To start with this post isn't meant to be a dig, it's just a suggestion which I hope can help the devs develop this game in a way which attracts the largest userbase. Visually Galactic Civilisations for me has always lacked a certain finesse and style, I know this isn't considered the most important thing in a 4x strategy and I actually played Galciv2 despite the shortcomings graphically. I even recommended it to my friends who gave it a try but stopped playing because they couldn't get over the primitive graphic style. I tried to persuade them that it had great depth of gameplay but unfortunately it wasn't enough.
Currently there has been a big resurgence in 4x strategy gaming which I'm incredibly happy about. Certain games which I'm not going to mention here have appeared with beautifully realised GUI's and ingame graphics which take advantage of modern hardware. All I'm asking is for the graphic designers of Galciv3 to have a look and see where the innovations have been made and learn from them.
It would be a shame for people to pass up this great game just because of first impressions, I want this game to succeed because all well made 4x strategy games should be made accessible to everyone. Hopefully it'll make people reconsider playing alot of the brainless dross that currently exists out there.
I like the GUI. Its functional but could use more options. I do know they are fixing many issues like text clipping and clarification of descriptions. I would rather have minimal and functional UI than super cool shiny one that takes already limited resources.
Just my take on it.
Please name just one game that will support Insane size galaxies and 128 civilizations? Wouldnt be bad if this game also has the ability to create your own ships and opponents.
You are going to have to explain to me just where you think GC3 is wanting in visual presentation. I can see well drawn nebulae, planets, stars, and other features. I can watch fully rendered versions of ships I create go out in battle with flashy explosions and everything.. And they keep making it better! I have a wonderfully informative high level strategic view that resolves to 3D the moment I zoom in. I'm all for eye candy. What do you think is missing?
I am with erischild. Give me some examples of better rendered games. I have played many 4X games and none jump out at me as being graphically superior to GCIII
I am not saying they aren't out there, just show me.
The graphics are already leaps and bounds ahead of where they were in GC II. Just fire it up and compare/contrast if one doesn't believe me.
I'm probably painting with a broad brush, but I think people who are heavily swayed by visuals alone are unlikely to enjoy playing a 4x game. They're slower and more methodical, broader in scope and larger in scale. The tradeoff is that they will never likely compete with something like Crysis in the graphics department. I think GC3 looks quite nice for what it is, but even the current level of detail is more than I need. I'm sure Stardock could increase sales by prioritizing graphics beyond what gamers expect from the genre, but how many of those new customers would be happy with the actual game? There would be a lot of angry reviews on Steam complaining about the lack of action.
I'm with Larsenex on this one. In fact I hate graphics heavy games that give up other aspects of the game to give you extra visuals. This is my thoughts...
I'm with everyone else to the point is what else do you want? More videos, Movie quality customizable ships, Movie quality CGI for race images, More unique pictures/movies of races for different events, Orbiting planets/moons/comets/stars ?
Most of that wouldn't add much to the game, videos are nice but, I'm playing the game, more unique pictures/movies of different races for different events, also would be nice but doesn't add much to the game. Orbiting space objects, again would be nice, however, what is this to gain? This is a turn based game so everything can't orbit real time would only move slightly on each turn, I don't really see a gain with this...
Would any of that be nice and not take much away from the game, yes to a point, for all those you add in that doesn't add much it may take many things away as the budget that was used for custom races may be spent to make more pictures videos of the Drengin for when they are wiping the floor with their slaves ect....
I like it the way it is... Good Job Stardock!!!
People who judge a game on visuals aren't really into "depth"....
Everyone has an opinion and no opinion is wrong, it's preference.Sadly you've not really said anything in the first post apart from I don't like it, please look at other games.
What other games?What don't you like?How would you improve it?
