Civ Visually

[Varanid]

There is no excuse in today's market for a AAA game NOT to have good graphics.

This. They don't have to be astonishing but at least decent. I'd be fine with Civ 4 level graphics if they'd managed to help the performance along cause it's still horrid.

 

[Slynky333]

I'm not asking for miracles here; I never did say I expect perfect AI. Any computer 'AI' is just a bunch of algorithms, so of course humans will always best it once they learn the few tricks it's been thought to use in different situations. However, I did expect the AI to:

1) Not *literally* suicide its archers and other ranged units by placing them next to melee units.

2) Build a navy. Duh. Maybe even *use* it if that's not too difficult to program. Likewise, build air units. And to *not* build anti-air units when I don't have any planes.

3) Not mill its units aimlessly about. I can't decide which is worse, doing this in peace time (they use pathfinding resources and lose their fortification bonus) or during war (I have 4 lvl 8-9 Artilleries in my current game thank to the AI running back and forth in an endless hail of hellfire).

4) Not give most of its cities away after I kill a few units, nor pay 10k gold for a city I sold them just to capture it again soon enough and sell it to another AI. Etc etc... There are so many bugs, oversights, imbalances and exploits in this game that you have to *search* for the actual features.

5) Conduct diplomacy, not to, you know... Attack randomly or based on totally oblique parameters.

6) Not go after workers like raptor Jesus on meth, regardless of consequences. Nor leave its own workers unguarded, to the point where I capture so much I have to start deleting them.

7) Seven is the lucky number, so I'll just stop here. City-spamming near the player and then complaining about close borders is about as ridiculous as it gets. No, wait - it's even worse when you are allies in a war and they throw a fruity-loop about your reckless warmongering. I think I know who my next target will be, thank you very much!

8) EDIt: I must add this, how could I forget. Conquering the world with four horsemen! The Stupid is strong in this one: it's not even Epic anymore, but quite literally Biblical.

Of course, the game was released prematurely, but they must have known that well in advance (it's not like it's a rare occurrence with modern pc games). The priorities are on the eye candy because as you said, AI programming is costly and unpredictable, and I suspect most people who have moved from Prince to Deity are only happy in their 'achievement' and do not question the causes... The game sells well due to simplicity and eye candy. To deny it would be folly; but to not protest would be preposterous. The only way to get good AI in games is to demand it. I for one won't be buying any expansions unless the AI is markedly improved in them.

Nicely put. And simple things to fix. Well, it would SEEM to be easy to fix.

 

[Varanid]

but I want to keep the 4 horsemen of the (local) apocalypse It's just too cool. I wish they'd vary the color though...only one is supposed to be white

 

[Unclescam777]

I wonder if I am playing the same game as some of you.

I bought a DirectX 11 card (460GTX), overclocked it, maxed out the video settings and...

• Why do the rivers look painted on with one color?
  
• Why do the trees look like Bob Ross painted them?
  
• Why are all of the colors so dull? It makes ciV feel bland and lifeless. This is a problem with many modern games. When I look out my window I see bright, vibrant colors, but "good" graphics always seem to consist of dull browns and greens. CiV looks like it hasn't rained in 4000 years.

There are a lot of things that look good in ciV, but the things that look bad are REALLY BAD. It gives the impression that the artists slapped everything together in Microsoft Paint.

 

[Arsenic Steel]

I think the focus on graphics hurts strategy gaming. Graphics should be first and foremost functional and efficient. I regard the graphics in Civ5 as mostly unnecessary fluff, which often make it actually more difficult to analyze a situation on the map, and seeing how poorly the AI does (which was programmed by a single person), I don't think it was a good idea to spend so much of the budget on such fluff.

This.
For me the civ series has never been about top notch graphics or cutting edge visuals. The series always, up until now, felt optimized graphically to perform well on different hardware setups(SHOCKER even laptops) not just high end systems. Ironically civ V does not even run optimally on many high end systems either.

Over the decades I thought the chief area of complaints from fans was the AI not graphics for this stadegy franchise. Well there is nothing like a new paint job when your transmission is busted.

 

[Jharii]

This. They don't have to be astonishing but at least decent. I'd be fine with Civ 4 level graphics if they'd managed to help the performance along cause it's still horrid.

Exception: Dwarf Fortress.

 

[charon2112]

the graphics have been growing on me. I understand that they were going for a painterly style, and I like it. Except for rivers, they're horrible. If you put a IV screenshot next to a V screenshot, it's pretty apparent that V has way better graphics...the texture of the dunes, mountains, and ground are really pretty good.

I wonder if I am playing the same game as some of you.

I bought a DirectX 11 card (460GTX), overclocked it, maxed out the video settings and...

• Why do the rivers look painted on with one color?
  
• Why do the trees look like Bob Ross painted them?
  
• Why are all of the colors so dull? It makes ciV feel bland and lifeless. This is a problem with many modern games. When I look out my window I see bright, vibrant colors, but "good" graphics always seem to consist of dull browns and greens. CiV looks like it hasn't rained in 4000 years.

There are a lot of things that look good in ciV, but the things that look bad are REALLY BAD. It gives the impression that the artists slapped everything together in Microsoft Paint.

 

[Unclescam777]

the graphics have been growing on me. I understand that they were going for a painterly style, and I like it. Except for rivers, they're horrible. If you put a IV screenshot next to a V screenshot, it's pretty apparent that V has way better graphics...the texture of the dunes, mountains, and ground are really pretty good.

Yeah the mountains are nice in DX11. I also like the attention to detail on the little things, like reflections on the water or the deer grazing.

But that just makes the flaws more frustrating. How can they let those bland rivers pass if they're willing to put so much detail into the other scenery?

 

[Putmalk]

I love the graphics! Just got a brand-new video card which is making mince-meat of the graphics. Like, seriously, it feels like I've got 120 fps. Every detail is amazing in hi-def, I swear. XD

 

[charon2112]

Yeah the mountains are nice in DX11. I also like the attention to detail on the little things, like reflections on the water or the deer grazing.

But that just makes the flaws more frustrating. How can they let those bland rivers pass if they're willing to put so much detail into the other scenery?

I'd love to mod in some new rivers...but I can barely spell 'mod', let alone create one...