The graphics quality for the SWTOR MMORPG gameplay video was really disappointing. And how could it not be after they released the Best Jedi Lightsaber Battle Since Darth Maul CGI video at E3.
In the below high definition video we see some interviews as well as a lot of great gameplay video from the Star Wars The Old Republic massively multiplayer online role playing video. It is about 5 minutes of video largely discussing voice recording but the amount of gameplay footage is great.
Check it out below:
New SWTOR HD Gameplay Video:
Jul 19, 2009 at 20:11:37
im not bothered by this at all it just means it will be more compatible and reach a wider range of people. i think most games require too much in way of hardware anyway(on pc) i mean compare the specs of your computer vs your xbox 360.
Jul 19, 2009 at 22:25:57
You think the graphics are bad on this game? I disagree, i think they are quite nice. especially for such a huge game. It has much better modeling than WoW.
Jul 19, 2009 at 23:50:20
It’s an MMORPG. Even for modern day ones though, it still looks pretty good. I don’t think you realize how big this game is going to be. Do you have ANY idea how huge the voice-over project is? And PLUS, it’s not even out yet! God knows what kind of polish Bioware will give it before it’s released. Give them a break man.
Jul 20, 2009 at 03:55:07
Oh, bad graphics means it’s a bad game! No.
Jul 20, 2009 at 05:26:58
OMFG THIS MAKES ME SO MAD THAT PEOPLE SAY THIS! obvi the graphics are going to be bad. its an mmo. look at WOW, bad graphics and it can reach the whole player base.
Jul 20, 2009 at 05:48:58
so how is this a bad looking MMO again?
Jul 20, 2009 at 07:01:27
Its stylized as to not need the latest graphic card capabilities. Taking the same rout as WOW. That being said Bioware is famous for having mediocre art but great gameplay. KOTOR art direction was uninspired and looked like the throw away designs from the old Star Wars art books(no attempt at making it look like a different era was attempted.But it was a fun game none the less. Why this is I don’t know but it carries across all their projects. Some of Mass Effect’s environments looked like they could have ran on an original Xbox but apparently they were using Unreal3.
Jul 20, 2009 at 07:05:36
Considering the game is still in development and probably at least another year away, yeah… I can see the graphics being bad at this point because developers worry about getting the game engine down, gameplay, audio and a ton of other issues. They don’t worry about sharpening textures or making pretty eye candy until near the end.
And about the CG video they showed at E3, Bioware didn’t even do that video. They hired an outside company to make the video for them. Most developers do that for CG trailers/videos.
Jul 20, 2009 at 08:39:49
The graphics look hardly any better than Star Wars Galaxies, a 6 year old game. Try comparing it with Aion, a much better looking game, which runs perfectly on mid to low range machines.
Jul 20, 2009 at 09:21:00
@Derek
Thank you for your comment. I agree with you exactly.
Jul 20, 2009 at 09:24:54
@Sanzee
Just look at the graphics for Aion Online they are so much better. Watch the hd videos: http://www.onlinemassivelymultiplayer.com/upcoming-mmorpgs/celebrate-4th-of-july-with-3rd-aion-online-closed-beta-cool-hd-gameplay-video-schedule-for-tests-4-6/
Jul 20, 2009 at 09:25:28
@Cody,
Thank you for your comment. I suppose they are good compared to a 6 year old game like Eve Online…..
Jul 20, 2009 at 09:30:16
@alec
MMORPGs no longer have to look bad. Just look at
AION
or
TERA Online
. Watch the hd videos.
Jul 20, 2009 at 10:13:10
Game looks old… KoToR was a huge let down for me and this SCREAMS to be the 2nd. Plus, the fact of having the whole game with voice-over limits its world reach. I still favor ffxi as the best mmorpg for me because you can log at ANY time, speak ANY language and you’ll find people to interact with. Again, this game might have been big in 2004, maybe even 2005.
Jul 20, 2009 at 10:43:07
I think its unfair to compare the game to TERA Online. The graphics of TERA are out of the MMORPG league. The only gripe I have with the graphics would be the cartoon art style. But I’d say the art style was chosen to better express the emotions of the characters.
