Graphics not improving much over the years...

I can assure you I don't need an eye test :p

If anything it's more a case of me having unrealistic expectations/standards.



1. The mods are just tweaks to lighting files
2. Yes it is one of the few examples but it shows what could be done 11 years ago, I expected bigger leaps from then until now... wrongly it seems.



Good post, makes sense
You absolutely need a eye test on the premise that games haven't improved, or you don't know what you're looking at or what to look for.
 
You absolutely need a eye test on the premise that games haven't improved, or you don't know what you're looking at or what to look for.

Where did I say games graphics haven't improved ? I don't think I've written that anywhere in this thread. The entire thread is about graphics not improving at the rate I had initially expected them to 10 or so years ago...

Obviously they have improved, just not at the rate id expected.
 
I'm not reinstalling Crysis to be absolutely sure just for this thread, but seriously, from YouTube videos it looks very dated. And that was a game that was an anomaly at the time. hardware couldn't run it basically. They 'could' make game that look absolutely indistinguishable from real life (remember those examples of what the Fox Engine could do?) but they would run at 1 fps.

Look at Hellblade for example, the level of detail on everything is really really nice. Great facial animation capture, real time lighting, reflextions etc.
 
problem is many things look better in our minds.especially old games and how we remember them.

i can guarentee though for eg theHunter call of the wild for eg on max settings is better than any game ive seen ever.crysis or not.games are better now than before but i get what people say. older games are designed differently.todays games are often big and bold.
 
I would agree with the OP, but I think the reasons for the trend are numerous:

* Increased resolution targets
* Increased FPS targets
* Increased influence of the low-end in the form of console popularity
* The law of diminishing returns with graphical effects (the Ultra settings effect)
* Decreased competition in the GPU space
* Thermal, power and cost limits in the GPU space
* The popularity of games which do not require high end hardware (DOTA, LOL etc)

Modded crysis does still look awesome but that's not really a fair comment as you're basically improving almost every single effect and model in the game to get that effect. Stock Crysis looks pretty dated now.

 
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Its a bit boring that people chase the prettiest graphics and in turn it sacrifices developers concentrating on quality game development. And can you blame them when you have people crying about graphics not being good enough?

I'm still waiting for my organic RPGs with REAL choices which make real impact on how the plot takes place. I'd love to have dynamic conversations with NPCs etc. Imagine having a game which branches from the point of battles. You have set dialogue with a witch, dependant on conversation she may walk away, be recruited to you or become an enemy.. or you battle her and dependant on the result she may a) join you b) die c) stop the fight... and dependant on her inclusion in the party and ur actions, she may a) backstab you b) leave c) sacrifice herself to save you d) fight with you til the bitter end

But nah.. people want better looking grass and leaves.



Very few games are pushing the envelope gameplay wise and I can't blame the developers because people seemingly care about the superficial far more. Last good concept I saw was the new shadow of mordor game.
 
I honestly want both in terms of gameplay and visuals. I think CIG have shown well how to use textures that are also only 256x256 pixel to 2048x2048 pixel. People keep suggesting they are using 8k to give the detail. They are not and it still looks stunning.

This post on Reddit really makes sense and shows how you can push detail and have good work flow to do so;
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitize...n_tech_artist_in_the_industry_and_id_love_to/

And some 4k screen shots of WIP;
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/community/citizen-spotlight/7400-Star-Citizen-4K-Screen-Shots

However I do think it comes down to the cost in time because of the pipeline in engines, it just takes so long to produce.

Further to that, hardware isn't keeping up with what game engines can do now either in reality. The engines are more than capable of providing much better graphics but we need so much more raw power from GPU's and CPU's. To show that you only have to see the pre-rendered tech demos from CryEngine & Unreal over the years. To give us those graphics in real time is where we should be aiming over the next decade.

Photogrammetry is also starting to move forward and greater use of mocap and similar.

Again going a little back to CIG and what they are doing in Cryengine in terms of the facial mocap is very impressive. real time render to texture has big implication in future games. Volumetric effects and fluid dynamics with real physical interaction is moving forward now but it is so compute heavy at moment devs struggle to implement it effectively.

These are things that can add to depth of immersion regardless of art style.
 
Very few games are pushing the envelope gameplay wise and I can't blame the developers because people seemingly care about the superficial far more.
I disagree with this statement entirely.

There are literally hundreds of games every year pushing the envelope with all kinds of graphical and gameplay directions.

A good percentage of the most popular games are not pushing any kind of envelopes regarding graphics, super popular franchises like COD and LOL are not played for their graphics.
 
I disagree with this statement entirely.

There are literally hundreds of games every year pushing the envelope with all kinds of graphical and gameplay directions.

A good percentage of the most popular games are not pushing any kind of envelopes regarding graphics, super popular franchises like COD and LOL are not played for their graphics.
What envelope is COD pushing that isn't superficial then?
 
I disagree with this statement entirely.

There are literally hundreds of games every year pushing the envelope with all kinds of graphical and gameplay directions.

A good percentage of the most popular games are not pushing any kind of envelopes regarding graphics, super popular franchises like COD and LOL are not played for their graphics.


Examples please of "hundreds" of games pushing the gaming envelope?

I'm excluding indie titles when I say this and my statement is more angled towards AAA titles. Eagerly awaiting response so I can play these games:)


Edit: Just read your post and saw you mentioned COD. lol.
lmao
rofl
lol
lmao
hehe


cod... fifa too rite.. pushing that gaming envelope all the way to the bank!!!
 
Its a bit boring that people chase the prettiest graphics and in turn it sacrifices developers concentrating on quality game development. And can you blame them when you have people crying about graphics not being good enough?

I'm still waiting for my organic RPGs with REAL choices which make real impact on how the plot takes place. I'd love to have dynamic conversations with NPCs etc. Imagine having a game which branches from the point of battles. You have set dialogue with a witch, dependant on conversation she may walk away, be recruited to you or become an enemy.. or you battle her and dependant on the result she may a) join you b) die c) stop the fight... and dependant on her inclusion in the party and ur actions, she may a) backstab you b) leave c) sacrifice herself to save you d) fight with you til the bitter end

But nah.. people want better looking grass and leaves.



Very few games are pushing the envelope gameplay wise and I can't blame the developers because people seemingly care about the superficial far more. Last good concept I saw was the new shadow of mordor game.

It's almost as if you think the graphic team are responsible for the core gameplay...
 
My point was that COD and LOL are examples against consumers putting pressure on developers to prioritize graphics... Their biggest target markets don't care about the graphics, heck, stick minecraft in there too, people don't care about the graphical fidelity there either.

my statement is more angled towards AAA titles
Most "Triple A" titles will never push the envelope in any way not because graphics are prioritized over gameplay but because profit is prioritized over everything.

I'm not really sure what point you are trying to make if you only include Triple A titles. Play the games you like regardless of number of A's attached to them, you're clearly aware that the envelope pushing games exist.
 
Comes down to money at the end of the day no profit in a game that cant run on consoles

cant see that changing any time soon as they seem to be pushing and failing for 4k instead of more detailed game worlds at the moment

on the plus side it is good to know any game i buy on the pc will run well for a good while yet
 
to me, it seems part of the issue is [or was] that companies were "dumbing down" the graphics as they were all concentrating on consoles. there seems an obvious jump in quality when you look at games specifically designed for PCs
 
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