[Official High Resolution Textures Post] Can we get a clarification on this?

[Blackweb]

Poor Bioware, they stepped into one nasty business with this game.

 

I hope you figure out some intelligent solutions, bring in your own people and find our own way around these issues, trust in your instinct even though they seem weird they might work, would be my advice to them. Good luck

 

Cheering for you, see signature as to why!

[CarverX]

I'm mildly please with the improvements I've made but they are still not the sharp, rich detail I see on the holo that we all crave. Server population has evened out and a decent amount of people will be bailing between now and the 21st. I would think this would make it easier to "non-atlas" our textures to see if we can handle it. At least let us try. If it turns out backwards like the rest of the game all our fps will probably increase lol.

[Unruhe]

I'm mildly please with the improvements I've made but they are still not the sharp, rich detail I see on the holo that we all crave. Server population has evened out and a decent amount of people will be bailing between now and the 21st. I would think this would make it easier to "non-atlas" our textures to see if we can handle it. At least let us try. If it turns out backwards like the rest of the game all our fps will probably increase lol.

 

That would be hilarious.

 

"Turns out that giving you high rez textures then compressing them to barf quality actually slows your system down, who knew?!?"

[Proto]

*all discourse is meant to be constructive criticism*

 

--Seeing the high resolution textures in game, during the conversation and holo-terminal glitch, make me feel even more ripped off by not being able to enjoy them full time. The game doesn't even render my sidearm while playing, and my clothing looks like stretchy yoga pants and a goodwill tactilneck.

 

The "official response" chapped my hole even rawer. That logic is just mind numbing. It's basically like me going out and buying a brand new six speed Aston Martin V12 Vantage and having the manufacturer tell me the car only has first and second gear (it wasn't meant to have gears three through six), and I'm electronically limited to 80 miles an hour. (for my own safety) Oh and it has two engines. One in the rear for normal driving, and one in the front for when I REALLY want to go fast.

 

I have a Falcon Northwest. It will run your pathetic high end textures during raids. Why can't I use the full potential of my machine and use the full potential of the game? I have no clue why there isn't a ladder of graphics options, like every other video game in the known universe, where one can personally scale the quality of their experience based on the performance of their machine.

 

But alas, dear citizens, we are forced to choose between two options..poor, and mediocre. Hell, I've been forcing the highest level of AA I can since launch. I had to change the ini to read only because it was being erased during launch. Even the experience going from no AA to AA made a big difference in the enjoyability of the game for me.

 

I'm sorry, but a user should be able to choose and scale the level and quality of their graphics.

 

The only work around I can see, is if someone can develop a way to just use the high end renderer full time. If anyone has found a way to do this, pm me and I'll gladly make the appropriate changes to use it nonstop. Because, let's be honest, it's not going to ever get implemented or fixed anytime soon...if ever.

 

TL;DR : Hi-Res gfx nao!

 

Could not agree more. Its so disheartening.

[mArchangel]

The thing that bothers me about the Wait-and-See Tribe (Scrubs reference woo!) is this:

 

Wait-and-See says, "Hey, wait and see, it could be better, you don't know what the future holds!"

 

People upset that TOR looks like butt say, "Exactly, we have no idea. We have a weasel-worded PR response that things will 'improve' ... months from now. Instead of just giving us the same optionset that was available in beta."

 

It's a circular and hollow argument. Yeah, EAware may fix the game to even the most specific of requests. Or they may not. There's no proof either way because the only official word on the matter is PR spin that actually promises very, very little.

 

So, just like 'People Against The Blurry Republic' have no proof of future progress, the Wait-and-See have no proof, either. That's the entire problem -- we have no idea what the design intent or goal is, because the people in charge won't just lay it out on the table. "Improve graphical fidelity" means nothing because "improve" is a relative word. If the textures were made .01% better, that's "improved" and still nowhere near what we're asking for, or what would be visually comparable to any other modern MMO on the market.

 

If SR or any dev could have just said "Goal is high rez textures for you, your companion, and your group by 1.2, possibly in Q1 2012, will try to optimize engine for full high rez texture support by summer" then a huge chunk of this graphical nightmare would be behind us.

