Game Graphics & Lighting are Amazing, why some ppl

Some video card info:

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce GTX 980M
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Type: Full Device (POST)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1617&SUBSYS_1CED1043&REV_A1
Device Status: 0180200A [DN_DRIVER_LOADED|DN_STARTED|DN_DISABLEABLE|DN_NT_ENUMERATOR|DN_NT_DRIVER]
Device Problem Code: No Problem
Driver Problem Code: Unknown
Display Memory: 40882 MB
Dedicated Memory: 8144 MB
Shared Memory: 32737 MB

All recommended specs are otherwise covered, except it is not installed on an SSD.

 

One of the most demanding games on my rig is SotA. You would think that being the most demanding that it would be top end in visuals. It is not. Proc? High end I7. SSDs? Yes. M.2 NVME? Yes. RAM? Yes, 32gb. Video/GPU? Yes, 1080ti. Network? Hardwire, Cat6 - 10GB. Anything else running? No, just a game rig. And with all of this, SotA still runs like a pig. Is it pretty? Sure. Is it the prettiest graphics? No, not even close.

 

980m laptop..........too weak......i'm on a 2080 laptop and a 2070 desktop....everything is smooth and fast

 

You're pretty much a bit beyond where I am with hardware and ISP, and it doesn't "run like a pig" for me....

 

I have a laptop rig with an i7, GTX 960M and 16 GB of RAM - SOTA runs fine though the laptop runs hot.

This isn't the age of the desktop anymore as far as games are concerned. Smartphones, tablets, consoles and laptops are taking over.

Besides if SOTA required that much hardware to run well then this would be a dead game.

 

Ummmm...... About that

 

And yet, as I said, I can play other games with more pleasing aesthetics without issue. That suggests to me that one must bring more power than the graphics of the game justifies to have a smooth playing experience.

 

SotA is not dead, in the sense that those in a lingering coma are not dead. But, being not dead yet, there could still be significant recovery, provided another game more true to old school sentiments doesn't come along and slug SotA in the head while it is prone.

 

2020 really is the make or break year for SOTA. Many things need to go right (including the launch of Ep2). After too many years of getting pulled in many different directions, let's see if the game does find it's way.

 

Its only some zones and area's that have some older textures that some complain about. As mentioned above on max the game is pretty detailed and awesome. I could use some updates though on some spell fx's

 

For this game you basically have to install this game on a SSD. Even though it’s only recommended.

The difference in performance with a SSD and without one is like night and day.

 

I'll give that a try.

Edit:

Night and day, indeed. I have gone from minimal graphic settings with poor to terrible performance to much higher settings with good to excellent functionality.

At least in some cases, this could explain the disparity in opinion on visuals.

 

I'm curious... what has SotA nailed? I mean nailed down, complete, in great condition and you wouldn't want touched? Graphics? Performance? Crafting? Skills? Combat? Economy? Loot? End Game? Quest System? And when I say nailed, I really mean so complete that you would put the feature up against any game with it.

I ask this because if 2020 is THE year, then there needs to be some things actually complete. I believe you when you say being pulled in too many directions, too many (most) things are either broken or incomplete.

I don't mean this as a joke, the one thing I can come up with that seems to work well is our characters and pets being able to dance. And I'll refrain from commenting on that.

 

They say that way, because graphics are dated.

For example. Take a look at these "awesome" promo images here https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=44125
No matter where you try to find images of the game, they all lack sharpness, characters look "glued" on the scene, colors are weird, bump mappings ( the code that makes texture feel bumpy and not just a plane texture ) are weird.
It is NOT unity thing.

Tarkov is good looking game and its made with unity. See it yourself, google "Tarkov" and see what games in 2020 should look like at bare minimum.

I get it, graphics are not everything, I don't really care about the looks, but you can't just say its beautiful when it clearly is not. It's average at best ( again, It does not matter to me, thats not the reason I select games )

NOTE: beauty is subjective, but when it comes to game graphics and looks, you can definitely compare them, please do.

 

Well not everyone sees the same thing due to graphics card monitor and more. It almost sounds like trying to talk someone out of seeing a beautiful game. Imo graphics are not the issues at this point. Getting more things completed is like getting the raid system in, adding more skills to the cooking tree like ability to enhance lower tier recipes and upper tier recipes to make them more useful. Adding alcohol use to more recipes to make brewing more viable. More daily quests including pvp and crafting quests. Adding timed, quested, and capture Battlegrounds. Some things are upcoming but just to mention a few. Anyway off topic a bit. Oops

 

OP is literally questioning others for not seeing how good looking graphics Sota has, when in fact, it does not have it.
There is no setting, no computer in the world, that can produce screenshot, that makes someone go "Wow, that game looks beautiful".
Inside this little bubble ( these boards and the community ), it might feel the otherway, however, take a look at new games, last 5 years and you can definitely see the difference, indie and AAA.

(again, I don't care, never skipped a game because of graphics)

 

Just to be clear, SOTA currently looks like this:



A good road headed in the right direction but with many sections missing. Aside from fragmentation because of too many user modes, many things still don't make sense.

Why doesn't my high water/ice affinity have nothing to do with how well I enchant an item with ice/water effects?

Why can't I place anything on a stone block which severely limits what I can build no matter how many blocks I have?

Why am I limited to just one pet at at a time, which btw includes the chaotic clone which is NOT a pet by any definition?

Why are there no mobs roaming in a POT despite it being near an adventure zone?

etc etc etc..

The only difference between you and me is that I've been gone for a year so have the patience to wait till the end of 2020.

Plus the taming tree got a major boost when i got back

Just to reiterate, SOTA has a year to find it's footing, get all it's pieces working together and finally do well. 2021 will be much less forgiving an environment for a renaissance.

 

i agree with the lack of art direction argument, some NPC´s clothes, caves graphics looks strange. But in general the graphics are ok.

 

Totally understand this, there is a single way for art in a title to look. No Mans Sky, Borderlands, Destiny, Fortnite, Half-Life,... they all have different styles of art but there is something homogenous about them. They all can look good without looking the same. SotA lacks that. There are plenty of games that I play if the game play is good, you can forgive some graphics and so on. But when there are too many things that are sub-par then it gets tough to ignore it.

 

You are wrong. You are wrong because beauty is in the mind of the beholder.

While never games will generally have technically superior graphics, their aesthetic appeal to any particular person will always remain subjective. It doesn't matter how amazing the graphics in question are to anyone that doesn't fancy them, nor will you be able to convince anyone the graphics they adore are lacking due to technical inferiority.