A Graphics Perspective

[jubakumbi]

52 minutes ago, doc_miller said:

Question for folks using cel shading - how demanding is it?  I'm using a fairly cheap machine with Intel onboard graphics, and was concerned that cel shading would just be too much for it.

Unsure TBH.

Try and just turn it off is it kills FPS too much / tweak...

[PaxArcana]

20 minutes ago, WumpusRat said:

It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

cast FROTZ on sword

 

😄

[biostem]

CoH has a particular style that I too find appealing.  Sure, it has its flaws, and certain textures or pieces are blurry, but if you work with the graphics engine and pick costume pieces and colors that are more appealing, those flaws are easily overlooked.  I've tried the cell-shading, but just couldn't get used to the odd layer-like separations between the shine it applies to your character, (maybe someone could recommend specific settings to minimize that).  Cheers!

[Spotlore]

OG gamers are mature enough to know that graphics only make a pretty game.  They don't make a good game.  Gameplay is what is most important.  Is it fun, immersive, challenging, entertaining, addictive?  Just look at EA / Dice Star Wars.  It's beautiful, but its an empty feeling gulag deprived of soul, built to sell saps loot crates.  

 

CoH has soul.  And not bad lookin graphics to boot.  😛 

[Megajoule]

5 hours ago, WumpusRat said:

It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

I smell a wumpus!

[WumpusRat]

1 hour ago, Megajoule said:

I smell a wumpus!

That game is actually where half my username comes from. 🙂

[Giocondi]

Honestly the graphics pass the "good enough" threshold for me as well. The abilities and related effects look amazing to me. The way energy blasts look/feel/sound or uppercutting someone through the air. Earth controller's immobs and holds. It all looks great to me. The only things that look flat out bad are details like block hands and I never am looking at that when I play. I'm sure the magical memories of this game cause some forgiveness in the graphics department, but they don't bother me in the slightest.

[Zep]

The original artists did a really good job with the textures. 

 

Still, at 4k, they can show their age.

 

[Lost Ninja]

I play with cell shading on on my main monitor (1080p), I find that with cell shading on the low resolution textures of most 3D objects in game are less glaring. I dread to think how poor they'd look if I was playing at a much higher resolution. Biggest update that the game needs IMO is in the 2D anyway, the UI desperately needs an update. But I'd be happy to see some higher resolution textures too.

[Abraxus]

I'm sure they'll get around to improving things on the graphics front.  But, there are probably more pressing things that will come first, not the least of which is the whole deal with NCSoft thing, which will have a huge impact on the game, regardless of which way it goes.

[Hero Star]

What about user side graphic mods. Is that possible?

[jubakumbi]

10 minutes ago, Hero Star said:

What about user side graphic mods. Is that possible?

Already being done.

You can change pigg file contents at the client side, there are some post processing applicaiotns poeple like as well.

[Hero Star]

1 minute ago, jubakumbi said:

Already being done.

You can change pigg file contents at the client side, there are some post processing applicaiotns poeple like as well.

Is there a link to these or are they still being worked on?

[jubakumbi]

5 minutes ago, Hero Star said:

Is there a link to these or are they still being worked on?

I have seen links all over - here and reddit - not seen a big compendium.

The Tools area here has a few of the popular ones for Icons.

I have seen a couple packs at some point that replace some in-game chest symbols with DC/Marverl stuff.

[Sovera]

Sadly I have been simply UNABLE to bring ONE, SINGLE, of ANY of my friends to try the game because they look at it and go BOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GRAPHICS ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD LOOOOOOOOOOOOKING.............................................................

 

And voila, I've just summed up the answers I got from my raving about the preposterous number of build possibilities, not just swinging a sword or shooting a bow, but summoning storms, throwing fire, throwing ice, fighting with giant FF7 swords, flying, super jumping, the *immense* capabilities of SG bases, the costume creator possibilities and etc.

[jubakumbi]

2 minutes ago, Sovera said:

Sadly I have been simply UNABLE to bring ONE, SINGLE, of ANY of my friends to try the game because they look at it and go BOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GRAPHICS ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD LOOOOOOOOOOOOKING.............................................................

 

And voila, I've just summed up the answers I got from my raving about the preposterous number of build possibilities, not just swinging a sword or shooting a bow, but summoning storms, throwing fire, throwing ice, fighting with giant FF7 swords, flying, super jumping, the *immense* capabilities of SG bases, the costume creator possibilities and etc.

The funny part to me is to hear theis and then see all of the popular pixelated games...

[biostem]

Gameplay has always trumped graphics, for me.  I just can't understand why people won't look past polygon counts or such...

[jubakumbi]

2 minutes ago, biostem said:

Gameplay has always trumped graphics, for me.  I just can't understand why people won't look past polygon counts or such...

There is very good science behind 'monkey see/monkey do'.

Modern (westernized?) humans have been trained that new = better, period.

No mater the channel, the product, the program, or the TV show, the culture trains people that new = better to sell more product.

