Very Bad Graphics

Here are some of mine...

 

OK, I am running on a laptop - and a low end one at that. It has an AMD processor (A8 series) and an INTEGRATED 512 mb graphics card. NO ONE should be playing games on a system much worse than mine. Yet in the following screenshot there are 4 light sources, the two primary being the blue torches visible. Each casts distinct shadows on the wall from the chair and mounted antlers. The texturing is pretty good. The poly-look on the figure is good, for the resolution. There are a couple of flaws, the bottle has some show through, the carpet does not have correct shadows on it, and the close up of the immortality fruits in the foreground show it is a low poly model. I could do much better with Poser on my system - IF I wanted to wait 10 minutes for it to render! SotA rendered it all as I was playing. In its Pre-Alpha state! I think it is awesome. I know there are better graphics to be had - all requiring a better system. For me, game-play is primary. That said, I think the graphics are great for a pre-alpha, and if they don't improve a lick, I'll still love it.

 

I think you guys should just stop trying to convince people who don't understand Alpha, Here:

ALPHA
The alpha phase of the release life cycle is the first phase to begin software testing (alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, used as the number 1). In this phase, developers generally test the software using white box techniques. Additional validation is then performed using black box or gray box techniques, by another testing team. Moving to black box testing inside the organization is known as alpha release.
Alpha software can be unstable and could cause crashes or data loss. External availability of alpha software is uncommon in proprietary software. However, open source software, in particular, often have publicly available alpha versions, often distributed as the raw source code of the software. The alpha phase usually ends with a feature freeze, indicating that no more features will be added to the software. At this time, the software is said to be feature complete.

This is the time to get the framework laid out and features implemented rather then focusing on polishing ANY of it. I think people are expecting a playable alpha with a beta mindset - and perhaps some of the dev team may be guilty of trying to cater vs calling it what it is "warts and all" and continue with feature implementation. Although it's hard to fault them as they are trying to walk a fine line between granting an insider experience and trying to bring in funding capital through exposure all the while trying to feel out a couple of various new methods of gameplay.

I just don't think you are going to get this through the head of anyone who doesn't take the time to read and understand the phases, and we should just push forward - they will still be there I am sure of it.

(goes back to lurking in the shadows)

 

^ What does this specifically have to do with the thread topic - graphics? Check out this post by another backer in a similar thread about the same topic in another thread:

 

The worlds graphics are fine IMO..but if they really are trying to go the 3D avenue with things..fix the beards and hair. I know it's early but I just had to pick none because it was too Lego looking. I'd prefer the dumb the graphics down and focus on gameplay and pvp. I've been playing UO for 15 years and have tried time and time again to replace that dinosaur but always come up short..RG is our last hope to reclaim those sacred stomping grounds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I was not aware of this, but IF that is the case, then all the more reason we need to be able to voice our concerns. My main concerns are the animations/character movements, stances, joints, and hair attachment/realism. The world overall looks really great, water could use some polishing, as it tends to look pretty flat.

 

I agree completely. Now what I quoted from that backer may or may not be 100% true, but it did make sense and I fear that is a possibility. There is new news that Starr Long has said (in chat) that there "will" be time for some polish towards the end of development, but that is yet to be seen for sure. If the community continues to point out areas we would like improvement, we just may get it. I'm completely with you on what could use improvement though. I think the world and environments look great, but am on the "characters and animations are looking rough" boat. Whats up with the Play-Doh looking hair right? lol

 

^ As a matter of fact there is a lot of good new info being introduced directly relating to this topic here: Let's talk graphics in SotA. Devs taking notice as well. Thought you guys may want to check it out

 

Well, I really like the graphics!

What I expect in a Ultima game is it´s tremendous creativity and countless possibilities ... this is the reason I played Ultima Online, even with other games at the time with far superior graphics. I also like the current art and colors of the game, there's something fanciful about it

 

I imagine you will be surprised at all the improvements. Most games don't let us see them this early or we'd probably say the same thing. Characters aren't the first thing to get the improvements and some of us want to see what they will look like when finished but sadly we must wait. Some things are gorgeous. Myself I like the water and blowing grass and trees. It' s just tooooo early to tell. We must have patience, lots of patience and also trust the developers.