 

On top of all of that, there is proof that they've already lied. These textures were part of beta. They were pulled. Reasons were given as to why, and the players were led to believe that they'd be put back. To date, no single advertisement image or video appears to use the atlas-dogbarf textures that players have to play the game with. To date, Bioware said that the textures were tested and didn't work at one point, then 180'd and said that we were never supposed to even have them at all. And this was all after hundreds of pages of rage and "what the hell, mate?" after we saw the medium texture option silently dropped from the test server.

 

If that doesn't constitute "lying", then I'm really not sure what does. I have a bridge to sell you, and also I'm a deposed prince in desperate need of assistance to unlock my family fortune.

 

No further comment. You are right about all this I have to admit. Got me. I just like to keep a positive attitude with the danger of being disappointed in the future. Not holding my breath.

[AlValentyn]

Folks the Escapist have just published their review of SWTOR, they claim the only shortcoming in the game is space combat.

 

I suggest you go left them know on the comments section of the review what's going on with the graphics as I have done.

 

 

Review:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/9347-Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic-Review

 

 

Forum Comments:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.338412-Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic-Review#13691824

[coolguymike]

So, just like 'People Against The Blurry Republic' have no proof of future progress, the Wait-and-See have no proof, either. That's the entire problem.

 

 

 

Exactly, the only real way to get Bioware to really listen is by not subscribing until its fixed and make sure you list it as the exact reason you are leaving.

 

I will gladly subscribe another month whenever they give us high res textures, they are already in the game it is not that hard to program in a slider or high res texture box that uses the same amount of "draw calls" as cinematics, If it makes some people get bad fps put a warning saying its only for high end systems.

 

Even if it meant some textures taking longer then other to draw those better textures causing texture popin(The game already does this to a point)., it would still be better then the current implementation.

Edited January 17, 2012 by coolguymike

[KronikInsomniak]

New trailer for the upcoming content patch

 

 

Keep trucking that false advertisement with the textures Bioware. This is so blatant its sickening.

[Unruhe]

Exactly, the only real way to get Bioware to really listen is by not subscribing until its fixed and make sure you list it as the exact reason you are leaving.

 

I will gladly subscribe another month whenever they give us high res textures, they are already in the game it is not that hard to program in a slider or high res texture box that uses the same amount of "draw calls" as cinematics, If it makes some people get bad fps put a warning saying its only for high end systems.

 

Even if it meant some textures taking longer then other to draw those better textures causing texture popin(The game already does this to a point)., it would still be better then the current implementation.

 

As many people have said/suggested, even just giving the player character and his/her companion the high rez would go a long way toward easing player concerns.

 

Personally, I'd want it a step further than that -- I'd want my character, my companion, my group, and any of their companions in "cutscene resolution".

 

That would be enough to get me to renew and continue playing. I do enjoy the game, but I can't justify paying a monthly fee for something this substandard. Yes, it's only a game, and yes, gameplay should be more important than graphics, but I am a very visual person. I like to see my character improve, I like to tweak ways to make my characters interesting, unique, and cool looking. I've gone way out of my way and spent a ridiculous amount of credits so that my Shadow wears pants instead of a dress bottom, pants that still match up pretty well with the rest of his gear. Now, if it wasn't all just a pixellated mess, I'd love the guy.

 

This solution *shouldn't* be hard. The game already has to drawcall those textures (you, companion, group, group companions) for dialogue anyway. Just keep them loaded and display them at all times. When someone joins your group, they still use "medium" textures. When you summon a new companion, it loads in "medium" textures. As soon as you hit your first drawcall (from dialogue) *bam* keep that candy loaded until they leave the group. Update the 'perma-drawcall' every time you initiate dialogue (to 'unload' people no longer in your group and add in new people if necessary). Done.

 

That's a maximum of 4 high-rez characters in most normal circumstances. Up to 16, if you are in an operation config. If 16 cripples the system, that's pretty sad on the engine's part, but that's still what graphics options are for. If 16 runs like crap, the user can just dip down to the "medium" setting until after the raid is over.

 

If the game can't handle just 4 high-rez characters, we've got problems way, way larger than just texture resolution here.

 

If I could see myself, and my grouped friends, as they were supposed to look, and not rocking some of the best MMO texturework 2004 has to offer, I'd happily renew and wait/hope for further improvements down the line.

 

Without that, or even a promise of that, I just can't hand these guys any more money right now.

[mArchangel]

New trailer for the upcoming content patch

 

 

Keep trucking that false advertisement with the textures Bioware. This is so blatant its sickening.

 

Ok now that I saw THIS.......

