I have to say that I'm disappointed!

[unmerged(47043)]

Just tried EUIII for the first time today and what a disappointment.. the graphic was worse then EUII, how it was possible I don´t understand! is there any good Graphic mod's yet?

I know it's not all about the graphic, but this made me want my money back..

I'm a big fan of EUII and HOI, so it's not because I'm a noob..

 

[HarkovAdm]

thx for the 100th post exactly like this. I really needed it

 

[L'Afrique]

What's the point in 3D?

Lirez la thread.

 

[unmerged(9145)]

There are people trying to improve on the graphics, but they're all in the mods forum. Go there if you're looking for something better than the stock graphics that come with the game.

Not much has been done yet, but there are improvements to flags, models, and even the map (the TOT mod). If you're looking for something on the order of M2TW or Rome TW, however, you'll be sorely disappointed because graphics of that quality don't, and probably never will, exist for EU3.

Max

 

[wilcoxchar]

And graphics of the quality of the Total War games are, frankly, not needed in EU3.

 

[17blue17]

What's the point in 3D?

Lirez la thread.

I am not a big fan of 3D either. But it does make it very simple to change the names on the map simply by editing the names in the text.csv file as compared to physically painting the name on using photoshop then importing everything back into the game using the magellan editor as was done with EU2.

Also simple changes to the map are much easier. For example taking an existing province and breaking it in two can be done fairly quickly using a graphics program compared to the method used in EU2.

Also making new flags for a country with the 3d map is very simple. I never was able to master it in EU2. The old EU2 shields yes - but the flags no. I was not alone in this.

At the same time I have to agree that the 3d map for game play is harder to use than with the old 2d map. Not sure why - maybe too much stuff on the map and too many windows in the way. There are some mods to change some of this.

 

[Brasidas]

I am not a big fan of 3D either. But it does make it very simple to change the names on the map simply by editing the names in the text.csv file as compared to physically painting the name on using photoshop then importing everything back into the game using the magellan editor as was done with EU2.

Also simple changes to the map are much easier. For example taking an existing province and breaking it in two can be done fairly quickly using a graphics program compared to the method used in EU2.

...and it was inconceivable to create a 2D map that was user-moddable? The "it had to go 3D in order for the map to be moddable" argument doesn't fly. The EU2 map wasn't made to be changed by the user, that isn't a property of 2D maps.

The rationale for going 3D was shelf-space, pure and simple. It was considered a necessity.

 

[Faeelin]

And graphics of the quality of the Total War games are, frankly, not needed in EU3.

There's a difference between Total War graphics and graphics that are on par with Empire Earth I.

 

[L'Afrique]

...and it was inconceivable to create a 2D map that was user-moddable? The "it had to go 3D in order for the map to be moddable" argument doesn't fly. The EU2 map wasn't made to be changed by the user, that isn't a property of 2D maps.

The rationale for going 3D was shelf-space, pure and simple. It was considered a necessity.

Of course, but that doesn't mean there aren't other benefits to going 3D.

 

[Inferis]

...and it was inconceivable to create a 2D map that was user-moddable? The "it had to go 3D in order for the map to be moddable" argument doesn't fly. The EU2 map wasn't made to be changed by the user, that isn't a property of 2D maps.

The rationale for going 3D was shelf-space, pure and simple. It was considered a necessity.

Not that it matters much, but that's not the whole truth.

Going 3D also frees resources from the CPU, because most of the graphics processing is done on the GPU. This means there's more processing power and memory for gameplay (more complex AI, for example)

Besides, keeping to 2D would have raised (IMHO, a lot more) protests from gamers than the move to 3D. How many games do you know that are released nowadays that are *pure* 2D? And how many new games are 3D?

Shelf space is important: it sells the game. Paradox is a company, and they need to make money. And that doesn't work when you have a game that doesn't sell too well because it used "ancient" technology.

 

[kelumden]

I am not a big fan of 3D either. But it does make it very simple to change the names on the map simply by editing the names in the text.csv file as compared to physically painting the name on using photoshop then importing everything back into the game using the magellan editor as was done with EU2.

Also simple changes to the map are much easier. For example taking an existing province and breaking it in two can be done fairly quickly using a graphics program compared to the method used in EU2.

Changing text on the map and modding the map in general has NOTHING to do with 3D and EVERYTHING to do with analysis of the problem at hand.

There are many ways to implement a map. The one retained by Paradox relies heavily on graphics and interpretation of data contained in images. I'm OK with this so long as the programmers are confident with it.

