swaaye on 30/10/2008 at 21:05
Best Graphics Evar To This Point: Crysis. The problem is it needs lots of anti-aliasing due to how realistic it wants to be, and hardware can't handle that yet. It exposes all of the problems with how 3D rendering is done, too, such as gobs of alpha texture aliasing and how true dynamic shadowing/lighting is impossible yet unless you limit your game to corridors. Nothing is in the same visual class, IMO, if you are looking for realism.
Of course, there are gobs of impressive games in history. I was going to list them but it that got out of hand. ;)
Koki on 31/10/2008 at 07:02
Crysis as long as you have High post-processing applies "cheap" AA if you have no AA on, by blurring all the edges. That was quite ok for me at 1024, so you shouldn't really complain at 1680 or whatever moon resolution you're running.
BlackCapedManX on 31/10/2008 at 09:34
Landscape and atmosphere: STALKER (I have, at times, sat on roof tops and watched the clouds change, it's that good, plus entering the brain scorcher is unparalleled.)
Environment and Characters: Assassin's Creed, mostly because the graphics, animations, and textures are all so cohesive, making the game fell far more solid than most others (MGS: Integral, with the resolution jacked had this same feeling, in both games it almost feels like you're playing a very smooth claymation/stop-animation, becaues of the lack of excessive bump-mapping and "flashy" effects, but with really well done modeling and especially texturing.)
Most beautiful, hands down: Riven. What, you wanna fight about it? Maybe the newer Myst games, but I haven't played VI and V so I can't speak for them, and Riven looks better than III.
Honorable Mention: Eve. It's huge. And the ships are amazing. There isn't a lot it actually has to render (what with having no ground, and most things not really having animations), so it manages to get away with a lot.
I think something that's really important to recognize is that the best graphic engines in the world won't get you diddly shit without good artists to utilize them (for example, why I think Riven looks better than Myst III.) One of the reasons STALKER is so successful in that regard is that there is a lot off attention to detail and exactness in the kinds of environments it's trying to represent, where as Crysis, by comparison tries to look like a tropical postcard. And what it manages is to look very kitschy because of that.
Jackablade on 31/10/2008 at 15:00
Quote Posted by vurt
PC Braid Image
That PC Braid character sprite looks awful. The Xbox guy is, like, only a million times better.
june gloom on 3/11/2008 at 04:34
With the possible exception of some of the Tropico ones those graphics are quite fake-looking to me.
Thirith on 3/11/2008 at 09:07
While I don't hate the UT3 art design as much as some people do, I think it pretty much looks like what a talented 14-year old infatuated with action figures would do.
EvaUnit02 on 3/11/2008 at 10:34
Quote Posted by Thirith
While I don't hate the
UT3 art design as much as some people do, I think it pretty much looks like what a talented 14-year old infatuated with action figures would do.
...or by a man with the mentality of a 14-year-old, whom likes to attach chainsaws to assault rifles.
june gloom on 3/11/2008 at 13:06
Quote Posted by EvaUnit02
...or by a man with the mentality of a 14-year-old, whom likes to attach chainsaws to assault rifles.
This.