Jul 20, 2009 at 12:05:17
Wow really ur complaining about the graphics. Honestly i like them. The reason u think its bad is cus of the art style they used making it look kind of blocky almost cartoony. Aion uses the cryENGINE which was made by the Crysis peeps so of course its goin to look great. But its a MMORPG IS IT REALLY NECESSARY FOR GREAT GRAPHICS. ALSO the game is still development.
Jul 20, 2009 at 12:50:11
omg the graphcis suck.. and u say its an Mmo.. Dont mean the graphics have to suck i mean Look at Champions Online.. The minimum specs reach ma 4 year old low end comp.. and the graphics look awesome.. they have focused to much on the Voices and not enough on the Interface display, Look of Characters and moves etc.. This game it gr8
Jul 20, 2009 at 12:51:39
and since the graphics are bad if it ever comes out on 360 where they can have good graphics they wont be able to change it at all..
Jul 20, 2009 at 15:14:09
Uh, you’re not seriously comparing Aion to SW TOR, are you?
Jul 20, 2009 at 15:18:24
@admin
Like insaniak said, Bioware would like this to reach to a whole variety of people, not hardcore pc gamers who have two 295GTX’s in SLI. I cant afford that, can you? I agree that Aion looks killer, but TOR has reasons for looking the way it does. To me, a casual gamer, anything that looks better than WoW means that it looks nice. WoW still looks OK i.m.o. Not to mention the fact that its still being worked on, much more polishing will come near the end of developement. It will be a good game, I hope. :/
Jul 20, 2009 at 16:04:09
admin, that game will not have 1/2 the scope that sw:tor will have
Jul 20, 2009 at 16:38:44
@Cody,
Thank you for your comment. You make a good point. I was still however disappointed that it wasn’t a little bit better.
Jul 20, 2009 at 16:40:03
@Deevian,
That was just one example. There are at least 20 upcomming or currently in Beta MMORPGs that are vastly superior in graphics quality. It isn’t 2003 anymore.
Jul 20, 2009 at 16:43:42
@Scruffy,
Thank you for your comment. Many fans are pointing out that the graphics are disappointing because of an artistic cartoonistic choice. But then it could look like Star Wars: The Clone Wars but still have much better graphics quality….
Jul 20, 2009 at 16:44:41
@el5anto
Thank you for your comment. I agree with you on the KoToR 2 reference.
Jul 20, 2009 at 23:15:48
So, admin, do bad graphics mean that the game will suck? :S
To be honest, I can’t care less about graphics right now. More and more developers talk about how real a game is, than how good it is. And that is disappointing.
Jul 21, 2009 at 10:02:34
@Dion,
I didn’t say that. But it is missing a huge opportunity and the graphics are disappointing.
Jul 22, 2009 at 00:27:09
Good. I do agree that the graphics are quite disappointing, but right now, all I look for is fun. I’m sick of developers just constantly talking about graphics. They try to make games realistic so much that they forget how to make games fun.
I play games to see a world different than ours, not to see the same thing.
Jul 22, 2009 at 01:12:42
These are 2 screenshots from SWG (Star Wars Galaxies) game:
[cantina on Tatooine]
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v315/mentaldrift/?action=view¤t=dance.jpg
[Dathomir]
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v315/mentaldrift/?action=view¤t=carrot.jpg
It’s a game that launched in 2003, so over 6 years old. These screenshot were not in any way edited, just with UI turned off. Graphics imho are far superior to what was presented in SW:TOR. I know that Bioware tries to attract younger audience but the teen-cartoonish, Barbi-like characters with oversized ‘plastic’ toy looking weaponry is simply over the line. I liked KOTOR and KOTOR2 (despite the somewhat shoddy ending)and I’m really looking forward to story driven mmo that doesn’t contain mindless grinds. However this teen-cartoon-rubber toy style proposed by Bioware is out of place. Even voices don’t really fit the Ken like and Barbi like appeariance of characters shown in video.
