500th post and topic: Graphics upgrade, but what kind do you want to see?

Hi out there!

500 posts is pretty significant for me, considering I do more reading and browsing than I do posting, so excuse this brief moment of achievement (however small) on my part. Yay!

Now that's dispensed with, let me get to what I meant in the thread title. I know that there are suggestions/rumors/uncomfirmed reports that there will be a graphics upgrade to this game, but of what sort we don't know. I myself have suggested we get a move towards body models with smoother lines, fingers and toes and a general '2009' appearance for the game, but then I was struck thinking the other day about just what that meant.

I was genuinely surprised when I was doing some research about Aion and discovered that the maximum requirement for the game was only an nVidia 7300 video card! And it's easily amongst the best if not the best looking MMO of this year (its' prior history in Korea notwithstanding). It reminded me that you can pull some amazing looking graphics out by using just good tools. So what does that mean for CoH?

I admit I love the graphics engine of Aion and the look of the game (it ultimately proved far too grindy in nature after reading several reviews for me to want to play it) and wondered if that would be the way I'd want the game to look, or perhaps more like the art style of the Going Rogue website? But then there's the promotional art for HeroCon and whilst looking a little more 'comic book' (and I mean that only in the sense that it's very stylised art), it too looks very attractive.

Most games these days are defined by their looks first and foremost (after all, that's what makes us pick up the box or watch a preview of a game), with customisation running nearly a dead heat in terms of what players want. I really do believe customisation is going to be the buzzword with a lot of games in the next few years, and a flexible graphics style surely must be part of that.

My own personal preference to make CoH dramatic and stand out tends to favor clean lines and great attention to detail. I'm under no illusions that CoH probably couldn't be adapted to the Aion engine, but if the game matched the Going Rogue trailer's style or promotional artwork, I would be very very happy. Another personal favorite is the website artwork which is just gorgeous to me, but may be just that.

What do other people think of the graphics style to hopefully come our way?

S.

I'd be happy if they just cleaned up the big twelve-polygon hill next to the Talos tram and updated the textures on all the old costume pieces and faces. Graphics engine overhaul falls under the 'Don't you guys have anythinig better to do?' heading for me, though I play ASCII games, so I may not be the most representative gamer

I agree with you Oz. I would be pleased with new graphics as well.
But of what nature?

Well in my opinion-I would like it to flow and be beautifully detailed. I guess the best way to describe it would be realistic. Flowing hair, detailed faces, light glimmering off of buildings and metallic objects. Basically fluid and natural looking.

EDIT: Yes the GR graphics would be very nice.

MORE TEXTURES!
more textures on the ground, on the buildings, on the water, on the sky if possible...

More textures on our super clothing, on our super hair, on our super sneakers!!!

A graphical update needs to happen and we need more detail!

We already have hands down the best color customization out of ANY MMORPG/Action!

Now we need more details from the ground to the heavens!

(FTR, I still think cell shading is kinda ugly compared to CoX - I know thats hard for some of you to swallow but its how I feel... )

As everyone's already stated; more, more, more.

I'm aware that there's a few people out there currently running the bare minimum of requirements and can barely see the jagged polygons of their already-blocky characters and refuse to update a PC model that's been outdated for years. I'm aware of these people and I sympathize with them to an extent.

I'm also aware that in terms of being high-and-mighty, Paragon Studios seems more along the lines of 'Mom and Pop' rather than McDonald's. They're friendly to the community and would like to avoid alienating any players to provide a more enjoyable experience to everyone! I'm aware of all of these factors when it comes to a graphical update.

That being said? I would be happy with a complete overhaul of everything we've got graphics-wise. Our costume creator looks... Decent at best, what with it's mittens and mutant feet. We need a massive change to compliment such a paramount expansion, which will be the first in several years, and a tremendous opportunity for Paragon to increase it's subscriber base, and to appeal to a wider audience; those who are attracted to the shiney bits and pieces.

Work on the polygons; give them a major overhaul to smooth them out. Add more options, like adding hair to hoods, hats, etc. Freshen and liven things up, but don't overload us with OMGBLOOMEFFECTS. Give us some more realism in our proportions and make the creator look like something human. Some more idling poses, and some smoother animations (although most are relatively smooth as it is).

