Overhauling the engine
by Matthew Rossi 
May 16th 2008 at 2:00PM
The fine folks at Eurogamer noted that, during their interview with the recently ubiquitous Kaplan and Brack, some tantalizing hints were dropped about an update to the WoW graphics engine. It's not coming in Wrath, for better or for worse.
"That's actually something we talk about every expansion," he said. "I'm positive we'll talk about it next expansion."
To a degree the World of Warcraft engine is showing its age. That doesn't really bother me very much... I enjoy the semi-cartoon look of the MMO as it seems evocative of the RTS games, especially WCIII, and stands out against a sea of very flat and sterile attempts to make hyper-realistic graphics in games. For all that I would like a bit more flexibility in my character design, I don't mind that WoW has a low polygon count or whatever. But I am very curious as to what they'd do with an updated graphics engine. I believe it was Jeff Kaplan who said, perhaps in jest, "Our designers assure me we haven't even begun to see how big shoulder armor can get."
Will we actually start wearing entire lovingly rendered small castles on our shoulders? Mages are wearing Tempest Keep as it is. Should we be looking forward to Tier 9, when Warriors find themselves with very tiny men manning very tiny catapults from their fortified shoulders?
No, of course not. That would be silly. Still, what would a new generation engine mean for WoW? What would it look like? Would the game go the way of hyper-realism or would it resemble current trends in stylized animation? A new graphics engine could be more exaggerated and cartoonish, really. Which way do you think it will go, or even should go?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Expansions, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Jim May 16th 2008 2:09PM
"Should we be looking forward to Tier 9, when Warriors find themselves with very tiny men manning very tiny catapults from their fortified shoulders?"
Matt-Don't shy away from it. The answer to your question is obviously yes. And if you look closely, you can tell it's actually Season 7, with its 3100 ranking requirement, because the little men are wearing yellow armbands.
Heilig May 16th 2008 2:44PM
LOLOLOLOLOL
*gasp*
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
We have not yet begun to plumb the depths of Blizzard's lack of originality in armor models.
Yellow armbands. Freaking awesome.
Bysshe May 16th 2008 2:18PM
I enjoy the cartoonish feel of WoW and desperately hope that Blizzard doesn't ever jump on the "realism" bandwagon along with LotRO and WAR. Personally I think that the more "realistic" a game tries to look, the less realistic it winds up being.
I also don't think that realism is the only way to go. A game can be beautiful and immersive and not look like a movie. One of my favorite game of all time, and one of the most beautiful I have ever played, was "Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter," which used cel-shading. Why couldn't WoW go in that direction, if it were to update its graphics at all?
Dotixi May 16th 2008 2:18PM
I prefer WoWs look to more "realistic" games...I was trying to think of something intelligent to say about realistic games but I can't.
Renzor May 16th 2008 2:32PM
this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_Valley
-_- Zzz May 16th 2008 4:19PM
re Uncanny Valley
Bingo! Games that try to be too realistic just look weird and creepy. LotRO is a good example, Oblivion is a really good one too (it doesn't help that Bethesda seems to hate any of their characters looking even mildly attractive)
Manatank May 16th 2008 2:20PM
I'd welcome an update to the graphics engine if it didn't mean a move towards "realism." The graphical style of WoW is exactly as it should be in my opinion. Still, more detail, and more elaborate effects would be fine.
One area in particular I wouldn't mind seeing an update to are the models for grass and trees. Environmental effects would be nice as well (perhaps a light breeze causing movement of tree limbs or blowing leaves). None of these things will make a WoW a better game, but they won't hurt it either.
I'm sure Blizzard will make the right moves, as the detail and style of their cut scenes are exactly the right direction that in-game graphics should be moving.
peaglemancer May 16th 2008 2:36PM
Totally agree on trees. They are the one thing that saps the "realism" out of the environment for me.
Magister's Terrace is a prime example: For a new piece of content, why does it appear the trees were made by an origami amateur without enough paper? The trunks are blocky (4 sides maybe?) with the usual pixelated leaf graphics that wouldn't look out of place on the super Nintendo.
C'mon Blizz, I'm only asking for a couple extra sides, give your trees some love, octagonal trunk style.
