Are modern graphics going to get bad?

[Rob Turbo]

I was just thinking today, now and then I fancy playing an old game because I remember it being great, but then you play it but the graphics are nowhere near as good as you seemed to think they were at the time, obviously because modern games are so much better.

But with the quality of graphics now, in a few years will we be looking back at games we play now and thinking the same thing? I know games don't look like real life yet, and they could do in a few years time

Another thing to think about though, when games do look like real life, the graphics cards of that time will be all you'll ever need, you can't make something look more real than real! So there will be less of a market for new graphics cards, so isn't it in the interest of graphics card manufacturers to keep gaming graphics progress to a minimum to stretch out the life of their business?

 

[MeEsH BaKkA]

Of course.

 

[bignev72]

You think too much!

 

[Rob Turbo]

At work from time to time I'm sat by myself doing something mind numbing, until I'm done and go back into the main part of the factory where everyone else is I tend to do a lot of thinking, or having imaginary arguments with my boss!!

 

[Howitzer]

They will always be able to stretch the cards out. Sure, they may reach a point where they look "real" like looking through a window, but they can still always beef them up with being able to have more on screen at once - full render distances right to the horizon etc etc. Perhaps they'll even begin taking all the processing on board so you can run a whole gaming system from just the graphics card even if you have a rubbish CPU lol

Then you get into the whole VR thing, which will take it further.
I think you're looking at a good few decades before there's any kinda problem like that haha

 

[FoxEye]

If you can't play an old game because its graphics are dated, then you will miss out on some real gems, but that isn't true of all old games (naturally!).

With some games (like Doom, Quake, Q2) there is no point playing them today. They were good at the time because they pushed graphical boundaries, and that's about it. No one remembers Doom for anything that hasn't been done better since. You'd only go back for a history lesson.

Other games are just as good today as they ever were, graphics be damned. Even some FPS games (like Deus Ex, System Shock 2) are enjoyable without graphics mods.

Naturally games today still aren't photorealistic, and until they are, we'll keep seeing better and better looking games in future.

I for one still think many games look "plasticy" - like everything is made out of smooth, reflective plasticine. Lots of room for improvement I think.

 

[HangTime]

With some games (like Doom, Quake, Q2) there is no point playing them today. They were good at the time because they pushed graphical boundaries, and that's about it. No one remembers Doom for anything that hasn't been done better since. You'd only go back for a history lesson.

Certainly not from my perspective - I still play a lot of Quakeworld (the multiplayer extension of Quake), nothing to do with the graphics, all about the gameplay. Sure, when it first came out with it's flashy 3d engine etc the graphics were something that attracted, but even back in the 90s it wasn't long before I'd long got past the graphics and was appreciating the game underneath.

From a SP perspective, I can kinda see where you are coming from, but I know some people do still enjoy playing Quake SP from time to time as it has pretty good art direction - some games can look good even with mediocre graphics, if the textures are well forged and fit with the theme of the game.

 

[Zodar]

If you can't play an old game because its graphics are dated, then you will miss out on some real gems, but that isn't true of all old games (naturally!).

With some games (like Doom, Quake, Q2) there is no point playing them today. They were good at the time because they pushed graphical boundaries, and that's about it. No one remembers Doom for anything that hasn't been done better since. You'd only go back for a history lesson.

Other games are just as good today as they ever were, graphics be damned. Even some FPS games (like Deus Ex, System Shock 2) are enjoyable without graphics mods.

Naturally games today still aren't photorealistic, and until they are, we'll keep seeing better and better looking games in future.

I for one still think many games look "plasticy" - like everything is made out of smooth, reflective plasticine. Lots of room for improvement I think.

Doom is still a better FPS than 90% of modern releases.

 

[FoxEye]

Doom is still a better FPS than 90% of modern releases.

That's quite a bold statement. I'm not sure you'll get many to agree with that.

 

[badcompany]

If you can't play an old game because its graphics are dated, then you will miss out on some real gems, but that isn't true of all old games (naturally!).

With some games (like Doom, Quake, Q2) there is no point playing them today. They were good at the time because they pushed graphical boundaries, and that's about it. No one remembers Doom for anything that hasn't been done better since. You'd only go back for a history lesson.

