Tenderfoot Thahd mercy Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 You have the Avernum 2 engine and GUI really well thought out and perfectly done. I'm interested, whether you plan to improve the visuals in Avernum 3 or for a future product, as you did with the current one, compared to Avernum 1 engine versions. I wonder how your next 2D engine will look like? SurraAgob 1 Quote
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 Jeff has stated that he doesn't plan to significantly improve sprites since he will never be able to get it to AAA game level and anything less is always going to be criticized as not good enough. He likes the retro look and will only make small changes. Doing new graphics takes time so don't expect much. He is planning a new game engine, but isn't giving any details. Quote
Burgeoning Battle Gamma Rya.Reisender Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 I think the new engine will mostly be for interface improvements since he sounded very convinced that his graphics style is already perfect fit for what he wants his games to be. Quote
Unflappable Drayk ĐªгŦĦ Єяŋϊε Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 He's not wrong. I enjoy the updated everything, but I play for the game and not for the graphics. While I'm sure eventually they will get upgraded to be better, it will be incremental and not revolutionary. Quote
Garrulous Glaahk Little Fyora Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 I like the A1-BoA interface/graphics better than A2:CS for some reason (nostalgia doesn't have anything to do with it). Except maybe for the name of the game displayed at the top, maybe Jeff just had some space left over that he didn't know what to do with. Quote
Burgeoning Battle Gamma Bonam Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 The old engines (anything before Avernum 6) are pretty much unplayable for me now. The tiny tiny game area window in the above screenshot that's maybe 300x300 pixels (since most of the rest of the display is the gigantically bloated interface, which already is itself capped at some tiny size like 800x600 or something) out of my 1920x1080 screen. My top requests for interface changes in the new engine would be: - more bindable spell/action slots (maybe 8-10 instead of 4) - mousewheel support for scrolling through inventory (junk bag, merchants, items on ground, etc) - be able to zoom in a few stages in/out in the game window (also using mousewheel) - fix boat pathing so it works the same as pathing on the ground (intelligently paths around obstacles/outcrops instead of getting stuck) - more mouseover tooltips on things - it would be nice to be able to mouseover a ground tile and have a list of the items that are on it be shown in a tooltip - the much-asked-for ability to open/close windows like inventory using the same keyboard button, rather than needing to use escape to close - the ability to turn off auto-move in combat - be able to turn on a visible grid for the ground tiles so you can more clearly see how many squares it is over to a target - have the stat window display aggregate special bonuses like critical hit chance, +% healing, +%magic damage, %melee damage protection, parry, etc - add a few more sprite versions to show the possibility of carrying 2 swords, a shield and sword, etc - add a displayed area effect that you can see for large area spells like Slow, Divine Retribution, etc... I never know quite where to position my priest so the DR hits all the targets I want Quote
Articulate Vlish Almny Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 There's just one feature I want in a new game engine: modern OS X full screen support. I want to be able to play the game in full screen but still have access to notifications, the menu bar, the dock, and other spaces. Quote
Ineffable Wingbolt Necris Omega Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Jeff has stated that he doesn't plan to significantly improve sprites since he will never be able to get it to AAA game level and anything less is always going to be criticized as not good enough. He likes the retro look and will only make small changes. Doing new graphics takes time so don't expect much. He is planning a new game engine, but isn't giving any details. Sad as this may sound, I actually prefer the ultra retro graphics of the Exile series (second incarnation) to what followed. At least in terms of the monsters and characters. Geneforge and Avernum's graphics always felt like they lack detail, variety, and above all are overly stiff. And yes, I maintain that judgement even if they are literally more animated. To me it's a case of higher technology not resulting in better art. Yes, the resolution is better, the items, UI, and terrain are better, and hot damn has Jeff found himself one heluva great artist to do the "cinematic" art since those days, but generally the art for the characters really feels inferior to what Exile offered. ... but I guess above all else this goes to show how Jeff absolutely cannot win in the graphics department, so why should he invest too hard there? Quiconque 1 Quote
Magnificent Ornk nikki. Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 [snip] Yeah, the new chitrach graphics are awful! Quiconque 1 Quote
Ineffable Wingbolt Necris Omega Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Well... are they even really new persay? Not really - that exact graphic's been used before. Really, the general lack of diversity in the later Spiderweb games is another problem - I briefly touched on it, sure, but... Seeing formerly unique and interesting creatures like the Chitrach and Null Bugs reduced to what they were in A2:CS was kinda sad. Leaving the hydras out in favor of yet more recycling was a further letdown. Really, how many legitimately new graphics can the latest Avernum boast? ... I mean, no one's asking for a brand new engine or high budget graphics, but... this? And really, what was done with the Chitrach doesn't even make sense! There's a perfectly fine Chitrach graphic in A6 that works beautifully! What happened? I don't mind the style. Really, I don't. But... I just can't help but get a painful feeling of cut corners on these things. And I hate to say that, but it's the truth. Callie 1 Quote
Hatchling Cockatrice Lilith Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Really, how many legitimately new graphics can the latest Avernum boast? ... I mean, no one's asking for a brand new engine or high budget graphics, but... this? And really, what was done with the Chitrach doesn't even make sense! There's a perfectly fine Chitrach graphic in A6 that works beautifully! What happened? Licensing issues happened. That graphic was created by a forum member and Jeff got permission specifically to use it in A6, not a blank cheque to use it in all future games. The artist has since disappeared off the face of the earth so Jeff can't contact them for permission to reuse it. Quote
Hatchling Cockatrice Quiconque Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Actually, that graphic was created for A4, and was used in A4-A6, so I'm not sure licensing issues are to blame. I suspect it was more that the new graphics are a different size. It was probably easy to resize the scuttler they still had the Poser files (or whatever) for; the chitrach was a custom-made graphic that might have taken a lot more work for a non-expert. http://pied-piper.ermarian.net/topic/20/187/p2 - third post Quote
Unflappable Drayk ĐªгŦĦ Єяŋϊε Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 just out of curiosity, why doesn't Jeff have an open source graphics contest to develop new graphics? with a sort of open license to let him use it in all the games he wants? x3meblue and adc. 2 Quote
Magnificent Ornk Kelandon Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 persay Please cease abusing language. adc., Tyranicus and Triumph 3 Quote
Ineffable Wingbolt Necris Omega Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Please cease abusing language. ... You know, I was considering doing a conversion of the Chitrach .bmp files to the .png format used by the latest Avernums, but after this, no. Quote
Hatchling Cockatrice Quiconque Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Kel is a lover of Latin. You turned "per se" (a Latin phrase) into "persay". Don't take it personally, N. adc. 1 Quote
Kyshakk Koan Kennedy Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 The new Vahnatai door graphics aren't as cool looking as the original iris design from Avernum 2, though they may be easier from a coding perspective. Quote
Well-Actually War Trall Actaeon Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 I don't mind the new chitrach graphics. At least they don't look like clawbugs, causing me to treat them as such tactically and get myself killed. Quote
Hatchling Cockatrice Lilith Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 I don't mind the new chitrach graphics. At least they don't look like clawbugs, causing me to treat them as such tactically and get myself killed. they also don't parry and riposte basically every single melee attack any more, which is nice Edgwyn, nikki., Jerakeen and 3 others 6 Quote
Hatchling Cockatrice Alorael at Large Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 Spoiler-free here, but if A3 had had a plague of chitrachs I think A4 would have been a very different game. —Alorael, who can only assume that some things are so unforgivable no one would dream of it. Except Jeff and his Eastern Gallery. Quiconque 1 Quote
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