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When is the grahpics update going live?

AnkorAnkor Member Posts: 258

I have noticed talk of AO getting over hauled in its graphics.

 

WHEN does this happen?

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Comments

  • AnkorAnkor Member Posts: 258

    I found the answer.

     

    It is still "months" away according to the June Update letter on AO's main site.

  • hobo9766hobo9766 Member UncommonPosts: 457

    Game is dead funcom is headed to bankruptcy. Maybe SOE will buy funcom and do it.

  • EnigmaEnigma Member UncommonPosts: 11,384
    Originally posted by Ankor


    I found the answer.
     
    It is still "months" away according to the June Update letter on AO's main site.



     

    the graphics update will bring a lot of people back; however, they are not doing character graphic updates. They will stay the same :(

    I loved AO. Still do

    People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.

  • digitydarkmandigitydarkman Member Posts: 2,194

    Damn kids, who really cares about graphics at the end of the day. Content is 90% of what matters.

  • burmeseburmese Member Posts: 546

    The new graphics engine is still being worked on (now for about 16 months with the Alpha code shown as a nice video back in January).  No date set other than they intend to get it out this year.

     

    From Game Directory Silirrion back in June:

     

    "Lastly, but by no means least, we are still working on the render engine upgrade. As I also mentioned in the previous letter we are currently in a lengthy part of the process where we are stripping out the old engine entirely and integrating a new one, and testing that all the game’s key features still work! The development continues to be good, though, and we will be sure to keep you all up to date as we progress. It’s quite a formidable task and we won’t rush it out."

    ~\_/~\_O

  • Cephus404Cephus404 Member CommonPosts: 3,675
    Originally posted by digitydarkman


    Damn kids, who really cares about graphics at the end of the day. Content is 90% of what matters.

     

    True, but in this case, there are so many graphical problems in AO that they have to update it.  The whole graphics engine is a mess, the collision system is bad, etc.  If my Adventurer character is in wolf mode, I can see through walls and it's hard to get through doors because you get close and the walls all vanish.

    Heck, a couple of weeks ago, I was fighting a dyna boss at the top of a cliff in Newland Desert, I killed him, he fell over the cliff and got "stuck" about half way down the sheer face.  It took me a good 10 minutes to figure out a way to get down there and loot him.  Walking out of the rhinoman valley in Newland is laughable, watching all the rhinomen stuck in the walls.

    When it affects gameplay, it's time for an update.

    Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
    Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
    Now Playing: None
    Hope: None

  • BlasphemareBlasphemare Member Posts: 16

    It's great that they plan on updating graphics, but I think it will take MUCH more work than they are actually doing to spark my interest again. The character designs are terribly dated for my tastes anymore (I started playing in 2001 btw). Who knows? Maybe they will surprise me!

  • burmeseburmese Member Posts: 546

    You can safely assume the character models won't be changed.  That sort of graphical work is an order of magnitude more time and money and labor-intensive than doing the graphics engine update is.  Personally, I don't have any problems with the character models - they have a level of freedom, in terms of emotes, that virtually no other game has; and the graphics update should improve some aspects such as skin tone.

    ~\_/~\_O

  • BlasphemareBlasphemare Member Posts: 16

    I assumed as much. I have several other issues with the game that override this one, so I doubt I will be going back for quite some time.

  • kazrynkazryn Member UncommonPosts: 33

    Well, if the engine is updated, so too shall the character models be updated. They won't be changed necessarily, but their textures will change for the better. Shaders will be applied and the overall model should be smoothed out. Animations won't be touched on, I would think; that would take quite some time with a skeleton crew.

  • SoaraSoara Member UncommonPosts: 78

    Knowing how great Funcom is, I think they'll do such a deal that will really satisfy their customers. Meaning, I'm sure if they're making everything else uber, I'm sure they'll make the models look uber :)

    They said they were completely re-doing the engine, so it should bring good news to EVERYTHING -- terrain, objects, cities, NPCs, sky and atmosphere, virtual effects (ex. things like engines), item icons, etc.

  • digitydarkmandigitydarkman Member Posts: 2,194
    Originally posted by Cephus404

    Originally posted by digitydarkman


    Damn kids, who really cares about graphics at the end of the day. Content is 90% of what matters.

     

    True, but in this case, there are so many graphical problems in AO that they have to update it.  The whole graphics engine is a mess, the collision system is bad, etc.  If my Adventurer character is in wolf mode, I can see through walls and it's hard to get through doors because you get close and the walls all vanish.

