[Blazkowicz]

hey, isn't that a painting?



really awesome looking, though downsized pictures always look great.
I'm playing through FarCry now, which actually conforts me in not upgrading for now as it runs very well and looks good enough on my Geforce 4ti. (highest detail, 800x600, AA 2x quincux )
it seems my next upgrade will be motivated by Crysis

[Skrying]

May I ask why the hell you are using Quincux? THE BLUR!!!!!!!

[SlmDnk]

Originally Posted by Blazkowicz_

hey, isn't that a painting?

http://www.1up.com/media?id=2686155&type=lg

All of these are actual screenshots:

http://www.1up.com/media?id=2686164&type=lg
http://www.1up.com/media?id=2686162&type=lg
http://www.1up.com/media?id=2686161&type=lg
http://www.1up.com/media?id=2686160&type=lg
http://www.1up.com/media?id=2686156&type=lg

The others are concept art.

[Blazkowicz]

Originally Posted by Skrying

May I ask why the hell you are using Quincux? THE BLUR!!!!!!!

well.. for the blur! it's most noticeable of every piece of vegetation which makes them kind of better looking (keep in mind it's the 800x600 jagged nightmare), and for the rest it looks like a slight "depth of field".. blur not really noticeable for weapon model / close range stuff.

I agree quincunx is indesirable in most games (say, counterstrike), in others, the difference is minor, but here I found a use for it.
the fsaa 4x 9tap is worse (tried in counterstrike), looks like its TWICE THE BLUR !

I actually suspect "multisampled" transparency AA to be a better blur only applied to alpha textures (but I only saw a few screenshots, maybe a gf7 user can confirm this?).

[Unknown Soldier]

I think it's fair to say Farcry was awesome when it was released. No other game came close to it. Almost a year later and HL2 was then released and it in itself was awesome. I can't understand how people compare games when they almost a year in age difference.

I'll also get Crysis as soon as it hits.

US

[Blazkowicz]

yes, farcry brought something new both on technical and gameplay sides.
I for one think that HL2 is way overrated though. Still a quake 1/2/3 style engine but with a water shader, and plain old FPS-on-rails gameplay. Maybe it was released later, but it was a much delayed game. At least, it looks old but good, and the game was well suited to what people really have : geforce 4MX, FX5200 and radeon 9200SE.

[Unknown Soldier]

Originally Posted by Blazkowicz_

yes, farcry brought something new both on technical and gameplay sides.
I for one think that HL2 is way overrated though. Still a quake 1/2/3 style engine but with a water shader, and plain old FPS-on-rails gameplay. Maybe it was released later, but it was a much delayed game. At least, it looks old but good, and the game was well suited to what people really have : geforce 4MX, FX5200 and radeon 9200SE.

What I like about HL2 is that the graphics look real. I mean you can go outside and the graphics look almost the same. Boxes looked real, game atmosphere was very good .. and got me into the game nicely. Only criticism I found was how the game ended.

Farcry when it was released had no other game to compare it to. It looked great and the scenary was beautiful. Yet it(scenary) did look a bit plastic. Still it was the benchmark then and still a great game. AI was good to if you played on the hardest level.

The HL2 engine with CS:S and DOD:S just goes to show what the engine can do .. and HDR still looks better than any other game i've played.

[Albuquerque]

HL2 relies mostly on a huge compilation of art assets; the massive assortment of very detailed textures in that game were fantastic. But the levels were smaller, the load times between were quite long, and nearly every level was a very simple "go exactly from here, follow this exact path, and end up exactly there." However, I can't stress enough how much better HL2 had the completely oppressive atmosphere down to a tee -- the game had a fantastic feel about it.

And while you may argue that not all the HL2 levels were small, I can probably argue that the average FC level was probably three or four times the size of the average HL2 level. And many of the levels (granted, not all...) were very open at least in terms of how you got things done. You're here, you need to get THERE, go whatever and do whatever you need to do it. I also loved the massive amount of vegitation on-screen at once, the various vehicles (although I'd love to have a flying vehicle or three, which it looks like we'll get) and some squad-based play would always be welcome. Some people also griped about the rabid monkeys; I kinda liked them (but they were a bitch to kill)

Both had excellent replay value to me (in single player mode), but I think FarCry got more of my time since there were just so many ways to complete many of the missions. But for photo-realism, I did show off HL2 to the friends and family more (on the 50" DVI-connected LCD TV to boot -- at 1920x1080 w00t!).

All in all, I was VERY impressed with FarCry in terms of price tag, game time, level design, feature set, and overall "wow" factor. Being completely un-hyped at the time of release made it even better IMO I'll be buying Crysis for sure.