 

 

BIOWARE!!!!!!!!!! Enough is enough. As soon as you officially release the game in Aussie I'll be calling up the ombudsman for reporting false advertising. I warn you! Now I start taking this personal and make it a vendetta. Either you respond ASAP to our concerns with a COMMITMENT of sorts or rest assured above mentioned will happen. I cannot do anything about what all of us have encountered here so far, but I can make sure that our laws will show you, that you cannot get away with this globally.

STOP LYING-FIRE YOUR MARKETING DEPARTMENT-DO WHATEVER, but do SOMETHING!

 

Outrageous, disappointing and yes indeed disheartening.

 

SR, did you tell us gobsmack? Please respond. It is getting out of hand, and I will not just sit by and do nothing.

[Toweleeeie]

I dont understand why they cant give us the high res stuff from beta. Just give people a warning that it wont work for people without high end gaming rigs.

 

The way Bioware is going about this is insulting to our intelligence. We are not all casuals. I built my computer myself. I have been gaming since i can remember. Dont think you can just pull shades over our eyes. I am subbing bc the game is really fun and I will not let this topic die till we get the high res textures they are advertising.

[Zorvan]

Ok now that I saw THIS.......

 

 

BIOWARE!!!!!!!!!! Enough is enough. As soon as you officially release the game in Aussie I'll be calling up the ombudsman for reporting false advertising. I warn you! Now I start taking this personal and make it a vendetta. Either you respond ASAP to our concerns with a COMMITMENT of sorts or rest assured above mentioned will happen. I cannot do anything about what all of us have encountered here so far, but I can make sure that our laws will show you, that you cannot get away with this globally.

STOP LYING-FIRE YOUR MARKETING DEPARTMENT-DO WHATEVER, but do SOMETHING!

 

Outrageous, disappointing and yes indeed disheartening.

 

SR, did you tell us gobsmack? Please respond. It is getting out of hand, and I will not just sit by and do nothing.

 

And now you know where the "false advertisement" issue we've been mentioning throughout these threads comes from.

Edited January 17, 2012 by Zorvan

[Cicatrize]

So I've had the -3 LoD force mipmap tweak on for a couple weeks and while it adds a nice shine, I can see why they don't have it as an option in-game. If you look closely at the reflections they are nothing like what the actual reflection would be. For example, go into your ship and look at the reflections - in my Fury I see reflections of droids all over the place and the backdrop of the fleet. Another failure of the HeroEngine and EAware. The reflections are not real.

 

Also, if they keep advertising the game in high settings, I smell a class-action lawsuit coming on. There are plenty of hungry lawyers who would jump on the opportunity given how big EAware is.

[mArchangel]

The other thing that comes to mind is this: If it was really easy to give us hi-res they would probably would just do it to make us stop ***** about it. Leaves me with the conclusion that it could be a game breaker iE that something else weird could happen. Like overheated hardware, input lag issues(more so than what we already have) or other BIG issues.

 

I suggest strongly to play with open cards and make it truly transparent. And if it helps do not go to any dev and ask them for verifying what you write. Let THEM tell us! How about that? Or is this a political decision, and if it is something is potentially very wrong here.

 

 

Peace.

[mArchangel]

So I've had the -3 LoD force mipmap tweak on for a couple weeks and while it adds a nice shine, I can see why they don't have it as an option in-game. If you look closely at the reflections they are nothing like what the actual reflection would be. For example, go into your ship and look at the reflections - in my Fury I see reflections of droids all over the place and the backdrop of the fleet. Another failure of the HeroEngine and EAware. The reflections are not real.

 

Also, if they keep advertising the game in high settings, I smell a class-action lawsuit coming on. There are plenty of hungry lawyers who would jump on the opportunity given how big EAware is.

 

Please do not forget the EMPIRE banner reflections on the Republic Fleet. Like W T F ????

[AlValentyn]

The other thing that comes to mind is this: If it was really easy to give us hi-res they would probably would just do it to make us stop ***** about it. Leaves me with the conclusion that it could be a game breaker iE that something else weird could happen. Like overheated hardware, input lag issues(more so than what we already have) or other BIG issues.

 

I suggest strongly to play with open cards and make it truly transparent. And if it helps do not go to any dev and ask them for verifying what you write. Let THEM tell us! How about that? Or is this a political decision, and if it is something is potentially very wrong here.

 

 

Peace.

