Dragon Age - Comic Con Impressions @ Kotaku

More short Dragon Age impressions on the console from Kotaku at Comic Con:

What didn't impress, were some of the visuals in the Xbox 360 version. Up close, Dragon Age: Origins can look extremely rough, particularly when interacting with non-player characters while traversing the game's dialog trees. Some of the presentation looked like a step back from BioWare's Mass Effect for the Xbox 360, with low quality textures and distracting geometry problems in character models. When the camera is pulled back, however, things look fine.

More information.

That's no wonder, that console version looks crappy. I just hope that PC version has decent models and textures.

Well … you just need a quick look at the article, which pretty much says:

After playing the X360 version, "Have You Considered The PC Version?"

So I think it is pretty clear that these guys consider the PC version superior in all ways, from graphics to interface and controls - they compliment the way Bioware manages to get it to work for the console controller, but that doesn't make it a good fit.

PC probably has a bit better textures, maybe some more lightning / shadow effects, higher res + AA/AF, the usual stuff. The polygons and character models will still be the same though and that's where its a huge step back from Mass Effect which actually looks quite organic. This doesnt look much better then NWN2 which even looked dated when it was released (compared to e.g Oblivion).

Yeah, because this "consolization" nowdays, the graphics doesn't seem to get any better. Most of the new games look as good as those of few years old ones.

Good thing, too, IMO -- it's freed us (largely) from upgrade frenzy. My computer is from 2006, and while I've upgraded the GPU once, it's still entirely capable of running current games at quite decent graphics quality. The graphics potential of today's midrange or even entry-level hardware isn't close to have been fully exploited.

Remind me again what engine they're using?

The evolved Aurora thingy from NWN/KotOR?

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Remind me again what engine they're using?

The evolved Aurora thingy from NWN/KotOR?

New engine built from scratch specifically for the purpose. They've named it Eclipse.

But WAIT! Graphics don't matter, right?

Being a certified Dwarf Fortress addict/supporter, I'm entitled to like graphics too.

[ http://bay12games.com/champions.html ]

Originally Posted by BillSeurer
But WAIT! Graphics don't matter, right?

I have no issue simultaneously supporting Spiderweb and shouting 'gameplay over graphics' and taking AAA developers to task over non-optimal graphics …

It's really about the graphics matching what the game is trying to do, I guess.

Some games are less about immersion and "the experience" than others, and personally I don't think Dragon Age HAS to be all that pretty - as long as it's pleasing to look at. But as I haven't played it, I don't really know what they're trying to do with it. I'm imagining a "modern" Baldur's Gate - and that's probably naive of me. In reality, it's likely to be more about a cinematic experience - like Mass Effect - and as such, it should have immersive qualities and pretty visuals go along with that.

Indie games, if the developers are smart, shouldn't attempt to compete in these areas - because ultimately they'll fail. They should instead focus on a more cerebral experience, and go for gameplay as the focal point.

But even so, I must admit Spiderweb games don't "do it" for me, because they're aesthetically DISPLEASING to my eyes - and that turns me off. I guess you could call me a graphics whore because of that, but I don't really think so.

If they were trying to make it an cinematic experience like ME they would have had a voiced PC. The fact that they went back to the mute pc like bg,kotor and nwn 2 for me says it isn't a cinematic game.

I wasn't aware of that, and I was expecting full voice overs.

Interesting…