this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2024
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Fallout 4 jumps to No.1 across Europe following TV show launch (www.gamesindustry.biz)
submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago (3 children)

See, what they need to do is update the graphics on 1 & 2. I would definitely replay those, bugs and all. Bozar was of course OP but the way it was so story driven was excellent.

The only issue is the potato graphics.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Not only the graphic, the control is clunky and the UI is hard to navigate, it need to be remastered with QOL update to modern standard. I can look past the graphic but the control really need a lot of getting used to.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I usually don't really care about the graphics, but these Bethesda games are just ugly as fuck. It's the kind of ugly i can't deal with.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Emm we're talking about FO1/2 tho.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I'm guessing that he may not have played those and is thinking of early 3D Fallout games.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Yeah, not many people played those interplay one, which i guess is in critical need of remaster or remake. It's a really good game, especially 2 simply because of that cloaked companion.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I think that's a little harsh. Can I ask what you feel is wrong with the graphics as they are?

I'm currently playing Fallout and my only issue is the UI scaling, the graphics themselves I find quite charming.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I don't really have a problem with the graphics, but going from memory:

  • They were 8-bit and had visible dithering.

  • They had a 1-bit alpha mask. Either a pixel in a sprite was transparent or not.

It was also a 2D game designed for a relatively low-resolution display. It's gonna be either small or pixelated on a current monitor. That being said, I don't really have great memories of the graphics of 3D isometric conversions of similar 2D isometric games, like the 3D games in the Jagged Alliance series. Silent Storm -- 3D from the get-go -- was functional but not pretty.

You could also argue that the game -- having hand-drawn graphics -- just only had so many frames in things like combat animations:

https://imgur.com/r6BSwpJ

mpv says that that GIF is 9 FPS.

A typical console game has historically been 30 FPS. A lot now are 60 FPS. I have a 165 Hz monitor, and some people use 240 Hz.

I think that the 2D Fallout games are fine, but -- despite being skeptical at first -- I think that the move to 3D made a lot of sense. It does add immersiveness, and they did a pretty good job of converting game mechanics.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

See, what they need to do is update the graphics on 1 & 2.

So, how? You mean retain 2D isometric graphics, but do something like 32-bit color? IIRC it used an 8-bit palette.

considers

It might be possible to run it through one of those AI upscalers, get double resolution and 24-bit color.

I have no idea how well they work on things with alpha masks, though.

There are some open-source engines that can use the isometric Fallout data, I believe.

googles

I think that FIFE is the one I'm thinking of, but it looks like they headed off in the direction of being a generic RPG engine, and I don't see reference there any more to Fallout in the docs.

https://nma-fallout.com/threads/fife-open-source-rpg-engine-with-fallout-support.163087/

This sounds like this is a separate engine reimplementation from FIFE, but apparently can run Fallout 1 and Fallout 2:

https://github.com/alexbatalov/fallout1-ce

https://github.com/alexbatalov/fallout2-ce

I imagine that if it can't handle higher resolutions and bitdepths already, someone could push a PR to add it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

The "Fonline" engine fodev.net or fonline.ru was (almost) able to create a fully functional Fallout game, with zoom, higher resolution sprites or isometric 3D models, whilst retaining the look, feel and controls of the originals.

The main problem (from my perspective) was that it was designed as a "multiplayer-first" engine with real-time pew-pew-pew combat, and getting it to do anything singleplayer and turn-based needed quite a lot of work at the time - and engine updates weren't often backwards compatible, and the documentation was often only in Russian. A lot of half-finished projects showed great promise, but then broke and fizzled out.

I think it's still in development. Last time I looked, they were "refactoring" all the code (including fixing all the single-player stuff). It still holds promise for the future.