This week, in the second part of a continuing developer journal series, Jumpgate Evolution Lead Producer Hermann Peterscheck gives us an earful on the graphics of the game.

 

We sometimes hear people talk about how graphics don’t matter. I have often been confused by this statement. What does it really mean? Taken at face value would mean that a game is merely a series of rules and the visual representation of those rules is irrelevant. What it really means though, I think, is that making a game look attractive is an extra that does not substantially contribute to the game. I may be a bit biased, but I really don’t think that this is true. Even thinking about an ancient game, such as chess; the graphics in chess are the quality and material of the board and pieces. It is also the theme that the chess pieces have. There is a reason that there are thousands of different themed, sizes, colors and materials used in chess boards and the reason is that graphics contribute to the experience of the game.

Read the whole article here.

It's like when you ask someone what they are looking for in a mate and they say, "Looks don't matter as long as they treat me good."  Then you show them a really nice toad and they are like, he's not my type.

 The fact is there is a certain line regarding appearances that the majority of people will not cross.   People who say they would play an mmo today with atari 2600 quality graphics are either being disingenuous or are a very small sliver of the gaming population.   People vote with their dollars, and the most popular mmo's you will notice have great graphics: WOW (stylized), EQ2, LOTRO, Eve Online, Guild Wars, etc.

I'll agree with Terranah on this one, graphics are what people want. Good eye candy is always a welcome addition to good game play. But remember, good graphics are not the only thing that makes a great game. There are many examples of games with great graphics that just plain suck.

   I too, prefer the ooooh,ahhhh effect .especially since building a quality game rigg just for graphics and speed.Theres nothing like playing your favorites with everything maxed to the hilt.that being said,the second thing I look for is function, third  freedom in the world such as just how much could I do  if i were really there.and then of course fourth, just what am i doing here.

 For me this makes a game worth my time and money as for fun mix in a little first person shooter and an occasional adrenaline rush and walla! the perfect game.lol

   disclaimer;

     (Just an opinon nothing said is ment to hurt or  inflame)

Originally posted by Terranah

It's like when you ask someone what they are looking for in a mate and they say, "Looks don't matter as long as they treat me good."  Then you show them a really nice toad and they are like, he's not my type.

 

 The fact is there is a certain line regarding appearances that the majority of people will not cross.   People who say they would play an mmo today with atari 2600 quality graphics are either being disingenuous or are a very small sliver of the gaming population.   People vote with their dollars, and the most popular mmo's you will notice have great graphics: WOW (stylized), EQ2, LOTRO, Eve Online, Guild Wars, etc.

 

 

Yes, but allot of that is in the art direction, not Bleeding edge hardware.

Huge difference there.

When people are talking about WoW's "Graphics" they are really talking about its art direction and style.

Most people can't separate the two.

The jumpgate guys are on the right track. You don’t need whiz-bang graphics when you have top notch art direction, and use what graphics you do have effectively.

I think the game looks great.

I would like to see what the Jumpgate Developers consider low end hardware, though.

I hope that "reasonably low end system" means something like a GeForce6600 because that will be pretty damn low end / old by the time this game comes out. Also, if people didn't care about graphics, then Dungeon Runners would be a lot more popular than it is... Personally, I can tell you that a couple buddies and I who have been around since the UO days are a bit tired of the fantasy MMO. The Sci-Fi and anything without elves would really appeal to us olderish crowd (~30, older for the gaming generation), haha.

Wow has showed that as long you make it artistic or very nice stylish great gfx is not needed, i just hope jumpgate people balance it nicely, as blizzard did with wow.

i want a game to look nice and alive it doesn't mean it has to be top notch, wow did it pretty well you can play that mmorpg on low end comps and still feel the artistic looks and the world still seems alive, while the games who build around you having it on medium high the least, will feel dry and tasteless if you pull it below medium.

I'm really hoping for the jumpgate fellahs to do it right i want another space mmo become a succes  :)

Originally posted by Tron420

I hope that "reasonably low end system" means something like a GeForce6600 because that will be pretty damn low end / old by the time this game comes out. Also, if people didn't care about graphics, then Dungeon Runners would be a lot more popular than it is... Personally, I can tell you that a couple buddies and I who have been around since the UO days are a bit tired of the fantasy MMO. The Sci-Fi and anything without elves would really appeal to us olderish crowd (~30, older for the gaming generation), haha.

We are shooting for a GForce 2 64MB card with 512MB RAM right now. Nothing is official yet, but that is the min spec machine we are testing the game on now. We really want this to run on everything.

From everything I have seen the game looks quite fantastic.

lot of you made some very good valid points to the long standing arguement of graphics over gameplay. but i think anyone who is genuine and realistic with their needs and wants will state they like both. me Im all for good gameplay, i think it is what drives the game. but I also love good graphics, the oohs and ahhhs that follow when i log into a world and see things I never expected, or just blow me away visually, even sound has become a new driving force in selling a game, musical scores, combat music, sound effects that are both realistic, and stylized.

WoW for one has proven you can have a low end hardware pc, and still look good, cause its not the graphics hardware its pushing its the stylization, and art direction, use of color, light, saturation effects that sells this game, i think WOW has a strong visual style that defines what it is. and yes, art direction not to so much pushign hardware will make a game beautiful, u can use all the whizbang effects in direct x 9.0c, if it has no artistic style, no creative spectrum to it, it doesnt really matter how much specular mapping, normalmapping, this mapping and that mapping you enabled. it takes a keen sense of design, and visual creativity to bring a world to life. but I wont lie that alot of us like to have our cake and eat it too :P. i know i do. cant have gameplay without some nice graphics, as well as immersive sound and music, i think it has become a standard.

