Graphics & Map Not Up To Scratch By A Long Shot

The game seems to be coming together, I love the new combat deck system and already love the crafting but the landscape, environment, monster and character graphics are still very basic and most definitely not up to scratch for a modern game by a long shot.

Also, the map's graphics are extremely poor apart from the mountain ranges which are superb, I know the team are concentrating on PVP at the moment but fundamentals like graphics and maps need addressing as a matter of urgency.

Finally, could the devs change the awful character name font to gothic PLEASE? The amount of immersion you lose is considerable!

I thought this is the font we were getting:

 

I dunno. I think the graphics are fine!

You make a pretty convincing Wookiee in this shot.

I'm sure that they'll update them in time... right now, they seem to be focusing on system creation/retention.

Font change shouldn't take much effort, though.

 

Right now many objects and landscapes look too angular and edged which does not look very natural:



Also I think there are still to few plants everywhere with too wide and open areas that are just "covered" with a texture.

Compare to this:



Yes this is from Skyrim and it was said that SotA will not have the graphical quality of Skyrim, but still everything looks more naturally placed and arranged.
I hope we are getting there nonetheless...

 

This is a tough balancing act for sure, because most of use are enticed by the visuals. This is why so many games fail after release because they only show us the "eye candy", but the combat and crafting systems end up being a pile of manure. SOTA is taking perhaps the better route of being up front that the graphics and optimization will come later as this tends to be the the easiest things to fix where as the complex systems of combat, crafting, etc. are way more complicated to get right. As a community it is our job to explain to others who might be interested in SOTA to remember don;t get hung up on the look but focus on the systems. The artists involved in this project are pretty top notch and the items submitted by the community are extremely well done also.

I do like your idea for a font style!!! That should not be that hard to change.

 

For me my impression of the game graphics now at R8 is that some texture tearing is still there and I think the textures have improved.

The biggest improvement so far is that the overall FPS has improved enormously so even now at the highest graphic settings and maxing out the screen resolution there are
no hangs, catches or glitches, YAHOO.

The game is progressing visually in my mind and it takes time for everything to come together. The devs have promised much and are delivering it. We all must be patient but
believe me I can't wait until it's finished.

I think the overland map is improving slowly and I'm liking it better. The added icons, better visuals such as textures, it's all getting there.

I was in a general store in one of the towns and I was looking around. This shop had meat on the table that looked realsitic and items on shelves, some of which angular and not so real. So
work needs to be done on the small items. The texture of the stone walls of the structure were fantastic. The distinctive types of field stones with their different colors and textures seemed quite real.

I do hope the developers at some point concentrate on the little things such as the graphics that will add so much to the game.

 

The devs recently adjusted their schedule to place an emphasis on polish once every quarter.


Next "polish release" is scheduled for September. Should be interesting to see the results.

 

It will get there is my opinion. I do see it improving slightly every release.

I think graphics traditionally are the last things to be done, beyond getting the systems fully working and balanced.

Look at Bethesda games where people release texture packs to improve the visuals after the fact.

 

i've been a proponent of improving the graphics as much as anyone... but to me personally, this feels a bit overly critical. we have to temper our expectations with the reality of the engine being used and the budget.

 

Not to mention, what is the point? I've seen many things in nature with sharp tangent lines. Is that an excuse, no, but this is being extremely pedantic.

Besides the fact, the camera angle you are at produced most of those angles and silhouettes, change the angle.

Again, not perfect, but really? I think a better case can be made for texturing and lighting in some areas, rather than the way tangent space aligns based on your camera.

 

You always get to the heart of the problem with SoTA's graphic issues Darkmoon, there are far too few plants, trees and general world fixtures, essentially we seem to be inhabiting some sort of basic world at the moment with very little play/replay value and the landscapes do look far too angular.

 

I think that's why they call it pre-alpha and it is open for testing only a weekend a month.

Honestly if you want to nitpick stuff, things like the quests all being busted and things from previous releases regressing would probably trump the graphics issues. I trust it will be fixed, after all its obvious there's a ton of stuff we don't see in the Alpha releases... Ardoris for example comes to mind...

Also as far as the fonts I would like them too. Hell I want an option for the labels to be all in runic

 

Eve Online looked like crap at first. Then their playerbase asked, and they upgraded graphics (many times). I think the graphics will be better at launch, but just give it time. I would much rather see the GAME polished rather than the GRAPHICS, at least for now. There will be plenty of time to add glitter later on. I do want gothic font, though (and an 'all-runic' option also)!

 

Seriously for how long the game has been being developed by such a small team and so little funds it looks amazing. To give you example of the kind of budget a normal mmo gets Lineage III is said to have a budget of $92 Million dollars. They will have hundreds of developers working on that Project. Others cost even more! SotA has under 40 developers and under $5 Million in funding. Be patient and it'll look amazing when it's finally fully released instead of just a pre-alpha.

 

This is one place where I think practical readability should trump "immersion." It's one of my pet peeves with Ultima VII; however cool the font looks, it's hard to read.

 

They just changed the font like three patches ago during this release.

 

Did they? I admit I did not notice. I would also like to be able to change the color of the font and have different colors for player and npc characters. The bright white can be hard on the eyes.

 

Yes, they changed it *during* the FireLotus Radio dance party.

One of the devs killed us all during a Drowning Pool song, and crashed me in the process... I patch up, restart, and the font had changed.

Kind of funky actually.

 

I can agree with the font issue. The current font (even the "new" one) is generic and boring and doesn't reflect the feel or look of the game at all. The only good thing about it is that it's legible. I don't know why they don't just use the font from the original Kickstarter campaign like th OP showed. It is faaaaar better.

EDIT - I am referring to the overhead name tags and conversation box

 

The compass font is a gothic esque but readable font, just use that.

 

^ I should have been more specific, as I am only talking about the name tags and conversation box.