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AoD: What do you think of TEH GRAFIKS?

What do you think of the graphics?

  • I can't play a game that looks so awful (1/10)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The graphics are bad, but I've seen worse (3/10)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The graphics are ok (5/10)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I can't explain it but I actually like the graphics (7/10)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

Zomg

Arbiter
Joined
Oct 21, 2005
Messages
6,984
I feel bad about nitpicking the writing now thatI'm seeing other people bitching about polish that means nothing to me.
 

Longshanks

Augur
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Messages
897
Location
Australia.
Voted for 5/10.

Would not get in the way of my enjoyment of the game, and that's all I ask from an independant game.

Graphics are better than I expect from an independant developer. Models look nice and indoor areas seem will furnished.

The improvement from the original screenshots has been impressive. I know it's copped its fair ammount of criticism but I actually quite like the HUD.

Unless the demo is disastrous I'll definitely be buying.
 

Lumpy

Arcane
Joined
Sep 11, 2005
Messages
8,525
By the way, does anyone know where I can find the 2D screenshots?
 

Lumpy

Arcane
Joined
Sep 11, 2005
Messages
8,525
I was expecting those to be better than the 3D, but they aren't really.
 

Monolith

Prophet
Joined
Mar 7, 2006
Messages
1,290
Location
München
I wouldn't have had a problem with the 2D graphics. Nonetheless, the new graphics look much better. I voted for 5. They are alright, although really lacking style and art. Make the textures a bit more versatile, add some paths, some bushes, some rubbish, some hints that the area you're showing really evolved instead of just appearing out of the nowhere. Right now, it doesn't, at least in my opinion (and from what I've seen so far).

Besides, it really could be a little bit darker. I like the dark UI a codex user posted some time ago and it's unfortunate that you won't (or can't) change it to that.
 

Ivy Mike

Scholar
Joined
Jun 28, 2005
Messages
495
Location
Ground Zero
Voted 5/10. By indie standards the graphics lie somewhere between ok and good. As have been mentioned several times before, localized light sources would to a heap of difference. The reason the graphics seem "bland" is probalby because of the dominance of the ambient light. Am I right in that this is a limitation set by the Torque engine itself?

Another point that has been brought by several posters is that artistic direction have a hughe influence on the way we judge graphics. Personally I think that, overall, the artistic direction is fine (setting, style of clothing etc) but somehow fails to convey the "feeling" of a world trying to rise from the apocalypse. Basically, there's not enough, trash, clutter, broken stuff, crumbling buildings. I'm not saying that there shold be excessive clutter like Fallout, but throwing some shit around would probably make the world seem less empty. An idea would be for however is designing the different areas to take a look at PS:T, Fallout, Arcanum, BG 1&2 etc to see how and what they did to convey the feeling of a living world (placement of buildings, statues, bushes, barrels etc etc).

[EDIT]
Okay, most of you might know this game, and even though they use a more "modern" engine than you and your crew VD, they have the clutter part down cold. Looking at what the Afterfall developers did, I'd say that a greater variation in textures would improve the graphics significantly.
[/EDIT]
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024

Monica21

Scholar
Joined
Oct 16, 2005
Messages
214
I voted 5/10. The graphics are more than acceptable for an indie game, but I would also agree that the world generally looks a bit bland and sterile. I don't have an eye for art, so I can't give you specifics on what could or couldn't be improved, but regardless, I plan on purchasing the game whether you tweak graphics or not.
 

fraunclein

Novice
Joined
Jan 25, 2006
Messages
67
5/10

They're ok, but nothing remarkably atmosphere evoking (in contrary to the static art, which is orgasmotronic). I don't mind the lack of clutter, but the colour palette just seems, well... as noted before, non-decadent. Either it's that or the too bright lightning/lack of proper shadows, but I'll leave the more constructive criticism to those who know what they're talking about.

Will they actually hurt my [insert a buzzword describing human tendency to lose themselves in doing something stimulating]? I don't think so.
 

jiujitsu

Cipher
Joined
Mar 11, 2004
Messages
1,444
Project: Eternity
My only complaints are the model textures and the empty feel of the environment. There aren't enough useless nothings strewn about.
 
Joined
Oct 8, 2006
Messages
452
I think the graphics are quite good, truth being said. What i think they lack is a bit more character and atmosphere. You have a very good fiction going, but the visuals are not really transmiting the ideas behind the world and the fiction, or at least the ones i believe are there based on my limited knowledge of the world you are creating.