[Blazkowicz]

I agree HL2 looks very good afterall, tried a bit on a friend's PC.
what annoys me the most is actually the tremendous amount of hype it got, for a very conventional shooter. at least Doom3 didn't pretend to be something more than a Quake 2 with pretty graphics.
Also this is a game I could have bought if the DRM didn't prevent to re-sell it.

[Albuquerque]

Originally Posted by Blazkowicz_

I agree HL2 looks very good afterall, tried a bit on a friend's PC.
what annoys me the most is actually the tremendous amount of hype it got, for a very conventional shooter. at least Doom3 didn't pretend to be something more than a Quake 2 with pretty graphics.
Also this is a game I could have bought if the DRM didn't prevent to re-sell it.

I can definitely agree with your comments on the Hype Machine (TM) surrounding HL2. Had I actually bought all the hype, I may have been sorely let down. Fortunately, while I love to read reviews and check out screencaptures, I really don't absorb much of the "hype" from others insomuch as I generate it myself from past experience with that developer.

Hence why I'm excited about Crysis -- it's not just the screenshots and talk about extra features, it's the past experience with CryTeam and the cool shit they did last time and how much I still enjoy playing their two year old FPS.

[Snyder]

Originally Posted by Albuquerque

Hence why I'm excited about Crysis -- it's not just the screenshots and talk about extra features, it's the past experience with CryTeam

What, you mean Serious Cry 2?












*SCNR*

[IgnorancePersonified]

Originally Posted by Blazkowicz_

I agree HL2 looks very good afterall, tried a bit on a friend's PC.
what annoys me the most is actually the tremendous amount of hype it got, for a very conventional shooter. at least Doom3 didn't pretend to be something more than a Quake 2 with pretty graphics.
Also this is a game I could have bought if the DRM didn't prevent to re-sell it.

Doom 3 was supposed to be Doom with better graphics which It wasn't. It was also hyped beyond all imagination. Hows that tie in with the Quake series?

[IgnorancePersonified]

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

What I like about HL2 is that the graphics look real. I mean you can go outside and the graphics look almost the same. Boxes looked real, game atmosphere was very good .. and got me into the game nicely. Only criticism I found was how the game ended.
...

The HL2 engine with CS:S and DOD:S just goes to show what the engine can do .. and HDR still looks better than any other game i've played.

Can concur on that - after playing DOD source it's the most realistic looking engine out of all of them. I've only played the HL2 demo but that's a fairly good indication of the whole game from what I have heard. If that's attributed to the textures or the quantum partilser technology or whatever then so be it.

[Blazkowicz]

Originally Posted by IgnorancePersonified

Doom 3 was supposed to be Doom with better graphics which It wasn't. It was also hyped beyond all imagination. Hows that tie in with the Quake series?

we knew it was to be a 3D corridor shooter on a great new engine, with few enemies at once with LOW AI and repetitive color schemes. which is far from doom1 and quite similar to quake 1/2.
Most of the hype was about the 3D engine I think (and yea some "OMFG its DooM !")

with HL2 it's more "OMFG ! half-life! gordon freeman! the crowbar. it will be huge, revolutionary gameplay from physics engine! OMFG the shiny water. human-like AI (faked by scripts in the E3 demo). Valve only cares about its customer!"

[Diplo]

Originally Posted by IgnorancePersonified

Doom 3 was supposed to be Doom with better graphics which It wasn't. It was also hyped beyond all imagination.

Well, the D3 engine was certainly hyped a lot, though I don't think the game was to the same extent. Nearly all of the interest in D3 revolved around the graphics.

[Fodder]

Originally Posted by IgnorancePersonified

Doom 3 was supposed to be Doom with better graphics

Since when? It is and was always going to be a completely different kind of game.

[IgnorancePersonified]

Since the hype?? Oh well I will chkdsk my memory since it's a pretty vivd recollection.

Guys at my work who are 30+ were going gaga over the game 'hype' - not engine, they have little interest in 3D techniques, preordered it and most didn't make the finish because - it wasn't doom... It wasn't the remake of the original using newer technology they had been sold on. If that's not the official marketing line then it was certianly an impression out there. let's clarify it then: Official ID hype, official publisher hype or unchecked/disaluisoned fan hype? if it's the latter then ... what do you want me to do about it ?- doesn't discount that it existed even if it was inadvertant. I brought the game(off one of the guys here) for the 3D engine and still haven't got out of alpha labs .... I didn't follow Doom3's development anywhere near as much as I did FarCry's. For 3D technology reason's and the game play inovations they were said to introduce.