To sum up, cinematic was great but I agree with the author that the gameplay footage is disappointing and immersion breaking.
Jul 22, 2009 at 07:27:50
@mental
Thank you for your comment and for submitting those images. You make very good points.
Jul 24, 2009 at 10:06:38
Admin, I understand that it may seem a little disappointing, but I’m inclined to agree with a bunch of other people that commented that it only seems that way due to the artistic choice they have made. If you pay attention and listen to what the creators of the damn game have to say is, they want this game to look different than anything else out there or on its way, including a whole bunch of those other mmo’s you are defending. Ever notice how the ones with the best graphics are the ones that never take off as well as anything else on the market? (I’m not talking because of system requirements) I’m saying that, aesthetic pleasures will always be short-lived, always have been, always will. They are the first thing to be noticed, however, the first thing to be forgotten as soon as you find that beneath it, the game lacks fundamental aspects needed to entertain.
Jul 24, 2009 at 10:34:23
@Reevesy
Thank you for your comment. That is true but SWTOR could have been the first MMORPG to be a good game and also have current graphics…..
Jul 27, 2009 at 08:15:06
While the star wars fanboy within me wants to scream its gonna be the best gamer EVER and all others suckzoars, I do agree the graphics could be better. However I do agree with others on the fact that it isnt all about graphics.
Look at far cry 2. While I was totally amazed by the awesome graphics, thought it was cool to actually repair your vehicle, and though the explosions were awesome, I quickly became bored with the limited play area and repetative same style mission of drive to one end of the map, kill everyone, and drive allllll the way back while being chased by magiclaly spawning bad guys in vehicles and on the side of the road. Not only this, but with the weapons that wore out and started jamming after 50 shots, and the clunky gameplay, I quickly became bored and never finished the game. And I usually am fairly obsessive over finishing a game.
I enjoy good graphics just as much as anyone else, but good graphics are like dating a beautiful woman; she may be gorgious and the relationship might be fun at first, but if all she talks about are her Prada shoes, you will quickly become bored.
When you have awesome graphics I believe there is a sacrifice of content. Look at Crysis, the game rocked and I enjoyed playing all the way through. The attention to facial detail on the main characters was astounding, but all the korean guys you had to kill throughout the ENTIRE game looked exactly the same. When I watch the Tera trailer, the graphics are awesome but all the elf like chicks have the same pornstar over-made-up face. I imagine a lot of the secondary characters you will come across will also look exactly alike because it would take an insane amount of time to give every single character a different face with that much detail in the game (not to mention 20gb of harddrive space). Sure you can change clothes, eye color and hair style and color but at that point they can do the same thing in WOW and your wasting the point of having so much detail on a character anyway. However I think i will be try Tera because it does look awesome and it does look like they have a lot of content in it.
While the graphics in the star wars game may not be as spectacular as some, in a universe where they have troopers that are supposed to look the same and the individual looks unique (as was the point of stormtroopers vs everyone else, as stormtroopers were the faceless cold enemy), the developers have to look at the additional challenge it would be to make such detailed faces for every human being if the graphics were on par to Tera. Lowering the overal quality of the graphics makes it easier for them to make so many more unique faces without so much time to every bit of detail.
I agree they could spend even more time and get better graphics, but when they finished that, there would be some new game technology people would complain it didnt have and they they would have to postpone for that. Then another technology would come out, and eventually even better graphics would be needed, causing the game to forever be in development.
Sorry for the long post…heheh.
Jul 27, 2009 at 20:01:07
@dragon
i totally agree with you. Amen to you. Also in a interview with IGN.COM the Producers from LucasArts and BioWare answered some many questions and they explained that the graphics the way they are right now is because they dont want the graphics to be so overwhelming that many people cant play cus of high requirements. This allows them having a broader audience. And who knows the game is still in development so the graphics could look a little polished by the time it comes out. Looks like the game that will steal my life away lol. Hope to see it soon out and all you in the game. BTW forgive me for sounding so anger before.
Aug 25, 2009 at 15:02:35
Awe come on, don’t be a drag.
