Graphics Improvements

[Tsar Hoikas]

Here are the side-by-side comparisons of the rendering improvements -- just as I promised at the AGM Unfortunately, I didn't get the screenshots from exactly the same spot, so the angles are very slightly different. They should still be comparable, however.

Dynamic Reflections

• K'veer Floor Before
  Taken just before the improvement was implemented
• K'veer Floor After
  Taken just after the improvement was implemented in a client that is remarkably similar to Gehn.13

Dynamic Text Maps

• Imager Before
  Taken from a Neighborhood on MOULa using the standard Cyan client
• Imager After
  Taken from the same Neighborhood using a client somewhat similar to Gehn.13

The side-by-side comparison of MOULa and Gehn shows off some other fixes that we've made in the past as well. I did not realize how much MOULa garbled textures (by inappropriately sizing the window) until I made these screenshots!

[janaba]

Now this is really cool, Adam ... I've had the exact same idea today and I also took
comparable pictures on Gehn and on MOULa, where I've updated our Great Tree's
neiborhood imager with the newest Cavcon status anyway (yeah, I don't know why
I'm still doing this, but I've started it years ago and now I'm used to it lol ... ) ...

I didn't post them before in my test report as I didn't find them as much different as
seen in your pictures, maybe they're too small now and I've deleted the larger ones
already, but one can see a difference, so I'll seize the opportunity to post them here ...
Enjoy ...

K'veer on Gehn linkin point

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K'veer on MOULa linkin point

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K'veer on Gehn

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K'veer on MOULa

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Neighborhood imager on Gehn

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Neigborhood imager on MOULa

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[Christian Walther]

Thanks for the K’veer screenshots, I couldn’t check that out myself yet as I had never finished all the required ages on Gehn! I kinda liked the blurring of the reflection caused by the low-resolution texture here though… Probably the static screenshot only half does it justice though, these reflections get more impressive when you move.

I did not realize how much MOULa garbled textures (by inappropriately sizing the window) until I made these screenshots!

Are you sure that’s what it is, and not just different texture quality and anisotropic filtering settings?

[janaba]

You're right, Christian, I forgot to mention this, those reflections indeed get most impressive while moving,
then you can see on that beautiful shiny floor almost everything what is above like in a mirror, and when
you compare that on Gehn and on MOULa you get to see the real difference and in favor of Gehn ...

You're also right about the different quality settings and thus the effects and visions and also depending
on everybody's available graphics hardware, it will deliver quite different visual experiences, I believe ...

[Tsar Hoikas]

Are you sure that’s what it is, and not just different texture quality and anisotropic filtering settings?

They shouldn't be different -- I had the two clients set up to read the same graphics.ini file. So, unless we've changed how those console commands work, those values ought to be the same.

[Acorn]

Great job!

I've found the effect very noticeable in places that I hadn't previously seen as shiny - eg the floor of the nexus; several surfaces in the Hood. When you go back and look at MOULa, it almost seems cloudy in comparison.

[Ehren]

It is always worth noting that the DEFAULT graphic settings for MOUL are ridiculously low, most computers are more than good enough now, wish the defaults started at least with the texture quality at maxed.

[Acorn]

thanks, good point - I maxed out the MOULa graphics settings (well, those I thought I understood) and the difference was less striking.

edit - but for a fair comparison, should I also max out the Gehn graphics settings?

[Deledrius]

A rule of thumb for me: always max the settings out in any game (especially old ones), and then pull them back if necessary to make it playable.

[Tsar Hoikas]

And here's a nice image of K'veer at 1080p.