How much do you really care about graphics?

Do visuals matter?

  • Yes - Visuals matter and EU needs serious improvements!

    Votes: 66 34.2%
  • Yes - Visual matter but EU's graphics are perfectly fine as they are.

    Votes: 66 34.2%
  • No - I'd still play this game if it were using the old graphics or even if it was in 2D pixel art

    Votes: 61 31.6%

  • Total voters
    193

jambon

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James Jambon Zidane
How much are graphics factored in to your reason for playing this game?

MA is all about wanting to update the UI and improve textures...etc but really, how many of us actually care about these improvements? Many of us were playing back when it was Project Entropia and the graphics were very clunky. Arguably I think many wouldn't care if it went back to that style of graphics if the gameplay was improved.

So I'm wondering where do you put graphics on the list of priorities and how much of a factor is/was it for you to start and continue playing Entropia?

1. Would you still play the game if they went back to the old graphics (assuming gameplay was the same as it is now even if not capable in the old engine)? If not, what if gameplay was improved as a trade off to worse graphics?

2. What if EU was no longer even 3D and was a top down 2D style but with decent artwork? Do you think you would have still joined/continue to play?

Personally my #1 reason for joining was based on the notion of being able to make real money. The notion of a 3D environment was just a perk for me. For me, if you took the same gameplay and put it on a completely different visual experience like 2D pixel art I'd still play as much as I do now.
 
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No matter how little graphics matter to you/me/us, they still have to look great on a market of games. Yes, Entropia is more than a game, so much more, but, in order for players to try it and stick around, they have to look as good as they possibly can, they have to look tempting. I agree they should not put MANY resources into this, because newer engines can not be caught up with, but, they should make some small improvements in the UIs every 3-4 years or so.
 
Graphics are very important to me.

I like to walk properly dressed and I like my environment to look fine as well.
Reason to have a decent graphics card to run at high settings as minimum.

Sure, things could always look better, for I think they're already looking fine to me.

2D would be an absolute deal breaker to me.
Al though Fallout 1 and 2 were some of the greatest games I played, even much better than the fallouot 3+ series, I wouldnt like it here. Since fallout had a great storyline and not a boring grind.
 
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No matter how little graphics matter to you/me/us, they still have to look great on a market of games. Yes, Entropia is more than a game, so much more, but, in order for players to try it and stick around, they have to look as good as they possibly can, they have to look tempting. I agree they should not put MANY resources into this, because newer engines can not be caught up with, but, they should make some small improvements in the UIs every 3-4 years or so.

Agreed but how graphics look is subjective to each player. Some people can't live with anything less detailed than the latest Battlefield/Call of duty. Others are happy with indie pixel art style such as Nidhogg. Or as a mid way point look at a game like Terraria - that's pixel art, has sold millions of copies and has way more active users than Entropia. (let's not even mention Minecraft lol) I think there is a larger debate with this too as to how much gameplay can trump graphics as a means to entice people to play.
 
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I'd rather prefer they spent some resources on new content e.g. space update, hangars, land plots, voting/political system
 
I've always viewed MA as hippy artists rather than game developers, the graphics will always come first. How those graphics interact has always been secondary, and game play comes third.

People will not accept low resolution graphics in this decade, expectations have moved on. It's easy to look back with fondess at the past. The reality is once you've driven a car, you're unlikely to want to swap it for bicycle (even though you'll have fond memories of riding a bike as a kid).

For the pets I really like the quality of them, I probably wouldn't train them if they looked awlful. Sure they don't do much, but that's explained in the first sentence above.

The 'project' as it was once called, was always about keeping those artists virtual world alive, and I view content as a way of funding the art to continue. God likes his world to look beautiful, what else can I say...smiles.

Rick
 
In some ways pre ce2 was better since it at least allowed bink videos as pc....

As for pets... run animation on boxer is horrible
 
not much as long it doesn't look like minecraft/runescape lol
 
I voted option 1 because "a metric fuck-ton of optimization" counts as improvements in my book.

Righ now, in this very moment, there are quite a few alternatives with:
a) Equal or better graphics
b) Much much better performance

And some of those are even free (no royalties or fees at all) !!
 
I voted option 1 because "a metric fuck-ton of optimization" counts as improvements in my book.

Righ now, in this very moment, there are quite a few alternatives with:
a) Equal or better graphics
b) Much much better performance

And some of those are even free (no royalties or fees at all) !!

