Remember how "blown away" you were when you first saw a Voodoo Card game? I just equalled that moment again!

Chad

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 1999
2,224
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76
Just picked up the latest Official Xbox Magazine. On it they had a game called Splinter Cell. Well, the first day I seen Tomb Raider on a Voodoo card I was blown away like never before or since. Till now.

OH

MY

GOD!!!

Splinter Cell just blew me AWAY!!!!!!!!

::speechless:
 

odog

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,059
0
0
yeah... very nice...

have you played hitman2? the visuals are pretty good almost as impressive as SC.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
2,998
126
I relived the GLQuake + Voodoo1 moment when I picked up my Radeon 9700 Pro and I was blown away by the image quality and smoothness of games at 1600 x 1200 x 32 with 16x anisotropic filtering.
 

ChrisIsBored

Diamond Member
Nov 30, 2000
3,400
1
71
Wow the trailer for that one does look sweet. I can't image playing it without a keyboard an mouse though.
 

Woodchuck2000

Golden Member
Jan 20, 2002
1,632
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Ah, the jump from Matrox Mystique 2Mb to VooDoo 4Mb....
I've gone from VooDoo1 -> TNT1 -> VooDoo3 -> GeForce -> GeForce 2MX -> Radeon 7500 -> GeForce 4 ti4200
None of the jumps have been anywhere near as big as the first one. I'm still waiting for something to come and blow me away...
 

Rand

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
11,071
1
81
I havent been "blown away" be the visual quality of any 3D game or application in a long time.... in fact the only time I can honestly say I was truly stunned was NHL 97', released way back in late 1996. A good 6 tears ago...... that game literally had by jaw drop in awe when I first saw it in action.

Since then I don't think I've truly been amazed by any games, certainly there have been a number of fine games and occasionally excellent graphics but nothing that was truly incredible.

Thief 1 "blew" me away for it's sound though.... similar to NHL 97', I'd never heard anything before or since that amazed me as much as it did.
 

Insidious

Diamond Member
Oct 25, 2001
7,649
0
0
Yeah, hardware is getting to a point that is causing the lack of creativity of game makers to really show.

They need to take a turn at the tech. advancment thingy. Then hardware, then game makers, then hardware etc.......
 

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
70,493
6,043
126
Going from software mode with a K6-2 300 to a Voodoo2 in Quake2/Unreal was an event forever etched in my mind. Nothing has impressed me like that since then.
 

Tab

Lifer
Sep 15, 2002
12,145
0
76
Heh, I have a Matrox G450 16MB. I was blown away when I saw UT2k3, everything is so fluid.
 

Chad

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 1999
2,224
0
76
Well, lets put it this way. Remember that old show Magnum P.I.? Remember that Jonathan Hoggins guy (the kind of snooty rich caretaker)? Remember how when upset he would say...

Ohhhh...

My.....

GOD!!!!

That is exactly what I said when Splinter Cell loaded up. I actually said it, and said it just like Higgins said it. I didn't even realize it for a few seconds, then I said "hey, I sounded like Higgins right there".

I thought the day would never come again. I thought being impressed by graphics to that extent were forever behind me. I guess it has to sneak up on you, and boy oh boy did this Splinter Cell demo do that exact thing.

I did some research, it appears this game is also coming to the PC this year... so trust me, check this thing out. I don't know what kind of PC or graphics card will be required, but whatever it is, get one. Or if you have an Xbox, you have to check this game out.

WOW!!!!!!
 

Grminalac

Golden Member
Aug 25, 2000
1,149
1
0
I decided to purchase a sony 24" monitor and a geforce 4 card... To be honest most everything is simply amazing, BF1942 placed in widescreen mode is truly a sight to behold.
 

Dug

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2000
3,469
6
81
Splinter Cell looks amazing.

Quake2 on a Voodo2 blew me away.
Mario64 amazed me.
Unreal was well...
 

mchammer187

Diamond Member
Nov 26, 2000
9,114
0
76
looks good

first game that makes me want to buy an X-Box

is this an X-box exclusive ?

if so its a good one
 

Chad

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 1999
2,224
0
76
So far it is only said that it's Xbox and PC exclusive through 2002. Anything beyond that is pure speculation. But the developer has said they are not, nor have even started working on any other versions as of yet. That is all that is know so far.
 

Insane3D

Elite Member
May 24, 2000
19,446
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I have a question for you console owners. I have had a Xbox for awhile now, and while I enjoy it a lot, I don't understand why all these console arguments center over whether a certain console has "exclusive" games. I have seen a few recently released games that are on both the PS2 and the Xbox, but the Xbox versions look much better, due to the more powerful hardware of course. So, can someone explain to me what's the big deal if a game is exclusive or not? If a excellent game is released, with both a Xbox and PS2 version, and each one leverages the hardware of each system, who cares if it's exclusive or not? Sorry, but I just don't understand these endless console arguments over exclusive games...can someone explain it to me?

