“bland, uninspired and lifeless” isn’t “pixelated”. But I recommend zooming in on actual screenshots from Company of Heroes - you may be surprised at the amount of pixels you can actually see.
The problem we have is that the complaints are driven by problems with the art style and direction, and not the quality. The second problem is people are mixing and matching promotional screenshots (like your one of CoH here) of games with different art directions. CoH is realistic to a tee - Age IV is softer and more stylised.
There are things in Age IV that I’ve said before could be tightened up, but on a technical level the art is great for an RTS. And certainly, modders (if given the tools) could improve on this. Much like they could for CoH as well. Because modders don’t have deadlines, they don’t have time limits. And some are professional artists in of themselves.
I can zoom in on any game and find problems. Age IV is no exception, but neither is CoH, or DoW III, or DoW II, or CoH 2, or whatever. Even the Definitive Editions of AoE (whichever one you want me to choose, if I had them).
The problem is what constitutes “good” graphics is a very personal thing, but it seems a bunch of people prefer a more photorealistic approach. That’s cool. It doesn’t make a less photorealistic approach bad, like you and others are trying to claim, but there’s nothing wrong with wanting it in general.
Oh yes looking forward for manor lords , I know what game it is .
But I wouldnt say graphics are the most important thing in the game neither , and it’s subjective . At some point
For example many of us like more the Age3 OG style that Age3 DE style.
Preference setting , another thing , my image is not an official or well taken photo , I though that it looked somehow good and I did that screenshot .
If not a profesional . I’m sorry .
Making this comparative isn’t fair neither for me or the game , I’m not a good photographer and those shots you shared indeed are taken by the development team and marketing .
@StatedOregon5 I share your sentiment in concern about the numbers. Having a large dedicated community of players makes the game fun to play, and most people who remain on these forums and reddit do want the game to succeed.
I do too. I recall small graphical details in each successive AoE game that blew me away. AoE had lions and alligators that attacked villagers, birds flying in the sky. AoE2 had a donkey churning the wheel in a mill in the dark age. AoE3 had havok physics engine that (among other things) allowed a broken windmill to lose a single panel and turn unevenly, small children that played at the trading posts, the imposing warships.
During competitive play, these small details just go by the wayside. And it’s clear that competitive multiplayer was the goal from the get-go. Fixing competitive MP might be a more immediate way to earn back some goodwill from players and retain the remaining playerbase.
I’m not sure whether modders can enhance the graphics to a more photo realistic style, or slap the havok physics engine on the game. That would be nice, but probably not going to save the game on its own.
Following the game before launch and after it, is pretty clear to me that many people avoid or stopped playing the game just because of visuals, it was strongly critized early, if you don’t see that anymore is because that people already left the game
Yeah, the loss of players due to the visuals (either style or graphical detail) kind of makes me sad, because IMO the fundamentals and mechanics of the game are interesting.
The game engine is capable of producing great graphics, it’s just under-utilized by the game content creator so what’s the point of having a powerful engine?
That and the lack of polishing as showed in the game’s level of details (animation, blood, destruction, etc…) create an impression of an “Alpha release” product.
The visuals can be improved quite a lot if you use ReShade with the AMD Contrast Adaptive Sharpening filter. This works on all types of graphics card, not just AMD. If it’s turned up high, it makes the detail look much more similar to AoE 2 DE.
The AoM and AoE3 physics examples are extremely over the top unrealistic. I don’t know why people here often refer back to the AoE3 physics as being good.
Totally agree with the cosmetics idea. Though it is a completely different game, when you look at the popularity of the Rocket League, the ability to get new skins and customization options through challenges each season keeps bringing players back.
I was thinking last night of posting something regarding this topic so I’m glad you mentioned this here. The devs have added some customization with player banners and symbols, but I would be way more interested in seeing these in-game on buildings/units in some form instead of only the loading screen.
I’ve read that some players don’t like the simplistic look of units, so cosmetics with textures could be an engaging way for the devs to answer this critique, hopefully bringing more players in.
What parts of that game are extremely unrealistic when it comes to physics?
The overall impact of various cannons on unit ragdolls is exaggerated, but the destruction of buildings and ships feels sensible.
Also ‘realistic’ is not a synonym for ‘good’.
It was and still is praised because devs put emphasis on it, and it looks and feels pretty great to this day. It’s not a mystery tbh.
Various types of artillery played a much bigger role than in AoE II, and devs made sure its use is rewarding both in terms of gameplay and visuals.
In IV it feels like a completely afterthought, and that’s on top of the engine that is badly utilized or vary barren in terms of its capabilities, giving a vibe of a mobile game instead of PC game. It’s ok to not expect huge innovation, but it’s not the same as having something that feels very dated from the beginning.
I would say he is referring to the fact that a cannon ball wound’t have enough kinetic energy to throw a person away like aoe3 does, but it obviously has the kinetic energy to considerably move you back with the impact, so as you said and as I said is much better to see a exaggeration in the impact which visually implies at a deadlier weapon than do nothing which is the aoe4 case where a unit hit by a cannon ball would die like he was cut by a sword.
Yeah I’ve mentioned it - besides the impact on the infantry, that was a deliberate decision to make combat more spectacular and satisfying, nothing comes to my mind. You have to play a game for one hour to know how it performs. AoE3 came out in 2005 and it was very impressive back then.
And the game itself never was advertised as a physics simulator. It is a series where old men shouting change colors of clothing and hitting a stone castle with a sword sets it on fire.
Few things are as satysfying as a well-executed, ingenious attacks with the use of artillery.
Considering it’s Relic making the game, before release I was hoping we’ll also get great environmental destruction, advanced building destruction, at least semi-natural spread of fire, some random kill animations and good ragdoll etc. that would make combat, the core of the gameplay, simply fun, scenic, satisfying etc. Combat feedback is as important here as it is in many FPP games.
Pro players, especially when playing on low settings, might not care about these elements, but for the general public these are things that make the game attractive.
IV often feels too clean and ‘optimized’ for competitive play. And that’s even when leaving aside topics of blood and gore.
How fun it would be to see from time to time cannons exploding in a cool scripted way, soldiers with arrows in their chest/head in agony for few moments lying on the ground, ships breaking apart and sinking dramatically…
Hard to believe a game from 2005 has better physics than one from 2021.
Even indie games have better mechanics than those in AoEIV. And people wonder why some say AoEIV was a cash grab. It’s like no love was put into the game.
