The art team did a great job with the visuals in ESO. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed the scenery in an MMO so much. Combine that with the music of Jeremy Soule and it's magical.
My only gripe about the visuals is the fog, but I guess that's common in an MMO. ESO would look simply massive if you could see as far as you do in Oblivion and Skyrim.
The only problem is that it does not support dedicated fullscreen mode and sli yet.
The only bad thing i ve realised due to hero engine are the cranky animations and the crapy performance.
Both swtor and eso have bad animations.
Opinions vary. I happen to enjoy the animations and the "feel" of combat. To me, it actually looks and feels like I'm hitting something as opposed to the games where I feel like I'm just running around swinging aimlessly. And "crappy performance"? Might I ask what type of machine you're running? My comp. is 5 years old with a I7 and a bit newer 7970 and it runs like a dream.
Games a blast, I love the end game. The beginning is very, NOT FUN...so I've seen people not make it to level 10 as the beginning is just blah...but after that, the end game really is a blast.
Incognito www.incognito-gaming.us "You're either with us or against us"
I made the mistake of instantly turning off Bloom like I do in most games. Typically I hate this feature. I turned it on within ESO testing some settings and wow, it actually does make the game look nice instead of just a hazy film making me think I have blurry eyes.
I know a game looks good when I stop to check out the sights. The sound in game is rather impressive too if you balance you levels correctly to really bring out the environmental sounds.
That's why I don't understand people saying "Skyrim looked better", or "HeroEngine sucks" we don't know for sure how they did it but IMHO: this engine looks good - a beautiful and well optimized MMORPG. (Again, only my two cents but I can't believe people are actually nitpicking about ESO's engine/graphics. They must either have: a very bad computer/graphics card, or no eyes lol)
~Elfy
I'm confused. People keep saying that ZOS used the Hero engine, but when the game boots up my splash screen says in HUGE letters
HAVOK
which is as far as I can find a totally independent engine...
Am I missing something? BTW, I'm not trolling.
Edit;
Upon doing some more research the only supported platform for Heroengine is PC.
Havok is listed as supporting all of these:
Windows, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, iOS, Android, PlayStation Vita, and Web
With ESO being released on both gaming systems it seems reasonable they didn't go with Hero.
That's why I don't understand people saying "Skyrim looked better", or "HeroEngine sucks" we don't know for sure how they did it but IMHO: this engine looks good - a beautiful and well optimized MMORPG. (Again, only my two cents but I can't believe people are actually nitpicking about ESO's engine/graphics. They must either have: a very bad computer/graphics card, or no eyes lol)
~Elfy
I'm confused. People keep saying that ZOS used the Hero engine, but when the game boots up my splash screen says in HUGE letters
HAVOK
which is as far as I can find a totally independent engine...
Am I missing something? BTW, I'm not trolling.
Edit;
Upon doing some more research the only supported platform for Heroengine is PC.
Havok is listed as supporting all of these:
Windows, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, iOS, Android, PlayStation Vita, and Web
With ESO being released on both gaming systems it seems reasonable they didn't go with Hero.
Havok is purely a Physics Engine... not an actual game engine.
That's why I don't understand people saying "Skyrim looked better", or "HeroEngine sucks" we don't know for sure how they did it but IMHO: this engine looks good - a beautiful and well optimized MMORPG. (Again, only my two cents but I can't believe people are actually nitpicking about ESO's engine/graphics. They must either have: a very bad computer/graphics card, or no eyes lol)
~Elfy
I'm confused. People keep saying that ZOS used the Hero engine, but when the game boots up my splash screen says in HUGE letters
HAVOK
which is as far as I can find a totally independent engine...
Am I missing something? BTW, I'm not trolling.
Edit;
Upon doing some more research the only supported platform for Heroengine is PC.
Havok is listed as supporting all of these:
Windows, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, iOS, Android, PlayStation Vita, and Web
With ESO being released on both gaming systems it seems reasonable they didn't go with Hero.