Another way is to conceive the world as a (huge) graph with nodes being the provinces and edges between nodes, the boundaries. This way, it is even possible to differentiate the data describing the province from its graphical representation.

Regardind the graphical representation, we even have the choice of two ways to implement it: like BOA (using small images of the provinces like a puzzle) or using collections of points (more like a database).

In any case, changing the name of a province can be made dynamic in both situations. There is nothing specific to 3D in it.

 

[DMFan]

And graphics of the quality of the Total War games are, frankly, not needed in EU3.

QFT.

And, btw, I like the graphic the way it is.

 

[unmerged(9145)]

And graphics of the quality of the Total War games are, frankly, not needed in EU3.

Neither is 3D. A 2D risk board would suffice just as well.

But some of us would like 3D graphics a bit more appealing than what's shipped with the game. Whether or not you happen to think it's "needed" is entirely irrelevent with respect to my comments.

Max

 

[Merrivale]

Neither is 3D. A 2D risk board would suffice just as well.

But some of us would like 3D graphics a bit more appealing than what's shipped with the game. Whether or not you happen to think it's "needed" is entirely irrelevent with respect to my comments.

Max

I really wish people would read all of the information available about this subject on this forum. If you wanted to have better 3d graphics you would have needed a better graphics card. Paradox had better graphics earlier in the process but had to dump them since it upped the graphics card requirements to 256 mb from 128.

I frankly do not know anything about graphics programming, so maybe it could have been done with a 128 card and Paradox couldn't achieve that, but that is irrelevant to the discussion. Paradox has the programming capabilites it has and with those capabilities was only able to make the graphics better by increasing the requirements which they were understandably unwilling to do. So we have what we have, graphics that IMHO are nowhere near as bad as some make them out to be and clearly not on the cutting edge. A compromise solution which is usually the way this stuff works.

 

[unmerged(9145)]

I really wish people would read all of the information available about this subject on this forum. If you wanted to have better 3d graphics you would have needed a better graphics card.

RTW had better graphics by far on the strategic map, yet played quite well on older graphics cards than the ones recommended for EU3. In fact, it's tactical map requirements weren't as taxing as the ones for EU3.

Paradox has the programming capabilites it has and with those capabilities was only able to make the graphics better by increasing the requirements which they were understandably unwilling to do.

You fix that by hiring folks who're actually skilled at this sort of thing, rather than trying the learn-as-you-go approach. That's great for college kids working on term projects, and not so good for businesses trying to needlessly reinvent the wheel.

Edit: in any event, the OP was looking for better graphics. I pointed him to the mods forum, where there are already a) better flags, b) more accurate skins for soldiers, and c) the TOT revision for the map. I also made him aware that as it's designed he'll never get the same quality of graphics that you see in RTW or M2TW, because it just isn't possible with the EU3 engine.

Max

 

[Chaingun]

Try to play for some time despite finding EU3 repulsive at first. You might adjust to the ugliness of the game like me, enough to be able to focus on the fun (if somewhat buggy) gameplay.


(But my stationary computer broke down and now I only have a 2.5 y.o. laptop which EU3 definately doesn't run on. Thank you 3D. )

 

[alvaro]

I didn't buy the game, mainly, because it was not supported by my graphic cards

 

[unmerged(47043)]

There are people trying to improve on the graphics, but they're all in the mods forum. Go there if you're looking for something better than the stock graphics that come with the game.

Not much has been done yet, but there are improvements to flags, models, and even the map (the TOT mod). If you're looking for something on the order of M2TW or Rome TW, however, you'll be sorely disappointed because graphics of that quality don't, and probably never will, exist for EU3.

Max

I was more looking for some good 2D graphic like in HOI and EUII!! not 3D Graphic that is so poor that it destroys the gaming experience for me

 

[Jasmo]

I was more looking for some good 2D graphic like in HOI and EUII!! not 3D Graphic that is so poor that it destroys the gaming experience for me

Well other than occasionally checking on terraing or weather before an attack I pretty much play zoomed out in political mod so it is basically a flat map and tokens. I do think some good things got lost between the EU2 and EU3 maps. I really miss have a mode that shows resources and availability to colonize. Makes for a lot of unescessary clicking.

 

[6354201]

You fix that by hiring folks who're actually skilled at this sort of thing, rather than trying the learn-as-you-go approach. That's great for college kids working on term projects, and not so good for businesses trying to needlessly reinvent the wheel.

Max

Wow, I can't believe Paradox never thought about that! How stupid of them. If only they had known the solution to their problem was to hire very expensive graphic artists in large numbers. And because Paradox has the budget of EA, they can, of course, afford that.

:wacko: