• Hail Guest!
    We're looking for Community Content Contribuitors to Stratics. If you would like to write articles, fan fiction, do guild or shard event recaps, it's simple. Find out how in this thread: Community Contributions
  • Greetings Guest, Having Login Issues? Check this thread!
  • Hail Guest!,
    Please take a moment to read this post reminding you all of the importance of Account Security.
  • Hail Guest!
    Please read the new announcement concerning the upcoming addition to Stratics. You can find the announcement Here!

Enhanced Classic Graphics

R

Rainfo X

Guest
I still want this. Id love it if the new client with all its features and functionality had old school graphics improved and cleaner. I love the fact that UO is old school and 2d. However, I want to play with the keybind and targeting system of EC because I like how it works a lot. I would love to see a remodeled high definition of the 2d graphics (including players, pd's, monsters, and terrain) in UO...or just a classic graphics option in the client.

I suppose I could get used to the targeting in 2d, but its a bit less seamless. I use my right hand almost entirely for movement and itemization. Otherwise gameplay is predominantly lefthand.

Otherwise EC is cool, lots of great ideas and implementation and I'm so glad UO is still around, if a lot different than it was when I was growing up. Cmon devos and engis yo! :party:
 
F

Fink

Guest
I don't think there will ever be consensus on the graphics, and very few would be entirely pleased with what we have.

The discussion seemed always polarised; one group wanted KR, another wanted Classic. It is therefore a mystery, to me at least, why they would want to take the middle route and miss both targets entirely.

Acknowledging my own bias, I've always felt the Enhanced client should be enhanced and the Classic client classic. But yes, there's this half-hearted attempt to please both audiences with the EC; modern enough to deter Legacy enthusiasts, but retro enough to disappoint KR fans. It's really the worst of both worlds.
 

Dermott of LS

UOEC Modder
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
...

Pretty much nailed by Fink.

I could have understood the attempt at compromise if they were going to close down the 2d client and be done with it... but if you're going to run two clients, then they've picked the worst way to do it.
 
R

Rainfo X

Guest
So for the people who like the classic graphics, the new client isn't classic enough, and for people who like KR, it's not KR enough. I hope eventually they just have two different graphic sets and you can choose to see the game in whichever you like better. That would be so nice.
 
T

Tukaram

Guest
We used to have 2 separate clients. The old LBR era 3D/2D were very different. Then they tried to get the 2D people to like 3D and ruined all the backgrounds with the flat 2D ground. Changed the paper doll to look more like 2D. Then they started in on monster art. But it was the same effect... not 2D enough and not 3D enough.
 

lucitus

UOEC Modder
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Exactly fink good word!

But i dont think KR graphics is ever comming back or not in the near future, so for me the state of the client bugfree and usefull is important.

And to speak a true word, the 2d interface isnt usefull anymore!
 
C

canary

Guest
What they really should have done when first making the graphics is attempting to stay true to the original ones. A lot of the EC graphics look NOTHING like their Classic counterparts. Toss in the 'muddy' look a large part of the players say they think exists and you have a recipe for disaster...

They should have had a focus group early in the arts creation and hit all the major points that people complain about now. I'm appalled that whomever was calling the art shots didn't show a more heavy hand.

Grimm was Art Lead for KR but now isn't, he does something else entirely in the art process now (regarding the pipeline). I wonder...
 

Dermott of LS

UOEC Modder
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
...

While I still want at least the option to use KR artwork, I have noticed that the general ingame artwork as of the last patch seems to have been cleaned up significantly and distorts quite a bit less than it did. It's a step forward if a small one.
 
R

Rainfo X

Guest
I still stick to the OP.

I like the EC well enough, but ultimately it's the gameplay that keeps me coming back. The new fandangled EC graphics keep me from resubscribing. They are not that bad, but they still look like a faded watercolor of the classic graphics.

I can't go back to 2d now because I got so used to the ease of the hotkey bars and targeting system, the map, and being able to see all of my character statistics.

The other option is to slightly enhance the CLASSIC CLIENT to make the new targeting system that's already there just like the EC targeting system, and add some hotbars. Both of these additions would be optional. It would be a big step in making me feel good about the state of the interface.

Still, I believe UO needs the CLASSIC graphics around in some form. Yet it needs to stay modern. Otherwise it's just not really UO despite the mechanics.

The classic client may not be around forever - who knows? - but the classic GRAPHICS need to stay around forever or else they might as well just shut it down.
 

Dermott of LS

UOEC Modder
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
...

I thought KR handled it well... you could toggle between the two. The only change (beyond cleaning up graphics as necessary for larger resolutions and scaling) that was needed was simply to swap the "default" to Classic graphics and retain the option for KR graphics.
 
R

Rainfo X

Guest
...

I thought KR handled it well... you could toggle between the two. The only change (beyond cleaning up graphics as necessary for larger resolutions and scaling) that was needed was simply to swap the "default" to Classic graphics and retain the option for KR graphics.

I really like ALL the classic graphics. It's 2d, and it all blends together well. As I recall, the toggle was a very superficial change of the terrain, and that's not what I'm talking about.

I like everything about 2d except the way it plays and my options for keybinds, macro, and targeting. I do play with UOA, but for hunting I still like the way EC runs.

The inventory system in EC needs work too, at least when I last played. When you selected classic graphics for bags, it looked really weird for some reason.


So anyway, I took a look at my screenshots again, and maybe the way it looks to me is more like pastel models constructed with clay on top of a slightly blurry watercolor background. Like I said, it's not bad, but it just feels synthetic and slightly artificial. It's almost like they were trying too hard.

When my friend saw me playing KR before the EC beta was out, he said, "It doesn't look like UO." I agree to a large extent; that's why I advocate all of this.

That's not to say the classic graphics can't be enhanced; it would be cool if you could zoom in and out in high definition with the original models somehow. I'm not a technical person, but that's how I feel from a point of view of a player who started in 1998 and still plays MMOs to this day.

I hope you understand. I for sure think if people really like the new styles they should have the option, but I still like classic. I guess if I returned, I could just go with 2d, but I liked the playstyle I developed on EC, so...yeah. I hope this is making sense.
 
R

Rainfo X

Guest
Here are some comparison screenshots. Not of the same moment, but they almost look like different games.



Here I was getting a pie from an event on Pacific. Im the guy on the stage in the black robe on a horse.

I like the way it looks. Everything blends really well together, and it looks like a gathering of individuals.



This is over at that champ spawn in Tokuno. Like I said, I play with EC for the interface options. However, it looks really strange to me. The characters look like their floating on the background which is kind of grainy and contrasts poorly.



And I really like 2d EVs better than those amorphous sparkly blue blobs. I swear I'm not hatin' either! The whole reason I am talking about this is because I like how EC plays, just not how it looks

When I would go hunting with my guild, I would play in EC and sometimes I would switch to 2d. I like the way it looks in 2d and I was jealous of the way they got to see the world, but I was playing the role of healer/bard/mage so I needed to be the best I could be, which meant playing with EC. I found it really pretty easy to switch between player targets and monster targets for healing and use all my keybinds.

That said, I took a look at an old KR screenie and it looked pretty good. EC might actually be a step down in some ways, although some of the bug fixes are good. For me as a bard, being able to target skills with keybinds, which wasn't working in KR. So I can tell the team wants to make it better, so I am just trying to give my best advice.

:rant2:
 

Martyna Zmuir

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Rainfo X: If you are going to play the EC at all, get Dermott's Copper Enhanced skin. :thumbup1:

The default skin in the EC hurts my brain and is damn near offensive in its sheer ugliness.
 
Top