Havok is purely a Physics Engine... not an actual game engine.
Edit - i might be wrong - ive just found their Havok Vision engine....dunno then!
Correct. It is just a licensed physics engine. Sadly the rumor that the game uses Heroengine is still out there. The engine is 100% original. Only early mockups were using Heroengine before their main engine was created. Many mmo companies use 3rd party components with their engine such as Havok. Heroengine is very commonly used by companies to start with concept design. I can only assume because it is far cheaper to license than the other big name engines.
Once played with this setup there is no going back......i disabled it and pfew dint know how fast i logged out to enable it again :P !
Its a MUST have addition if you like eyecandy !!! Dont try this with weak computers or it will explode.
I am running the game on ultra and have Sweetfx Perfection profile enabled and get 45 / 60 fps. In pvp i want 60 fps so i turn settings to medium !
If you have a good pc then you wont believe how much it improves ESO. 10/10 for the man who made that profile
Thanks Mothanos, but: I unfortunately updated to Windows 8.1 and the required version of SweetFX isn't compatible with Win8.1. This doesn't work but I wished I'd find a workaround...damn it
Also, thanks everybody for the nice comments! This is warming my heart (just like the game! ; ))
I made the mistake of instantly turning off Bloom like I do in most games. Typically I hate this feature. I turned it on within ESO testing some settings and wow, it actually does make the game look nice instead of just a hazy film making me think I have blurry eyes.
I know a game looks good when I stop to check out the sights. The sound in game is rather impressive too if you balance you levels correctly to really bring out the environmental sounds.
I agree with this. A sadly overlooked part in most games but thankfully they did a great job in ESO. The roar of a volcano and thunder is amazing.
Once played with this setup there is no going back......i disabled it and pfew dint know how fast i logged out to enable it again :P !
Its a MUST have addition if you like eyecandy !!! Dont try this with weak computers or it will explode.
I am running the game on ultra and have Sweetfx Perfection profile enabled and get 45 / 60 fps. In pvp i want 60 fps so i turn settings to medium !
If you have a good pc then you wont believe how much it improves ESO. 10/10 for the man who made that profile
Thanks Mothanos, but: I unfortunately updated to Windows 8.1 and the required version of SweetFX isn't compatible with Win8.1. This doesn't work but I wished I'd find a workaround...damn it
Also, thanks everybody for the nice comments! This is warming my heart (just like the game! ; ))
I have Windows 8.1 and have SweetFX working.
Set up SweetFX in Radeon pro and then create a profile for ESO (The game executable and not the patcher)
The key to getting it working is by activating FXAA (Set to Ultra) on the Visual Tab within Radeon Pro then run the ESO profile from within Radeon Pro.
Edit - Oh i also run Radeon Pro as Administrator (I cant remember if this was for ESO specifically or some other game as i had this set up from Beta) - Radeon Pro will say it cant be run as Administrator when you start it as such but it does still work ok
Originally posted by mcrippins My favorite thing is the sound and atmosphere of the Dark Anchors. Reminds me of that War of the Worlds movie. Creepy!
HAHAH So many times ill be out in the world just soaking in the awesome scenery and then that dark anchor HORN BLAST will go off, It really shocks the senses love the way they did that, And yes it also reminds me of war of the worlds.
Back on topic, Yes this game has without question the best graphics of any MMO on the market, love the mature setting as well, Really sick of the "cartooney" look. The atmosphere is really well donw, sunsets and sunrises are amazing and the way storms roll in with lightining is very realistic, cant wait to see the other weather in other zones.
I made the mistake of instantly turning off Bloom like I do in most games. Typically I hate this feature. I turned it on within ESO testing some settings and wow, it actually does make the game look nice instead of just a hazy film making me think I have blurry eyes.
I know a game looks good when I stop to check out the sights. The sound in game is rather impressive too if you balance you levels correctly to really bring out the environmental sounds.
