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The Changing face of Graphics... (for the none belivers) :P

locutus12

locutus12

locutus12

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Joined
11 Mar 2004
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ive been hearing a lot of people saying recently that "we have all this hardware but our games are crap" and "games havent advanced that much in the last ten years" and a few other comments...

i thought i would make this to emphasize the graphical jumps that have been made in the past 10 years and hopefully proove to the doubters that it has all been and continues to be worth it :)

my theory is that the reason a lot of people are moaning about the lack of advances is because they have gotten so used to these advances that they dont even notice when they are happening right in front of their eyes, so this threads a little Visual refresher course to show the differences and why all that money youve spent on graphics cards has been worth it (apart from Ageia of course, even God himself couldnt make that a good value product)



lets begin ...

1996: Quake
quake12mv.jpg


1998: Half Life
halflife15lj.jpg

halflife28b3hl.jpg

halflife12pg.jpg
 
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nice thread mate,

Quake looks so bad now (obviously) but at the time it looked great, just goes to show just how quickly they've come along

a lot of games inbetween those posted pushed the barrier up each time as well so it was literally every few months we saw the graphics being pushed
 
Steedie said:
nice thread mate,

Quake looks so bad now (obviously) but at the time it looked great, just goes to show just how quickly they've come along

a lot of games inbetween those posted pushed the barrier up each time as well so it was literally every few months we saw the graphics being pushed
Click to expand...


and thats my point exactly, were in danger of getting used to these innovations, so much so that on a quiet year like 2006 is due to the tech shift with DX10, a lot of us are moaning about the apparent lack of innovation :)

p.s. youve no idea how long it took to make this thread... not a hotlink in site!
 
so no one believes graphics have advanced ROFL thats kin hilarious. :D

Have to agree on HL2, i reinstalled it the other week to go through it again before i start Ep 1, and i was suprised how good the graphics still are today, puts a lot of todays stuff to shame.
 
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I agree with the point about prices, buying a decent graphics card costs an absolute fortune, I can't justify the price, compared to just getting an xbox 360
 
LoadsaMoney said:
so no one believes graphics have advanced ROFL thats kin hilarious. :D

Have to agree on HL2, i reinstalled it the other week to go through it again before i start Ep 1, and i was suprised how good the graphics still are today, puts a lot of todays stuff to shame.
Click to expand...


After playing HL2 EP1 on max settings with my lovely new gfx card, i re-installed HL2 but this time with FakeFactory's mods.. and WOW :eek:


I'll let the picture speak for itself, no cinematic cut scene, just a snapsot of the game as you play it:

eli.jpg


They have done a great job with that mod. Other then Alyx, who's skin texture is perhaps far too smooth but looks a lot "sexier", every character looks surreal! I have just bought Quake 4 and HL2 franchise puts it to shame!!! The lip synch in Quake 4 is god awfull. I have played F.E.A.R, which is very good and unique in ways.

But king for me at the mo is HL2 and co, no improvements...pfffft!
 
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Nice pics, no doubt graphics have gotten better. If we look at the games individually, they represented the cutting edge at the time they were released. So I suppose some of us are not as impressed by today's games not because of the graphics but we are a lot older and no longer 12 years old.

I reckon gameplay is so much more important compared to graphics. Has gameplay really stood still as a result of developers being lazy or i've just gotten older and more demanding?

I love Oblivion cos its probably the most playable game I've come across for a few years. Sure it looks great but its all in the head isn't it. Using your imagination, that pixelated Mammoth tank in C&C was as real as any 3D rendered behemoth today. Maybe we're just not as imaginative as we get older.
 
The problem with all of this is that the graphical advances only count for anything now if they actually make a vital contribution to gameplay and this hasn't happened for the last god knows how many years, hence why people are going down other avenues of gaming acceleration such as the PhysX idea, sure the games get nicer looking year after year but do the games get any better? Not really so I'm all for new ideas and will be interested to see if developers get behind PhysX and we'll see new things like fully destructable and reactional enviroments which would apply not just to FPS's but to all genre's of gaming.
 
^ Yes but to an extent the graphical advances do make the game better all on their own. The added realism increases the experience and as a result can make it more enjoyable and immersive, even if the plot etc aren't any better.
 
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