Why do roads look like little ditches?

[jespersa86]

First of all, only small rivers, where the water flows relatively slowly, have such meanders. I think you have to compare the rivers in civ with the big, important rivers such as the Danube, can be depicted quite well i think

http://www.google.nl/imgres?imgurl=...&sa=X&ei=0YuQTLjVDpCtOL_ZoOcM&ved=0CDkQ9QEwBA

 

[LegioCorvus]

Except for that odd road loop in the build Greg was playing the live feed, I think roads look fine. I would prefer that the Romans got paved roads, but oh well.

When we had earlier screenshots, and people complained about rivers, I defended them, because I figured they would improve. They haven't. They look horrible. In fact, they're the only major complaint I have about Civ5.

 

[Kruelgor]

Um, they don't look like rivers? More like dug out trenches filled with fluro blue simcity water.

Rivers from the air usually look more twisty - like this:



I don't really care either way, but I can see why people are complaining.




The thing is, it'd be pretty difficult to make the rivers look less straight without making it harder to tell what hexes they lie between. It might be a case of complainers not knowing what they really want.

Manipulative pictures. You're showing an ingame screenshot of actual CiV4 game footage, a low resolution screenshot of a CiV 5 VIDEO, and the types of rivers don't even match as you got one that is windy and one that is straight.

 

[Conspirator]

I think I prefer Civ 4 graphics to Civ 5.

 

[VainApocalypse]

Beg the question is a logical fallacy AND an idiom, "1. if a statement or situation begs the question, it causes you to ask a particular question: e.g. It's all very well talking about extra staff but it rather begs the question of how we're going to pay for them." (Cambridge Idioms Dictionary, 2nd ed. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006. Reproduced with permission.) There are more than 1 way to use words... -in no way was I using the phrase to discuss logical fallacies.

They were only forced to add that to the dictionary because people kept misusing it, and you know it!

 

[matt112986]

Looking up aerial photos of various rivers they seem to be a mix of Civs 4 and 5 styles. The smoother look of the banks and water are where Civ 5 seems more realistic while Civ 4 deltas, islands, and larger bends are more realistic. I think part of the problem is the relatively straight path the rivers take in Civ 5. They should probably bend around the hexes more.

PieceOfMinds pic seems too wavy compared to most major rivers all though that can vary greatly depending on location, terrain, and age of the river.

 

[draxil]

I think I prefer Civ 4 graphics to Civ 5.

Really? Then you must just LOVE Civ 1

 

[mmix2000]

Do roads appearance/function adapt to era? Does it get replaced by asphalt road at some point? I cant seem to find a screenshot from a alter era with a road on it.

 

[Conspirator]

Really? Then you must just LOVE Civ 1

Never played Civ 1. Thinking about getting Civ 2 though because I'm bored of Civ 4 now. Getting too repetitive and I just can't muster myself to play any of the scenarios.

 

[PawelS]

Civ1 had great graphics for its time, the best 320x200 gfx I've ever seen.

 

[PieceOfMind]

Manipulative pictures. You're showing an ingame screenshot of actual CiV4 game footage, a low resolution screenshot of a CiV 5 VIDEO, and the types of rivers don't even match as you got one that is windy and one that is straight.

The fact the civ5 pick is low res or from a video is irrelevant. I'll give you that it's a straighter river though, which makes the comparison less fair.

The reason I used it is because it was from the most recent gameplay we had seen, therefore being presumably the closest to what rivers will look like at release.

By the way, the civ5 video is still in-game footage - it's just low-res as you pointed out. For the purpose of observing the winding and bending of the river, it really doesn't matter.

 

[Ahriman]

First of all, only small rivers, where the water flows relatively slowly, have such meanders.

Ever seen pictures of the Amazon?
http://www.ifh.uni-karlsruhe.de/people/fenton/images/amazon_river_b.jpg

and the types of rivers don't even match as you got one that is windy and one that is straight.

Thats part of the problem; as far as we can tell all rivers in Civ5 are straight.

 

[Cilpot]

I think I prefer Civ 4 graphics to Civ 5.

I kind of agree regarding terrains.

I really dislike the yellow-ish filter on everything in what I've seen so far. Reminds me of the Civ III graphics. I still remember one of the first mods for III (made by Thunderfall i think) which was only called "less yellow" or something. I suspect a similar mod will be made for 5

 

[LegionSteve]

Um, they don't look like rivers? More like dug out trenches filled with fluro blue simcity water.

Rivers from the air usually look more twisty - like this:



I don't really care either way, but I can see why people are complaining.




The thing is, it'd be pretty difficult to make the rivers look less straight without making it harder to tell what hexes they lie between. It might be a case of complainers not knowing what they really want.

It seems Civ 4 is more realistic than Civ 5 - if you look at the aerial photo, on the right side of the river you can clearly see that the world is made of squares, not hexes.

(sorry)

Trying to be serious for a change: It is the clash between the river and the sea in Civ 5 that really bugs me. In Civ 4 the river and the sea are similar shades. In Civ 5 they have made the sea darker - I really like how the sea looks - but they made the river lighter, and it looks weird.

Hopefully they will improve it in the release day patch, if they haven't already.

 

[PieceOfMind]

Ok, ok. Here is a straight civ4 river.

Spoiler :

By the way, with all the people quoting me, I really wish I'd spoilered the original images.

 

[IdleEnergy]

Here's an example of a longer river in CiV.

http://www.civfanatics.com/gallery/files/1/e3_2010_civ5_a.jpg

It clearly looks better than that tiny 2-hex river we'd been using as an example. However, while it may be more true to the macro-flow of a major river, it seems to lack some of the "character" that rivers in cIV had.

However, it may be that in person with the graphics jacked up the sun will sparkle off the rivers or something else that makes up for their apparent blandness at very low res and in still shots.

 

[silentknight111]

Wow I guess I was to busy watching the actual gameplay to notice how absolutely TERRIBLE the rivers look. Are they really that bad in all the vids/pics? how could the quality degrade soooo much since civ 4?

Rivers are being drawn differently in this game. rather than a river being part of the tiles, they are drawn procedurally.

for example, in Civ 4, there were tiles that had a river on one edge, and then the game would place a tile net to it that had a river on the edge that matched up. In civ 5, the map is built without rivers, then the game goes through and draws rivers on top of the map following the edges.

I'm guessing this has something to do with it, but it shouldn't be too hard to give them little tweaks to make them more realistic.

 

[Kruelgor]

1. Why are we looking at a blurry picture of a video still frame? The actual game will be much clearer with better resolution.

2. Why are we comparing a straight river to a curvy river? As if curvy rivers aren't possible in CiV 5 or something.

 

[Gre_Magus]

Piece of Mind is not arguing about curvy vs. straight rivers, he's pointing out that rivers are never really as straight as they appear in Civ 5. Even when they appear "straight" over long distances, like the Nile does in some spots, the river bed actually curves back and forth, breaks into two or more streams, reforms, and gets wider and narrower along its course. They look more like Civ 4 rivers (albeit with less right angles) than the canals or moats you get in Civ 5. As another poster said, Civ 5 rivers look anything but organic, and since that really sticks out.

 

[Kruelgor]

he's pointing out that rivers are never really as straight as they appear in Civ 5.

Ugh. How many screenshots are you basing this from? You're insinuating that curvy rivers aren't possible in CiV 5. To me it seems like it would be very possible to create curvy rivers. It's all a matter of designing it as such.