I know, I know, people want to stone me for this; it's not fair that they should have to update their PC after all this time playing and being a loyal customer only to find that their rig isn't up to specs, but such is life. Paragon needs to think about a larger consumer market, and the market is gaining; the market is growing more and more advanced, and if it's interests don't keep up with it, then the interests won't remain interesting for long.

I wonder if the GR sneak peak at Hero Con will include antyhing about the graphics?

I'd like to be able to adjust hands and feet size, leg and arm thickness independant of the main body, torso width. Stuff like that pertaining to the character models.

A few more character model polygons so that when a character crouches to rest for example, one doesn't see jagged knife edged angles at the hip that could jab someone. more polygons might fix seeing breasts on the females that look like cardboard boxes or polygon balloons.

But overall, I like the graphics as is. Right now things seem fairly crisp and good, without overlagging somewhat older machines like a few friends of mine have. I'm willing to forget my above wishes if the performance cost would be too much. I can upgrade my computer a bit more even, but many can't, and it might not be worth it.

If they can "graphically update" and still let those who like things as is stay that way, and let people with heftier gaming computer specs take advantage of the new stuff at the same time, then maybe.

Yeah, for the most part, cell shading does suck, but there are a few games out there that have managed to make it look good to the point where it's not really an issue. and flowing hair would be pretty cool; hell, even wind in general would be cool. Something to send your hair/cape/auras to wave/flicker would be a nice addition. (instead of it just being when you're moving)

From what I've been told however, with the release of Going Rogue, Heroes will be "upgraded" to the requirements of Villains. (Heroes currently has half the requirements of Villains) Nothing has been said for certain though, but I don't even see much more than that coming into the picture.

The engine for CoX is actually pretty old, much older and harder to work with than say the Champions Online engine(as far as I'm told anyways) So that means that there are certain built in limitations, so for example the highly coveted "power customization" was something that was asked for for years. It wasn't possible until they created a work around for it(allegedly anyways) So adding something that we might think of as simple/not that hard like flowing hair might actually be a b*$@h and a half to do.

Then there's also what has priority to consider. Do you imagine the general game populous would prefer new powersets, or flowing hair? or new zones/TFs, or flowing hair? The devs take into account what they want to see happen, what we want to see the most, and what can be done in a reasonable amount of time and find a balance between the 3. That doesn't mean that flowing hair won't ever happen, just it'll likely be a while depending on where it falls on the devs list of "things to do".

Power Customization was never "impossible" it was "bloody difficult" since they would've had to convert a massive number of FX doodads manually. What made PC, according to BAB some time ago, was one of the crew coming up with an automatic script.

As for me, I'm not really looking for much. Update a few low-res costume textures, spruce up a few zones, fix a few more bugs (Snake Caves were never rejiggered - they still have the polygonal landscapes), and that's about it.

The devs have said the engine in more powerful than they realized - so that might give a bigger scope for the kind of upgrades they can do.Even updating some of the older mobs would be good - like compare the Cimerorans with the Outcasts, for example.

Seeing as how I'm only running on an ATI HD2600 XT/256, I wouldn't want to see it jacked up too much....

....but asymmetrical costuming (like - shhh! - CO has) would be a nice upgrade.

The biggest change I'd want to see is a complete overhaul of the lighting system. It doesn't have to be completely cutting edge, but it should be dynamic and have objects cast shadows that look like said object's shadow instead of a blob or nothing at all. Plus individual fingers and feet that don't look like flesh covered boots.

I just want my hair and any tails my toons have to move and my eyes to blink.. that's all I really want.. **sniffs**

So long as it's after I get my nice new rig sometime this year, then I don't mind
But yeah, upgrading the textures to the level of Vanguard and Cimerorans would be very nice.

Oh, and upgrading some of the older costume pieces. Even running on minimum graphics (Laptop. Thats all Im going to, and should have to, say) the newer costume parts STILL look better quality than the old ones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

if i could have the game redrawn Joe Mad style....kk.

i know it would never happen.