Animations and Models

[Ezikeo.5047]

With DX11, will the game get a facelift? New animations, spell visuals and models? The game is going to be a decade old soon, do you guys think this is in the future?

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

I think it's what the Senior Engine Programmer said it would be.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/directx11-support-is-coming-to-guild-wars-2/

 

[Danikat.8537]

I doubt they're planning to re-do the models any time soon because they'd probably have to do all of them in quick succession or it would look very strange with a mix of new and older models, and doing all of them would be a huge amount of work. But maybe they'll use some of the effects which are available in DX11.

 

Personally I don't think the game looks bad. I think the more stylised, 'artistic' design means its aged better than 'realistic' graphics would (those games are always the first to start looking out of date) and it's certainly still playable. It might not be what they would do if they were launching the game in 2021, but I don't think it's a problem.

 

Having said that I seem to have a different perspective on graphics to a lot of people because I'm not as worried about minor differences like exactly how many pixles or polygons are in use and I'm usually jumping around between modern games and older ones and different art styles. I'm currently playing 2 indie(?) games with hand-drawn graphics (Spiritfarer and Lost Words: Beyond the Page) and I think the oldest game I'm currently playing is A Link to the Past which was released in 1991 and uses top-down sprites. My main priorities are whether the graphics fit the game and if I can see what's going on. In the first case I think GW2 is fine and in the second I'm not sure trying to add new models and effects would help.

[Marikus.1875]

I like the artistic style of GW2 and I think it's held up really well over time compared to more realistic games. But like WoW proved, subtle graphic updates overtime do make a world of difference. Going from vanilla maps in WoW to Shadowlands content will leave you feeling like you're playing two different games and at some level, you are. Comparing how much player models have changed (for the better) and overall lighting systems (RTX) really took how they look to another level.

I think GW2 would benefit from the following graphical updates:

- More dense floor cluttering and foliage especially in the vanilla maps (grass is far too sparse) 

- Better lighting/shadows on character models (this is to add another layer of shadowing so that they don't look so flat and adds depth to wearing armor etc.)

The current player models sometimes look like they have little to no shadowing such as on their faces when wearing hoods, under shoulder pauldrons etc. When WoW introduced RTX, it added these dynamic shadows to the player models and it really just adds a nice layer of realism to them WHILE maintaining the aesthetics of the game.

Would love to see something similar here.

Example:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xPVr1KHWD7Q/maxresdefault.jpg

 

Edited September 30, 2021 by Marikus.1875