Flat, eveything is so FLAT!

[Chasington]

Originally Posted by Dregu

I'm a little bit concerned with the lighting from what I've seen. I was excited when they released news of a new lighting engine way back when. But so far I haven't seen anything impressive since that info came out.

... because they don't put it in all the new stuff they test. That would be a waste. They'll turn on lighting in all the areas when they're ready to test if it all works ok, then probably turn it off again until release.

[Dregu]

Originally Posted by Chasington

... because they don't put it in all the new stuff they test. That would be a waste. They'll turn on lighting in all the areas when they're ready to test if it all works ok, then probably turn it off again until release.

Sounds odd to me, but I hope you are right! I really want this game to knock my socks off with both visuals and game play. So far I like what I see with the game play...

[Endemikus]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=F33H9QPRH_U

I like the music too

[Dregu]

Originally Posted by Endemikus

http://youtube.com/watch?v=F33H9QPRH_U

I like the music too

Thank you! The lighting looks quite nice in this video. This gives me some hope!

[Chasington]

Wow that video did look good, and thanks for that.

[Daedarin]

Originally Posted by UrienRakarth

yeah
http://www.leperledelgolfo.it/foto_l...1529amalfi.jpg
http://www.hotelforte.com/img/rome_hotel.jpg
http://www.introni.it/immagini/Duomo_Ancona_1.jpg
http://www.liguria-vacanza.com/data/CinqueTerre.jpg
http://files.caprionline.it/article/.../image/1_z.jpg
http://www.ilgallorosso.com/images/i...ri/orvieto.jpg
http://intranet.arc.miami.edu/rjohn/...ral%20view.jpg

I know what you mean, but i couldn't resist... btw thanks Italy cause you exist

QFT. And Le Midi in France. Just seeing those images makes me want to pack a suitcase and jump on the next train or plane. The Mediteranian Sea and its places are so fantastic!

[UrienRakarth]

Originally Posted by Daedarin

QFT. And Le Midi in France. Just seeing those images makes me want to pack a suitcase and jump on the next train or plane. The Mediteranian Sea and its places are so fantastic!

Eheh tnx, the third img is near my house

[EAMythic_Grimsby]

[FONT=Arial]All,[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]I have read many posts here concerning the visuals of WAR. There have been many praises. Thank you! There have been some criticisms. Thank you also. Everything we read here, at least in broad strokes, is digested and considered against our design and visual goals. The subject of this thread caught my attention in particular because it speaks to the status of where we are with WAR’s development. So first I will discuss a general point that has been echoed here before. [/FONT]



[FONT=Arial]The visuals in WAR are a work in progress. I liken it to rendering CG movies, like the Incredibles or some of the great stuff Blur has done for us. When you watch a pre-lighting render, things just look flat. There are no shadows. There is no ambient occlusion. There is no atmospheric lighting. There is no real surface lighting. How does that relate to WAR? Well, many of the videos and screenshots we have released have been without even a first lighting bake, let along our final lighting pass, which we have never shown. You also have not seen specular maps on our terrains. We don't even have final skies, light balancing, or final light settings for our terrain shaders. [/FONT]



[FONT=Arial]This means that you have seen visuals in varying degrees of finish depending upon how recently we worked on a zone. None of the environments we have shown you are in their full glory. The hard work of the team shows through despite being shy of complete. And that is where we are now. We are polishing, tweaking, and lightmapping like crazy and we will up until the very last stamp for gold. Until then, yes. Some stuff may look flat, or some animations may look jerky. Heck our lead animator and I finally had a moment of joy as one of the last animation system "quirks" that was making the motions look staccato and choppy was finally fixed. Huray! [/FONT]

In terms of visual variety, I believe we have a diverse palette of environments from ancient forests and eldritch swamps to a huge, gothic city floating over a swirling, Chaotic Abyss. With that said, even now we are working on more cool, signiture landmarks for the zones. I believe anyone browsing our material in depth will agree there is a lot there to enjoy.

[FONT=Arial]So by all means continue dialoguing about what you see, let us know what you like and what you don't, and stay tuned for some more finalized shots.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial]Thanks![/FONT]

[Kilrogg-WHA]

You just made our job here a lot easier Greg . Thanks for posting.