 

OK, well I can't seem to get them to display

 

I disagree . Story line and content are of course what makes a game yes. Myself and the vast majority are hoping for our medieval period setting, like what old Ultima was, but with up scaled graphics.
A smooth interface that works with everything we touch.

When you watch facebook , youtube, or what ever media you may choose, to preview a new game. Most of us look at the "Graphics". Like does the water look real ,or splash when we walk through it. But most of All, how does the characters,and armor, look.
I for one hate story chain quest. I want to jump around from quest to quest in a town , city. Or maybe find a dungeon, just to explore. If the graphics suck doesn't much matter what the story was that got me there.

 

Yeah, I don't care for canned storyline content either. I would much rather it be totally open-world free-form play where I get to decide who and what my character is, with nobody guiding me one way or another. If the game lets me do that, I couldn't care less how pretty the graphics are. The freedom alone is enough to hold my attention and keep me coming back.

If EA hadn't screwed Richard Garriott over, and then the developers of UO2, and the community that was following them, I would probably still be playing UO today, as there has yet to be an MMO kike it since.

 

I have no issues with the graphics. Yes, better than a N64, but still dated compared to all the recent games I have been playing. But that is why I really have no issues with the graphics. The graphics are bringing back SO many memories of the old RPGs like the first Ultima's. I feel like I am playing them again. Yes SOtA has much better graphics from those years, but it still has a similar look. Still has some kinks to work out, but will shine in the end. Keep up the good work Devs and the rest of us with the suggestions!!!

 

AOC was fun until you reach pvp10 with all gear on a couple of toon. After that you don't have much to do. No housing. No crafting. The only thing remaining are mini-games, boring 4 hour raids, or seiges (which are fun but you're lucky to find one a month.)

 

They have been working on this game for less than a year. The average MMO spends five to seven years in development, and are often announced during the final three years, so they can go to E3 to generate hype for at least two years.

What we are seeing in many cases are likely placeholder elements to facilitate functionality, with form to be improved as time goes on. We need to keep things in perspective. This early in the process, a lot of elements are going to evolve.

Right now they are working on getting the game to WORK. Aesthetics will be tweaked over time.

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we're not "this early in the process" anymore. We're ten months from KS announcement, and nine months from release. More than half of the dev time is gone. We still don't know details on important issues like

Combat
Death
Stealth
PvP

There are also some supposedly revolutionary things that, at first glance, don't seem to be 'fun' and will need iteration before they are ready for prime time. Things like the NPC conversation and crafting. This is no disrespect to the guys working on the game and busting their butts to do the best job. It just seems like this might be more work than originally thought.

My fear is that we're going to get an incomplete game, even by "we can patch it later" standards.

 

AH, dont worry my friend, there will be 4 more episodes to get it all right...

Almost. They have out sourced (to us) and bought many assets. They are not placeholders. They are done and moved on to the next.

Like LS, hate to be the bearer of bad news.

Cheers.

 

Keep in mind with your development timeline that Starr didn't join until June last year I believe. And it wasn't until June that they assembled most of the team. They spent the month of kickstarter mostly doing kickstarter things and not development. (They did some stuff, cloaks, weather, rivers). They moved offices. Those first couple of months seemed like a lot of re-organization/hiring. I think the next 9 months will see a lot of systems going from basics to being fleshed out.

They aren't required to deliver the game completed by the end of October, they can extend beta to keep us playing/happy as they implement features and fix things as long as they continue to work on it that will satisfy the kickstarter conditions as long as they don't draw out too long, they could take it to Jan of 2015 if they decide they need the time to finish it, as long as they show they are making progress.

Also, I'm not expecting this game to be great until episode 3. I think it will be good in episode one, but i have my sights set on 3 for it to get some big attention. I'm hoping the game can survive to that point, because they'll need more funding for each episode and if episode 1 isn't fun, they wont be getting additional backers. I think it will. The basic system of crafting is good, the basic system for conversation is good. They just need to implement the advanced features they are planning to make the entire system good and fun.