General gaming news and discussion

[Tadasuke]

World of Warcraft [Vanilla] came out in November 2004
Burning Crusade expansion came out in January 2007
Wrath of the Lich King came out in November 2008
Cataclysm came out in December 2010
Mists of Pandaria came out in September 2012
Warlords of Draenor came out in November 2014
Legion expansion came out in August 2016
Battle for Azeroth came out in August 2018
Shadowlands came out in November 2020
Dragonflight came out in November 2022
The War Within is going to come out in September 2024
even expansions following TWW were already announced (during Blizzcon 2023)

This video presents some of the changes that have been made to WoW's engine and graphics since it was in development:



If you think about it, WoW now looks substantially different than when it came out. Weather effects were first added March 28, 2006 with the "Patch 1.10", called “Storms of Azeroth”, along with "Tier 0.5" armor sets. Weather effects were also changed and extended for example in a late 2021 update.

[wjfox]

[Powers]

This video presents some of the changes that have been made to WoW's engine and graphics since it was in development:



If you think about it, WoW now looks substantially different than when it came out. Weather effects were first added March 28, 2006 with the "Patch 1.10", called “Storms of Azeroth”, along with "Tier 0.5" armor sets. Weather effects were also changed and extended for example in a late 2021 update.

For me, it's Sherwood Dungeon.

[Time_Traveller]

Sounds like a great game to play and you have think What if I did this or that?

[Tadasuke]

Some example screenshots from each expansion (from the initial launch to the upcoming The War Within). WoW is uneven in how good it looks and where. I found some of the best examples. It doesn't look this grand, interesting or impressive all the time, but sometimes does.

Here's how WoW's Vanilla zone of Westfall (south Eastern Kingdoms) looked like back in 2004-2006 (but in 4K):


Here's Zangarmarsh located in western Outland (January 2007 TBC):


Coldarra (blue dragonflight subzone) in Borean Tundra in Northrend (WotLK):


Firelands in the late 2010 Cataclysm expansion:


Vale of Eternal Blossoms in Pandaria (MoP) outside and inside:




Blackrock orc fortress in Gorgrond in Draenor (WoD):


Grove of Cenarius - a subzone of Val'sharah (Legion):


Dazar'alor - the troll urban center of the Zuldazar region (Battle for Azeroth):


Zereth Mortis (forbidden realm of the First Ones) in the Shadowlands expansion:


Vakthros subzone of Azure Span, located on the Dragon Isles (Dragonflight):


Hallowfall, located below the surface of the planet of Azeroth, with its own small artificial sun (the upcoming War Within expansion):


Looking on the average, usually, newer zones, subzones and instances of the Blizzard's MMORPG, tend to look better, more interesting, more visually advanced, more intricate, detailed, sophisticated, vertical and pretty. Arathi Highlands zone has a similar kind of narrow trees to the eastern Hilsbrad Foothills, but the latter are still from 2004, while the former are from 2018 (except in Classic). Those 14 years were enough for a huge difference in how many polygons and pixels goes into a single tree. However, what matters the most, is the overall coherent design, feel, mood, artistic direction and style. ⸜( ^ ᵕ ^ )⸝

What made WoW environments so compelling, is that they were very stylized and deliberately not "realistic". If you look back at the history of games that focus on photorealism, they date really quickly, as the tech moves on, yet WoW's aesthetic is much more timeless. The character animation was also significantly better than, what was typical at the time even in, say, an AAA FPS, which definitely helped immersion. The travel system by flight both helped hide loading delays and provided an opportunity to show off the environment from a different vantage point, a kind of pre-programmed vista showcase. Secondly, the game feels good. By this, I mean the movement and responsiveness. (◜ᴗ◝)

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

Ooo, I will take a look tomorrow

[wjfox]

[wjfox]