Sub-Par graphics, congrats firaxis.

[charle88]

Originally Posted by Mr_Wonka

they should totally redo the mountain tiles or at least add on. They don't even look like the swiss alps or any large mountain range. Just plain crappy looking.

Its important to at least make the tiles appear realistic so you feel immersed with in the atmosphere of the game.

to be honest, I thought the call to power games had the best looking art work. go ahead and disagree. had great music as well.


the past 2 civs from firaxis have failed on the "mood" aspect of the game. graphics can certainly help. Hopefully modders can fix this and get some kick ass terrain tiles.

I can almost guarantee you that a Blue Marble mod or something similiar to that will be made for Civ5.

[Snoopy]

When I read many of these posts, I start to realize that those who say "graphics aren't important", don't actually know what "graphics" means.

I have attached a screenshot of Civ V with the hue slightly shifted to right. Imagine if Firaxis released this as the default and original design. You would instantly ask yourself "why?"; many of you would suddenly discredit the game, because if they can't get the graphics right, surely the rest is crap too? The rest of you will shrug it off, reminding yourself that graphics aren't important, play the game anyway, after a short while, you will get aggravated, complaining why did they make the units almost the same colour as the land?

But this is just the obvious stuff right? Everyone knows that the grass should be green. But what isn't obvious to you is what you're not experienced in. Most of you who have little to no understanding of graphics do not see the importance of interface design, colour theory, shapes, location, size, believability and so on. All of these are very important and are constantly under debate how to perfect it.

The theme and interface design for Civilization V is the best I have seen since CivII, CivII nailed it really well. Unfortunately, Firaxis never really developed or obtained a suitable 3D engine for this type of game. The engine in Civ5 is a much better step closer to something more suitable, but they need to go a lot further, and I suspect the artists know it, if they can one day achieve it, I guarantee, even those who are fanatical by their words "graphics aren't important" will have a much more satisfying and pleasing experience.

Many of you are underestimating the power of good graphic design and need to invest more respect to the design theory; and please don't confuse good graphic design with flashy graphics.

[civ_king]

Thank you for your words of wisdom

[Double A]

Originally Posted by Snoopy

When I read many of these posts, I start to realize that those who say "graphics aren't important", don't actually know what "graphics" means.

I have attached a screenshot of Civ V with the hue slightly shifted to right. Imagine if Firaxis released this as the default and original design. You would instantly ask yourself "why?"; many of you would suddenly discredit the game, because if they can't get the graphics right, surely the rest is crap too? The rest of you will shrug it off, reminding yourself that graphics aren't important, play the game anyway, after a short while, you will get aggravated, complaining why did they make the units almost the same colour as the land?

But this is just the obvious stuff right? Everyone knows that the grass should be green. But what isn't obvious to you is what you're not experienced in. Most of you who have little to no understanding of graphics do not see the importance of interface design, colour theory, shapes, location, size, believability and so on. All of these are very important and are constantly under debate how to perfect it.

The theme and interface design for Civilization V is the best I have seen since CivII, CivII nailed it really well. Unfortunately, Firaxis never really developed or obtained a suitable 3D engine for this type of game. The engine in Civ5 is a much better step closer to something more suitable, but they need to go a lot further, and I suspect the artists know it, if they can one day achieve it, I guarantee, even those who are fanatical by their words "graphics aren't important" will have a much more satisfying and pleasing experience.

Many of you are underestimating the power of good graphic design and need to invest more respect to the design theory; and please don't confuse good graphic design with flashy graphics.

I think it looks pretty cool actually

But you made a good point. Most of us confused "good" with "flashy." But we're not playing word games, most Civ fans would still play if the graphics were 8-bit if it meant good gameplay.

[Ikael]

When I read many of these posts, I start to realize that those who say "graphics aren't important", don't actually know what "graphics" means.

I know perfectly what I mean when I say that "graphics aren't important": that photorrealism is a stupid obsession and that I would take accesibility and high performance on low end systems like mine over cutting edge graphics specially since we are talking about a freaking strategy game, which is one of the most visually abstract genre.

Now, proper graphic design is vital for videogaming nowadays: units and terrain types should be clean and distinct, interface shouldn't be cluttered, etc, etc. But all of it is a matter of design and skill, and it has nothing to do with graphic horsepower or even a a sense of beauty. Functionality >>>>>>> Eyecandy, performance should be paramount, always. I, for one, congratulate Firaxis for following this approach.

