of course graphics matter,and when used to actually greatly enhance the games experience, they can be invaluable. but there not a difinative indication of a games quality. its important but not that important.
imho though, the games industry has put far too much focus on graphics technology, to the detriment of other elements of a game. in alot of genres, gameplay has only had slight refienments. story telling and the quality of writing has gone backwards (not even bioshock stands up to the scripts in games like planesacpe torment). sound is completly neglected (hasnt changed in 10 years) and AI remains scripted and a bit stupid. this is all in the pursuit of graphica and, imho, its just not worth it anymore.
however gameplay alone also doesent dictate the quality of a title imho. it is a fundimental part of a game (and should always have a higher priority then graphics) but on its own, itll still lead to a fairly short and not too memerable experience.
what matters is the overall package imho. the best games are the ones that get the overall experience right, from the graphics and gameplay to the sound, AI, physics and level design. a monket can make a cutting edge game graphically but it takes masters of the business to make crackin games that go down in history.
what devs really need to do is pick there battles. the best games are those from devs who know where to put their resources and win those battles.
Deus ex 1. by the standards of 2000, this was a bad looking game. it ran on UE1 when UE2 was showing its stuff. however ion storm knew that the graphics didnt need to be cutting edge, they only needed to eb good enough. however what DE needed to get right was the level design, the game play, the story, the writing and the sound. it absolutely nailed all of these. De1 was one of the first game to successfully mix FPS and rpg game play (with stealth thrown in too). the level design was brilliant and really made the game feel open. it also allowed the player to tackle problems in multiple ways depending on preference and skills available. it was a bit different in that it rewarded progress, not kills. no XP was ever obtained through a kill. the story was one that really made u think and question everything. there was some of that cliche conspiracy stuff but theres stuff in there thall make u think "god....thats actually possible". the writing, characters and voice acting were also top notch. the world was also very interactive (its a shame that better physics tech wasnt availabel for games at the time), u could do everything from hacking computers to rolling balls around a pool table. the use fo sound effects and music was also very effective. from a windy roof top to nearby electrical faults, the sound added as much to the overall experience as the graphics...if not more so. they nailed all that....everythign that was needed to make DE1 great. better graphics would have been an icing on the cake but in terms of importance....they were way way down the list and, to this day, DE1 does not suffer from them. when they did go after graphics for DE2, everything fell apart.
the total war series is another example. the creative assembly always remain a few notches behind the cutting edge in temrs of graphic stech. for example, for med 2 total war, only shader model 2 was used. this was when SM 3 cards were common. why? because a total war game is a game that requires huge battel fields and thousadns upon thousands of individual units. by staying below the cutting edge (but uusing the tech that they are going to use very well), they give themselves alot of breathing room in terms of horsepower and can have those thousands of units and detailed battle fields running without needing a super computer. since the player is mostly zoomed out and coordinating a scrap, the extra detail that SM3 could bring would be pointless so they put their resources to better use. the only reason there using SM3 for empire total war is because they need detailed water for naval scraps (likr the bioshock devs, creative assembly have a guy whos job is to make water look and behave like water). itll be released towards the end of 08 when SM4 cards will be common place and SM5 cards will probably be on the horizon.
anywho im ranting, imho the most important thing a dev needs to do is get the overall package right. graphics are fairly important in this regard but there not the most important thing. the best game are the ones that get what they need to get right, right. sometimes graphics are paramount, sometimes there way down the list. it depends on the game.
Log in to comment