3d battle scenes are looking horrible! :(

[Daynarr]

Oh, yeah, one more thing. Higher resolution will improve quality of unit images dramatically so it will all look so much better. People with better computers wont notice pixels so much as will people with lower-end computers.

[Nerfix]

Ah yes, i suspected something like that.
And i just love particle effects. Thy have their own unique beaty.

[QuarianRex]

I saw some of the screenshots an I think that they look great. The top-down approach is ok for keeping track of your units in a tactical battle, but visually it tends to look like a bad tablecloth. And since this is just a replay of the combat the pseudo 3D is fantastic (the shots of Ermor storming the castle made me salivate just a bit). It gives you a better feel for the battle yet doesn't waste a lot of time. After all, by mid to late game you tend to ship through them rather quickly. It would be a shame to waste overdone 3D grafics on something that you will eventually just breeze past.

[Nerfix]

I'm waiting to see my first Dom II Orb Lightning...
The first casting Orb Lightning in Dom I was almost religious experience for me...

[Pocus]

Having played Doms I, I must say that the 3D terrain rendering, along with the all new particles engine is a big overhaul.

I'm unable to figure what you can do with the camera though. Does you have a movable camera to start with? Which axe can you tilt? I suppose you always see the battlefied from a side, as the sprites are made like this, but is it easy to see where the units are positioned from the viewing angle we always see in the screenshots? The benefit of the top down 2D view was that you were seeing precisely the unit positionning as battle progressed. With this side view, I wonder if you dont just see a big pool of unit ???

[Mortifer]

Originally posted by Daynarr:
Oh, yeah, one more thing. Higher resolution will improve quality of unit images dramatically so it will all look so much better. People with better computers wont notice pixels so much as will people with lower-end computers.

What will be the max. resolution, what will be allowed? I have a 3Ghz P4 with an ATI 9800 Pro and 1 Gbyte RAMBUS + 21' monitor here, so higher = better for me.
I hope that 1600x is supported as well!

[ September 21, 2003, 21:35: Message edited by: Mortifer ]

[Daynarr]

Max resolution listed is 2048x1536. Those that your hardware can't support will be dimmed (unselectable) so no need to worry about messing up your system.

[Mortifer]

Ah, nice

[PDF]

Originally posted by Daynarr:
Oh, yeah, one more thing. Higher resolution will improve quality of unit images dramatically so it will all look so much better. People with better computers wont notice pixels so much as will people with lower-end computers.

How is that ? I mean, if the engine use sprites for units the pixellation comes mainly from the 2D sprite bitmaps themselves... If they are say 32 pixels high they'll look awful from close, whatever your CPU and GFX card !
For example look at Medieval TW compared to Shogun TW (the previous game) : units in MTW look much better than STW just because they have "hi res" sprites instead of low res ones. Same for Combat Mission 2 vs CM1 (but there is hi res mods to close the gap). If the engine allow modders to make and use higher res sprites (as in CM), it'll be fine , but else, that'll be a limiting factor.
I agree with you for the "3D" part though, it will be more or less good according to the graphics card.

[Daynarr]

All I know is that when I play 800x600 resolution units and icons are much more pixilated then on 1024x768 resolution. How exactly, I can't explain but devs probably could.
But as far as I know higher resolution = smaller pixels so you don't notice them.