Reminder about judgment of screenshots

[Iced_Eagle]

I'm sorry but I've kind of gotten a little annoyed by some threads turning up things like "Wow this looks dated" and "Omg a bug!"

The game is still in alpha stage! Not everything is final and not everything is fine-tuned... If it was we would be playing it now! A lot can happen in an alpha especially in the graphical department. I'll use Guild Wars as an example.

Yes that is the same game that you played during E3. That was during E3 and man many people said it was mediocre, but not fantastic. Yes those things are the Charr you see there. But wait you say? Guild Wars looks more like this now doesn't it?

WOW! WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I chose that screenshot cause it showed the Charr in 2003, and now in 2004. Of course, I couldn't let it go by without letting you see a combat screenshot of a character of course!

Everyone I am begging you please, please, please stop posting about some things look dated, there is a bug in vehicle X or whatever... The devs are rounding everything up and going around and fine-tuning everything. Remember that the Belgian students took a picture of a guy detailng a Head Crab when they went there a few weeks ago so guess what? They ARE updating the models and textures! You saw the screenshot so that's my proof that VALVe is improving the game to make it even higher quality!

VALVe knows what they are doing guys and they are watching the market to see how good all the other tech is and what their quality level needs to be, or if they need to up it a notch. I'm sure all of you have heard of a time called "Crunch Time" wheter it be in sports, academics, or the game industry but what the game industry does is double-check and improve anything they've done with the game since the time the project has started and make sure everything is up to part with what they promise!! VALVe won't let you down on that!

Thanks guys Please keep this in mind before starting Critcism posts on the game because you haven't seen it in real-life (well unless you illegaly got the pre-alpha, or as some call beta, version of HL2 :flame: ).

Cheers!
~Iced_Eagle

 

[RogueShadow]

Screenshots of recent builts should be pretty close to the final version... unless of course it's really not coming out this year. But yeah, doesn't matter what old screenshots look like, it could change.

 

[ShinRa]

Thanks for.....ugh its not even worth insulting you because your right. but its not really worth making such a long post telling us how to judge things. we've been here alot long than you my good man and seen many many more judgement threads than you can count. this is actually pleasant to only see one or two every now and then opposed to the first 2 pages of threads being judgements and critisizems.

 

[Crusader]

I think it looks a million times better in motion, so I'm not going to bother with people questioning the quality of screenshots. Subtle effects and reflections and so on go unnoticed in a screenshot, since you cannot see, for instance, the sheen running along the wall as you go by, only a still area of white.

There are many other effects and visual boni that cannot fully be displayed by a screenshot. In fact, after the E32K4 video, most people were too busy being blown away to complain. Its only now things have died down again that questions crop up.

 

[Gordon'sFreeman]

Its only now things have died down again that questions crop up.

Like, when the hell is it being released?
- or -
Why are the lights only powered by 40 watts and not 60 watts?

 

[Nozra]

hey i play GW, and im an active participant in the art community at theguildhall.net - i thought it was nifty that u compared my 2 favorite games like that. lol

 

[frances_farmer]

pretty sure the graphics aren't gonna change any from those screenshots. not that i think they're bad mind.

plus we're in beta now. plus graphics have been locked down and we won't see any additions until after release, as we've been reminded many times.

 

[brisck1]

I personally think that these "bad" screenshots are from the XBOX version of the game. It would explain why Valve havent commented on them at all due to the fact they cant really talk about the XBOX version yet..

 

[Crusader]

Hehe


Well, I was kind of worried about all these types of discussions on "bad" screenshots and so on (even though since we had seen better ones earlier, the only way it could really look that bad is if they decided to downgrade the engine, so it made no sense really) until E32K4, and that stunning video. Now I just know the game is going to look graphically supreme, so I just don't care about the bitching

 

[Alec_85]

Most games look a lot crappier on pictures than in-game. I bet we'll be utterly amazed if we saw the same scenes in action instead of through pics.

 

[Cole]

Actually the reason why they are better, are because they got a new artist ^_^. Its coming out 2nd Half-2004.
I played it during E3, was really fun to.

 

[NeLi]

Man, guild wars looked like utter shit on my computer. Time to get a new graphics card I guess.

 

[Dougy]

ok thats 1 example and it only changed becuase it got a new artist.

so exactly what game changed its entire Graphical state from alpha to finished product?

considering that we were shown the latest at E3 and thats what people are critisizing, now if the games coming out in summer then they have less than 4 months to completely redo the graphics....

dont make me laugh.

(not that i dont think e3 looked amazing but im playing devils advocate here)

 

[CrazyHarij]

The current build's graphics are probably 100% representative for the full game.

 

[Crusader]

*Me waits for E3 Binks..*

 

[Rupertvdb]

The motion comment is the best point you can make, it had got to the point in games where a screenshot can give a reaosnable representation to whet the appetite but videos are the only things that can truly show what a game is like. There are so many nifty effects like dynamic lighting, bumpmapping, physics, animations and loads more that i'm forgetting that are combined to produce the visual image as a whole, screenshots just cannot translate this quality.

 

[brisck1]

Is till think they could be XBOX shots

 

[Alec_85]

so exactly what game changed its entire Graphical state from alpha to finished product?