There’s this thing called reading.
You should read into the SWTOR project.
There is actually a reason that it looks the way
it does. At first I didn’t like it either.
But after reading into it, it fits perfectly.
Aug 25, 2009 at 15:48:32
@lolz
Thank you for your comment. There is a reason my car looks crappy too…..
May 24, 2010 at 20:36:01
Look im just wantto say people why judge games on the graphics the voice over alone has taken nearly a million actors just to get it going that means every character you encounter will be able to speak with a voice including player characters and chat will be done with voice instead of text ie (type what you want, then voice will repeat what is typed) on top of that the graphics are fantastic and im a hardcore gamer myself, ive played alot of HD games, but this is great for the scope and size they will have with litterally dozens upon dozens of planets to visit with massive NPC populations ad textures and people, you dont see the scope of its size, also take into account the litterally limitless amount of decisions you can make you would have to make a dozen characters to just play out half of the different paths of your character, though I dissaprove of the (slightly larger than normal hands) this game can prove to be a revolution in the MMO Genre and a such should be given a greatr chance than what it is getting.
May 24, 2010 at 20:37:06
yes i made quite a few spelling errors, thats the price you pay for extremely fast typing ability wrote that huge block within thirty seconds thank you.
Jun 14, 2010 at 12:36:59
The graphics in Star Wars the Old Republic, look good enough, runs smooth too, judging from the in-game movies. And don’t forget it’s just slightly better than bare bones graphics at the moment.
When it comes out, there will be loads of extra graphics options available to turn on, for those high-end PC nerds (like me) to enjoy. =)
I just can’t wait!
Jun 16, 2010 at 21:31:28
@Mombasa
Not likely. The graphics SUCK!
Jun 17, 2010 at 09:37:28
@admin
The graphics may not be as stunning as say AoC, or those fancy xbox games. But for an mmo this really is a stunning looking game, don’t forget those are only basic screenshots, without alot of effects.
To play this in maxed out graphics, you’re going to need something a little better than an entry level pc.
But the game’s designed to run on crappy pc’s too, if you don’t mind all the nice effects turned off, as you can tell from those screenshots.
Jun 17, 2010 at 09:38:31
Oh and you still need a super fast rig for AoC, and even then you’ll be lucky to get 40fps in dx10.
Jul 15, 2010 at 01:50:40
lol calm down the game isnt even out yet im pretty sure devs are gonan do some polishing later on..BTW to some of you ranting about do you see wow,i play wow on ultrap graphic settings and its really good maybe some of you are jsut playing on shitty computers meh
Aug 19, 2010 at 01:19:02
@admin
Man I am sorry but i cannot agree with you on your post on this subject. Dont any of you remember AoC and how Most of the player base couldn’t play it because of the advanced graphics. The guild i was in 60 percent of our people couldn’t play it when it came out. That was at least 150 people at the time. Sure AoC had other bad things wrong with it why it failed, but it got a terrible launch because the player’s computers couldn’t play it. This leads to negative reviews and terrible forum post all based upon something the developer cant even change at that point.
So the wisdom that bioware has used to make it less photo realistic and more stylized is even more of a reason i will play this game, because i know that the devs teams want to put out a fun mmo that everyone can use and not just upper-ended machine players.
You have to understand if your basic player buys a game, installes it, waits for it to patch for 5 or 6 hours, and then gets into the game and it runs like shit right off the bat. Regardless of weather the game had great gameplay or great content doesnt even factor it. What happens is they get another forum troll and a angery word of mouth testimonial. Which can alone in its self cost the company thousands from that one bad experience.
So I say GG bioware cant wait till it comes out.
Aug 19, 2010 at 04:53:32
There have been many comparisons in terms of the graphics of ToR and the graphics of WoW and SWG.
First of all, WoW has virtually no character customization, everyone differs in terms of gear (if even that anymore) and perhaps their hair color and hair styles. Star Wars Galaxies on the other hand, with a descent enough graphics card the game still looks amazing and even if others want to argue that point you cannot argue the fact that the game does give you a very vast range of character customization options in terms of appearances.
