Graphics and Rendering

* See also Interfaces
* See also Client_Asset_Cache
* See also Skybox
* See also Glossary#LOD
* See also Client
* See also Computer Machine Design_Spec_index
NOTE - MOST OF THE PICTURES USED ON THIS WIKI HAVE BEEN ADJUSTED FOR COLOR/CONTRAST
( Especially the pictures from within Infinite BS with their horrendously overdone/misused lighting effects )
--- --- --- --- ---
Player Computer Graphics Target Software and Hardware : 
The MMORPG would be made sometime in the Future, so could make use of advances in the available graphics hardware and software. My MMORPG Specs describes far greater numbers of Objects, greater detail and interactions and effects which would overstress/not-run on current high-end PCs and Current Console Game Systems.
But like most MMORPG, you have to accept ( for the broad range of customers ) some medium level of Client machine Computer performance to maximize the number of Players who can have an acceptable game experience ( Some Adjustable higher/lower settings can mitigate this somewhat ). Fundamentally, the capacities required are not all available yet.
This applies to the MMORPG's add-on Tablet/Smartphone elements, which likewise constantly have been having improving Graphics/basic improvements. The development tools of the 
--- --- ---
I can only assume that this decoration ( seen soon after your entry into Columbia ) was not deemed worth doing less-crudely, as the Player was expected to just run past (( Actually that was true for most of the game )).
--- --- ---
View To A Kill :
First Person view is preferred as long as enough sensory cues (like sounds) for what is going on behind you ( when there's no adequate peripheral vision --- Til we all have wrap around monitors )
* 3rd person view for 'Team coordination ??? ( issuing orders/seeing statuses ... )
* How to handle the 'junk/wall behind your figure' in the over the shoulder view ( the fast auto zoom in-out done to avoid looking thru something can be so annoying it warrants demanding a refund - terrible way to mis-handle closed spaces in a game ).
* Map views with more filled in levels and multiple level paths than we had in those simplified/strung out BS1/BS2 ) - need a good '3D' view of 'game world' terrain maps.   'How to get somewhere' is not always so simple or obvious anymore.
* Various Detail views of inventory, workbench, machine mechanism, piles of wreckage/junk at your feet.
* HUD - Overlaid with various status indicators and command actuators (tiles) and interfaces
--- --- ---
You got good closeup looks at the NPC figures in Infinite BS, and many of them were 'really awful. At least in Rapture we had monstrously warped Splicers as part of the story ( and we weren't close to them for too long before they were a corpse sprawled on the ground ).
--- --- ---
Limits for Glitzy Graphics Effects :
The MMORPG Game's graphics quality would be sufficient IF kept similar in quality to those seen in BS1/BS2, which were adequate in detail and appearance.  That would allow a reasonable hardware capacity target to be used for Players gaming machines ( that for the time the MMORPG would be likely to come out, years in the future ).  THERE IS NO REAL NEED for some new EVER MORE Glitzy Graphics Quality offering only (splitting of hairs) minor-improvements ( which has continually increases GPU loads for the typical high-end MMORPG games ).   The advances in processing capacity would be used for this MMORPG's drastically-expanded dynamic object Game World .  There would be much more-numerous Interactive Objects needing to be rendered/animated ( We have seen the Quality, now for a more realistic Quantity ).
Some game Objects/things which previously were caricatures might be sized better (scale closer to real size) and the particle/atmospheric effects might be more varied.  There may be more detailed closeups ( Faces in particular --  When did you really need to look at any Splicer's face that closely ?? - You don't ever 'talk' to them, so their emotes were kept rather limited ).   Friendly ( or at least Non-Batshitcrazy ) NPCs might be more interesting with more facial game aspects to explore/employ.
There always can be some better Lighting Effects ( more light sources, including dynamics if we have vehicles or  destructible/controllable light sources ).
Being able to see further (rendering further away Objects) for the vistas ...  We do have some places in Rapture that would be nicer ( including expanded undersea Cityscape views ).
AND There still will be plenty of the dark creepy places ( perhaps even better ones ) in this game.
--- --- ---
Why Keep Caricatures for the Graphics ? :
Because the Closer to real/exact you get, the More your brain says "That isn't right" and "That looks Weird/Wrong" for the tiny details you won't get right unless it costs hugely to make the images near perfect. And then you have to be/should-be consistent in that Quality, or THAT inconsistency will stand out ( and that includes all animations which are a magnitude further effort required to get a more 'real' look ).
And in the MMORPG, you will interface with more NPCs at a civilized distance (close-up) INSETAD of them flying at you in attack ( Where you really don't generally get that good a look at them before they are a corpse on the ground ).
--- --- ---
Visibility in Game Mechanics ( Awareness of Things from a Distance ) :
* More detailed terrain ( more things to obscure/partially obscure, a more '3D' aspect with movement abilities to climb ).  More effect of lighting upon visibility.
* Requires more processing to check visibility in terrain ( both server and client processing )
* Require more competent AI ( Team NPCs have to be nearly as capable as the Player ).