Warcraft 3 changed quite a lot (dunno if they were in alpha though when they first showed it...) & hopefully DNF will have changed quite a bit when it finally comes out.

 

[daveodeth]

Like, when the hell is it being released?
- or -
Why are the lights only powered by 40 watts and not 60 watts?

the combine may be evil overlords but that doesn't meant they don't worry about the leccy bill. :afro:

 

[Wildhound]

I hate 60 watt bulbs - their light is so depressing.

100W all the way for me.

Although I do have a 40W lamp in my room which I quite like.

 

[Caminante]

I personally think that these "bad" screenshots are from the XBOX version of the game. It would explain why Valve havent commented on them at all due to the fact they cant really talk about the XBOX version yet..

Wishiful thinking fanboy...... Oh wait.... why show screenies from a lesser plattaform unless, there currently isn't a fully or half-decent version of the game for the PC? Face fb, the game graphically isn't that great. I find rather amusing the type of silly excuses, that some people would came out in order to justified something that is pretty obvious. Dude, i just hope that HL2 isn't the meaning of your existence.....

 

[brisck1]

What makes you think im a fanboy?! I was merely expressing a possibilty for what has been described as "lower detail" screenshots (not by me..) and im sure anyone with half a brain would also consider this to be a possibility.

Now I wont start makin accusations of you being a Halo/Doom3 fanboy as that would just be immature wouldnt it

 

[Rupertvdb]

Wishiful thinking fanboy...... Face fb, the game graphically isn't that great.

Why even bother...? The game is graphically incredible, people who have played that confirm this, it is a modern day game that requires very high end computers to play on max settings, why do you think that might be? Just because you don't like the thing don't make stupid sweeping statements, it's just plain annoying.

 

[Crusader]

Meh... This "omg teh game that most people's pc's cannot run at max settings looks teh sux0r!" Is really bugging me. Hell, I wish to god that Half-Life 2 wasn't graphically excellent compared to other games, and I was living in the same fantasy world as you are where every game is photo-realistic, and the excellent visuals of Half-Life 2 is sub par, because back down here where I am, Half-Life 2 is the graphical pinnacle of computer gaming!

And last of all, the comment "why would they show lower detail shots?" is OBVIOUSLY total bullshit, because we have seen better footage and screenshots, so whether you can't see the reason or not, that IS what they have done.

In fact I doubt some of these worse looking shots were ever meant to be released.

Coming to these forums everyday and reading utter tripe that flies in the face of logic every single day is getting me down, some people really need to start thinking before I go insane.

Please Valve, release the damn game, I'm DYING here!!!

 

[lans]

Please Valve, release the damn game, I'm DYING here!!!

Isn't that what we all wish...

 

[Caminante]

Why even bother...? The game is graphically incredible, people who have played that confirm this, it is a modern day game that requires very high end computers to play on max settings, why do you think that might be? Just because you don't like the thing don't make stupid sweeping statements, it's just plain annoying.

The people whom actually have gotten to play the game are most likely a bunch of fanboys themselves. Or Perhaps Valve has force them to write positive feedback regarding the game's true graphic capabilities in order of being allowed to play god, i mean HL2. I have yet to see a scrennie that really impress me, for the ones i've seen thus far and in particular the newer fresher ones trully blow. City 17 graphically looks like any other game out there, i'd say maybe, even too plain. Moreover, the game still inherits the "edgines" of HL1...... do i need to say more?

 

[chimpmunk]

I don't give a damn about graphics, all i care about is the storyline...

 

[SubKamran]

I think people just are pretty stupid to judge a game by screenshots, everyone knows it looks 10000 times better in motion. And, *gasp*, do you not think that Valve knows what high-res gfx are? Wow! Amazing.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Thanks for.....ugh its not even worth insulting you because your right. but its not really worth making such a long post telling us how to judge things. we've been here alot long than you my good man and seen many many more judgement threads than you can count. this is actually pleasant to only see one or two every now and then opposed to the first 2 pages of threads being judgements and critisizems.

Been here longer than you have Just not really post unless I feel the need to... Rank isn't based on when you joined dude.

I was just giving one example, and I"m sure that HL2 won't have such a drastic change of graphics as GW did, but there of course will be improvements, optimizations and such...

:cheers: Cheers!

*edit* Yup I know the game will look so amazing in motion But a lot of people seem to start criticizing the screens around the HL2 community (not just this one, I've started to see a lot less crit's here thank god )

chimpmunk: I care about the story and all too, but the graphics can pull you more into the story, making it all that much better

 

[Styloid]

The people whom actually have gotten to play the game are most likely a bunch of fanboys themselves. Or Perhaps Valve has force them to write positive feedback regarding the game's true graphic capabilities in order of being allowed to play god, i mean HL2. I have yet to see a scrennie that really impress me, for the ones i've seen thus far and in particular the newer fresher ones trully blow. City 17 graphically looks like any other game out there, i'd say maybe, even too plain. Moreover, the game still inherits the "edgines" of HL1...... do i need to say more?

Well the fact that Valve has won you over to one of their fansites is a real testament to how good Valve's actual gamedesign is isn't it?