how good is the graphics update now in disco?

[JIVA]

i might be half blind - but i don t see much difference.

as far as i know - freelancer ( default ) uses general ambient lightning - and in some parts - it adds a "semi-dynamic" lightsource ( like in some nebulas ) that illuminate the ship as a whole from different angles.

the only mod that i saw that made use of "real" dynamic lightning is the freeworlds mod ( in their latest video, you can see the lasers cast point lights on the models of the ships ).

what i saw in that crossfire video is a "slight" adjustment of the brightly shining light to / reflection - which looks like a slightly better ( is it vertex lightning? )



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in general:

ambience and dynamic lights increase the quality of a presentation tremendously - if the enviroment is suited ( like large models that really "reflect" those features )

the incrased quality in that vid ( like i said - i don t see much ) - is so minor, that i don t think ppl notice it anyway.

and we shouldn t forget that such features might be enjoyable in the first weeks or maybe 1 or 2 months. but after that.... its all down to game mechanics.

- balance
- "hidden" game mechanics like ninja rep, lore, ID cards - all the "non" flashy stuff ... THATs what makes a mod enjoyable for a long time

models - after the "new" wears off .... are more regarded for their value for RP ( do they allow the RP of a research ship etc. ) than their complexity and shaders.

and in a firefight - the average size of an opponent is around 20 pixels wide and high or smaller. you don t see much in terms of light and shadowplay - cause you ll focus entirely on a simple red cross and a madly spinning red circle.

long term motivation comes from game mechanics, not quite from the presentation ( as long as its not abysmal )

edit:

as said before - we have NOT improved the engine of freelancer.

- some models have received a massive detail upgrade... in the good hopes that there won t be many ppl playing freelancer on a 300mhz netbook anymore. ( in other words - please, don t stack 4 zoner juggernauts on one screen ) - but if you do see 4 on one screen and your dps doesn t go down - you won t need to worry, cause we ll have bypassed the 120k polygons

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the [JIVA] group