The Plasma Engine - What does the future hold?

Yali · **Joined:** Tue May 09, 2006 6:09 pm **Posts:** 427

This is something that I've been thinking about for quite a while, If Uru stays Live long enough (let's say over five years), will at any point the plasma engine be upgraded to satisfy the expectations of the future graphical trends? In other words, will Uru's graphics ever be enhanced?

A lot of realtime games these days are already getting close to the Riven mark of graphical beauty, so I'm just worried that by 2010, Uru will still look the same that it does now. Of course, my ultimate Myst dream is to one day see Uru look like Riven, I just hope that happens.

Any thoughts?

Ja'run · **Joined:** Sat Oct 28, 2006 1:45 pm **Posts:** 372

With the course of time things always change. Upgrades or only logical if the project is still alive. The longest running MMORPG, Everquest, had several graphical upgrades I believe.

Mincetro · **Joined:** Thu May 25, 2006 7:51 am **Posts:** 438

Well, you have the Graphics <-> Gameplay issue here. I mean, a graphical update would be nice for the future of the game, but would detract from the time dedicated to original content.

Yali · **Joined:** Tue May 09, 2006 6:09 pm **Posts:** 427

I think both are extremely important. Content, if good, is the key to a great game. Riven proves that. Good graphics are what make a game sexy, and most importantly, realistic. Riven also proves that. No matter how good a story and how much depth Riven had, I would never have been drawn to it as much as if it hadn't had the jaw dropping graphics it had.

Uru had impressive graphics three years ago, now they're being rivaled by tjhe types of graphics you'd logically expect to be surfacing these days. The game still looks great, but my main worry is that the game will look exactly the same in five years from now.... and it's not just because I want Uru to be popular, it's because good graphics look good. I want the pleasure to explore Uru with the same detail that was present in Riven. Content may be exceptionally good (like with all of Cyan's games), but in five years from now when every other realtime game looks like Riven, I'm gonna want Uru to look like it too.

Dan'nee · **Joined:** Mon Oct 16, 2006 2:18 pm **Posts:** 722

At the same time, Cyan needs to think about the number of players their game will reach. If they keep Uru Live at the cutting edge all the time, that will extremely limit the number of players for their game, and therefore also the funding.

That may have been part of the problem three years ago. Three years ago Uru was crisp, new, and too powerful for any of the computers I owned at the time. While I hope Uru Live continues to have great graphics, I also hope I can continue to play it.

Taltos · **Joined:** Fri Jun 02, 2006 8:15 pm **Posts:** 301

That is the great thing about 'graphic settings'.

I play Everquest II right now and at full settings (I believe) the graphics are pretty outstanding. However, they also have an extremely extensive list of graphics settings that you can play with if it is too much for your system.

I wouldn't even mind playing a game at lower settings knowing that in the future I could update my computer and be able to run it at full speed.

i80and · **Joined:** Sat Aug 19, 2006 1:29 pm **Posts:** 21

There are a few things that could improve the look of Uru quite a bit with minimal work for Cyan. Textures and poly count come to mind.

The Plasma Engine - What does the future hold?

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