[checkthis5000]

Originally Posted by EAMythic_Grimsby

[FONT=Arial]All,[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]I have read many posts here concerning the visuals of WAR. There have been many praises. Thank you! There have been some criticisms. Thank you also. Everything we read here, at least in broad strokes, is digested and considered against our design and visual goals. The subject of this thread caught my attention in particular because it speaks to the status of where we are with WAR’s development. So first I will discuss a general point that has been echoed here before. [/FONT]



[FONT=Arial]The visuals in WAR are a work in progress. I liken it to rendering CG movies, like the Incredibles or some of the great stuff Blur has done for us. When you watch a pre-lighting render, things just look flat. There are no shadows. There is no ambient occlusion. There is no atmospheric lighting. There is no real surface lighting. How does that relate to WAR? Well, many of the videos and screenshots we have released have been without even a first lighting bake, let along our final lighting pass, which we have never shown. You also have not seen specular maps on our terrains. We don't even have final skies, light balancing, or final light settings for our terrain shaders. [/FONT]



[FONT=Arial]This means that you have seen visuals in varying degrees of finish depending upon how recently we worked on a zone. None of the environments we have shown you are in their full glory. The hard work of the team shows through despite being shy of complete. And that is where we are now. We are polishing, tweaking, and lightmapping like crazy and we will up until the very last stamp for gold. Until then, yes. Some stuff may look flat, or some animations may look jerky. Heck our lead animator and I finally had a moment of joy as one of the last animation system "quirks" that was making the motions look staccato and choppy was finally fixed. Huray! [/FONT]

In terms of visual variety, I believe we have a diverse palette of environments from ancient forests and eldritch swamps to a huge, gothic city floating over a swirling, Chaotic Abyss. With that said, even now we are working on more cool, signiture landmarks for the zones. I believe anyone browsing our material in depth will agree there is a lot there to enjoy.

[FONT=Arial]So by all means continue dialoguing about what you see, let us know what you like and what you don't, and stay tuned for some more finalized shots.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial]Thanks![/FONT]

I think a lot of people sort of guessed what you said, but it is very very awesome to hear it directly from you. Thanks for this response. It's great to know that you guys are listening, and even better to know that we haven't seen the best you have to offer.

I look forward to the coming months when we do get to see a zone with full lighting and graphics in place.

To pose another topic, I know that a lot of games have multiple texture resolutions so that you can toggle between low, medium, high, ultra, etc. settings. I'm curious as to the difference between low and highest, and how many steps in between.

This isn't a direct question to you, but more of a musing to the posters on what they think.

[Rerisen]

Originally Posted by EAMythic_Grimsby

[FONT=Arial]So by all means continue dialoguing about what you see, let us know what you like and what you don't, and stay tuned for some more finalized shots.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Thanks![/FONT]

Thank you for stopping by and letting us know how things are going. It is very refreshing to see dev posts that deal with some of the things that don't always appear front and center of the storm of things frequently under fire around here.

I think I have posted more in the Art Forum than anywhere else. Creating a wonderful atmosphere for the game world should never be overlooked. When the game world feels like "home" and really sells the IP it makes the game so much easier to just play and chill out in, even if you are not doing something super intense, like lopping off the heads of peasants.

When you watch a pre-lighting render, things just look flat. There are no shadows. There is no ambient occlusion. There is no atmospheric lighting. There is no real surface lighting. How does that relate to WAR? Well, many of the videos and screenshots we have released have been without even a first lighting bake, let along our final lighting pass, which we have never shown. You also have not seen specular maps on our terrains. We don't even have final skies, light balancing, or final light settings for our terrain shaders.

The few screenshots we have seen with even some lighting present in them look so many times better than the other stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Potrktuqmg

Really can't wait to see everything in its full glory and how close that will make the art and graphics to realizing what everyone hopes it to be.