"We sometimes hear people talk about how graphics don’t matter. I have often been confused by this statement. What does it really mean? Taken at face value would mean that a game is merely a series of rules and the visual representation of those rules is irrelevant. What it really means though, I think, is that making a game look attractive is an extra that does not substantially contribute to the game. I may be a bit biased, but I really don’t think that this is true. Even thinking about an ancient game, such as chess; the graphics in chess are the quality and material of the board and pieces. It is also the theme that the chess pieces have. There is a reason that there are thousands of different themed, sizes, colors and materials used in chess boards and the reason is that graphics contribute to the experience of the game."

While I am looking forward to this title, this statement just isnt true.

If there was just one style of chess set ever made it would still be an enduring game imo. The core attraction of chess is not the pretty pieces, it is the challange of the gameplay, so to claim that redesigning the play peices has contributed to it's continued popularity is a little silly to me.

The fact is people have redesigned the chess board and pieces for one of two reasons. The first is for the sheer joy of the art involved in doing so, and the second is to resell the same old game to those that are impressed by superficial spectacle. The game itself has never changed.

While I may be convinced that the team behind JG:E are in it soley for the art, I have the suspicion that they are more in it for the latter... Especially considering this is a tart up job on an old game.

Eye candy is nice to have for the most part, but if you don't have a good community, and story line that makes sence the game won't last.  but what they have done to JE look good so far.

I believe over emphasis on graphics is what is wrong with current generation games. Kid you not, i'd play a game made of wireframe or polygons if it had excellent gameplay (infact i do). I guess the game came first, because good graphics were almost non existent back then.

Kudos to jumpgate. This was a prime example of simple elegant graphics, and prioritizing the game first. I preferred it to the sexy eve-online and played it for ages. Why? I didnt really want to gaze at lovely vibrant nebula and ship textures. I wanted the game; the competition and sport. It was built on a solid foundation of fun, strategic and skillful play.

Some of the fierce fights I had in jumpgate gave me more white knuckle thrill in 5 minutes than 12 months of "pvp" in eve. Can anybody say "click"? Sometimes I think eve was built graphics first, then slapped together some awkward RPG combat system afterwards. No offense eve goers. I loved the game all the same and enjoyed all the vast experiences it had to offer. But combat always left me feeling dull.

The new graphics will hopefully attract a new generation of pilots to the game. All it needs is a boost in popularity. I've always felt its a great game but unfortunately too empty, and this turns people off (its a vicious circle - people dont stay because its lonely, and its lonely because people dont stay). I felt that once it becomes more populated it has the infrastructure for some wicked battles and vivid roleplay. Hopefully there'll be some classic battles that will attract some of us old geezers out of retirement. Heck I might even dust off the old joystick (remember those?) :)

grahpics don't mean a hill of beans after the first week of play on any game

what makes a game great is gameplay and storyline

the "ooh, ahh" factor wears off within the first few hours

what keeps people playing is "fun factor"

not graphics.

 I'm starting to rethink my stance on graphics. While it's certainly important to be visually appealing being cutting edge should be reserved to a select few titles that are pushing gameplay as well.

Translation: focus on you're mechanics and gameplay first then graphics.

Sure graphics are important to many of us dedicated MMO players but unlike platform titles it's simply  not as important.  One need only take WOW's huge success as a counter to the graphic argument. While it's gameplay is excellent the graphics were mediocre even in 2004. Above all else a title must be fun and engaging.

My fingers are crossed that 2008's games will have cutting edge gameplay and AI that finally matches those graphics.

in a mmorpg the game graphics are not irrelevant because:

- a mmorpg is a virtual simulated parell world

- realistic looking environment is the base for a good simulation

- a modern graphic-engine giving a game depth and authenticity (sure there are other indicators, like the soundssytem, etc.)

- depth and  authenticity is the key to bound players for a longer time to a game & let em have more fun

i playing mmorpgs since the original star wars glaxies. if a game haveing for example a great questing/mission system and a nice backgroundstory (lore etc.), but the player-characters looking like crap, i dont want install it. for me its a 50/50 thing. the times of UO and DAOC are (fortunately) long ago over, this players should wake up and they should join the technological advance.

I bet people going to forget about this game right after it gets realised.  Only details can give a game more depth, graphics dont have mush to do with it,

Graphics are important. And upgrading graphics once in a while is very important in mmo. But they should not make the graphics so demanding that the FPS combat gets affected.

First hour of gameplay is the most important aspect of capturing the audience and getting them to play more. Some may quit because of graphics, some because of gameplay and some may quit because they werent able to understand how to play.. The worst is when you arent able to install the game because of bugs and just give up there.. All these count, plus the most important, advertising. This is what will decide if the game will be success or not.

MMmmmm, no. Graphics are the main part of the game. Think about it... the first thing you notice in a game is its graphics, doesn't matter if they are awesome or crap. You won't start playing it if you don't like the graphics, its the first thing you see and think about when watching movies, screenshots or whatever you watch before you start actually the game. So if the graphics sucks you'll say "WTF?! this is so 90's" and you will never ever think about this ugly and outdated game. But if you like them then the other parts come, engine, gameplay, effects, community etc. So please in future don't say that graphics don't have much to do with a game, they are almost everything about it. Will you play a game with crap graphics just because of the detailed world or nice gameplay? I think no...