though.

When you see the sea "in action" you will realise that it really is better than almost any game you have seen before.

Oh OK, that explains it. I knew something looked odd with the men lol.

Can't wait for the first video, videos always make it look better. The water part looks great, almost as good as Bioshock's DX 10 water, which since this is an RTS, is really saying something.

Just as a question: The game will obviously be a DX 9 game, but will it feature DX 10 settings?

**Zoring** · 08-25-2007, 18:17

Hell i'd be happy with Medieval 2 graphics as long as CA fired whoever did the mongolian skins, yuck. As it is it's looking far from shabby!

**Daveybaby** · 08-28-2007, 15:26

Originally Posted by Intrepid Sidekick

When you see the sea "in action" you will realise that it really is better than almost any game you have seen before.

Post some movies for us then.

**Hooahguy** · 08-29-2007, 01:17

i, for one, would rather have the graphics of RTW but really good AI and such than ridiculously god graphics (which, btw, would be a sad mistake on CA's part to have really high system requirements, for i for one, will not have a GeForce 8800, whcich is what most people are thinking is what you will need)

**Intrepid Sidekick** · 09-06-2007, 11:12

We have programming teams dedicated to different tasks; One for Graphics, one for AI for the battles, one for AI for the campaign etc etc. Each element of the game is getting its fair share of attention.

For those that are interested in the appearance of the ships I have just seen one of our artists putting in the new stays and shrouds for one of the first rates. He assures me that the reefed sails are looking spanky too :0)

In a way it's a shame we have to show stuff that isn't finished but it's all part of the development* process, and of making you people and the rest of the world aware that we are not resting on our laurels.

I could also talk about the clouds and the rain but you might think I was a "bit odd" for finding this stuff so interesting.

* This means things are in an ongoing process of change!