[Syrak]

Originally Posted by EAMythic_Grimsby

[FONT=Arial]All,[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]I have read many posts here concerning the visuals of WAR. There have been many praises. Thank you! There have been some criticisms. Thank you also. Everything we read here, at least in broad strokes, is digested and considered against our design and visual goals. The subject of this thread caught my attention in particular because it speaks to the status of where we are with WAR’s development. So first I will discuss a general point that has been echoed here before. [/FONT]



[FONT=Arial]The visuals in WAR are a work in progress. I liken it to rendering CG movies, like the Incredibles or some of the great stuff Blur has done for us. When you watch a pre-lighting render, things just look flat. There are no shadows. There is no ambient occlusion. There is no atmospheric lighting. There is no real surface lighting. How does that relate to WAR? Well, many of the videos and screenshots we have released have been without even a first lighting bake, let along our final lighting pass, which we have never shown. You also have not seen specular maps on our terrains. We don't even have final skies, light balancing, or final light settings for our terrain shaders. [/FONT]



[FONT=Arial]This means that you have seen visuals in varying degrees of finish depending upon how recently we worked on a zone. None of the environments we have shown you are in their full glory. The hard work of the team shows through despite being shy of complete. And that is where we are now. We are polishing, tweaking, and lightmapping like crazy and we will up until the very last stamp for gold. Until then, yes. Some stuff may look flat, or some animations may look jerky. Heck our lead animator and I finally had a moment of joy as one of the last animation system "quirks" that was making the motions look staccato and choppy was finally fixed. Huray! [/FONT]

In terms of visual variety, I believe we have a diverse palette of environments from ancient forests and eldritch swamps to a huge, gothic city floating over a swirling, Chaotic Abyss. With that said, even now we are working on more cool, signiture landmarks for the zones. I believe anyone browsing our material in depth will agree there is a lot there to enjoy.

[FONT=Arial]So by all means continue dialoguing about what you see, let us know what you like and what you don't, and stay tuned for some more finalized shots.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial]Thanks![/FONT]

Fantastic post! Thank you for the information and your time.

[Stuka]

What worries me a little is not how the graphics look, I'm sure that they will be great when the game releases. It's how compatible the whole thing will be with the ever screwed up vista drivers.

There are a great many games that still cause graphics drivers, especially Nvidia drivers to fail and especially in vista 64. These are not just old games, most of which work okay. Newer titles like LotRo for instance crash constantly. I would really like to know how closely EA/Mythic are working with NVidia to ensure full compatibility with the drivers for both single GPU's & SLi.

[Kilrogg-WHA]

If Vista 64 is giving you troubles, it's your PC's fault and not Vista's. I use Vista 64 and everything I've ever tried running on it runs perfectly.

[Gilurt Falgrim]

Originally Posted by EAMythic_Grimsby

[FONT=Arial]All,[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]I have read many posts here concerning the visuals of WAR. There have been many praises. Thank you! There have been some criticisms. Thank you also. Everything we read here, at least in broad strokes, is digested and considered against our design and visual goals. The subject of this thread caught my attention in particular because it speaks to the status of where we are with WAR’s development. So first I will discuss a general point that has been echoed here before. [/FONT]



[FONT=Arial]The visuals in WAR are a work in progress. I liken it to rendering CG movies, like the Incredibles or some of the great stuff Blur has done for us. When you watch a pre-lighting render, things just look flat. There are no shadows. There is no ambient occlusion. There is no atmospheric lighting. There is no real surface lighting. How does that relate to WAR? Well, many of the videos and screenshots we have released have been without even a first lighting bake, let along our final lighting pass, which we have never shown. You also have not seen specular maps on our terrains. We don't even have final skies, light balancing, or final light settings for our terrain shaders. [/FONT]



[FONT=Arial]This means that you have seen visuals in varying degrees of finish depending upon how recently we worked on a zone. None of the environments we have shown you are in their full glory. The hard work of the team shows through despite being shy of complete. And that is where we are now. We are polishing, tweaking, and lightmapping like crazy and we will up until the very last stamp for gold. Until then, yes. Some stuff may look flat, or some animations may look jerky. Heck our lead animator and I finally had a moment of joy as one of the last animation system "quirks" that was making the motions look staccato and choppy was finally fixed. Huray! [/FONT]

In terms of visual variety, I believe we have a diverse palette of environments from ancient forests and eldritch swamps to a huge, gothic city floating over a swirling, Chaotic Abyss. With that said, even now we are working on more cool, signiture landmarks for the zones. I believe anyone browsing our material in depth will agree there is a lot there to enjoy.

[FONT=Arial]So by all means continue dialoguing about what you see, let us know what you like and what you don't, and stay tuned for some more finalized shots.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial]Thanks![/FONT]

I had assumed this was general knowledge... the lighting in most WAR material that has been released doesn't even match up to *insert inferior 3D MMO here*.