# New graphics for aoe4 s5 are insane! **URL:** \ **Category:** IV - Discussion\ **Created:** [May 4, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133 "2023-05-04T20:35:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![WoolCube2971618](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/woolcube2971618/32/105204_2.png) [@WoolCube2971618](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/WoolCube2971618)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 7:06am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/150 "2023-05-08T07:06:36Z")
That’s right (20 characters) ---
**Author:** ![jimmy19846071](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/jimmy19846071/32/27612_2.png) [@jimmy19846071](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/jimmy19846071)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 9:08am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/151 "2023-05-08T09:08:28Z")
I would like to see the new 4k textures also on model units, Buildings and water. ---
**Author:** ![WoolCube2971618](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/woolcube2971618/32/105204_2.png) [@WoolCube2971618](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/WoolCube2971618)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 9:32am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/152 "2023-05-08T09:32:41Z")
Buildings actually look detailed at least now more than ever, although water completely needs a rework ---
**Author:** ![CRothlisberger](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/crothlisberger/32/29957_2.png) [@CRothlisberger](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/CRothlisberger)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/153 "2023-05-08T13:43:56Z")
FE said themselves that they had already been assisting with AoE4. You may want to attribute anything you find good to FE and use Relic as a scapegoat for everything you hate, but they’ve both been involved all along and you have no way of knowing to what extent. ---
**Author:** ![Franknezu11](https://forums.ageofempires.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Franknezu11](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/Franknezu11)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 2:17pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/154 "2023-05-08T14:17:27Z")
yup but I find strange that the only good updates is when relic was more active on aoe # ## at least is announced to be. Part of it is because the coucil, the initial asset was made by relic so it’s normal to blame them, with your stratement it may be that fe was fixing most of the early updates or they were screwing up but as you said they were assisting but not being the one in head. ---
**Author:** ![WoolCube2971618](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/woolcube2971618/32/105204_2.png) [@WoolCube2971618](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/WoolCube2971618)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 8:14am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/156 "2023-05-09T08:14:00Z")
Um no , fe did “questionable” games like aoe3 DE, in any way tho relic has improved a lot the game I have a question which you’re always trying to avoid, how can you hate on something you have not played since launch lol? ---
**Author:** ![Franknezu11](https://forums.ageofempires.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Franknezu11](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/Franknezu11)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 3:13pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/157 "2023-05-09T15:13:27Z")
ypu mean dlc? because unbalance around them is mostly because business reason to incentivice the use of the new civs which is already an common routine in every aoe. > [@WoolCube2971618](#): > > how can you hate on something you have not played since launch lol? hate? The game is too flawed since launch and I care about aoe in general. I already responded that previusly on this forum. The question is why asking that I avoid x thing when I never did in the first place? Are you trying to lowkey flame someone? there’s a lot to see behind that comment, you know? ---
**Author:** ![WoolCube2971618](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/woolcube2971618/32/105204_2.png) [@WoolCube2971618](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/WoolCube2971618)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 8:24am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/158 "2023-05-10T08:24:22Z")
> [@Franknezu11](#): > > ypu mean dlc? because unbalance around them is mostly because business reason to incentivice the use of the new civs which is already an common routine in every aoe. Aoe3 was indeed developed by forgotten empires. And launched really bad, worse than aoe4. > [@Franknezu11](#): > > hate? The game is too flawed since launch and I care about aoe in general. I already responded that previusly on this forum. The question is why asking that I avoid x thing when I never did in the first place? Are you trying to lowkey flame someone? there’s a lot to see behind that comment, you know? Moving goalposts again, no, I’m not trying to bash no one neither low key flame. Have you EVEN tried the game on the last 3 seasons? Yeah you can follow the development notes but you will never know if it’s fun or not. ---
**Author:** ![MatM1996](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/matm1996/32/29566_2.png) [@MatM1996](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/MatM1996)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 8:45am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/159 "2023-05-10T08:45:09Z")
> [@WoolCube2971618](#): > > Aoe3 was indeed developed by forgotten empires. And launched really bad, worse than aoe4. Well, but then they ended up fixing it… ---
**Author:** ![WoolCube2971618](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/woolcube2971618/32/105204_2.png) [@WoolCube2971618](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/WoolCube2971618)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 8:59am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/160 "2023-05-10T08:59:15Z")
Yeah they did, so as aoe4, aoe4 it’s fun and a really great spot right now, it just needs more updates! ---
**Author:** ![MatM1996](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/matm1996/32/29566_2.png) [@MatM1996](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/MatM1996)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 9:04am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/161 "2023-05-10T09:04:27Z")
Sure, you just have to give it time… ---
**Author:** ![Franknezu11](https://forums.ageofempires.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Franknezu11](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/Franknezu11)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/163 "2023-05-10T16:17:43Z")
after years of waiting? most player already left ---
**Author:** ![Franknezu11](https://forums.ageofempires.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Franknezu11](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/Franknezu11)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/164 "2023-05-10T16:30:46Z")
> [@WoolCube2971618](#): > > Aoe3 was indeed developed by forgotten empires. And launched really bad, worse than aoe4. not really dlc were well received except china one on aom. > [@WoolCube2971618](#): > > Moving goalposts again, no, I’m not trying to bash no one neither low key flame. Have you EVEN tried the game on the last 3 seasons? Yeah you can follow the development notes but you will never know if it’s fun or not. why so unhinged about it? it is fun but is under aoe 4 slope mechanic and interaction that diminish the fun effect. one of them is the uu treatment and balance which makes uu less effective than generic ones, graphich (because it’s artstyle is already an downgrade from aoe 3 and some users requested it), pathfinding, custom hotkeys that is not branched out from grid ones, you can see some of it from the vide comparing keshink vs maa as example. the goes on… ---
