I have come back to Ryzom after 5 years of absance. I must say I am surprise that visually speaking almost nothing has changed at all. I was expecting to see some kind of graphic improvments.

I know most of you will probably say that it is to ensure performance but why not simply add an option where the players with powerfull enough PCs can say choose the option of better graphics (higher quality textures, bumpmaps, ...).

In regards to this, are there any plans in the future ?

The more time passes on, the less new players will come because they simply be turned off by the current graphic levels. When 90% of all games out there have a higher graphic quality then Ryzom, gamers are more attracted to those then play.

I am not criticizing nor blaming your team. I am just pointing the fact that graphics will become the major negative factor as time progress.

There is another post about software that will change the look of the game, however I think most players are here for reasons other than cutting edge graphics- most of us even enjoy the style of Atys... any imperfections in textures can be blamed on the process which created Atys.....

That's a non-sequitur, Placio.

Ryzom has a huge churning rate. They come, stay a bit, then leave due to several reasons - one of which may be graphics and performance.

Browserice --

Because there wasn't the developer/artist base to do that? If Nevrax hadn't gone under then there probably would have been improvements in that direction eventually. With Ryzom Forge there may now be that ability, but having several levels of client code would be a nightmare to maintain, not to mention the probability that offering options to increase poly count would mean that the download of the client and data (which is already massive) would double in size.

Improving the bump maps and such would be nice, but that's a lot of design work for small benefit.

Can you point me to a game that demonstrates the "much higher quality graphics" of modern MMORPGs? The stuff I've seen doesn't particularly impress me.

I heard that Keatemi (spelling?) had done a lot of work - but no one (??) would use it
No idea who to point the finger at ...
But being as he is a genius it was a shame to loose his skills - which were free once upon a time ...

[quote=Bitttymacod]Browserice --

[...] not to mention the probability that offering options to increase poly count [...]
i don't think it's necessary ... at least the player models, weapons etc ...maybe the buildings could be a higher poly ...
The thing could be upgraded is the maximum size of textures.


[ ...] would mean that the download of the client and data (which is already massive) would double in size. [..]
Ryzom Client is very small atm.. i don't think it's a problem ...today.

[...] Improving the bump maps and such would be nice, but that's a lot of design work for small benefit. [...]
that's the point, there is nothing to improve - afaik. No bump maps or displacement maps implemented yet. I don't know what goes wrong, but afaik at googles summer of code 2013 ...there was a project to upgrade NeL to OpenGL 3.0 and also add bump map support. Somewehere in the internet i also have seen some renderings with bumpmap ...but im not sure if it is already implemented in the "live" engine or not.


[...] Can you point me to a game that demonstrates the "much higher quality graphics" of modern MMORPGs? [...]
we are all fans of Ryzom, but of course it's true ...Ryzom is developed by 2001 and released 2004. Of course there a many modern MMORPG those are using much more modern engines etc. ..but don't think that this is the point. Point is, there is nothing bad to "improve" a 10 year old engine a bit (and bring it live into game, too!) :)

To survive and make a decent amount money to maintain it, a game company cannot count on a few loyal fans. They must appeal to a greater audience and that is what Ryzom needs right now. Otherwise it will slowly die and diseapear in about 5 years. If the bigger audience are not loyal ones, then how can you attract them ? I think you can estimate that 50% of the needed audience will come and leave. So if the game can still attract 50% of the player mass each month to replace the 50% that left, they have to find a way to to do this and if you are excluding marketing then you are left with very little choices that can apply to Ryzom right now.

I do not know the numbers for any game but I think 10% of the player pool are loyal ones that will stay for a few years. The rest will play for anywhere from 1 month to 6 months and then just move out. You have to keep attracting new players to replace those that left and know why they left so you can help change whatever is necessary to attract those new players.

Browserice -- I suspect that the churn rate is closer to 70% -- it certainly is in a few other games I play. Otherwise I pretty much agree with your arguments.

I was serious about the question on what games have "much higher graphics." I've looked at WoW, and was not wowed. I've seen standalone FPS type games with much higher graphics (e.g. Skyrim), but I really don't have a lot of experience.

I think my point was that putting effort into graphics might not be what needs to be done to keep Ryzom attractive.

Go away Browservice, go play your more high resolution games. It appears you don't want to help make things better?
Remember, there is other reasons to play a game than resolution. Go play Mario brothers for example, what the heck was 'Paper Mario?' People still love the game, even though the graphics weren't great! And didn't they revert to simple graphics in Zelda in one version also? There is other reasons to love a game than graphics.
People have been saying the same things you are since I started playing, and that was 5.5 years ago. How come Ryzom isn't dead yet? How come you left? How long did you play Ryzom? Is your attention span to short? Are you only interested in one facet of a game? (Graphics?) I suggest learning the other features of Ryzom like digging, crafting, recipes (Which takes extensive time), exploring, also, some of the more subtle parts of Ryzom. There was a recent post on whether Creatures are affected by certain 'Aim' attacks. Do you know the answer? If not, do more research! That is just ONE example, I can go on, do you want me to? Other players can chime in too, they have told me many things they love about the game.

Sorry if this post sounds mean, I don't mean that. I just want you to think about the abundant riches Ryzom already poseses and explore the other reasons for its fun-ness to play. If Graphics were all you wanted to comment on, than yes, it probably could be improved, but I'm really not worried about it at all. Other things would make the game much more interesting imo.

+1 on Bitttys first remark, and also +1 on Remigras remark

p.s. You strike me as someone like a magazine reviewer of MMORPG games who plays one for a while to review it, then stops, and writes an article about the game, while looking for negative things to say, hence my response the way i did.

I've bougth so manny mmo's these past 10+ years (really I need to stop doing it I'll never find better). And loads had much higher graphics then ryzom like Final Fantasy, Elderscrolls, guild wars 2 ... (I can type a long list if you want) but in the end I buy the game play 2-10days on it get bored of how easy they are and how much handholding is involved, I cry a bit about the community in the game and I come back to ryzom.
I can't describe what keeps me in ryzom really except maybe the community and my guild. Since I don't dig, craft, make recepies, ...

A little harsh Browserice although I can see how you must be unimpressed with the apparent lack of development.  The fact is as others have pointed out there is development going on 'under the skin' as it were, as well as new content with the Marauders, Rangers etc.

I for one continue to be impressed with the graphics - OK not as impressive as other games, but few of those other games are MMOs.  The scope of Atys is big - the lands are large in scale and the seasons make each land new every few days.

Yes the graphics are 10 years old - all the more impressive for that in my opinion.  If they look dated then it is only a matter of time before we can call them 'Retro' as with fashion which repeats itself every few years.

Cool Down Naema! We can't doubt his Ryzom love.. after all he returned even after 5 long years. And yes, better graphics/texture improvements will lead to more population. Question is how much it is doable? Or is it too much of work? (personally I think it is hell lot of (re)work).

Reckon it would take more than new graphics ... and we have not got the skills in the dev team to write anything in computer language C++ think I read kaetemi wrote, though from his contribution at some forge discussion maybe they are paying him to do the boot strap thing, never mind, have long since given up - and Naema = be nice!!

If it is ever given to steam to launch - we will not be able to cope with more than about 50 new players - server is very cheap and we only have the one - for back ups and such - so age of graphics is not really an issue