[Thyrwyn]

Take a peek at the GDC thread. . . you can have your "candy" and eat it, too

They have specifically engineered the game to function even on notebooks with no dedicated graphics card.

[lietkynes]

For reference, this is a screenshot from Civilization 4 preview at E3 in 2005.

[lietkynes]

And tbh units in Civ1 were the best, the chariot still kicks ass
(see my avatar)

[Aramel]

Originally Posted by lietkynes

For reference, this is a screenshot from Civilization 4 preview at E3 in 2005.

Oh my God, I just vomited all over my laptop. That is frighteningly awful.

[lietkynes]

Originally Posted by Aramel

Oh my God, I just vomited all over my laptop. That is frighteningly awful.

That's why it's better to wait for the final release before complaining about graphics.

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by Ikael

I know perfectly what I mean when I say that "graphics aren't important": that photorrealism is a stupid obsession and that I would take accesibility and high performance on low end systems like mine over cutting edge graphics specially since we are talking about a freaking strategy game, which is one of the most visually abstract genre.

Now, proper graphic design is vital for videogaming nowadays: units and terrain types should be clean and distinct, interface shouldn't be cluttered, etc, etc. But all of it is a matter of design and skill, and it has nothing to do with graphic horsepower or even a a sense of beauty. Functionality >>>>>>> Eyecandy, performance should be paramount, always. I, for one, congratulate Firaxis for following this approach.

To be clear, your beef is not with graphics, but with performance.

Ironically, you'd get better performance with realistic graphics because realistic graphics are done better in 2D (pre-rendered 3D models in a 2D world, e.g. Age of Kings), not 3D, which takes up a lot of performance power.

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by lietkynes

That's why it's better to wait for the final release before complaining about graphics.

I'm pretty sure the screenshots you've been seeing around recently are the final graphics.

While I myself am disappointed in the 3D blocky models, its certainly a lot better than Civ4. The interface however is the best since CivII (for its time). CivIII was the worst, (Photoshops bevel and drop shadow should be banned!).

[Blue Arc]

I've learned something new today, that's more important than whether or not Civ V has good graphics, I have learned that you can call a person whatever mean dirty thing you want, so long as you add an emoticon after the offending sentence.

And I think we all can agree, that that, is a lesson far more valuable than any others that can be learned from this thread.

[Cronos]

Dont be so snide Blue snarc...

[kozzer]

I think the terrain art looks beautiful! I don't know what people are expecting if they think what they've seen isn't "up to par". Not all terrain is majestic - just look at the plains in Nebraska or something, "plain" is a pretty good description.

[blasto]

Here’s my take

I would like to see a graphic violence update. This is my ADHD perspective to the graphics complaint. It would be very cool to see:

Decapitations!!
More death animations. Better audible screams of agony and death would enhance this.
Water battles should show spreading blood and floating bodies! Pecking flying carrion eaters optional I guess.
Slow motion replays! Who wouldn’t want to see a slow-mo of a tank sabot round going through someone’s shield and the body behind it? Now that’s good stuff, all the way around.
Little cut scenes to put some weight to espionage missions. I wanna see the death and destruction of my poisoning of the water supply. Perhaps a take on Monty Pythons “bring out your dead” skit….
Barbarians should have all their own kill animations. Heck, all Civs should have their own, if not each particular unit. A lion eating a settler should be uber cool. Maybe it should leave behind a little family of rib cages for a turn or so to mark the occasion.
The downing of aircraft should also cause land damage from the crashing wreck. What should a crashing B1 filled with nukes do when hitting a hamlet?
Enemy unit XP might be indicated by the number of skulls hanging from the belt. Or perhaps ears or scalps would work too.


I think these things would be a good start for an improvement.

[Milith]

Originally Posted by Takhisis

This is a famous alpha build:

Spoiler:

So I wouldn't trust alphas too much, they might be using civ4 terrain until they have a definitive version of their own.

That is 13 pages ago and on a totally unrelated subject, but you mean that once overlords could attack ? Oh god.

[Padje Dog]

Graphics, like money, you will never be happy with what you have. Sure you can be happy but with inflation and the Jones you eventually need more. I fully expect to see people who LOVE the graphics of Civ 5 when its released in 5 years time state they can't play Civ 5 anymore because the graphics are so laughable.

Game of Pong anybody?

[tom2050]

I would like to see a graphic violence update.

Perhaps it will come in a DLC pack. After all, violence is a natural part of history. And even with violence and blood, it's nothing that isn't seen on TV anyways.