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Major Graphic Upgrade Needed.

The game is horrible to look at long term.

When I first started testing on Dec 20, I thought the graphics where ok. But after playing a while I think they are pretty horrible and I never cared much at all about graphics. If I, a person that cares little about graphics find them bad, I wonder what others think.

This needs to be fixed before launch. Maybe it doesn't matter right now, but really it has to be upgrade. I hope there is a plan for this.
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Comments

  • LudulluLudullu Member, Alpha Two
    I think you DO care about graphics, otherwise you, well, wouldn't care.

    I, for one, truly don't care, so even though I've been playing at the minimal settings I've still highly enjoyed my 130+h of gameplay and have still found several spots in the game that looked really nice to me.

    Also, from what I've seen/heard, the game looks quite nice at max settings. But those are obviously nowhere near optimized, so you need a beefy PC to play the game at those. And the visuals would only get better with time (and more optimized).
  • 1970merlin1970merlin Member, Alpha Two
    I guess your correct, after a month of blah graphics I do care. I want to play the game a lot so I guess I do want to have something nice to look at. I will continue to play the game regardless, but I think the developers need to be more aware that graphics do matter to enough people that they need to do something about it.
  • PyrololPyrolol Member, Alpha Two
    They did change from unreal engine 4 to 5, which delayed the game
    You should have seen it before 😂
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  • 1970merlin1970merlin Member, Alpha Two
    You would think they could do better with UE5.
  • PyrololPyrolol Member, Alpha Two
    Maybe it’s because the world is so big? Higher resolution would affect fps especially if you’re in a big area or a war for example
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  • 1970merlin1970merlin Member, Alpha Two
    The resolution seams fine. I think is needs to be more colorful and have more style.
  • daveywaveydaveywavey Member, Alpha Two
    Maybe upgrade your machine so you can play on better graphics settings. My game looks beautiful :)
    This link may help you: https://ashesofcreation.wiki/


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  • LudulluLudullu Member, Alpha Two
    1970merlin wrote: »
    I think is needs to be more colorful and have more style.
    Once again "graphics" is equated to "style". Those are not the same thing.

    If you have style preference, share them here so that Intrepid at least now your frame of reference in giving feedback.
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    Ludullu wrote: »
    1970merlin wrote: »
    I think is needs to be more colorful and have more style.
    Once again "graphics" is equated to "style". Those are not the same thing.

    Indeed.

    One of my pet peeves is people not knowing what it is they are complaining about.

    Ashes has a specific feel to the art style. The world itself has a kind of gritty realism to it. This is the style Intrepid were aiming for, and the quality of the graphics within that style are actually really quite good.

    That specific style may not be to everyones taste, but that is no different to how WoW's graphic style isn't to everyones taste, or Breath of the Wild had a graphic style that wasn't to everyones taste.
  • CawwCaww Member, Alpha Two
    I do prefer a lovely graphical setting and think the AoC style, as others have referenced, is fine. I just want more, more and more beautiful settings with lots of detail which will push a rig.
  • CROW3CROW3 Member, Alpha Two
    UE5 has a lot of potential, and I’m with @daveywavey - game looks great so far. I think I get OP’s point though. I don’t feel like I’m in a forest in Ashes yet. I’m surrounded by trees, and the trees look great, but it doesn’t feel like it comes together as a whole.

    For the wow fans. Darkshire v. Elwynn v. Stranglethorn. Or the forests in Witcher 3.

    It may be that because every tree (mostly) is harvestable, we only see them as units and not a whole. It would be good to see some greater comnectivity so that sections of the biome had a more definite character & mood.