Don't be afraid of getting your preferences out there, that way they can be actually debated and looked at.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs_qG1vPY_s
We've all seen the trailer for Galciv 3 (excellent btw!) If you look 0:45 onwards, this is what I would like to be as a representation of the ingame graphics for fleet warfare. The thing is in the past it was pretty much standard fare to have an amazing looking trailer for a game and accept that the ingame graphics would be no where near as high quality, but today with hardware becoming a lot more advanced I would expect for it to be achievable. I know for a lot of you its just fluff but I think it adds so much to the game both in grandiose scale and immersion. I want to see starships getting cut in half by my huge dreadnoughts as a result of my research and development, not just winning by watching two low detailed fleets pick each other off one by one.
Comparison;
Current ingame graphics
[url=http://imgur.com/S2oNUk0][/url]
[url=http://imgur.com/AuvsxAo][/url]
The trailer
[url=http://imgur.com/Xv7UNUB][/url]
[url=http://imgur.com/aQH2Ps6][/url]
So your all for cinematic (movie quality or close to it) space battles. Realistically with the in depth customization this would be hard with the limitations on many users pc's. They produce the game to attempt to include as many people as they can without limiting too many of their customers based on their machines. They already pushed the envelope by producing a 64 bit game where a lot of games are still 32 bit.
Would those graphics be nice, sure, does it take away from the game, no.
Re the battles you're looking for, the main difference is in post-processing and I expect we will get there.
However, bear in mind that there are tradeoffs in usability versus "cool" factor. As cool as the intro cut scene is, it would not be very useful if all the ships looked like that. Each race needs its own distinct color to stand out and that is where much of the visual aesthetics is lost.
The very last thing I get concerned about when it comes to a 4x is graphics. The first Is depth, immersion and most importantly if I can squeeze a very memorable game out to reflect on. A good 4x game should last days, not hours. Simply put; The prettiest birds are not always the best fliers.
The graphics are great and so is the art. I would even settle on 16 bit for tactical fleet battles and ultra insane map sizes.
It's not so much cinematics I'm looking for but more high quality visuals of the ingame space fleet warfare with lots of detail so you can pause, zoom in select ships, get stats etc. I guess I just watched too much Babylon 5 and Star Wars growing up. Thanks for all the responses
I can see wanting the trailer to be accurate representation of ingame graphics. I can see wanting that level as ingame graphics. As far as I can tell they are getting closer with each release. But I don't get where you "expect it to be achievable". That much action on my little system and no Oxide engine or equivalent? I don't think so. What comparable game does that? Even with full blown hardware rigs? I expect trailers to be better than ingame because they can be rendered on systems that are greater than usually available in times greater than real-time. It's the realtime that makes a ton of difference. As far as I can tell, trailers will always exceed ingame graphics, even as ingame graphics take leaps and bounds. And don't forget the software has to keep up with that hardware as well, and that has further realtime implications.
I passionately support the graphics being as wonderful as possible. It's not fluff, it's deeply satisfying visual entertainment. I don't care for the attitude I hear from those who think eye candy makes a game less deep somehow. They seem to conflate all the flashy but shallow games into one experience and decide you can't have both. That is obviously not true and Stardock is just one of the companies proving that. I don't get needing to pronounce judgement on people for having different aesthetics, either. So, I'''m proud to like eye candy.
I think your "expectations" are unrealistic. If you can show me a practical and convincing counterargument, I would love to see that. In the meantime, I will settle for "wanting" more but trusting that the devs are delivering the best they find the technologies can do. That they will keep on working and polishing long past release date. Do you have reason to not have that faith? Have you watched the dev streams? Do you honestly think the devs on that team don't care about how good it looks? It dominates their conversations every time.
If graphics like these...
...are disappointing to you them I'm honestly at a loss for words.
Also as a side thing one of my favorite things about the galciv games that other 4x space games don't seem like they would quite do for me based on looking at the pictures is that they seem great for letting my imagination explore around for a bit. The great number of planet varieties', the planet maps' and the improvement icons', the ships', and the starbases' graphics are all great for me to imagine what the surface of a planet is like and the insides of the planetary improvements, the ships, and the starbases, and to imagine the scale of all these things. I most of the time focus will focus on the gameplay of course, but this a (probably) quirk I'll do sometimes.
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