I followed another posters advice and tried turning the game MUSIC off, WOW what a difference it made. If you are into immersion and really want to feel like you are part of the world try playing with just environment effects and no ingame music
Set up SweetFX in Radeon pro and then create a profile for ESO (The game executable and not the patcher)
The key to getting it working is by activating FXAA (Set to Ultra) on the Visual Tab within Radeon Pro then run the ESO profile from within Radeon Pro.
Edit - Oh i also run Radeon Pro as Administrator (I cant remember if this was for ESO specifically or some other game as i had this set up from Beta) - Radeon Pro will say it cant be run as Administrator when you start it as such but it does still work ok
Enjoy!
OMG thanks so much! It worked...can't believe what I'm seeing - I'm now rediscovering the environments
Set up SweetFX in Radeon pro and then create a profile for ESO (The game executable and not the patcher)
The key to getting it working is by activating FXAA (Set to Ultra) on the Visual Tab within Radeon Pro then run the ESO profile from within Radeon Pro.
Edit - Oh i also run Radeon Pro as Administrator (I cant remember if this was for ESO specifically or some other game as i had this set up from Beta) - Radeon Pro will say it cant be run as Administrator when you start it as such but it does still work ok
Enjoy!
OMG thanks so much! It worked...can't believe what I'm seeing - I'm now rediscovering the environments
Mega - glad you got it working It really does make such a difference.
I've not found a way to take screenshots yet with the enhancements shown though. Does anyone know how to take screenshots with the SweetFX enhancements included. When you take screenshots they just show as the game would without SweetFX enabled.
question for eso players, how big is the map in comparison to say GW2 or maybe Rift and is there funneling to portals/corridors between zones? I saw a map recently and most of it looked out of bounds which suggested lots of invisible walls. What is your experience?
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Beautiful screenshots. Both my g/f and I agree, this is one of the prettiest looking MMO out there. Not just the looks, but the ambience is absolutely wonderful. You hear all the little sounds, the great music, the sound effects, it's very immersive.
This is like Vanguard, but with a working game engine, people don't crash once every 30 minutes, people don't randomly die after "chunking", and that average decent computers can run this game well. Very glad this game is out, it's a great option for those looking for something other than stylistic art style that most MMO's seem to adopt lately.
After disastrous last beta I made a decision to not get a game, pretty disappointed as I really wanted it to be my second MMO aside of SWTOR to play for a long run (I sub SWTOR and don't intend to stop, but it's nice to have other game to play as alternative). After reading majority of posts which were very positive I caved in and got it. I do not regret it.
So far I did not encounter any major bug (except one really funny I got at level 4, which did not let me do any fishing stating that I cannot fish in werewolf form - which I am almost positive I am not yet) and as OP mentioned the world is absolutely amazing. Yesterday it was raining almost all day in game and it was amazing how the water was gathering on the ground etc. Very nice and immersive.
I still hate character animations though. Zenimax got to work on it, it just plain sucks. Trying not to watch myself while running, it hurts my eyes LOL.
Initially I did not like not being able to interact with quest as in SWTOR, but some of quest are very interesting and you can find some in unexpected areas, like the treasure chest quest in Stros M'Kai (Izad's Treasure) - fun fun fun.
I do not like UI, but I got bunch of add-ons including minimap /grin which was my biggest complaint, and now if feels much better. I hate to be lost... LOL.
Also, I am not a fan of combat... very limited imo, I really like to have many options (SWTOR is my favorite here).
Anyway, things that I perceive as minuses of the game are minor considering the immersion and beauty of the world. I wish that Zenimax made LOTRO. But still, they really have to learn how to do animations.
Overall, nice RPG game. Slow to level, so I will probably play it for couple of months, mostly doing explorations and quests, trying to do as little combat as possible LOL. As I do not PvP, I do not see myself to play much longer. But we shall see.
