[thop]

Engine Features

[homerdog]

I dare say that looks better than Anno 1404!

[nutball]

Thing is I get a bit worried when these sorts of games decide that they need those sorts of graphics. How are we going to get to appreciate them? Is there going to be lots of micromanagement? Will the pace of the game be so *cough* relaxed that we get lots of time to zoom in and gape in awe at the eye-candy?

[johnq736]

I'm a fan of the Settlers series, but I can't say I'm very confident about the 7

[thop]

Originally Posted by nutball

Thing is I get a bit worried when these sorts of games decide that they need those sorts of graphics.

Complaints about good graphics on this forum?

The engine is developed by Blue Byte, who also made the Anno 1404 engine. Anyway, they also got a few gameplay videos featuring commentary by Bruce Shelley, previously Ensemble Studios, who is working with the development team.

http://videos.uk.ubi.com/videos/lfxl...al-economy.htm
http://videos.uk.ubi.com/videos/cva8...int-system.htm
http://videos.uk.ubi.com/videos/ln2d...ualisation.htm

[Lightman]

Looks great!
My last Settlers game was Settlers 2 on AMIGA

[Neb]

Anno 1404 already looks incredibly so this is great!

EDIT: Just finished watching video and that is utterly amazing and then consider that this is an RTS game!

[Silent_Buddha]

I still miss the original Settlers 1 gameplay where you placed things and then your peon's would then figure out if they wanted to go build/mine/farm whatever it was, as well as making their own trails to get to the stuff.

Settlers 1 was also some pretty amazing graphics for it's time, and first game on PC at least to supported split screen gaming with TWO mice in HIGH RES!!! Loved that game.

Last Settlers I tried was 5? or 6? And it had lost all its charm Whichever one it was, being more bare bones RTS than the world/economy sim that I liked.

Regards,
SB

[thop]

Originally Posted by Silent_Buddha

I still miss the original Settlers 1 gameplay where you placed things and then your peon's would then figure out if they wanted to go build/mine/farm whatever it was, as well as making their own trails to get to the stuff.

Play this. Demo.

[thop]

SETTLERS 7 DEMO

[Neb]

Need to download this!

[homerdog]

The game looks like cg

Everything is maxed with 8xCSAA forced (which really destroyed my framerate).








http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/881...0032217384.jpg
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/856...0032217372.jpg
http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/2...0032217314.jpg
http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/6...0032217301.jpg
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/7...0032217292.jpg
http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/2...0032217282.jpg
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/6...0032217273.jpg
http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/7287/...0032217271.jpg

[homerdog]

Hey guys.



Edit: moar







http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/374...0032223261.jpg
http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/9...0032223255.jpg
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/6...0032223233.jpg

[Silent_Buddha]

I'll have to give the demo a shot, but is it just me or do all the screenshots that Homerdog provided look soft, blurry, and slightly out of focus? It's driving me nuts looking at his screenshots. My eyes feel like they are constantly trying to focus on something but since everything is blurred and out of focus it can't stop trying to focus on something.

Regards,
SB

[homerdog]

The game has a soft look to it; I think it might be the DoF, but since I can't disable it (there's an option for it but it doesn't work) I don't know for sure. Also the jpeg compression is not helping.

I've never played any of the Settlers games but I'm catching on fast. So far it's looking like a real treat.

And after a few hours for the initial shock to wear off I can say with confidence this is the most beautiful game I've ever seen. Sorry Crysis my love.

[nutball]

So even the demo requires a permanent internet connection so it can phone home?!

[Ike Turner]

Originally Posted by nutball

So even the demo requires a permanent internet connection so it can phone home?!

Yup, you will have to create a user account on Buisoft etc...
The games looks gorgeous (everything maxed out @ 1680x1050 with A..) but it managed to crash my Radeon 5870 after only 5 minutes of play. The fan was blowing like crazy and then boom it hang up the system. took a few secs for the 5870 to come back to life.

[homerdog]

That's weird I played for 1.5 hours on my GTX260 and I never heard it get any louder.

A bit of bad news now, this is what happens when you lose your internet connection.



I had to Alt+F4 to exit the game after this happened since I couldn't access the Esc menu. Obviously if I'd been playing a real game and not saved in a while I'd have lost it all.

Hopefully Ubi will see the error of their ways and remove this so I can purchase this wonderful game!

PPS. the out of focus look was definitely the DoF. I forced it off in the config file and also found that the in game MSAA option is broken as well. Will post some screens with DoF off and MSAA on shortly.

PPPS. The DoF is not the only thing causing blur. The "Upscaling" option is mislabeled.

Low Upscaling


Hi Upscaling


The Description for "Hi Upscaling" reads "No Upscaling; Best Quality" but it's the other way around.

[thop]

launch trailer: http://videos.uk.ubi.com/videos/d0j9...ch-trailer.htm

[Neb]

@Homerdog

Thanks for the settings to remove blur, looks much cripser now. I also posted some screenshot in screenshot thread!

[Dooby]

Am I being stupid, but I cant find where to enable free look with the mouse. It's annoying the crap out of me.

Also, don't know about you, but I don't like the multiple win routes. I used to hate it in Civ games, where I would be aiming for ICBMs to nuke the crap out of my enemies, then for no real reason: "you have make peaceful agreements with [the guys you want to nuke] and have won the game, its over, goodbye".

Never felt like I was actually aiming towards a goal. Just a "survive long enough for something random to happen".

[Silent_Buddha]

Originally Posted by homerdog

PPS. the out of focus look was definitely the DoF. I forced it off in the config file and also found that the in game MSAA option is broken as well. Will post some screens with DoF off and MSAA on shortly.

PPPS. The DoF is not the only thing causing blur. The "Upscaling" option is mislabeled.

Low Upscaling

Thanks for figuring that out. That picture looks WAY better, although I don't mind DoF when it's done somewhat well (DOF when in "pretty" mode in Anno 1404). That shot is way easier on the eyes and looks much better. I no longer get eye strain trying to focus on something.

Now if I can only find the time to try it out, much less check up on B3D regularly.

Regards,
SB

[homerdog]

I actually leave the DoF on, but it doesn't seem to do much in the demo at least.

[Dooby]

Currently downloading a FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY MEGABYTE patch. WTF? Release notes for Settlers 7 v1.01 are:

Improvements
- Facebook and Twitter features implemented*
- Increased multiplayer stability
- Fixed various balancing issues
- Fixes localization issues

Bug Fixes - Fixed various problems with the savegame option
- Fixed problems with online profile storage
- Fixed crashes related to street upgrade
- Fixed crashes in map forge
- Fixed a lot of minor bugs

*I have never in my life been on Facebook, so can I please have my 400MB back?

[nutball]

Originally Posted by Dooby

- Facebook and Twitter features implemented*

I wonder, do you have to be logged in to the UBI DRM servers in order to use these features?