I love new technology. Evolution of graphics stopped around 5 years ago, but now we have HDR and much more advanced VR. I don't want to get stuck in the past. It's so... boring. Today you can do so much more than what was possible in 1998 or 2005. I can't imagine discarding everything that came after even if I love pixel graphics. So the answer is HERE NOW.
Resolution needs to stop. (until the graphics are life like)
As long as we aren't seeing individual pixels, theres no need for 4k and above. (32" 16:9 & 34" 21:9 needs 1440p for adequate ppi for eg)
What makes graphics life like? Minecraft at 8K? Pong at 10000000K? No, its models, textures and lighting.
To power the extra pixels requires huge resources, put that GPU power to what matters - MODELS , TEXTURES , LIGHTING.
4K res and above can go get effed.
As long as we aren't seeing individual pixels, theres no need for 4k and above. (32" 16:9 & 34" 21:9 needs 1440p for adequate ppi for eg)
What makes graphics life like? Minecraft at 8K? Pong at 10000000K? No, its models, textures and lighting.
To power the extra pixels requires huge resources, put that GPU power to what matters - MODELS , TEXTURES , LIGHTING.
4K res and above can go get effed.
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According to the topic, I was stuck in 1999.
For PC : Age of Empires 2. Realistic 2D graphics, immersive UI, immersive music and voices, and impressive intro cinematic.
For console : Soul Calibur and Shenmue. Epic graphics, technical fighting system, realistic character design, stunning music + voice acting.
I couldn't just tell about graphics if it wasn't a part of an excellent game that makes these graphics better.
Other games at the time could surpass them on some points, but I really had that "wow" effect back then with these three, and I'll keep remembering them as the gods of the late 90's. If we would be stuck in the same graphic level, I wouldn't have complained. The year 1999 surely have a place in my heart. And 2000, if I count Deus Ex.
For PC : Age of Empires 2. Realistic 2D graphics, immersive UI, immersive music and voices, and impressive intro cinematic.
For console : Soul Calibur and Shenmue. Epic graphics, technical fighting system, realistic character design, stunning music + voice acting.
I couldn't just tell about graphics if it wasn't a part of an excellent game that makes these graphics better.
Other games at the time could surpass them on some points, but I really had that "wow" effect back then with these three, and I'll keep remembering them as the gods of the late 90's. If we would be stuck in the same graphic level, I wouldn't have complained. The year 1999 surely have a place in my heart. And 2000, if I count Deus Ex.
I still play AoE2 all the time. The Definitive Edition though because the small scale resolutions did not survive well on larger screens.
Have to go with Crysis for sure. Way back in 2007 and it shattered every norm in terms of graphic quality and physics. The destructible environments, water physics, all the attention to detail. I dare say it was revolutionary back then and it still looks incredible today. I might even go as far as say that graphics today don't look much better than back then so I'd be fine with that level.
Honestly innovation has taken a back seat and my gut tells me its console limitation that stalled progress, here's to hoping with next gen companies will push the limit more. It always bothers me to see all of these tech demos that look jaw-dropping but we never see any games come close to graphical quality or physics interactivity.
I just want a game to push the limits in all the directions again. The fact that older games look as good if not better than modern titles is unfortunate.
Honestly innovation has taken a back seat and my gut tells me its console limitation that stalled progress, here's to hoping with next gen companies will push the limit more. It always bothers me to see all of these tech demos that look jaw-dropping but we never see any games come close to graphical quality or physics interactivity.
I just want a game to push the limits in all the directions again. The fact that older games look as good if not better than modern titles is unfortunate.
Problem is that we push forward to better "visuals" while we let behind the physics. It's been almost two decades that I crave for realistic collisions between clothes and armor, yet in 2020 (!!) we still have hair, capes and shoulder pads that enter inside the body ; chestplates affected by torsion, etc... It still bugs me as hell that nobody tries to make it better. Today's games still look like 2005 games more or less, only with more particles and rendering. When will game engines make a real step forward in those physics ?
Hum, maybe we didn't change that much since Crysis.
And that's precisely why there's a need for innovative engines made for such physics.
Not long ago we wouldn't imagine that something like the Ray Tracing would be possible, nor we had imagined something like the Crysis engine back then... And that's because the Ray Tracing is an innovative method of calculating lights and reflection on surfaces. The results are incredible, nearly life-like. Some day we will find an innovative way of calculating mass and volumes too that will surpass Crysis' state of realism.
Nowadays games/engines push the older physics to the maximum possible but what the engine can't reproduce get "patched" by an abundant amount of scripted animations... It's like taking a roller coaster for a plane, reproducing the fly effect by placing rails everywhere. A new engine would draw wings so it can directly interact with air.
I'm not a dev myself so I have no clue how to achieve this,, but if some people invented the RTX, then someone will invent the new "Crysis" engine soon.
Interesting question.
As an artist, I tend to be very demanding from a visual standpoint so, we didn't even reach the point where I would be fine with the technology stopping.
In fact, we didn't even reach my childhood's dream when it stand to graphics (we're getting close but still not quiet there).
Having said that, I would not want graphics to equal reality, it would be boring, imo, to make video games basically movie simulations. I think 3D graphics has a personality, just like drawing in a manga or a comic book, for exemple. It's important to keep that 3D feeling that we have in video games today.
There's cinematic from games that illustrate pertty well what I'm talking about.
I mean, the Cyberpunk cinematic trailer (the one that introduced Keanu reeves as being part of the project) was fairly spot on. Once we reach this quality in-game, I'm fine with it, no need to go any further.
