Morrowind was actually quite benign regarding the hardware requirements. I remember that I started playing the game on a computer that was clearly below the minimum specs that were mentioned on the box, and while it was a bit sluggish, it was definitely playable.But today you've got a better PC, right?Fuck you guys for graphicwhoring morrowind, I had to play it on a fagtop with 0 view distance.
I don't mind texture replacers. For me what ruins modded copies of Morrowind are those who replace the models and slather the screen with pixel shaders. Something about those blatantly photographed textures (whether they be the original or replacers), not marred by chunky specular maps and bloom, is really nostalgic for me. I love the look of early 2000's games, with their dim, moody lighting and high contrast, defined low-poly models. It makes everything feel "primeval" or something to me.
A good comparison. I've always been fond of the lighting in movies from the 1970s and early 1980's for some indescribable reason. It has a sort of radiant, long-exposure quality to it:
And speaking of Indiana Jones in particular, I'm reminded of how Last Crusade had so many crisp, focused shots on the characters whilst Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had this horrible soft lighting and bloom muddling all of the scenes.
Exactly. I've never been able to tactfully describe what happened between then and now. I think one thing that the older games handle better is shadowing. There's usually very little ambient light or no support for it at all in Quake/Goldsrc era engines. When there is, it's usually not tinted, so everything gradually just seems to fade away into this sleepy, impassive dimness. Except for when you're outdoors, there's usually very little ambient lighting in real life. Just light and shadow. I think modern games overcomplicate the formula. Modelling too - everything in Oblivion has this inflated, bulky look to it that never sat right with me.
I don't remember what replacers I use. The most comprehensive one that stays true to the vanilla feel is Connary's texture replacers, which are packed into a BSA and used to be on Megaupload someplace. Not sure if he has an official page some place for them. There's also Darknut's replacers for weapons, armor and creatures.
I don't have a problem with this uncanny valley effect at all, it's more like modern games having a much too sterile feel about them compared to older ones. Shitty effects that make character models look like they're covered in plastic foil and make surfaces that are shone upon glow brightly just make everything look so artificial and crappy. Something like Thief might look like a low-res version of a real life scene. Anything from Unreal Engine 3 looks like shit precisely because of all the horrible effects used there.
Comparison pics:
Dishonored, which runs on UE3 and look how horribly shiny most surfaces are:
Compare that to the Dark Mod, which also has too much bloom for my tastes but much more tasteful lighting:
And good old Thief 2:
Thief 2 looks the most "real" to me, due to the lack of glow-effects on lit surfaces. Dark Mod has some annoying bloom, but the lighting is done rather well and adds to the atmosphere. Dishonored is by far the brightest and shiniest, which detracts a lot from the atmosphere. If every surface glows when light falls on it, it doesn't look realistic at all, but artificial and unnatural.
). The textures are on BTB's list, but they are hosted on 4shared, which requires (free) registration. As soon as I get my laptop back, I'll try to upload it somewhere else for all the tinfoil hats on Codexia.
What dungeon is that? I feel ashamed but I do not recognise it
I shouldn't have lit the torch.