**Author:** ![EricGonzalezM](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/ericgonzalezm/32/120671_2.png) [@EricGonzalezM](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/EricGonzalezM)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/165 "2023-05-10T16:38:20Z")
> [@WoolCube2971618](#): > > Buildings actually look detailed at least now more than ever Buildings haven’t been touched. It’s the same blurry textures that plagued terrain before. I can show you identical PUP and pre-PUP shots of that. If buildings look better now it’s a placebo effect from the rest of the textures having improved so much. The dirt/grass/flowers inside the buildings’ area is the only part that will look better, but that’s not part of the building’s geometry. EDIT: If anything, the blurry building textures stand out even more now. Here are a couple of screenshots evidencing that they haven’t been improved in the PUP. These are 100% shots straight out of the game, at 4k with max settings and fully zoomed in. Sadly the forum destroys image quality: ![image](https://forums.ageofempires.com/uploads/default/original/3X/0/c/0cd0587393e634a55b04e4158486150eaf5d1fd4.jpeg) ![image](https://forums.ageofempires.com/uploads/default/original/3X/8/0/80ef1e12440ddddfb37d2b169aa74f21e712ba7c.jpeg) Pay special attention to the rocks and grass around the buildings and their resolution vs the building walls, roofs, etc. ---
**Author:** ![KG19991380](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/kg19991380/32/65260_2.png) [@KG19991380](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/KG19991380)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 6:19pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/166 "2023-05-10T18:19:47Z")
not sure how much of that is textures vs how much is lighting, i can assure you just doing lighting properly would improve the situation a fair bit (there is some texture blur no doubt but i still think this is more on lighting) ---
**Author:** ![EricGonzalezM](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/ericgonzalezm/32/120671_2.png) [@EricGonzalezM](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/EricGonzalezM)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/167 "2023-05-10T18:32:20Z")
> [@KG19991380](#): > > just doing lighting properly would improve the situation I agree and this is true for basically the whole game. Reflections, shadows, etc. would benefit a great deal from better-implemented lighting. But going back to the textures, I suppose it’s the same Essence limitation that caused the terrain to look blurry before. Since we didn’t download new textures in the PUP, it means that the texture asset themselves were already crisp and high res, but the engine had problems with anisotropic filtering and/or texture compression. Devs now need to do the same thing they did for the terrain and apply it to buildings. This probably affects units as well but since they are so small you don’t really notice that much. Maybe naval units will benefit the most. ---
**Author:** ![GorbMort](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/gorbmort/32/29103_2.png) [@GorbMort](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/GorbMort)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 7:26pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/168 "2023-05-10T19:26:06Z")
> [@EricGonzalezM](#): > > but the engine had problems with anisotropic filtering and/or texture compression The PUP notes detail explicitly what they did to texture rendering, and it was a lot more than compression or the like 🙂 [https://steamcommunity.com/app/1466860/discussions/9/3820784854043233762/#c3820784984081433063](https://steamcommunity.com/app/1466860/discussions/9/3820784854043233762/#c3820784984081433063) (the link works, but the embed doesn’t because it’s a private forum you need to be logged-in to see) For convenience: > [@](#): > > **Significantly improved terrain rendering:** > We’ve built a brand-new terrain rendering system which greatly improves our effective terrain texture resolution. Terrain projection, layering and lighting are now done per-pixel, which solves many of the visual and performance issues of our old terrain approach. The new system has a more consistent per frame cost which reduces hitching when quickly panning the camera and during late game large scale battles. > > **New ambient occlusion:** > The new ambient occlusion technique results in notably higher detailed indirect shadows. On High and Medium settings, we’ve enabled ambient occlusion on foliage which adds a lot of shape to forests and shrubs. > > Developer’s Note: The new technique has comparable computational cost as our prior solution. > > **Improved directional light shadows:** > Shadows are now higher resolution, better filtered and more performant. The improvements allow for more shadow detail with less distracting flickering artifacts. > > **Improved material specular response:** > Metals and other reflective surfaces now appear livelier and more lifelike. ---
**Author:** ![EricGonzalezM](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/ericgonzalezm/32/120671_2.png) [@EricGonzalezM](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/EricGonzalezM)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 7:53pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/169 "2023-05-10T19:53:06Z")
Yup, I saw that but without knowing how textures were rendered before this “per-pixel” change, the notes are mostly unintelligible turbo-encabulator: [![](https://forums.ageofempires.com/uploads/default/original/3X/4/b/4b1d232db9158b39215d84337bd486cb74ca2304.jpeg ""Turbo Encabulator" the Original") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac7G7xOG2Ag) This comes from someone who’s not a game developer and has only basic knowledge of graphics rendering. Someone more educated in that area surely can tell what was in use before. As long as they can apply the same or similar principles to other textures, I’ll be happy. ---
**Author:** ![grizzgolf](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/grizzgolf/32/28919_2.png) [@grizzgolf](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/grizzgolf)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 9:42pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/170 "2023-05-10T21:42:31Z")
These look beautiful ---
**Author:** ![Croissantini](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/croissantini/32/178092_2.png) [@Croissantini](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/Croissantini)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 12:43am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133/171 "2023-05-11T00:43:01Z")
Next thing to fix is the grass. My god is it pixelated. Like how can that be acceptable? AA does nothing to it. Oh and water should look different. The current method of surface-painting the colours in is just not sufficient, and looks pretty bad. [Previous page](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133.md?page=7) [Next page](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/new-graphics-for-aoe4-s5-are-insane/230133.md?page=9)