Gothic III Screens

[RainOfTerror]

You have saved your home island from the forces of evil in Gothic I and Gothic II. Now it is time to travel to the realms of the mainland. Invading Orcs have enslaved the human kingdom. There are but a few free humans in the icy north and the southern desert and a handful of rebels hiding in the forests and mountains of Midland. You may either join the rebellion or serve the Orcish Usurpers but you will ultimately tip the scales and decide the outcome of the last war to save humanity. There is no simple linear story in Gothic III - every game will be different and unique - but all will ultimately lead to you deciding the fate of humankind.

Check the 3 new Gothic III screens (http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=26702) over at WorthPlaying.

[Orphiuchus]

Damn thats sweet.

[Heretic Machine]

We need this -now-... <.<

[thecrazyd]

Huh... the monsters look better then Oblivion, but the scenery looks worse. Maybe they should team up.

[snubber]

It's so crazy that as game graphics get more and more complex how varied the level of quality will be. I mean, these look pretty good, but not in all areas. Back in the old days (say, Commodore 64), some games looked better than others, but c'mon, there was only so much you could do with you 16 color palette and 2d graphics.

Now though the look of a game is going to be so crazily dependent on not just the quality of the art team, but they're art syle. I guess that statement sounds like a "no shit sherlock", but I think you guys know what I'm trying to say. Maybe. :)

[theCurse]

It also means that Joe Developer is screwed. Sure, games like Katamari Damacy slip through every once in a while, but as the public begins to expect Unreal Engine 3-quality graphics, the market for innovation will dwindle. Only large companies like EA will have the manpower and resources necessary to compete.

Hopefully, as the technology begins to plateau, the tools used to create it will gradually become more affordable and more accessible. Time will tell...

[chronocrash]

They have my money already. But honestly, it's obvious the great deal of time and consideration going into the graphics, but does that mean there will be equal parts submersive plot and dynamic gameplay? My only worry, seeing as how I've played games (read: sequels) that have accelerated graphically, but lost gameplay value.
I guess I'm just going to have to buy and play this to find out.

[if76]

You know looking at these graphics you get to thinking a lot of this stuff (trees, water, grass) was generated by pretty easy-to-use software. I think the whole idea of the indy developer being screwed by rising graphics expectations may not be any truer today than it was in N64 days. Sure we may see a lot of reused models and textures in indy games but they'll still be high quality models and textures.

[Heretic Machine]

You know looking at these graphics you get to thinking a lot of this stuff (trees, water, grass) was generated by pretty easy-to-use software. I think the whole idea of the indy developer being screwed by rising graphics expectations may not be any truer today than it was in N64 days. Sure we may see a lot of reused models and textures in indy games but they'll still be high quality models and textures.

I agree to some extent. I mean, I don't think people realize that the art teams have to -limit- theirselves when makeing the graphics for these games. The engine can only handle so many polys, textures that are only so detailed before the specs start to shoot up.

[Deadend]

Style > technical

I think the most important thing is for the art to be consistant, which may be harder than just making good models. I think the art teams need some public domain props, that can be used in everything, like 600 diffrent kinds of crates, and just a massive library of random objects from rocks to trees to whatever. So the artists can focus on what has to be unique to their title.

All that being said, Gothic 3 looks damn good.

[Qoz]

"My only worry, seeing as how I've played games (read: sequels) that have accelerated graphically, but lost gameplay value. "

That is a valid concern.
Many game sequels have failed when graphics got improved. In the past I think alot of problems came from the transition from 2D (simple 3D) to more advanced 3D. This team already proved themselves capable of making a full blown 3D world with incredible tech for the time and still maintain amazing gameplay. The day/night cycle, quest scripting and speech really was incredible. I'm sure Gothic3 will be just as good as the former ones.

My concern (if there is room for just a tiny one) is the popularity of the Gothic brand. Gothic2 was no-where near as hyped as this one and I hope they don't get pressured into releasing an average game. Gothic2 could probably have been released one year earlier if features were cut, and bugs not fixed. It was also released first in Germany and the US audience got the Gothic2 game later with all the fixes/patches discovered after the the German launch. JoWood is still the publisher right? I hope they give them all the time they need.

[alienchild]

Im extremely impressed, except for one thing; wtf is up with that UGLY skybox in the last pic?

[Ph00p]

I'm actually not a fan of plastic people and plastic monsters.

[Kefkataran]

I'm actually not a fan of plastic people and plastic monsters.

Good thing this game looks so much better than EQ2 then.

[Intruder]

Only thing I am worried about is the system requirements. These games are beginning to look sooo crazy I don't know if I can afford another $500 for a new vidcard.

Got an

NForce AN8-SLI MB
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Clawhammer
1 Gig RAM
Geforce 6800 GT

Hope that is enough to run it close to looking that nice. Doubt it but hopeful.

[Ailer]

Oh god. Why do the games I want, consistently all get released at the same time! Learn your lessons world, and give me some gaming goodness in June or July sometime!

[Jetherik]

I have felt with Piranna that game play went before graphics. You can have great looking games, but bad game play will never trump the feeling of great graphics because at some point, you have to actually play the game and stop looking at it. Sort of like having great special effects in a movie and bad writing and acting...

[Redline]

I don't actually find these pics all that appealing. -Technically- the engine looks good, it looks very capable, but to my eye, this game is just a bit too damn ugly. New art direction please.

[DeadPixel]

Style > technical

I think the most important thing is for the art to be consistant, which may be harder than just making good models. I think the art teams need some public domain props, that can be used in everything, like 600 diffrent kinds of crates, and just a massive library of random objects from rocks to trees to whatever. So the artists can focus on what has to be unique to their title.
You know what? That is a really good idea. Rocks are rocks, they can use photoshop to change the color depth, hue, saturation to match their theme, but the textures really remain as rocks. There should be a website where people contribute good generic textures for development and that would save a ton of time.

[RMan]

Im extremely impressed, except for one thing; wtf is up with that UGLY skybox in the last pic?
I thought the same thing, I don't know why they showed that.

As far as small developers not able to keep up graphically, yea, this has nothing to do with better technology, it has to do with the newer games are using larger teams, thus widening the gap between small and large teams.