JParris May 16th 2008 2:26PM
I was playing the trial of LOTRO the other day, and it occurred tome why I enjoy WoW's look so much. It fits together. When something is overly realistic, it becomes easier and easier for our eyes, which are accustomed to actual reality,to pick out the things that are wrong. When parts of trees look oddly flat in LOTRO I question it much more than I do in WoW.
I would welcome an update to the engine if it allowed for more complex spell effects, more armor with moving bits, etc. Just a generally larger amount of complex and curious things to look at. But I don't feel that going toward realism,per se, is something the WoW designers are even interested in. Which is a good thing, imo.
Jordrah May 16th 2008 5:40PM
"more armor with moving bits"
i want actual cloaks, not just shitty capes. i cant stand the way the cape looks on draineis because of the tail
also those tails need to be fixed so that they move and dont look like a dead, rigid, one-fingered arm protruding out of my characters ass
also, i think animations should flow from one into another more smoothly and more animations for special melee attacks cause the same one gets old after 70 levels
Hank May 16th 2008 2:27PM
The problem here is that they know the stats of the average player's PC. Whatever changes they make still need to work on machines as much as 5 years old.
Jay May 16th 2008 2:30PM
One of the reasons WoW appeals to me more than these newer MMO's with their "realistic" graphics. Is the fact WoW always has a gritty and dirty look to it, while still looking a little cartoonish. Its hard to explain, a lot of games with "realistic" graphics just bump map everything and all the textures look to clean and shiny. WoW has a matte, gritty dark feel which makes me really enjoy the game.
Zamboni May 16th 2008 2:33PM
More stylized might be okay, but I'd like them to do more with the landscape than tweaking the characters. Seriously, fix the trees first - the models they have now are distractingly messy, looking more like someone just glued a lace doily to a flyswatter.
blitzkrieg999 May 16th 2008 2:33PM
I would imagine an update to the graphics wouldn't be a switch from cartoon to realism. Rather, it would just be improving upon the current style. Replace some of the 2D/flat models with better modeled versions (such as bushes and trees). Increase spell detail, and texture detail.
Asheron's Call 2 had a graphics update that involved little more than increasing texture size. Not a huge change, but made things a little better. EVE continues to keep its engine very up-to-date as well. I hope something similar is implimented in WoW.
Silentheero May 16th 2008 2:36PM
Realistic: No, thanks
More Detailed: Definitely
It would be great to see more detail on the characters. Higher polygon count= detailed characters. And more customization would be great. No more meeting your identical twin in every major city.
The landscapes are amazing now from a distance, downright ugly close up. A overhaul there would be good too.
Badger May 16th 2008 2:50PM
"Realistic: No, thanks
More Detailed: Definitely"
Q-F-muthalovin'-T
JPN May 16th 2008 2:36PM
Graphical updates do not mean realism. It just means more definition and detail. More curves, better seams, etc. Some of the mail armor up close (on the selection screen) just looks blurry and fuzzy. Items wouldn't have to solely "fade in" and "fade out" when you place them. A graphical overhaul wouldn't necessarily mean more realistic, it just gives them more options to express their concepts and design. Think cel shading. (I personally don't like cel shading, but it's an example of how more power and detail doesn't have to mean more realism.)
alektraunic May 16th 2008 2:40PM
This may at first seem like insanity to some readers, but the other day I saw a documentary on PC games which featured The Sims heavily. Watching how smooth, yet stylized that game looks I think its engine could be a great match for WoW. It does not look "realistic" at all, which somehow makes it more immersive. Check out the screenshots at thesims2.ea.com and think of them all WoWed up. The style is its own, not attempting to be something else, and it is very smooth.
Keirin May 17th 2008 1:03PM
No I agree, the sims did a great job on having their own crisp style, if you'd combine that with the character designs from wow I think you'd actually get something rather nice :)
gyu May 26th 2008 8:21PM
i can't count the times when someone in trade chat is talking about their 5-10 fps walking around in shatt. i leads me to believe that people that play wow have fairly average computers. i'm fine with wow being low poly and cartoonish, as long as more people get to play it.