I was surpirsed at the demo I downloaded for this game. I have heard that Vanguard might be worth trying but when I started the demo, I was shocked at the poor level of graphics – something I was excited about. I am running the game on a high-gaming rig to with maxxed out settings. Does the demo have toned down graphics?  

Nope thats just the ways it is...

Originally posted by dtal311

I was surpirsed at the demo I downloaded for this game. I have heard that Vanguard might be worth trying but when I started the demo, I was shocked at the poor level of graphics – something I was excited about. I am running the game on a high-gaming rig to with maxxed out settings. Does the demo have toned down graphics?  

Many threads on this.  To most, it's a matter of style preference and Vanguard is a gorgeous game.  Others prefer the more stylized graphics approach that are much easier on the hardware requirements.

Originally posted by dtal311

I was surpirsed at the demo I downloaded for this game. I have heard that Vanguard might be worth trying but when I started the demo, I was shocked at the poor level of graphics – something I was excited about. I am running the game on a high-gaming rig to with maxxed out settings. Does the demo have toned down graphics?  

It depends upon a few things.

One, what game you are comparing it to. Also, are you talking about art design or actual graphics?

Secondly, the world can run the range from incredibly jaw droppingl beautiful to kind of bland and brown.

I think the world fares better than things like buildings and the like. The avatars are functional. I think it's really the world itself that is of note. Especially when one can see for miles.

The thing about Vanguard is that it really isn't consistant with it's art design so one second you are marveling at something and the next you are nodding knowingly becuase you feel like you are in one of EQ II's more brown and bland areas.

But I don't think one should play Vanguard for graphics. It really is for people who like to explore and who might even be loners to a certain extent.

   I  experienced the same feelings. The graphics were not near as great as I had heard and expected..imo. There are good qualities...but mainly I found the graphics stiff, buggy and not particularly pleasing or detailed.  The best things about the game...imo...are its overall system...combat is fun...crafting is excellent and diplomacy is superb...and the open ended world. I had too many other games going ..so i no longer play Vanguard...I do wish it's crafting..diplomacy and open world-ness could be incorporated into other games . Many other mmorpgs could be improved 200% if this were a reality. If AoC could contain these other 3 things...I would be in mmo heaven.

Try this:

Type /setfog 999999

Also, make sure all your sliders are to the right, view distance, tree distance, etc. etc.

Get's rid of that pesky fog effect, especially nice for higher end computers.

I will agree with Vanguard being underpopulated, a tad boring sometimes, clunky, buggy, but bad graphics?  I don't know what system you got but there is no way.  Maybe too brown but the detail is pretty amazing. 

Id say vanguard has nice graphics its just some of the texutes seem out of place or rocks sometimes just look to shiny to me.  But all in all Its in my top 3 for best graphics.

That is a pic of the game maxxed out on my computer.

Specs:

e8400, 4850, 4gigs of ram.

If VG spent half as much time on the art as they did the actual content...then I would be in awe

I really love the graphics in VG.

Its very stylised.

Originally posted by cukimunga

Id say vanguard has nice graphics its just some of the texutes seem out of place or rocks sometimes just look to shiny to me.  But all in all Its in my top 3 for best graphics.

 

 

That is a pic of the game maxxed out on my computer.

Specs:

e8400, 4850, 4gigs of ram.

I would have to totally agree with this comment.  I love the graphics, prolly my fav. of all MMO's out there but there are at times way to much sheen.  Sometimes the rocks or even grass has an ungodly bright shine coming off them but other than that i thought the graphics were great.  I'm sure with DX10 there are some great looking games but from what i've played Vanguard has great graphcs.

Originally posted by dtal311

I was surpirsed at the demo I downloaded for this game. I have heard that Vanguard might be worth trying but when I started the demo, I was shocked at the poor level of graphics – something I was excited about. I am running the game on a high-gaming rig to with maxxed out settings. Does the demo have toned down graphics?  

You mention your settings being maxed out but does this include setting AA to 16? This made a huge improvement when I was playing around with the settings.  Also, setting grass density to max is nice since it and the trees move with the wind.  Even if you select max profiles there are still ways to make the graphics look better.

IMO VG's graphics are one of the best in MMO's, but I agree graphics are in the eye of the beholder. Below is some screenies, not the best out there and my settings are one below the max settings.

IF you have everything maxed out you have turned on a quite nasty filter that makes the game look quite blurry. Dont relly remember what is called.

Well one thing I noticed about Vanguard, especially with the trial client was that the game had jagged edges, so I  changed that through my GPU panel and that got rid of it. The game is gorgeous, especially when you get off the Island.

Originally posted by astrob0y

IF you have everything maxed out you have turned on a quite nasty filter that makes the game look quite blurry. Dont relly remember what is called.

I know the setting you are referring to.  It makes distance images blurry.  I think it's called Atmospheric Distorion.  It's intended to give a realistic distortion to distant images, but I've never really liked the effect.  I leave it off.

The sunlight reflections can be rather intense in some places.  Take Razad for example, I literally have to squint my eyes during a clear day in the desert. 

AA helps the graphics a ton and eliminates jaggies.  I use that as well, although I run in 2560x1600 and if I want to maintain 70+ fps I can't do more than 4x.  AA has a big performance hit for me.

Originally posted by skeaser

Try this:

Type /setfog 999999

Also, make sure all your sliders are to the right, view distance, tree distance, etc. etc.

Get's rid of that pesky fog effect, especially nice for higher end computers.

I find /setfog -1,400000,120,120,120 is a lot better. It has a bit of hazyness to it just like how things look far away in real life.  That setting gets rid of all the fog and it just looks to fake to me.  But hey whatevers clever.

Originally posted by cukimunga

I find /setfog -1,400000,120,120,120 is a lot better. It has a bit of hazyness to it just like how things look far away in real life.  That setting gets rid of all the fog and it just looks to fake to me.  But hey whatevers clever.

Could you please post some picture when you are runnint with that "setfog"? Becuse Im not to found of the "999999" setting myself and Ive been looking for an alternative.

Originally posted by dtal311

I was surpirsed at the demo I downloaded for this game. I have heard that Vanguard might be worth trying but when I started the demo, I was shocked at the poor level of graphics – something I was excited about. I am running the game on a high-gaming rig to with maxxed out settings. Does the demo have toned down graphics?  

Its a matter of taste, I think it looks goo (particulary the weather) but it have some bad parts too, like that you can only choose between bald and 2 hair-does for your character. Also I think the trees look blurry.

It doesn't look as good as AoC and Aion but generally it still looks better than most MMOs.

If its the art style you don't like you should watch out for games with more cartoony graphics, like Wow and ROM. If the graphics ain't good enough for you, try AoC. If that don't work either you should try a FPS game instead, they look generally better.

I agree, that the world of VG (with settings very high, or maxxed out) is really nice eye-candy.  Definitely one of the best out there.

It's the damn avatars I can't stand.  To me they look stiff and covered in plastic (especially the hair).  No matter how you adjust the setting for the humans characters, they always appear to be slightly cross-eyed.  And don't even get me started on the character animations, bah...

Vanguard is a fantastic looking game, in my opinion, and most assuredly has some great points going for it.  Hell it's an MMO's explores dream.  But there just isn't enough (especially players) going for it to have kept my interest.  But hey it might be the game for you.

p.s.  Nice screenies by the way Buccaneer...