* The MMORPG would go for quite a bit more realism in visibility and cover/blockage ( and AI usage of them ) - It is for good reason that I would plan to farm out some AI to the Player's Client machines ...
* More tactics employing control of visibility ( turning out the lights on somebody, smoke screens, equipment to counter such effects, etc ... )
--- --- ---
Things Too Sparse :
It struck me ( playing through BS1 again ), how empty so many of the apartments were. Some places like apartments in Mercury Suites were quite large, but so sparsely furnished ( and poorly lit by the lights you see present -- It is not like you would EVER have sunlight coming in through any window ).  Power is cheap in Rapture, the Ocean is gloomy dark.  Affluent people would want their places well lit ( even in its decrepit state ), the unlit light fixtures should still be in evidence.
Looted ? There then should be alot more discarded and destroyed stuff 'all over the place' then.  Really it is just that the gamemakers had a Rendering Budget for the Computer Game, which meant they could only have so many Objects or terrain details in one place to support playability on a median level of Gaming Machine.
The MMORPG would have to correct that ( not be restricted by old rendering limitations like BS1 was ).
Computer Memory is cheaper now.  Connection Bandwidth is higher. CPU Processing is much more powerful.  Greater abilities of GPUs (and not just for graphics).  Now all we gotta do is to GET all that content made and stitched together AND made into a decent game.
--- --- ---
We should avoid using 'atmospheric' effects to cover up shortcomings of the objects in the game. In Infinite BS, the haze and blurring effects were applied for far too short a distance and inconsistently applies as well. Interior lighting likewise was garish.
That much fire would leave a huge enclosing cloud of smoke and have those tall buildings collapsing on themselves.
--- --- ---
Supersize That :
I noticed the Typewriter in BaS : How much better the model is than the one you see in BS1/BS2, Looking better is 'OK', but not required ( especially with a larger number of detailed Objects in the MMORPG ).
More Interactive devices/Objects in the MMORPG is one of the big features, and I could see a Typewriter object actually being the front for some in-game interfaces ( like filling out the limited paperwork - usually Bounty claims ?  Letters to the "New Rapture Tribune" ... ) with a much bigger DETAILED model used, with operation sound effects, etc ... LOD (Level Of Detail) can substitute a better detailed model when you deal closely with an Object.  Other Objects probably would be various tools ( workbench activities and repairs ) and Control Panels, or watching Media Devices like a TV.
So simpler models (BS1/BS2 quality) can still be used until you get very close to the Object.
--- --- ---
Crate/Box ( Those Weird Part-Leather 'Lootable' Container Things, Which Didn't Fully Open ) ? :
Alot of things do not fit in Crates ( and those even smaller Lockboxes ).   This MMORPG would have Visible Objects on ground, on corpses, stuff that actually fits in Crates, lockers, etc.   By the possible date of this game happening, the average gaming computer will have more Memory/CPU/GPU processing capacities and ( quite important ) highly likely to have an 'SSD' (solid state disk) to greatly speed up into-memory loads off the filesystem. That will mean a greater capability of displaying many more object simultaneously and appear as you move through the scenery.  
I've already said that having many objects remain as low-ish detail caricatures would be OK for this game -- to allow it to do what it improves on reasonable target hardware.   The more detailed an object gets the harder it is to compose and render it correctly, without Player's brains constantly telling them "something about that thing just doesn't look right"  .... a Distraction.
-
Those Lockboxes -- a practical 'game' way to remove excess human corpses, which use up alot of rendering resources - each corpse has something like 25 separately movable sub-parts and lots of multi-textured facets ( and would have to interact with the physics system as 'debris' ). 
Anyway, they are about the right size to contain a corpse's crematoria ashes.  I have mentioned elsewhere how they come to be exchanged ( something about 'Corpse Gnomes', and the possible disposition for 'Little  Brothers' ... )
--- --- ---
Game Engine Use of Generic Textures :
Players can have their own 'Residences' and an ability to outfit them in many ways with many different Objects. The extra details, if normally seen, would have to be downloaded to Client machines that can view those Objects.  There can be an optimization ( particularly useful for lower-end targeted hardware ) to simplify and genericize the specific Textures called for by individual Objects ( simplified textures is part of the standard attributes defined for all Objects ).  Of course an Option should be provided for the Player's own Residence ( or that of 'friends' ) to always be fully detailed.
The MMORPG would use a streaming download system to get such Textures to clients ( in a relatively timely fashion ) and then store them in a disksystem data 'dictionary' for reuse.  Until the download completed, a generic 'closest-match' texture would be used for display.   As gaming moves further animated texture will become more common, and they will call for a progressive detail method like this.
--- --- ---
Is Delta A Squat Little Freak ? :
Player Viewpoints ...