    AoC+Dwarf+750v3.png
  • ChicagoChicago Member, Alpha One, Adventurer, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I thought the same, however after quite a bit of testing I feel this is not really going to be an issue with the work intrepid are putting into the graphics, we are early days but I would suggest going to the tropics and setting your graphics on ultra or cinematic, for whatever reason this zone feels the most optimised and you can run the game pretty smoothly at these settings, however I can't run the Riverlands in anything other than low

    What I would rather than a graphics update is to see some optimisation of the Riverlands as it's very choppy even with above recommended settings
  • lukedawukelukedawuke Member, Alpha Two
    i dont think theyll make this run with ue5 considering the map size theyre planning. should have gone with wow graphics
  • SmileGurneySmileGurney Member, Alpha Two
    edited January 20
    The game uses UE version 5.x, it won't get any prettier, unless we are talking about getting a more distinctive art style. In which case its too late, as those decision has been made and a lot of assets have been already produced.
    My lungs taste the air of Time,
    Blown past falling sands…
  • Terranigma1Terranigma1 Member, Alpha Two
    The engine isn't the issue here, but thus far the lack of a distinct and memorable art style that makes you say "Yeah, that looks like Ashes" after seeing two screenshots. I don't think the game is ugly in any respect, but - similar to the bland skill trees thus far - feels rather bland, artistically speaking. While animations and spell effects are very flashy and partly over-the-top, the overall world design feels very down to earth. This isn't a bad thing per se, but it makes the game feel very familiar too soon, e.g. I haven't had any "Whoa!"-moments in the Riverlands thus far, opposite to what I've experienced for example back then when WoW or GW2 released. Both games were already dated at their release, but they managed to present memorable and atmospheric sceneries.

    Speaking of Ashes, the issue might currently be simply:
    • The riverlands look what you might expect a riverland to look like. I think there's much more you could do with this location, but I also don't think the Riverlands are the best case to judge the general competence of the world design.
    • Character models are meh, especially the faces are very rigged, hard and and simply unpleasant to look at.

    Regarding the character models and especially faces, I'm quite positive that this'll change in the coming months. With regard to the world design, I'd wait until we've seen the Ashes-version of a forest. Getting forests right in a way that it actually feels like a forest and not simply a bunch of trees is tricky. Similarly, I'm curious to see whether the final desert will resemble what they've shown in their showcase two years ago or the tropic zone. If they nail that then I'm fine with the Riverlands being ... well, a flat land with rivers and little more. But I do hope we'll get more vertical and dense areas in general. Running across flat terrain is classic MMO, world design but it's also very dated.

    But all of that is a matter of art direction and design, not about graphics in a technical sense.
  • nanfoodlenanfoodle Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Key systems then you work on stabilization then graphics. Last polish. We still adding systems.
  • VeeshanVeeshan Member, Alpha Two
    graphic part of polish u wont see any changes there till late phase 3 when system and all that are in, but i dont think it looks terrible tbh
  • AkkadimAkkadim Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    The graphics in Ashes look like S-tier and D-tier. The grass, lighting, and rendering range are excellent. But the buildings look very weak for our days. Will see what will node 4-5 stages will come with.
  • TheDarkSorcererTheDarkSorcerer Member, Alpha Two
    edited January 22
    I am a fan of AoC. But games like New World are way ahead in graphics over Ashes. I recently started playing New World on console. The world is beautiful and so lush. Ashes look very flat in this Alpha stage and very different from previous showcases.
    m6jque7ofxxf.gif
  • nanfoodlenanfoodle Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I am a fan of AoC. But games like New World are way ahead in graphics over Ashes. I recently started playing New World on console. The world is beautiful and so lush. Ashes look very flat in this Alpha stage and very different from previous showcases.

    Sure let's compare NW that's on Lumber yard engine and released to Ashes on UE5 when it's released lol. We're not even in the middle of A2. They are focused on adding all the system, not graphics at the moment.
  • TheDarkSorcererTheDarkSorcerer Member, Alpha Two
    nanfoodle wrote: »
    I am a fan of AoC. But games like New World are way ahead in graphics over Ashes. I recently started playing New World on console. The world is beautiful and so lush. Ashes look very flat in this Alpha stage and very different from previous showcases.

    Sure let's compare NW that's on Lumber yard engine and released to Ashes on UE5 when it's released lol. We're not even in the middle of A2. They are focused on adding all the system, not graphics at the moment.