Do these alternatives have a RCE?
 
many forget that some players have paid for the right to a better graphic quality, and we have not had such an improvement.
step of the cryengine 2 which must have revolutionized the ingame graphics , have also asked us a financial effort. of course we had to change the PC to play the game off safe mode for most of us.

put back the blood as in the very old PE, put impacts, put deterioration armor visible
add the PE elements that had to be put in place toxic zone, sandstorms, snowstorms etc
it's just part of PE's oldest faq, the old video presentation showed a virtual world.
now the presentation tells you: become rich or not
 
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I'd answer yes and I'd play it in the old graphics, but not 2D.
 
not really that important to me. I play in safe mode for everything expect avatar quality (i like to see what i'm wearing).

For me something which runs on older hardware is far more important. Having amazing graphics only prevents casual PC users from participating in the universe.
 
I would probably continue to play if they for some reason made the graphics look like 2003 again, but i doubt i would start playing if i found the game today with those graphics
 
For me, as a RL video game developer, I of course take a exactly look to the grafic in every game i play.
EU got a lot improvement into grafic, since the old engine version.
But what i realy miss, is the quality how it get placed or how good LOD (Level of Detail) collision and all this is working. There are a lot objects/models, into the game, how have bad collision setup, or a bad working LOD, so you see the collision box, instead of the LOD step mesh. Especial since last update. There are also bad placed objects all around, and give me the feeling that some objects got placed in a rush, and don't got tested how they realy are placed right, and look good.

There are also a lot objects/meshes from old engine, with low polygons, and give a look like it was in 2000. Since we all have much faster PC's, this could be improved too.

Basicaly, EU looks not bad, and there are some realy very nice looking places!
 
EU have pretty good graphics. Character animation need to be improved. Compared to other MMO's animation is way outdated.

edit: voted #2
im fine with EU graphics as far it's bugged free
 
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For me the gfx is an secondary aspect, so I voted good as it is, but would also stay with EU with old gfx pre VU10.

To see improvements is nice, but if I need a new mashine as it was with the VU10 (Cryengine update) it sucks a little.

Anyways, tech improves, so gfx improves, to be honest a good gfx can attract new players, but thats not all.

GFX can be awesome, but if gamemechanics suck, players will not stay!
 
EU have pretty good graphics. Character animation need to be improved. Compared to other MMO's animation is way outdated.

Compared with other MMO, here an example of a swampy place of a game i helped as developer.
 
Many of us were playing back when it was Project Entropia and the graphics were very clunky.
It was released in 2003. All games looked very clunky back then. Sure, in more recent years there has been a revival of sidescrollers, games with MIDI music, etc. But I still don't think it makes sense to make this argument given how different things are today than they were 15 (!) years ago.

I voted the second option.

Visually I think it looks fine, but it's still not great in terms of optimization (running on lower-end hardware). And certain areas are still very buggy where players can get stuck or fall through the floor. To me, that is more important than how the game looks.
 
It was released in 2003. All games looked very clunky back then. Sure, in more recent years there has been a revival of sidescrollers, games with MIDI music, etc. But I still don't think it makes sense to make this argument given how different things are today than they were 15 (!) years ago.

I voted the second option.

Visually I think it looks fine, but it's still not great in terms of optimization (running on lower-end hardware). And certain areas are still very buggy where players can get stuck or fall through the floor. To me, that is more important than how the game looks.

+rep
actually the last thing we care is how much more scary will look Faucervix's
 
I like the cartoon style of the graphics as it is.
Still prefer the old game assets over the newer ones. Especially how the place around Zeus looked, and stink trees.
I'm sad that they removed some assets from Shinook jungle and some other meaningless buildings.
Or the old robot war junk.
It's not about the quality of the graphics, sometimes its about the atmosphere. At least for me.
 
I like the cartoon style of the graphics as it is.
Still prefer the old game assets over the newer ones. Especially how the place around Zeus looked, and stink trees.
I'm sad that they removed some assets from Shinook jungle and some other meaningless buildings.
Or the old robot war junk.
It's not about the quality of the graphics, sometimes its about the atmosphere. At least for me.
It's all important. Consider what Evey said in post #2. There is a strong chance potential new players would care about graphics.

Do you ever go back and play really old games? Like Doom 3D? Maybe Super Marios Bros? I have no idea what games you played back in the day, but if you're like most people, you can re-play old classics and still find them bearable.

Why is that? One word: nostalgia. You remember the old days when that game was fresh and new. Perhaps simpler times.

New players MA would look to attract don't have nostalgia in response to Entropia's graphics. So they probably want something that looks new and sharp, even in today's competitive marketplace.