I was very disappointed when I saw the SW:TOR graphics, at first, because they looked a bit more cartoonie when compared to SWG, that being said though, I am sure that most ‘normal’ machines will be able to handle the game on higher settings (reaching even the average Joe in terms of getting subscribers) not only that, it just wouldn’t be BioWare if you could not customize your character, I mean come on, Mass Effect 2 had some pretty snazzy options for making your commander.
That all being said, I am not too jazzed about the cartoonie look, will I get over it? Yes and will everyone else who wants to play it get over it? Yes, if they do not, I suppose they will just go somewhere else, after all, I am looking forward to this game not only because I want a new Star Wars experience, not only because I want a fresh Star Wars MMO, not only because I want to PvP, not only because I want to RP, I am over all, really, looking forward to the story driven aspect of an MMO.
I’ve spent months of my life, literally, sitting at a computer and simply skipping the quest text in many MMOs, this is the first time I might actually want to enjoy the story, not just skip the text, kill some monster and get the end exp/reward.
To anyone who is too ignorant to accept the facts, feel free to bash away at me now.
Aug 30, 2010 at 23:36:55
this may have already been said but one of bioware’s goals is to make it accessible to as many people as possible which means lowering sys reqs this unfortunately means worse graphics but they still smash WoW into a bloody decapitated pulp… which is good for me =D
Aug 30, 2010 at 23:52:47
@Micky
Why not make the graphics even worse then down to a 8 bit system so people can play it on the first Apple Computer?
Nov 2, 2010 at 00:01:41
Get off your high horse admin. This game is easily the 2nd best MMO ever made. Oh, and get the Aion fanboys out of here. That game was a colossal failure from the moment it was thought up.
Nov 27, 2010 at 16:19:52
Well, graphics are not really bad at all. It’s the “1337″ gamers that only care about graphics. Ever see a pretty girl who’s a total bitch? Well, that’s how I feel when I play a game with awesome graphics but awful game play. Just look at Age of Conan. Fantastic graphics, but it’s dying hardcore. Then WoW. “Terrible” graphics, but it’s a booming game.
If you want fancy graphics, go play Crysys.
Dec 24, 2010 at 05:34:26
lol all i can say is “wow” ….its graphics are low end and kind of cartoon like but its still the #1 mmo of all time. this is the star wars equivalent. oh and another word “bioware” they are working with lucasarts to make it so it cant be comparable to the half ass SW galaxies by SOE. graphics are just icing on top of a cake u might say. its the storyline(lore) and gameplay that make a great game. also yea it helps keep a wide range of people interested because u dont need a super computer to play it. please stop me if im wrong.
Dec 24, 2010 at 06:16:27
Wow.
Graphics don’t make a game, but in an era where you CAN have the best of both worlds (gameplay AND graphics), why not at least try?
I’ve been looking forward to this game for awhile now, but my biggest gripe so far, is the lack of polish. Everything from the animations to the GUI, look awful. I mean I’m all about gameplay, but there’s gotta be something visually there too, ya know?
All of the purists out there saying that gameplay is the only thing that matters, go play UO. I heard the gameplay was awesome over there.
I understand the need to have a game that reaches a mass audience (money makes the world go round), but why not at least give the option (and maybe there will be) for an Ultra graphics setting? I mean seriously? I can run WoW in a mode that a 10 year old computer can handle, but I can also run WoW in a much, for lack of a better word, prettier mode. Bioware needs to get their heads out of the sand and realize that games do in fact need to look good AND play good to be successful now.
No reason to take a step back in gaming evolution, just so some 14 year old kid can play on his Dad’s work laptop.
Dec 27, 2010 at 14:57:08
@duTiFul
I agree with you completely. Why not give us the option for an Ultra graphics setting. And yes there is absolutely 0 polish in any of the Bioware graphics for SWTOR. This quote sums it up perfectly: “No reason to take a step back in gaming evolution, just so some 14 year old kid can play on his Dad’s work laptop.”
LOL! So True.
Dec 27, 2010 at 14:58:04
@Zepherius
STOP. you are wrong.