The images lack the despair, confussion, and disorder i understand (or mis-understand) the seting is build upon. I was hoping for something more like a virtual kali yuga in its climax, a universe everywhere you look there is the feeling of lost truth, lost ideals, lost knowledge, and lost glory. A peremnial aura of melancholy and subtle chaos, i could say with my limited understanding of this language. An age of transition where a world is dying and the survivors are divided between their old structures and the needs of a new age that looms on the horizon.

So i guess instead of asking about how good are the graphics by the industry current standars or talking about how shitty the lighting is, the point is how well are they being used to convey the narrative. I would recommend you look around the net for a very old game by the name of Azrael's Tear, as it can give you a bit of inspiration for an atmosphere of decadence and decay - A game with a feeling a bit like yours, at least in my limited opinion of the setting. While having graphics that where utter shit even for its time, they manage to tell the story partly by themselves. When going through an old corridor, you can actually feel the ages gone by and the slow decadence eating away its foundations, the sadness in the stagnant air, the corruption of the city mirroring the corruption of those who inhabit it.

I hope no one gets this first post of mine the wrong way. Just trying to help. And forgive my lousy english.

I thank you for your time.
 

galsiah

Erudite
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
1,613
Location
Montreal
The Rambling Sage said:
...everywhere you look there is the feeling of lost truth, lost ideals, lost knowledge, and lost glory. A peremnial aura of melancholy and subtle chaos... An age of transition where a world is dying and the survivors are divided between their old structures and the needs of a new age that looms on the horizon...
...but enough about the codex :).

Good post. I agree entirely.
In some ways I guess it'll be hard to do much in this direction at such a late stage, but perhaps not. After all there should be little overall difference in architecture/landscape between a thriving civilization and a collaps(ing)/(ed) one. The difference would often be in the details - (lack of) expansive lighting/decoration, decay, disrepair, disuse etc. -, as well as in the people clearly.
 
Joined
Oct 8, 2006
Messages
172
Those later 2D screens look fantastic for an Indie game, VD, and pretty much beats the art I've seen for most other Indie games. The same went for the animations that you showed us. Thought so last year, and still think so now. I recall the reasons you gave for the switch to 3D was that in 2D the characters would only have 4 basic armor types and a few basic attack animations, but still I don't recall that Fallout did much better in this regard. The key point here is aesthetic appeal, which the current 3D lacks. My main gripes would be the texturing and proportioning of the character models, which for some reason look cartoonish to me.

With that said however, I should say that I am nevertheless looking forward to the game; when I downloaded the demo for Teudogar, I had no idea that a game with such simplistic graphics would hold me for as long as it did (yes, I am new to the Indie scene).
 

Sae

Novice
Joined
Jul 20, 2006
Messages
29
Is there a point where the player stumbles upon some ruins?

If so, I'd really like to see a screen shot of some.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
The Rambling Sage said:
Good post, Sage. I agree with many points you (and the others) have made. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea how to create the image you've just described, but I did realize the importance of having a strong art lead, so our next project (should we have one) would have a better art direction.

That doesn't mean though that AoD completely lacks style and fails to rise above blandness and genericalness. Some locations are generic, some are very unique and interesting. In my opinion, of course.

We'll show more screens showing different locations soon. Welcome to the forums.

Keender_surprise said:
Those later 2D screens look fantastic for an Indie game, VD, and pretty much beats the art I've seen for most other Indie games.
Thanks.

With that said however, I should say that I am nevertheless looking forward to the game; when I downloaded the demo for Teudogar, I had no idea that a game with such simplistic graphics would hold me for as long as it did (yes, I am new to the Indie scene).
Better late than never, eh? Have you tried the Spiderweb games yet?

Sae said:
Is there a point where the player stumbles upon some ruins?

If so, I'd really like to see a screen shot of some.
Will be posted soon (when we figure out what to do with the graphics). Right now we are discussing the 3 main points made in this thread. Thanks to all who posted. If you have something to add, now is the time.
 