 

If it really can cause problems like that, why not simply tell us. Like you suggest, let the technical people that know exactly what's going on tell us.

 

People are impatient by now as it's been nearly a month since launch.

[Gunthen]

lol@this The intrawebs sure is a funny place. You come across all sorts of people.

 

I dont think I could ring someone up and tell them that Im sad that my Star Wars armour isnt as pretty as I wished for so I want my money back. That said I dont know what would be harder making that call or receiving it. Understandably they have devoted a "management team" to resolving such an important cause.

 

http://imgur.com/5KrVP

 

What do you think is a good way to handle a company that says there is no problem, and I can not receive a refund.

[Zorvan]

http://imgur.com/5KrVP

 

What do you think is a good way to handle a company that says there is no problem, and I can not receive a refund.

 

Oh, that's *********** priceless.

 

Start by sending them the link to this thread as well as include quotes from Reid confirming no high res textures being accessible to customers.

 

Let them know you'll be sending the same links and quotes to your credit card company if they continue to refuse.

Edited January 17, 2012 by Zorvan

[AlValentyn]

http://imgur.com/5KrVP

 

What do you think is a good way to handle a company that says there is no problem, and I can not receive a refund.

 

***?! That is pure BS!

 

Now that's a dirty bloody lie and completely contradicts anything the mods have said.

 

Send them links to here and what was stated by their own employee.

Edited January 17, 2012 by AlValentyn

[Nodens]

It never gets close to 4GB because they seem to have a soft cap and start swapping out things to disk once they start reaching 2GB. I've never seen the process go above that much even in very active scenes. This would make sense if they were budgeting for the lowest common denominator of a 32-bit OS without LAA, where 2GB is indeed your limit.

 

If this is the case, concerns about performance if they allow people to keep high resolution textures are valid, because no matter how much RAM you have, you'll end up paging textures in and out. (To the disk, no less, the least performing storage space in your computer.) If this hypothetical soft cap is true, I imagine they locked out the high textures option because it's easier than getting rid of this hypothetical soft cap.

 

I really hope they fix this soon, though. Cheap as memory is, it's increasingly common for people to run more than 4GB memory these days.

 

Which still makes it just bad optimization and/or implementation and nothing else. These are elementary coding practices. The concept of a lowest common denominator codewise is utter bogus. You can check for availability of resources and limit features accordingly. It's basic programming practice. We're not talking about 14 year olds in their first programming class here, we're talking about actual programmers. My current project runs on multiple platforms. Just because it runs on android devices I don't make the pc and linux versions limited by what the ARM cpus on android smartphones can support. Nor I limit my software's memory usage to 64mb to support the lowest end android device out there. I check what it is running on and allocate accordingly utilizing available resources as best as possible depending on the platform. I am unable to believe that any programmer involved in a project 1/100th the size of this one would do anything of the sort. My educated guess is these are engine implementation and optimization issues only and nothing else.

Edited January 17, 2012 by Nodens

[Unruhe]

http://imgur.com/5KrVP

 

What do you think is a good way to handle a company that says there is no problem, and I can not receive a refund.

 

It's okay, guys, it turns out these were the high resolution textures we were looking for!

 

Let's all sign up for annual subscriptions now!

 

Edit -- As there is High-Res graphics in the game, we cannot offer an refund?

 

I get better English from Asian account-info-phishing spam emails.

Edited January 17, 2012 by Unruhe

[Gunthen]

It's okay, guys, it turns out these were the high resolution textures we were looking for!

 

Let's all sign up for annual subscriptions now!

 

I am wondering if my customer service thread will get anywhere.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=1718225#post1718225

[Cicatrize]

Please do not forget the EMPIRE banner reflections on the Republic Fleet. Like W T F ????

 

Lol, I had not noticed.

 

This proves that the reflections are gateways to other dimensions.

[BeeblesTV]

Lol, I had not noticed.

 

This proves that the reflections are gateways to other dimensions.

 

It proves that orbital stations where a rushed untested last minute feature to the game.

[mArchangel]

It proves that orbital stations where a rushed untested last minute feature to the game.

 

Nope THAT it does not. What it proves is that we have to stay vigilant because it proves oversights at least! Whoever put this together should have been fired. This is emberassing tbh. QA?? I would take more pride in my work and thus this could never happen in my field of work. Passionate about the game? We ll not the guy that bodged the stations together that one is for sure!