BTW, I just rented a game for the Xbox, called "Enclave", and while it is frustrating and hard as hell, the graphics look better than most of my newest PC games...it really makes you wonder what could be done with games if they could make them for the most powerful systems, and not worry about the older systems out there....

:)
 

mchammer187

Diamond Member
Nov 26, 2000
9,114
0
76
Originally posted by: Insane3D
I have a question for you console owners. I have had a Xbox for awhile now, and while I enjoy it a lot, I don't understand why all these console arguments center over whether a certain console has "exclusive" games. I have seen a few recently released games that are on both the PS2 and the Xbox, but the Xbox versions look much better, due to the more powerful hardware of course. So, can someone explain to me what's the big deal if a game is exclusive or not? If a excellent game is released, with both a Xbox and PS2 version, and each one leverages the hardware of each system, who cares if it's exclusive or not? Sorry, but I just don't understand these endless console arguments over exclusive games...can someone explain it to me?

BTW, I just rented a game for the Xbox, called "Enclave", and while it is frustrating and hard as hell, the graphics look better than most of my newest PC games...it really makes you wonder what could be done with games if they could make them for the most powerful systems, and not worry about the older systems out there....

:)

well if you already have a PS2 its not worth getting an X-box to play games you can already get on the PS2 even if it does look better slightly

something I cant play on the PS2 might justify me purchasing an X-box

but since this game is coming out for the PC i am covered
 

Insane3D

Elite Member
May 24, 2000
19,446
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0
well if you already have a PS2 its not worth getting an X-box to play games you can already get on the PS2 even if it does look better slightly

I can understand this somewhat, but I think the graphics difference is more than a "slight" one... :)
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
The era I was most impressed with games on almost a weekly basis was in the days of 32k-64k video games. Programmers got real creative with memory management and reusing things to make for a smaller game memory footprint.

Nowadays, if a programmers code is bloated next week a faster CPU or Video card will be out to handle it. Also most games constantly rehash old ones....more of game editing that rewriting.

Tomb Raider was cool....I had it, but I think my ex-g/f took it :(

I want to replay it with my ATI 8500 (last I played it was a 16MB TNT)
 

Whitedog

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 1999
3,656
1
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One of the things that impresses me, is when you have the capabilities of rendering realistic scenes? instead of ?painting? textures (thus making it look cartoon-ish) you take real photographs and use them as your textures.

I noticed in some of the screen shots of that Splinter Cell game, many of the textures looked like actual pictures. For example, the stone and brick walls looked ?real?, not like a painted picture of a brick wall.
I think that adds a lot to the realism to a game. I wish more developers would think like that.

I think it?s silly to say that ?every graphic? in a game must be created by an artist. Bull. If your goal is make it look as real as possible, use real textures.

Anyone agree or disagree?
 

KF

Golden Member
Dec 3, 1999
1,371
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I guess people are blown away when they are very familiar with the deficiencies of previous attempts and suddenly see those limitations exceeded. I have never been blown away by any graphics I have ever seen because I am more familiar with the real thing and only slightly aquainted with the fakey stuff in the games that I have seen. It is impressive at times what they can do, but doesn't come close to seeming real. Seems to me games don't really try. They are comic books in 3D. When they try to make things look too real, the minds imagination mechanism no longer fills in what is not there and the graphic are ineffective.

They can make it seem pretty real when it is murky and dark so it is hard to see. They can make flat, rectilinear things look good from a distance. They can use photographs as a backdrop or mapped to a surface. It can go by so fast you can't make it out. When they can't do these things, they fail.
 

jm0ris0n

Golden Member
Sep 15, 2000
1,407
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Originally posted by: sandorski
Going from software mode with a K6-2 300 to a Voodoo2 in Quake2/Unreal was an event forever etched in my mind. Nothing has impressed me like that since then.

AMEN!

God, I can't wait for Doom3...
 

Whitedog

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 1999
3,656
1
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What impresses me most, is how a game makes me "feel" when I'm playing it.

I've seen games with AWESOME graphics that make me fell just... Bluh! nothing...

Then again, I've seen games with so-so graphics, but give me a feeling of TOTAL Excitement when I'm playing it. THAT'S the key.

It's not really how it "Looks" but how it makes you "feel"

Yes, of course Awesome graphics Do Add to the feel, but sorry game play and content can rob those graphics to the point of being worthless.

I've bought I don't know how many games because they had "awesome graphics" to only put it on the shelf after one hour of play simply because it was just a flat out sucky game.