As an artist, I tend to be very demanding from a visual standpoint so, we didn't even reach the point where I would be fine with the technology stopping.
In fact, we didn't even reach my childhood's dream when it stand to graphics (we're getting close but still not quiet there).
Having said that, I would not want graphics to equal reality, it would be boring, imo, to make video games basically movie simulations. I think 3D graphics has a personality, just like drawing in a manga or a comic book, for exemple. It's important to keep that 3D feeling that we have in video games today.
There's cinematic from games that illustrate pertty well what I'm talking about.
I mean, the Cyberpunk cinematic trailer (the one that introduced Keanu reeves as being part of the project) was fairly spot on. Once we reach this quality in-game, I'm fine with it, no need to go any further.
I understand that 100%. While I was talking in favor of realism in games engines, I didn't mention that the more progress we make in realistic graphics, the more creative tools we have in hands to twist this reality into dreams, and the more these dreams will come to life. As creative people we are glad to use tools that help us make our dream works (may they be realistic or unreal), so why not wishing for better tools then ? How we use them is up to our creativity.
(sorry for stepping out of the topic, this is my last one).
Never, until native 8k+ resolution and fully raytraced games are playable at 120fps+ in VR. I don't think I'll live to see that happening unless a very big change in GPUs happens (I'm 29).
If I was forced to pick a date though, I would pick right now because we have the basics for the good stuff, such as volumetrics, raytracing, dlss, postprocessing... Besides, CP77 just released...
If I was forced to pick a date though, I would pick right now because we have the basics for the good stuff, such as volumetrics, raytracing, dlss, postprocessing... Besides, CP77 just released...
Great topic!
I think I'm fine with advancements, as long as people have a clear vision for the visual style of their games. I prefer timeless aesthetics like Homeworld, Kingdoms or Amalur, or Zelda: Breath of the Wild. No reason that games can't be more / less "realistic", as long as the visual designers are creating a look and feel that will be signature and slick, whether 5 or 25 years from now.
It's when people try to achieve "photo-realistic" quality that I feel games suffer from diminishing returns no matter what. They'll only be "photo-realistic" until better cameras are created. Then, they start to feel a bit awkward and underwhelming.
Thus, I don't think advancements in technology are a problem, but I wish more time was spent on balance and vision instead of including every single new bell and whistle available. Less is more.
I think I'm fine with advancements, as long as people have a clear vision for the visual style of their games. I prefer timeless aesthetics like Homeworld, Kingdoms or Amalur, or Zelda: Breath of the Wild. No reason that games can't be more / less "realistic", as long as the visual designers are creating a look and feel that will be signature and slick, whether 5 or 25 years from now.
It's when people try to achieve "photo-realistic" quality that I feel games suffer from diminishing returns no matter what. They'll only be "photo-realistic" until better cameras are created. Then, they start to feel a bit awkward and underwhelming.
Thus, I don't think advancements in technology are a problem, but I wish more time was spent on balance and vision instead of including every single new bell and whistle available. Less is more.
For me the point in time was when graphics cards became so pricy that they can sometimes cost more than the rest of the computer combined and it feels like they release a new must have model every year.
Progress isnt a bad thing sure, but the problem?
Game devs focus on making their game as visually impressive as possible at the expense of everything else *Coughs* which also alienates a HUGE portion of the gaming community.(Too me at least) The 1080 still feels new yet we have already had the 20 and now 30 series of cards in what feels like a very short period of time and im betting, no sooner will people have their 3080's saved for an installed, and a 40 series will be released which increases graphics performance by a whole 1% more but that 1% will be enough to render a large chunk of the gaming community's cards useless.
If devs were smart they would support lower end cards as much as the higher end.
Progress isnt a bad thing sure, but the problem?
Game devs focus on making their game as visually impressive as possible at the expense of everything else *Coughs* which also alienates a HUGE portion of the gaming community.(Too me at least) The 1080 still feels new yet we have already had the 20 and now 30 series of cards in what feels like a very short period of time and im betting, no sooner will people have their 3080's saved for an installed, and a 40 series will be released which increases graphics performance by a whole 1% more but that 1% will be enough to render a large chunk of the gaming community's cards useless.
If devs were smart they would support lower end cards as much as the higher end.
I shared this frustration when games shifted from 2 to 3 D ( about 2000). A lot was lost in game play and new games seemed to always require new computers.
I've been playing video games literally as long as they've been around for consumers (Yep, had a PONG machine).
Every generation has blown people's minds with how amazing the graphics were, and what they accomplished. I find it particularly ironic when people say "graphics don't matter" and then point to older games that were incredible for their time (FFVII, I'm looking at you).
All that said, I still play my New 3DS XL quite a bit - huge library of games, very portable, very fun. For my money, best console ever made.
Every generation has blown people's minds with how amazing the graphics were, and what they accomplished. I find it particularly ironic when people say "graphics don't matter" and then point to older games that were incredible for their time (FFVII, I'm looking at you).
All that said, I still play my New 3DS XL quite a bit - huge library of games, very portable, very fun. For my money, best console ever made.
This insanity about getting higher and higher resolutions should stop. It's actually nonsensical. That's the reason upscaling and DLSS exists. There is literally no organic need for higher and higher resolutions, it's a completely corporate-motivated progress. Higher resolution means you need new TV, new hardware, etc.
Cyberpunk 2077, and the Cyberpunk 2020 pen and paper rpg was partly so great because it shows us how this whole thing can end.
Cyberpunk 2077, and the Cyberpunk 2020 pen and paper rpg was partly so great because it shows us how this whole thing can end.