Originally posted by Bladestrom question for eso players, how big is the map in comparison to say GW2 or maybe Rift and is there funneling to portals/corridors between zones? I saw a map recently and most of it looked out of bounds which suggested lots of invisible walls. What is your experience?
The zones are massive and depending on the zone you're looking at 15-30 hours before you move on. Yes between zones there are loading screens, but you don't hop between zones very often.
Also of note, even with each zone being so huge, inside the zone you'll find a variety of solo dungeons, party dungeons and public dungeons. Not to be confused with the 4-man group dungeons.
Besides the truly beautiful world, one thing i found out in the last days is the outstanding sound effects.
If you give yourself a damage shield, all around you gets a dead, muffled sound like you would be sitting in a bubble. That was just an absulute jaw dropping moment. Love it.
Comments
The art team did a great job with the visuals in ESO. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed the scenery in an MMO so much. Combine that with the music of Jeremy Soule and it's magical.
Kudos to ZOS!
Opinions vary. I happen to enjoy the animations and the "feel" of combat. To me, it actually looks and feels like I'm hitting something as opposed to the games where I feel like I'm just running around swinging aimlessly. And "crappy performance"? Might I ask what type of machine you're running? My comp. is 5 years old with a I7 and a bit newer 7970 and it runs like a dream.
"I don't give a sh*t what other people say. I play what I like and I'll pay to do it too!" - SerialMMOist
Incognito
www.incognito-gaming.us
"You're either with us or against us"
I made the mistake of instantly turning off Bloom like I do in most games. Typically I hate this feature. I turned it on within ESO testing some settings and wow, it actually does make the game look nice instead of just a hazy film making me think I have blurry eyes.
I know a game looks good when I stop to check out the sights. The sound in game is rather impressive too if you balance you levels correctly to really bring out the environmental sounds.
You stay sassy!
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
I'm confused. People keep saying that ZOS used the Hero engine, but when the game boots up my splash screen says in HUGE letters
HAVOK
which is as far as I can find a totally independent engine...
Am I missing something? BTW, I'm not trolling.
Edit;
Upon doing some more research the only supported platform for Heroengine is PC.
Havok is listed as supporting all of these:
Windows, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, iOS, Android, PlayStation Vita, and Web
With ESO being released on both gaming systems it seems reasonable they didn't go with Hero.
Havok is purely a Physics Engine... not an actual game engine.
http://www.havok.com/products/physics
Edit - i might be wrong - ive just found their Havok Vision engine....dunno then!
Correct. It is just a licensed physics engine. Sadly the rumor that the game uses Heroengine is still out there. The engine is 100% original. Only early mockups were using Heroengine before their main engine was created. Many mmo companies use 3rd party components with their engine such as Havok. Heroengine is very commonly used by companies to start with concept design. I can only assume because it is far cheaper to license than the other big name engines.
You stay sassy!
Thanks Mothanos, but: I unfortunately updated to Windows 8.1 and the required version of SweetFX isn't compatible with Win8.1. This doesn't work but I wished I'd find a workaround...damn it
Also, thanks everybody for the nice comments! This is warming my heart (just like the game! ; ))
I agree with this. A sadly overlooked part in most games but thankfully they did a great job in ESO. The roar of a volcano and thunder is amazing.
I have Windows 8.1 and have SweetFX working.
Set up SweetFX in Radeon pro and then create a profile for ESO (The game executable and not the patcher)
The key to getting it working is by activating FXAA (Set to Ultra) on the Visual Tab within Radeon Pro then run the ESO profile from within Radeon Pro.
Edit - Oh i also run Radeon Pro as Administrator (I cant remember if this was for ESO specifically or some other game as i had this set up from Beta) - Radeon Pro will say it cant be run as Administrator when you start it as such but it does still work ok
Enjoy!
HAHAH So many times ill be out in the world just soaking in the awesome scenery and then that dark anchor HORN BLAST will go off, It really shocks the senses love the way they did that, And yes it also reminds me of war of the worlds.