May 13, 2011 at 06:02:33
We are up to DX11 and most people have multi-core. THE GRAPHICS JUST PLAIN SUCK. No excuses.
They should at least try to make the graphics better then SWG…
Jun 18, 2011 at 21:39:49
70% of the population in the world have low end crappy 7 year old computers from the 90s. (including me) no i’m sorry, not everyone can be rich and have mutli-cores. or ATI graphic Cards or possibly even anyone could have alienware for that matter.
Jun 25, 2011 at 22:55:47
A “low end crappy 7 year old computer from the 90s.” I guess most people bring their computer forward a few years through time as well?
Sep 20, 2011 at 21:27:52
I don’t think the graphics are that Bad….
The Character animation however,
Sucks.
And even worse, the footage of “Gameplay” on tatooine made Me want to cry.
The players roll up on a bunch of Tusken Raiders that are Just milling around, waiting to be harvested.
It wouldn’t have taken anymore computer resources to Have them ambush the players,
Just more imagination.
They are phoning it in, to make money.
This is what happens when Bean-counters control Game content.
Sep 20, 2011 at 21:31:50
I mean, Tusken raiders are almost part of the desert….they would know You are coming Long before You saw them….
But unfortunately for us, they are behaving just like a Wow Mob….a 30′ aggro range.
So much for the suspension of disbelief.
This behaivior bodes very ill for the future of this game, as the obvious lack of imagination and thoughtfulness will make it another grindfest.
Count me, and anyone with an imagination,
out.
Sep 20, 2011 at 21:39:26
they are not using an outdated engine to have a larger subscription base.
They are using an outdated engine because a bean counter said,
“why spend time and money designing an engine?”
“let’s just anchor our cartoon models to an old engine, and be done with it. Next.”
The shareholders all applauded, impressed by the business savvy of that decision,
-never having played an MMO in their colorless bean-counting lives.
Sep 20, 2011 at 21:41:02
I give it a Year before it is F2P.
and another 2 years, tops, before it is a write-off for Lucas Arts.
Dec 26, 2011 at 09:47:57
My girlfriend bought me swtor for Christmas, so I will play it, but this is supposed to be a dedicated PC game but looks rubbish compared to most console ports, even with all the client-setting extra lines added it still looks s++t, so will most likely go back to Skyrim when my 30 days are up. This is all about $dollar signs and not releasing a decent looking, this is the 21st century ffs, the gfx really are laughable.
Jan 3, 2012 at 18:13:10
like i said graphics arent everything. lore and gameplay are most important. skyrim is a good game but i dropped it 4 this game and so far ive played this game more and like it more. ive had skyrim since release. its a good game but once it gets to a certain point u dont wanna play anymore. SWTOR is not that kind of game which is one of the many reasons i like it so much. SWTOR u could play off and on for years and still enjoy new and exciting things to do in the game. im sorry but id much rather have a bada@@ game with low end graphics then an ok at best game with the best next gen graphics.
Jan 18, 2012 at 04:31:26
EVE Online mostly uses particle effects to simulate debris and explosions. SWTOR actually models every piece of crap that flies off your corpse or your shipwreck. But it still looks like crap. And plot is a joke. Every person of same class has same team of companions.
Jan 23, 2012 at 17:54:11
“still looks like crap. And plot is a joke. Every person of same class has same team of companions”
Where the hell do u get your facts from?! about the only same companions are the ship droid u get and its dif with each faction(republic or sith empire). Story is awesome if u actually pay attention to it. i admit some classes are more interesting than others but all around its better than every other mmo ive played.
Jan 23, 2012 at 18:03:40
yea so SWTOR is a living example that lore/gameplay triumph over an ok game with excellent graphics…. cough cough FF13…. when u have so much good content along with retardedly good graphics u would need a gaming computer to run it and not everyone can afford 500+ more bucks just to be able to play a great game. im sorry my logic makes too much sense 4 some of u. its an mmo. notice that when an mmo tries to go overboard with graphics and content it usually epic fails in one way or another.