 

Advertising tells people old is bad, new is better, and many, if not most, believe it.

New = wealth

New = success

New = the 'in' crowd

This is what our world does.

My friends lamented years ago thier (now grown) kids could recognize brand symbols before they could read.

 

The Tribe trains us tha if we look and fell 'new', we are successful and powerful.

[Sovera]

11 minutes ago, jubakumbi said:

The funny part to me is to hear theis and then see all of the popular pixelated games...

The *funny* part is that I met most of them in WoW and they are playing the game. WoW! Let us compare the build possibilities between one and the other! So you're a hunter. Do you want to go melee, ranged, or ranged with a pet? Voila, three builds, three choices. Then I point them at easily 40-50 choices with with just scrapper. Do you wantto throw fire and be super dodgy? You can. Do you want to throw fire and be protected by ice? You can. do you want to throw fire and be protected by fire? You can! And after we reach the end of the list we can start all over with ice. Throw ice? Sure, do you want to do it with super dodgy? Do it. Protected by ice? Do it.

[jubakumbi]

11 minutes ago, Sovera said:

The *funny* part is that I met most of them in WoW and they are playing the game. WoW! Let us compare the build possibilities between one and the other! So you're a hunter. Do you want to go melee, ranged, or ranged with a pet? Voila, three builds, three choices. Then I point them at easily 40-50 choices with with just scrapper. Do you wantto throw fire and be super dodgy? You can. Do you want to throw fire and be protected by ice? You can. do you want to throw fire and be protected by fire? You can! And after we reach the end of the list we can start all over with ice. Throw ice? Sure, do you want to do it with super dodgy? Do it. Protected by ice? Do it.

IME/IMO, modern games have trained gamers to want fewer choices.

It is not my thing, I like making my own characters and my own stories, but the reality is that the 'masses' are trained to want fewer choices and then to be told a story.

A game like CoH is almost the opposite of that.

 

I mean, we have never had a shortage of players that just want to be given a build and follow it, with no understanding of the 'why' and 'how'.

 

IMO/IME, it's just a fundamental difference in approaching ones relaxation time.

I prefer more interaction at the design level, before engaging the enemy, others are fine with just picking the Warrior and killin' stuff.

 

Niether camp is new, there have always been consumers and creators, and the players that want more design control are outnumbered, as they always have been, IMO.

[Kinestron]

Same here. My nephew who is much younger and played more modern games than me still loves this game. He's always creating new characters. I still get excited throwing a fireball, using wormhole or energy transfer, doing an assassin strike, just about any alpha blast, etc. I haven't made a new Earth controller yet, levelled up my nephews and asked him to show me Earthquake he had just gotten. Not fighting enemies but just to show me the animation. We both oohed and aahed while watching it. I don't know what it is about CoH, but the combination of particle effects, animations and sounds really hits me in the visceral feelz more than any other MMO. For instance, I loved ESO's atmosphere, story, voice acting, quests...just a beautiful game but damn the combat felt lacking in any type of oomph besides a spell here or there.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Kinestron

[Number9]

I find that running the game on stock graphics, maxed its an interesting mix - some textures and graphics seem completely up to date, while other bits and pieces are quite dated.  On the whole though its a real credit to the original design team how well the game holds up graphically speaking. 

 

 

That said, once discovering cel shading I never looked back.  Im not a big fan of cel shading in other games (couldnt stand it in CO), but in CoH I think its terrific.  To each his own I guess. 

Edited September 25, 2019 by Number9

[Apparition]

21 hours ago, Sovera said:

Sadly I have been simply UNABLE to bring ONE, SINGLE, of ANY of my friends to try the game because they look at it and go BOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GRAPHICS ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD LOOOOOOOOOOOOKING.............................................................

 

And voila, I've just summed up the answers I got from my raving about the preposterous number of build possibilities, not just swinging a sword or shooting a bow, but summoning storms, throwing fire, throwing ice, fighting with giant FF7 swords, flying, super jumping, the *immense* capabilities of SG bases, the costume creator possibilities and etc.

 

That's the response I got from a co-worker that I tried to get to play the game... back in 2010.  I got him to play for two weeks or so, and he just stopped.  He complained that the game was too boring and too old looking.  He couldn't understand how I still played when there were much better looking games available.  Again, this was 2010.

 

2019?  Forget about it.

[Abraxus]

38 minutes ago, Apparition said:

 

That's the response I got from a co-worker that I tried to get to play the game... back in 2010.  I got him to play for two weeks or so, and he just stopped.  He complained that the game was too boring and too old looking.  He couldn't understand how I still played when there were much better looking games available.  Again, this was 2010.

 

2019?  Forget about it.

Plenty of prettier games.  Good games...not so much.

[calash]

On 9/15/2019 at 1:30 AM, Megajoule said:

I smell a wumpus!

And now I want CoH version of Zork.  

 

Or Legend of the Red Dragon.  Where are my BBS people at???