Needless to say, the point I'm making is we shouldn't be forgetting newcomers. I am of the opinion that very few of them will actually stay at this point, but that doesn't mean we should alienate them.
 
i think, majorities of:
+40sh y.o. players doesn't realy care, some oldies prefer EP graphics too.
-30sh y.o. realy care about graphics.
The others in between are close to the first category.
I'm at +40sh ofc :laugh:

The truth is, if you look what is out there on the MMO market, MA should be considering some re-innovations aspects of the game. We like it or not. The game need "new blood" in the players base.

PS. personally I think the game need "new blood" in the dev's side too.
 
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Gameplay is what matters.

In some way I still prefer the game as it was pre cry engine.

And some of the most popular games ever don't / didnt have fantastic graphics. Minecraft comes to mind. So do games like Dwarf Fortress, Aurora, etc.
 
Gameplay is what matters.

In some way I still prefer the game as it was pre cry engine.


I hear this so many times.

But isnt this the same as, my wife looked a lot better when I just met her?
Things were new and exciting back then. Now the relation has become just "normal" and not the hot passionate excitement before we had 2 kids crawling around.

Might not have been the perfect example since my wife did actually looked a lot better 15 years ago but I hope you get the idea ;)

Things were new back then. We stepped into this new world. But now this new world has become our familiar old world.

But you have to be honest, entropia universe DOES look a lot better then project entropia.
Graphics wise this is just a simple fact.
Not saying that now it has the same charm as it had 15 years ago though.
 
I voted I cared mainly cause of a few experiences in the game. First when I traveled to Toulan and was up in the mountains it was snowing and it was like a different game. The sound of the howling wind it was just beautiful. (Shame no one is there)

There are moments in the game where it just is beautiful and when combined with the right sound gets better game immersion. They should move all the planets closer to each other and try to create some better overall looking terrain/weather and have the right sound to make it seem like you are hunting in the snow/rain.

Another moment on Toulan just think that planet does it right with how the game should feel is at the PvP rig there. It is dark, raining and ominous approaching the Rig. Just puts a much better feel to the game. These moments should be plentiful to add to overall game play in the game. It would go a long way in terms of marketing and creating just more times where you are like this game is beautiful. (because it can be )
 
graphics are not as important to me. First and foremost i care for overall gameplay and interactivity. Nice to see a game that can become more streamlined with bugs that get fixed somewhat quickly.. :)
 
I hear this so many times.

Yeah simply because it is true.

Pre VU10 there was tons of POIs, worth to dicover just for fun.
Nothing big, but tons of different debris all over Eudoria, signs of the robot war.
Old abandoned millitary places somewhere on hill in nowhere.
Maffoid settlements with different buildings, Feffoid camps and whatever else.
Crashed spaceships, burned out tanks and a lot more.
Some fun objects, like the underwater smiley, sunbathing skelleton and some more.

Now we have awesome GFX but nothing to discover, most Eudoria is plain boring to discover.

How many POIs exist these days, that are worth a visit for new players, is it 10 ?

I don´t speak about the cities and outposts, some of them are really awesome designed, like Athena Spaceport, PA, Twins and a lot other areas around TPs are awesome.

There is nothing out in the wilds anymore that makes you giggle or even surprise.

With CE2 Eudoria lost its athmosphere beeing a battlefield where robot war is ongoing, beside the threat of mutants that settle all over the continent with their signs: stay away humanz.

Look how it is today:
Boring area with a nice landscape and mobs out of nowhere, no signs of their origins (settlements), robots out of nowhere without any signs of an ongoing mean robot war (except old Hadesheim crater).

Thats what this people mean when they say pre VU10 EU was better than anything after that VU.

The many small things that made the athmosphere are gone!

It does not need a super cool designed future city like PA ( I love it btw ), its the small things you find while exploring that makes exploring a fun thing.

There is so much potential in this engine but unused!

There have been some attempts to generate nice places (like the waterfall, or this windmill city I can´t remember the name of it).
That was simply to much in one place, so it caused lag on lower end mashines, and MA removed it.
Understandable, but why make it so complex?

Drop a debris here and there, a burned out tank, an abandoned artillery, a crashed shuttle, a corpse here and there, some burned out Warlock remains, whatever, a Maffoid hut or a lookout, a Feffo campfire --- just some small things.

Spread this things all over the continent, 1 or 2 within 1km² and exploring would be an awesome thing again, without causing any lags.

That was it pre VU10 !!!
 
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