![screen11[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/4eJyHQ4.jpg "screen11[1].jpg")
>High-res textures appear
>Phototextures start being used
>3D models get enough polygons to stop looking like garbage
>Postprocessing isn't advanced enough to let talentless artists make everything a blurry mess
>Advanced technology is constantly showcased in the games
>Picture is sharp, well-defined and clear
What was the best period for video game graphics and why is it early 00s on PC?
>>340399453
>Picture is sharp, well-defined and clear
The tie and hats say otherwise.
>>340399453
I'd call that mid-00s already. MP2 was released in 03, and the true golden age of game visuals was around 03-06; then the legendary "bloom & blur" era started.
I advent of bump/normalmapping, dynamic shadows and water shaders during the mid-00s was glorious.
>>340399612
you're not paying attention to the right things.
It's not the overall texture quality or polycount in specific things OP is referring to, but the overall clarity of the whole picture.
No shit-filters and overuse of stock shaders, just well done, sharp objects and clear "lens", so to say.
>>340399917
Invisible War was 2003 and it had already had vaseline smeared all over the screen. Doom 3, while impressive as hell at the time, has a very annoying plastic look now.
>graphics are nice enough for you to give a shit
>not too expensive that it limits creativity
>>340399453
Because a LOT of shaders and effects, particularly motion blur, bloom and LoD effects essentially exist to hide visual deficiencies and technologies like different textures and models loading depending on distance to the object.
Ugliest eras in 3D graphics were early (N64/PS1) since they were blurry ugly messes and 2006-2009 with brown n' bloom.
Graphics today look fantastic. You have to be full on nostalgiatard to think otherwise.
>>340399453
I agree. First two Max Payne games really had that quality even if models and textures obviously aren't up to snuff anymore.
>>340400283
There were great games even back then that pushed the visuals. Emulation usually points out how much attention was put into assets even though, for example, PS1 was mostly running games in 320x240.
Yeah i would say that era ended in 2007 with play Bioshock 1.
>>340400150
>Doom 3, while impressive as hell at the time, has a very annoying plastic look now.
that's because devs hadn't realized and implemented specular maps yet, and instead used rough Bumpmaps on top of models.
None of that obviously mattered to people back in 04, as dat lighting was cool and spooky as fuck. That being said, HL2 had better art-direction, and utilized more "next gen" tech in many ways than Doom.
>>340400157
was just about to post these.
Team-Silent's SH games, alongside with games like REmake, Resi4 and MGS3, are good examples of what was possible with the 6th console gen's lower end machines, and how damn good you could get games to look like with a skillful team.
>>340400494
this too. Vagrant Story, Silent Hill, and some more cartoony games on PS1 and N64 still look nice today.
>>340400283
They look way better than diarrhea of Xbox 360 for sure but it's still not as sharp as they potentially could be. At least these days devs generally let you turn eyecancer like chromatic aberration off.
>>340400283
PS1 had some really good looking 3D games.
Front Mission 3 and MGS 1 off the top of my head. They still look good today.
>>340400558
>mfw finding out BioShock runs on UE2
I was really convinced it used UE3, and yet.
>>340400606
Unsurprisingly considering HL2 was Technology: the Game in a sense it really pushed a lot of things from software POV.
>>340400157
Highly detailed PS2 games still cost millions of dollars and a lot of time.
>>340400606
I just love how crisp everything in source engine looks.
>play hard reset
>looks fantastic
>not plasticy
>not blurry
>240 fps
>ultra settings
>on my toaster
Why do some devs know how to optimize and then there's Ubisoft?
>>340400606
>ghost watertower
spooky
>>340400843
Because Slavs care.
>>340400843
Some devs give a shit, others don't.
>>340400726
UE2.5, actually, aka UT2k4 engine.
Same thing with Killing Floor and Red Orchestra;
That old workhorse really is one of my favorite engines of all time. And definitely FAR better thing than UE3, which was just "BLOOM AND BLUR AND TEXTURE STREAMING: NO MSAA EDITION".
Source engine games are exactly what you're looking for, OP.
Or at least pre-Orange Box. Source is sharp as fuck.
>>340400827
SH2 cost about 10 million dollars with 40-50 people for 2 years. It's not unusual for a modern games to cost 20+ million with hundreds of people on staff.
>>340401014
>SH2 cost about 10 million dollars
{{citaiton needed}}
>>340400916
thats alot of options
>>340400916
what game is this?
>>340401092
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2382/silence_is_golden_takayoshi_.php
>>340401128
for you.
>>340399453
>>340399453
thats modded
>>340401128
for modern games
>>340401128
Don't worry, they got better.
>>340401265
>>340401157
Serious Sam 3
>>340400962
UE2.5 is pretty great and UT2004 does a great job showcasing it; there's so much stuff in 04 that really doesn't need to be as detailed or as good-looking as it is (especially for an arena shooter) but they went the mile and did it anyway.
>>340401092
>Silent Hill 2's budget has been estimated at US$7–10 million by Sato.
-Wikipedia
>>340401157
Serious Sam 3: BFE
Croteam and their Croengine really are the saviors of PC gaming. Those gigantic options menus in the SS3 and Talos get my dick diamonds every time.
>>340401265
this kill the consolepleb
>>340399453
>Tfw WoWs engine is so old it cant do much in terms of post
>Tfw to compensate textures in recent expansions have been 4k
It loos so clear
>>340400962
>>340401518
UE2.5 is easily my favourite games engine and might always be. It looks clean, the lighting is great, the colours pop and nothing looks like wax unless it's meant to.
>>340401562
>citing wikipedia as a source
2/10 apply yourself
>>340401562
Sure hope SS4 will finally be announced this E3.
>>340401265
based croteam
>start a 10 year old game
>it has 1080p support
there's a god
Just disable motion blur and depth of field if you dont like this shit, probably some other settings that have similar effects but im no expert
>>340403531
>Disable all post-processing
>Textures look straight out of Quake
>>340400916
>>340401265
>GPU and CPU options are separated
>>340402205
Its very upoptimized when combined with modern lighting techniques. I remember splinter cell blacklist, a good looking game but turning on the lighting drops the fps from 60 to 20 and its barely noticeable. Devs should stop using old engined imo as its severely limiting on the hardware.