Some of the half Life 2 hype can be contributed to the controversy surrounding the delay surely? That episode alone probably caused more articles and forum flames than the game itself.

[see colon]

regarding HL2, what upset me most (graphicly) was stuff like this:

most stuff looked good to great, then you get crap like that 7 polygon "rubble" mesh from the quake1 era. there are a bunch of smaller examples of stuff that didn't quite "fit" with the rest of the world, but that's the most glaring IMHO. that brings me to the other thing i disliked about HL2. they give you all of this freedom to move stuff around, but limit what you can move (there are certain cars you cannot move, and random smaller items that you should be able to move but can't). and there are invisable barriers funneling you into the path that valve wants you to travel. the game's a real paradox. they give you all of this freedom to interact with the world, but at the same time create one of the most linear and limiting games. before anyone things i'm a HL2 hater, i enjoyed playing through the game. it's a good game, but i can't agree with the "OMG it looks so real" crowd.

doom3 and farcry, graphicly, i feel had a more consistant look to them from begining to end. i could pick them apart for gameplay, too, but i think those issues have been well covered.

i often wonder why painkiller isn't brought up more when people talk about newer game engines. on a graphics level it holds it's own against D3, HL2, and FC. in fact, i think the game resembles HL2 on many levels, excluding the obvious art direction.

[Cartoon Corpse]

on the hl2 road maps with crashed cars along the road, etc. i flung them all into the sea (took awhile), then i flung everything in the little houses (furniture too) into the sea. then everything around the houses, then everything (garbage) along the road. completely cleaned out most of those maps.

at the bridge house, instead, i created inventory stockpiles of each type of item...gas cans, tires, wood, etc. made stacks in the yard.

i like that best about hl2, but was disappointed in other areas (eg was expecting more free roam, though i don't know why...a favored trend in gaming i guess since gta3?)

anyway recently tried to reinstall hl2 for replay...it failed due to missing module/dll or something. sheesh. steam installed fine though!

[Skrying]

Then use one of the best features of steam! Have it check the games files to see if you're missing anything. VERY useful since every time a new CS:S patch comes out it doesnt install correctly, or misses key things and I have to do this so it works fine. Once its checked the files it'll download and install any thing you're missing, and this works even if you bought a retail copy of the game.

[ANova]

i often wonder why painkiller isn't brought up more when people talk about newer game engines. on a graphics level it holds it's own against D3, HL2, and FC. in fact, i think the game resembles HL2 on many levels, excluding the obvious art direction.

Agreed. Painkiller looked great. My only gripe with it was no noticable use of bump mapping to speak of, resulting in a very flat look similar to HL2 but worse imo. It does have the best looking sky boxes I've seen in any game to date though.

[Cartoon Corpse]

Originally Posted by Skrying

Then use one of the best features of steam! Have it check the games files to see if you're missing anything. VERY useful since every time a new CS:S patch comes out it doesnt install correctly, or misses key things and I have to do this so it works fine. Once its checked the files it'll download and install any thing you're missing, and this works even if you bought a retail copy of the game.

i think i tried (do you mean the download thing?) it was going so slow i killed it. does the 'check for updates' (worked for steam updates) work on corrupted games? or just for patches needed to original?.

actually now that i think of it, im doubting the game installed, it errored and died on the last disk.

[Skrying]

Originally Posted by Cartoon Corpse

i think i tried (do you mean the download thing?) it was going so slow i killed it. does the 'check for updates' (worked for steam updates) work on corrupted games? or just for patches needed to original?.

actually now that i think of it, im doubting the game installed, it errored and died on the last disk.

Not totally sure. I opened up Steam, went to the games section, went to the My Games tab, right clicked and went to properties on the game and choose the Local Files tab and clicked on Verify integrity of game cache. Workes for me.

[Cartoon Corpse]

Originally Posted by Skrying

Not totally sure. I opened up Steam, went to the games section, went to the My Games tab, right clicked and went to properties on the game and choose the Local Files tab and clicked on Verify integrity of game cache. Workes for me.

you had a corrupted game? i didn't see that option. thanks. i'll check it out!

[roadie]

To get back on topic; I really, really, really hope that EA doesn't ruin this game. I am still going through Far Cry, a year and a half after starting it and it's great! Only 2 more levels to go. If I carry on at the rate I am getting through the game I'll be able to move straight onto Crysis.

I must finish Riddick, HL2, Quake 4, FEAR and Serious Sam the 2nd Encounter too!