Other games are just as good today as they ever were, graphics be damned. Even some FPS games (like Deus Ex, System Shock 2) are enjoyable without graphics mods.

Naturally games today still aren't photorealistic, and until they are, we'll keep seeing better and better looking games in future.

I for one still think many games look "plasticy" - like everything is made out of smooth, reflective plasticine. Lots of room for improvement I think.

What doom,quake, quake 2 are still fun to play today

Quake 3 and quakeworld are always in my top 5 games sheer gameplay perfection

 

[FoxEye]

What doom,quake, quake 2 are still fun to play today

I'd love to see you get a room of people who didn't play them when they were current. Gamers who started with HL2, RtCW, TF2, Portal, Crysis, Far Cry, Dead Space, GoW, etc, etc.

Put them on a PC and tell them to play Doom.

Maybe it's fun for you but that's going to be a large dose of nostalgia affected your judgement.

 

[jamiehavok]

That's quite a bold statement. I'm not sure you'll get many to agree with that.

the old skool fps gameplay of finding keys in an open environment and run and gun is a lot more fun imo than linear environment cut scene after cutscene, duck, shoot modern fps. im playing duke nukem 3d again on android and enjoying it much more than like crysis 3!

as to the ops question yeah ofcorse graphics will get better and better, just at a slower rate than before, i dont think you'll go back and think a game looks as terrible as some old 3d games do now however, as first gen 3d games from the mid/late 90s look pretty awful now, but the early 90s graphics are still ok in my eyes and find these games more playable because of it, then again with a glide wrapper some of those don't even look that bad

 

[jamiehavok]

doh

 

[Rob Turbo]

I'm not saying I can't play them because they look ****, I still play old games, but my memory tells me they used to look better than they do now, obviously because games look better now!

I was playing Quake 2 the other day on the other hand and that still looks ok, but I bought GTA:SA in a sale (I bought it for my brother then fancied it myself so bought another!) and even on highest settings it looks poor, I know there's mods to make it look better but that's not the point.

 

[jamiehavok]

I'm not saying I can't play them because they look ****, I still play old games, but my memory tells me they used to look better than they do now, obviously because games look better now!

I was playing Quake 2 the other day on the other hand and that still looks ok, but I bought GTA:SA in a sale (I bought it for my brother then fancied it myself so bought another!) and even on highest settings it looks poor, I know there's mods to make it look better but that's not the point.

i think its the age old quake was made for pcs where gta was more of a console port? so quake looks better,

i think old games can still be fun for younger gamers who missed the era, becauset he gameplay is different to a lot of games now. i have a young colleague enjoying doom on an android tablet, there good games for portable devices like tablets and small laptops!

im playing the original lands of lore, i missed those kind of rpgs back in the day so thoroughly enjoying it. when ive finished that ill play lol2 in a with a glide wrapper. never did have a 3dfx card back then!

 

[Something Else]

Skyrim has the perfect level of graphics for me right now.

Looks real enough, but doesnt aim to be so realistic that its like real life.

I want game devs to concentrate on content and making the game enjoyable, then do the physics and then graphics

The Walking Dead (one with Clementine and Lee) is a brilliant game, it doesn't have photo realistic graphics, its more cartoon, but its one of the best games I have ever played.

 

[QlimaxUK]

Spoiler

I don't think modern graphics will ever 'go bad'

 

[Kosmiche]

I'm worried about graphics getting too good for violent games to be plausable.

If we have lifelike graphics, how can you have games like GTA? It will just be far too real, and probably be horrific to play.

 

[Warbie]

The art style matters too. 2D stuff ages very well, as does stylised and simple looking 3D. Take Wind Waker on the Dolphin - an old GC game that looks as good, if not better when you take into the account the art direction, than pretty much anything current with only a resolution update.

 

[FoxEye]

I'm worried about graphics getting too good for violent games to be plausable.

If we have lifelike graphics, how can you have games like GTA? It will just be far too real, and probably be horrific to play.

Yeah. It'll be like watching a movie!


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