    The overall rebrand of NW and the launch on console is quite impressive. No performance issues. The world, nature and foliage renders beautifully.
    m6jque7ofxxf.gif
  • eatefreelandeatefreeland Member, Alpha Two
    1970merlin wrote: »
    You would think they could do better with UE5.

    I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and say they are trying to optimize the game as best they can. Most games that use UE4/5 are so badly optimized at launch and I'm hoping AOC is making an effort to avoid it.
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  • crazysam87crazysam87 Member, Alpha Two
    edited January 23
    You are confusing graphics and style. The graphics, even in alpha are actually amazing and surprisingly not too taxing. Chances are it's gonna look even better at launch. Now you real point is about the aesthetic or style of the game. It leans heavily on the realism side, much like New World and Throne and Liberty, just to name a few. It may look dull to some, but I absolutely adore it. It's gonna look like crap if your PC is a potato, though.
  • nanfoodlenanfoodle Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    nanfoodle wrote: »
    I am a fan of AoC. But games like New World are way ahead in graphics over Ashes. I recently started playing New World on console. The world is beautiful and so lush. Ashes look very flat in this Alpha stage and very different from previous showcases.

    Sure let's compare NW that's on Lumber yard engine and released to Ashes on UE5 when it's released lol. We're not even in the middle of A2. They are focused on adding all the system, not graphics at the moment.

    The overall rebrand of NW and the launch on console is quite impressive. No performance issues. The world, nature and foliage renders beautifully.

    And yet you are comparing a game that launch in 2021, and now relaunched with a refresh and updates and telling Ashes of Creation to be as good as them now, when Ashes is just starting Alpha 2... you do you see flawed logic? Ashes is not even in the polish phase where most of the tuning for graphics come. Allot of what we see in game is just place holders.
  • ChicagoChicago Member, Alpha One, Adventurer, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    nanfoodle wrote: »
    I am a fan of AoC. But games like New World are way ahead in graphics over Ashes. I recently started playing New World on console. The world is beautiful and so lush. Ashes look very flat in this Alpha stage and very different from previous showcases.

    Sure let's compare NW that's on Lumber yard engine and released to Ashes on UE5 when it's released lol. We're not even in the middle of A2. They are focused on adding all the system, not graphics at the moment.

    I thought they were built in the same engine, I don't know anything about lumber engine I'll check it out, I will say new world and ashes look very similar graphically, the big difference is new world is much much more immersive which hopefully comes with polish
  • RockyfourRockyfour Member, Alpha Two
    Graphics seem pretty great to me.
  • nanfoodlenanfoodle Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited January 24
    Chicago wrote: »
    nanfoodle wrote: »
    I am a fan of AoC. But games like New World are way ahead in graphics over Ashes. I recently started playing New World on console. The world is beautiful and so lush. Ashes look very flat in this Alpha stage and very different from previous showcases.

    Sure let's compare NW that's on Lumber yard engine and released to Ashes on UE5 when it's released lol. We're not even in the middle of A2. They are focused on adding all the system, not graphics at the moment.

    I thought they were built in the same engine, I don't know anything about lumber engine I'll check it out, I will say new world and ashes look very similar graphically, the big difference is new world is much much more immersive which hopefully comes with polish

    Big reason Amazon games are a mess they made a buggy engine called lumber yard. Star Citizen uses it, that's a big reason why that game is such a mess of bugs as well.
  • GreatPhilisopherGreatPhilisopher Member, Alpha Two
    yea sure its alpha but wonder how the streams looked like 100 times better with more beautiful , lush and vibrant colors
    ykwk7qwgw5os.jpg
  • Real gamers don't care much about graphics. The game looks fine as is, I'd play it even if it had star wars galaxy graphics.
  • ChicagoChicago Member, Alpha One, Adventurer, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Dryadez wrote: »
    Real gamers don't care much about graphics. The game looks fine as is, I'd play it even if it had star wars galaxy graphics.

    That's just not true, most gamers care about graphics even if it's not their number 1 prio
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