Old Graphics More Realistic Than New Graphics

[Frawshawk-laughing-skull]

Yes but when you use rose tinted glasses…

[Galdor-maelstrom (Galdor)]

I think that the slight overlay of haze in vanilla gives everything more muted colors and therefore a more realistic effect. They removed this in Cata, and all the colors have been bright and showy ever since.

Modern game does have some nice looking zones (looking at Suramar) but generally speaking, they look too cartooney and washed out.

Alright, two contradicting opinions here. Which version of the game has the more muted/washed out colors?

[Matcauthon-steamwheedle-cartel (Matcauthon)]

Everything being covered in fog is more realistic? You can’t see miles off into the distance in real life?

Altitude and water vapor density as well as actual fog or low cloud cover directly impact this in RL.

Hase in the distance is a very real thing at lower altitudes. It doesn’t take much distance either when it’s a warm humid day.

The world of Warcraft game is a hyper compressed world, meaning the distance and size of things are often exaggerated in one way or the other to give the world that Wawarcraft 1,2, &3 feel.

there is a reason in the navy we said “haze grey and underway”.

[Mogar-stormrage (Mogar)]

People have different preferences. I greatly prefer the Vanilla models, textures, animations…pretty much everything. And luckily Classic will provide those things. The only real noticeable problem in the demo was the water effects, and hopefully they get rid of the newer style…which clashes horribly with the world.

[Kolben-icecrown (Kolben)]

The ability to have pretty nice graphics in Vanilla is there, but it is scaled back on purpose. WoW in that era was a game you could run on just about any computer, even your $400 Walmart Compaq special was good enough to raid with. Which I think was pretty cool really.

There are several guides on how to tweak all that stuff to make it look gorgeous. Whether or not it is a good idea, I can’t say.

[Circajuturna-tichondrius]

Dude wandering through Tirisfal Glades back on Nost when there’s heavy rain and dark storm clouds moving overhead under the old weather system is crazy. Way more Gothic feeling than the new clean and over-saturated greens and purples that you see with the newer Undead architecture as well.

Turn your effects volume to like half of whatever your music and ambiance volume is and crank those, fighting during the storms is sick. The old score is really good in tandem with the old world.

[Brokenwind-malganis (Brokenwind)]

Yes, I particularly like how the tree branches don’t droop. They completely defy the laws of gravity like trees do in real life.

I demand that in the game where cows can turn into porpoises and undead can shoot fireballs, and people can be resurrected, that the trees be realistic, dammit!

[Dovahsah-illidan (Dovahsah)]

People have different preferences. I greatly prefer the Vanilla models, textures, animations…pretty much everything. And luckily Classic will provide those things. The only real noticeable problem in the demo was the water effects, and hopefully they get rid of the newer style…which clashes horribly with the world.

Agreed, or at the very least make both water effects viable for world pvp

[Galdor-maelstrom (Galdor)]

I was responding to this:

I much prefer older graphics to newer, not just out of nostalgia…it seems more realistic and less cartoony

You can post snarky comments at the OP for claiming to prefer more realistic graphics.

[Galdor-maelstrom (Galdor)]

Agreed, or at the very least make both water effects viable for world pvp

Most of the water in Vanilla WoW was transparent or translucent. It’s one of those common misconceptions that Blizzard is going to need to dispel, as they did with the Warlock summoning.

[Skribby-proudmoore (Skribby)]

The left side looks so much better, more detail in the textures. There are individual needles on the end of the textures. On the right there is far less detail and the trees do not look as full.
Fog is a trick to not have to render the distance (less lag), I can see how it creates “atmosphere” to a setting.

[Morehwine-wyrmrest-accord (Morehwine)]

Alright, two contradicting opinions here. Which version of the game has the more muted/washed out colors?

I’d agree that Suramar City is less bright, color-wise, than say Jade Forest.
It’s impossible to say that all zones, game-wide, are equal in this respect because in all eras of environment design (from vanilla to BFA), the designers use the elements of color and tone etc. to send various messages: storytelling messages and emotional messages among others. So Elwynn Forest is going to look very different from Tirisfal Glades, and that was never by accident.

[Odinmar-eldrethalas (Odinmar)]

Everything being covered in fog is more realistic? You can’t see miles off into the distance in real life?

I have really, really bad eyesight IRL.

[Dovahsah-illidan (Dovahsah)]

Most of the water in Vanilla WoW was transparent or translucent. It’s one of those common misconceptions that Blizzard is going to need to dispel, as they did with the Warlock summoning.

If thats the case then im fine with ppl having the option of old and new

[Blackstannis-khazgoroth (Blackstannis)]

I went outside once, can confirm, new graphics ever so slightly more realistic.

[Williams-akama (Williams)]

Artistic direction is way more important than the supposed “quality” of graphics. Modern game does have some nice looking zones (looking at Suramar) but generally speaking, they look too cartooney and washed out.

Atmosphere in general was much better done in vanilla, the lightning and weather effects contributed to it.

Going to report this again:

imgur dot com/a/BY8Os

https://imgur.com/a/BY8Os

For those interested in a link that they don’t need to reconstruct due to some really dumb rules on the forum regarding links.

If you’re worried, Imagur is not a bad site to visit, it’s easily the most popular and most trusted image hosting site now.

[Tuathaa-wyrmrest-accord (Tuathaa)]

I demand that in the game where cows can turn into porpoises and undead can shoot fireballs, and people can be resurrected, that the trees be realistic, dammit!

Some cows turn into manatee’s

[Williams-akama (Williams)]

Most of the water in Vanilla WoW was transparent or translucent. It’s one of those common misconceptions that Blizzard is going to need to dispel, as they did with the Warlock summoning.

It was indeed different than some people remember it, but what they usually remember correctly is the shimmer on top the water that made it difficult to see what was below.

Something that I notice about the modern WoW water… It looks like a strange clear liquid gel, not water at all.

IMO Vanilla did water better than Modern WoW…

I would rather have the animated or artist rendition water like Vanilla, than the bad CGI thing people like to say is water in Modern WoW.

[Gurrag-steamwheedle-cartel (Gurrag)]

Old graphics are way better, it’s not even something to argue about.

[Qklazsiqh-alexstrasza]

I prefer the old fog, lighting and bloom effects. As for character models I prefer the new due to their higher fidelity. Both the old and new models manage to capture that iconic, Disney cartoon WarCraft 3 look with a slightly more realistic edge.