Back on topic, Yes this game has without question the best graphics of any MMO on the market, love the mature setting as well, Really sick of the "cartooney" look. The atmosphere is really well donw, sunsets and sunrises are amazing and the way storms roll in with lightining is very realistic, cant wait to see the other weather in other zones.
Aloha Mr Hand !
I followed another posters advice and tried turning the game MUSIC off, WOW what a difference it made. If you are into immersion and really want to feel like you are part of the world try playing with just environment effects and no ingame music
Aloha Mr Hand !
OMG thanks so much! It worked...can't believe what I'm seeing - I'm now rediscovering the environments
Mega - glad you got it working
It really does make such a difference.
I've not found a way to take screenshots yet with the enhancements shown though. Does anyone know how to take screenshots with the SweetFX enhancements included. When you take screenshots they just show as the game would without SweetFX enabled.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
Beautiful screenshots. Both my g/f and I agree, this is one of the prettiest looking MMO out there. Not just the looks, but the ambience is absolutely wonderful. You hear all the little sounds, the great music, the sound effects, it's very immersive.
This is like Vanguard, but with a working game engine, people don't crash once every 30 minutes, people don't randomly die after "chunking", and that average decent computers can run this game well. Very glad this game is out, it's a great option for those looking for something other than stylistic art style that most MMO's seem to adopt lately.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
After disastrous last beta I made a decision to not get a game, pretty disappointed as I really wanted it to be my second MMO aside of SWTOR to play for a long run (I sub SWTOR and don't intend to stop, but it's nice to have other game to play as alternative). After reading majority of posts which were very positive I caved in and got it. I do not regret it.
So far I did not encounter any major bug (except one really funny I got at level 4, which did not let me do any fishing stating that I cannot fish in werewolf form - which I am almost positive I am not yet) and as OP mentioned the world is absolutely amazing. Yesterday it was raining almost all day in game and it was amazing how the water was gathering on the ground etc. Very nice and immersive.
I still hate character animations though. Zenimax got to work on it, it just plain sucks. Trying not to watch myself while running, it hurts my eyes LOL.
Initially I did not like not being able to interact with quest as in SWTOR, but some of quest are very interesting and you can find some in unexpected areas, like the treasure chest quest in Stros M'Kai (Izad's Treasure) - fun fun fun.
I do not like UI, but I got bunch of add-ons including minimap /grin which was my biggest complaint, and now if feels much better. I hate to be lost... LOL.
Also, I am not a fan of combat... very limited imo, I really like to have many options (SWTOR is my favorite here).
Anyway, things that I perceive as minuses of the game are minor considering the immersion and beauty of the world. I wish that Zenimax made LOTRO. But still, they really have to learn how to do animations.
Overall, nice RPG game. Slow to level, so I will probably play it for couple of months, mostly doing explorations and quests, trying to do as little combat as possible LOL. As I do not PvP, I do not see myself to play much longer. But we shall see.
Sith Warrior - Story of Hate and Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxKrlwXt7Ao
Imperial Agent - Rise of Cipher Nine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBBj3eJWBvU&feature=youtu.be
Imperial Agent - Hunt for the Eagle Part 1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQqjYYU128E
nice work from the artists of this game : )
they just need more light cause from the beta i had get bored from all this gray color palette, maybe cause i live on the mediterranean coast ...
The zones are massive and depending on the zone you're looking at 15-30 hours before you move on. Yes between zones there are loading screens, but you don't hop between zones very often.
Also of note, even with each zone being so huge, inside the zone you'll find a variety of solo dungeons, party dungeons and public dungeons. Not to be confused with the 4-man group dungeons.
Besides the truly beautiful world, one thing i found out in the last days is the outstanding sound effects.
If you give yourself a damage shield, all around you gets a dead, muffled sound like you would be sitting in a bubble. That was just an absulute jaw dropping moment. Love it.
Hodor!