    Heck, a couple of weeks ago, I was fighting a dyna boss at the top of a cliff in Newland Desert, I killed him, he fell over the cliff and got "stuck" about half way down the sheer face.  It took me a good 10 minutes to figure out a way to get down there and loot him.  Walking out of the rhinoman valley in Newland is laughable, watching all the rhinomen stuck in the walls.

    When it affects gameplay, it's time for an update.

     

     

     

    Ok, thats issue i will agree with, that gets really annoying.

  • TeimanTeiman Member Posts: 1,319

    I just need a high res texture pack.  AO is a really good game,  deserve this.

  • skullquakerskullquaker Member UncommonPosts: 311

    all depends how much is being pulled from ao. to fix aoc  . that game is not bringing  funcom money in

  • burmeseburmese Member Posts: 546

    There is exactly 1 person doing the graphics upgrade and he was pulled from AoC over a year ago for the project.

    ~\_/~\_O

  • sabutai22sabutai22 Member Posts: 262
    Originally posted by digitydarkman


    Damn kids, who really cares about graphics at the end of the day. Content is 90% of what matters.



     

    Try playing UO or EQ both kings of original content and after your eyes bleed come back with your statement!

     

     

  • DrmarvinDrmarvin Member Posts: 34

    Actually the models in EQ have been redone twice, pc models anyway and a good share of the mobs.  And many of the expansions have updated the graphics about as far as this engine can take it, they even have redone many of the original zones.

    Hopefully we get some new information on the state o the AO update, the game truly deserves to be updated, I know several friends that would be more willing to spend some time getting to learn the fairly steep learning curve if the graphics were a bit better.

  • Kaynos1972Kaynos1972 Member Posts: 2,316

    Is there anyone left at Funcom working on AO ?  I'm starting to believe that whole Engine upgrade is a big hoax and will never happen.

  • Spiritof55Spiritof55 Member Posts: 405

    For those of you that care about eye candy and refuse to play a game that looks outdated or waiting for a graphical update to sub again you're as shallow as your excuse is stupid.   

  • BrueskieBrueskie Member UncommonPosts: 42
    Originally posted by Spiritof55


    For those of you that care about eye candy and refuse to play a game that looks outdated or waiting for a graphical update to sub again you're as shallow as your excuse is stupid.   

     

    Your thinking is quite shallow. AO's surivival depends on getting and retaining new subscribers. Not only does AO look like crap to anyone who has grown used to modern graphics, it also runs like crap on modern hardware.

    As someone who has played AO for years and can fully appreciate the depth of the gameplay, I can't say I blame new players who bail on the game soon after logging in for the first time. I know that when I came back after being away for two years, it was almost jarring how awful the game looked compared to newer titles. It also ran worse on my newer PC than the old one I initially played it on.

    You can't expect folks to put up with the ugliness and bad performance when there are so many other games out there that look and run better. I certainly don't consider that shallow.

  • enzymeenzyme Member UncommonPosts: 464

    I just want the update so it acutally runs on DX9, and takes advantage of my video card, and dual core processor. The current engine is extremely archaic, and primarily runs off of your processor and RAM.

    Current Games:

  • burmeseburmese Member Posts: 546

    Silirrion did have a follow-up post in the AO forums last week regarding the graphics engine.  He said that the engine was about complete but they have a lot of work ahead to redo all the 'casting' effects.  Also said the engine download will not be very big - this indicates that the current textures everyone has in their game directory will not need to be re-downloaded to work with the engine.  They will either work unmodified or, poerhaps, need a one-time processing to make them compatible wtih the new engine.

    ~\_/~\_O

  • hobo9766hobo9766 Member UncommonPosts: 457

    I bet the combo of old textures and new engine is ugly as hell. That is if it ever happens. Nintendo 64 anyone?

  • TrashcantoyTrashcantoy Member Posts: 827
    Originally posted by hobo9766


    I bet the combo of old textures and new engine is ugly as hell. That is if it ever happens. Nintendo 64 anyone?

    your replies amuse me to no end since u still play ao.. keep it going ;s

    MMOs currently playing: -
    About to play: Lord of the Rings Online
    Played: Anarchy Online (alltime favorite) and lots of f2p titles (honorable mentions: 9Dragons, Martial Heroes, Dekaron, Atlantica Online)

  • hobo9766hobo9766 Member UncommonPosts: 457


    Originally posted by 3on1

    Originally posted by hobo9766

    I bet the combo of old textures and new engine is ugly as hell. That is if it ever happens. Nintendo 64 anyone?


    your replies amuse me to no end since u still play ao.. keep it going ;s
    Technically I am on strike. When $oe buys fc and makes my engineer good again I shall return.

    Engineer revolution

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