Claw

Erudite
Patron
Joined
Aug 7, 2004
Messages
3,777
Location
The center of my world.
Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2
Vault Dweller said:
Good post, Sage. I agree with many points you (and the others) have made. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea how to create the image you've just described,
What comes to my mind is a decaying mansion used as barracks or public market. You'd see signs of past glory everywhere, broken ornaments and stuff like that.
In your screenshots I see many plain and functional buildings. There is little sense of decay - or decadence.
I think what may come closes to the "right" look may be that one town you showed us, with a broken wall and the remainds of a collonade inside.

I ain't sure how to properly portray decandence, but the screenshots clearly lack decay.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
Claw said:
Vault Dweller said:
Good post, Sage. I agree with many points you (and the others) have made. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea how to create the image you've just described,
What comes to my mind is a decaying mansion used as barracks or public market. You'd see signs of past glory everywhere, broken ornaments and stuff like that.
We have that.

In your screenshots I see many plain and functional buildings. There is little sense of decay - or decadence.
The world hasn't been destroyed. Some places are in a relatively good shape, some are not.

I think what may come closes to the "right" look may be that one town you showed us, with a broken wall and the remainds of a collonade inside.
That's the starting town, and that's where the screens were taken.
 

Claw

Erudite
Patron
Joined
Aug 7, 2004
Messages
3,777
Location
The center of my world.
Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2
Vault Dweller said:
We have that.
That's great; we can only judge the game by what you show us, naturally.

The world hasn't been destroyed. Some places are in a relatively good shape, some are not.
True, but by the general descriptions of the setting, I'd expect to see more decay. The artwork shows lots of decay and destruction, unlike the screenshots.

That's the starting town, and that's where the screens were taken.
All of them? Well, I suppose not everything has to be a ruined palace, but so far all buildings I've seen up close looked pretty clean, plain and functional.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
Claw said:
That's great; we can only judge the game by what you show us, naturally.
Obviously.

True, but by the general descriptions of the setting, I'd expect to see more decay. The artwork shows lots of decay and destruction, unlike the screenshots.
http://www.irontowerstudio.com/world.htm
That's Teron, the starting town (the concept under the logo)

All of them? Well, I suppose not everything has to be a ruined palace, but so far all buildings I've seen up close looked pretty clean, plain and functional.
They are well maintained: blacksmith, loremaster, the Imperial Guards' barracks. I do see the point though - by looking at the screenshots it's impossible to tell that they are not from a generic fantasy game, but from a darker, post-apocalyptic game. We'll work on it, and we'll show different stuff soon (for you to tear apart).
 

Nael

Arcane
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
11,384
Location
Indy
I think as long as not everything in the entire world looks the same the graphics are definitely bearable. Also, I hope that it's not "daylight" everywhere you go either, but these are just statements made after seeing only 4 pictures.

If the game has as strong a storyline/plot and depth to it as I've been hearing I think these things will defocus the attention away from how "screenshot worthy" the game is. If you really worry about how these graphics will be received just ask yourself if you're making this game for people to have a real memorable and deep experience or if you are expecting people to start "PICZ OF YOUR CHARACTER!" threads around here. Obviously a rhetorical question :wink:

Simply put though, I think your major target audience around here is going to appreciate what you do with the deeper parts of the game, and not concern themselves too much whether or not the raindrops glisten or if flies swarm minotaur dung.
 

quasimodo

Augur
Joined
Oct 11, 2006
Messages
372
The graphics are okay, better than most other indie games. I am very interested in this game because it seems like the only way I am going to get any TB combat and decent RP game play is from indie or foreign developers. When I read what VD had to say about TB combat in a previous post it was like a breath of fresh air....TB combat is not just more tactical than real time it is also more tense and exciting!

I remember quite a few games from the 90's that as I was playing them for the first time I was busy in the back of my mind planning how I would play the next time and likewise the time after that. I haven't experienced that for an American made game in the last 4 or 5 years.

So I will say this to VD. I will buy this game when it comes out. If I like this game enough to finish it and start up another game and finish it back to back I will send you the price of the game. I will keep doing this as long as the game is worth replaying because you will deserve my money a Hell of lot more than the clowns I have been giving it to for games that I couldn't stand to play through once.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
quasimodo said:
So I will say this to VD. I will buy this game when it comes out. If I like this game enough to finish it and start up another game and finish it back to back I will send you the price of the game. I will keep doing this as long as the game is worth replaying because you will deserve my money a Hell of lot more than the clowns I have been giving it to for games that I couldn't stand to play through once.
:salute:
 

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