DO This : Go back to your Paupers Drop level ( or any BS2 level you have the AE Traincar with a door that will open ) and stand just within that doorway and level your gun at one of those brass fittings inside on the doorway wall.  Now jump up and down and note how high the gun points at when you hit your head on the door frame ( the difference is the distance clear above the top of your helmet ).   I make it out to be near the distance between those 2 brass fittings - Now go outside and look back at the doorway and visually subtract that length from the top of the door frame. Apparently THAT is how tall you are compared to the door -- Door height should be something like 6'6" ( maybe a little more when compared to the outside rear passenger compartment door, which for proper customer comfort should itself be a 6'6" opening ).
I know that these First Person games commonly position your eye/Viewpoint closer to the middle of your chest so you can easily see your hands and weapons in the one rigid view, and also apparently shortens you so you don't get stuck on scenery so much. They also don't always have the Terrain's height limiting set correctly ( ie- the car ceiling inside is higher, but you don't jump any higher than the low doorframe, as you can outside in the open ).  So it is obviously being distorted.  The MMORPG with its true '3D' terrain would try to be more realistic, including more detailed body appendages (appearance and actions/motions), as looking at wounds and worn equipment will be important.  Winding your way through tricky terrain will be a skill feature, so the realism should be 'as you might really expect'.  The Splicers should be similarly effected to be 'fair'.  ( A whole area of Game NPC AI is "Steering Behaviors" )
(( Why was I doing this strange in-game exercise ?  I was again trying to scale the AE Traincars ( an approximation from a person's height compared to a normal door ).  Quite a while ago, I estimated the AE Traincars to be just over 40 feet long.  They are fairly narrow inside also (about 8 feet wide).   ))
Now I go to see how tall the Splicers are compared to my eye view - And Guess What - Their Face is about even with your target reticule held aimed at the horizon, about even with your chest-face, thus making them also undersized next to those AE Traincar doors ( which appear about correctly scaled compared to other terrain/furniture detail - ex- those humongous Rapture Tribune Newspaper Vending Machines ... ).
Heh, a slight miscalculation by Eleanor in her formulas for when Delta was reconstituted  ( "But He looked so big when I was a little girl !!! " )
--- --- ---
No Names Floating Over Players/NPCs :
Looking at one of the old MMORPG games, I noticed the overhead NPC/Player names standing out ( mostly NPCs, who greatly outnumbered Players ).  But then the resolution/detail-quality wasn't very good to be able to recognize the identity of the figures visually too well, and '2D' terrain often obscured the figures.  
This MMORPG should try to have distinctive enough looking clothing and details (including faces close up) to be able to recognize players/NPCs you've seen before.   NPC location and regular habits can also help discern identities.
Of course, there could be an option to the interface to have such be shown.
--- --- --
This is Different than in Infinite BS Where Scale was Ridiculously Abused :
SlightScaleProblem.jpg|Just slap this shit together ? Seems so.
AbsurdSize.jpg|'This level designer doesn't understand how card cabinets are used
CardFilingProblem.jpg
Mis-scaling.jpg
HandyGianourmity.png
ScalingDetailsBad.jpg
--- --- ---
Tentacles and All :
As many (few) human figure ANIMATIONS we got in the games, could you imagine how much more work it would have taken if instead of largely human figures they tried to do the equivalent with a half dozen of the strange distorted ones you saw in the concept illustrations - Tentacles and extra protuberances and other weirdness - AND to do them convincingly ... ( The figure models turn out to be only a fraction of the work, the animation adds up to far more ).
That's very likely the biggest reason why they abandoned all those strange forms. ( Note- that even Gil Alexander was barely even seen, and mostly interacted with a simple mechanical object with simple animations already largely done for the Flybots ).
--- --- ---
 '3D' VR (Virtual Reality) Type Environment for the MMORPG :
Usually it is at least 4 X as much a (GPU) Rendering load to do this ( everything is rendered all 360 degrees (and up/down) -- in-case you turn to look quickly, plus your peripheral vision ), and thus more that : the Server needs to feed continuously to the Client program ( high detail would be filled in in-front of you if a limited angle view ). Who knows, by the time this MMORPG (or similar) is working, the smartphones will have '3D' 360 VR ( unlikely (?) the game industry will be brave enough to take the risk of such a paradigm shift ... )
Stereo-Vision demands further GPU processing ( two slightly offset views - one for each eye ).
That is : IF the whole '3D' concept isn't again dropped by the game industry ( as it was 10 years ago ) because of the Eye Strain ( and worse - warped eye muscle reflexes ) caused by the technology, which caused lawsuits to be VERY likely if the '3D' mechanism became commonly used. Apparently, motion sickness caused by irregular framerates and 'Rubber-banding' and sudden shifting of scenes is also a potential problem.
--- --- ---
Dramatic (Real Time) Rendered Shadows :
Better effects used particularly in High Drama scenes ( required Light from one source to have a stark shadow when in more normal placings multiple light sources preclude them ). Dramatic Effect. Noir, etc ...
Black and White vision for some 'dramatic'/ mood scenes ( Dreamscapes might have 'wavies' and 'sparklings', etc ... )
Combat can have effects simplified to help with Frame Rate.
--- --- ---
== A Few Years of System Improvements Brought You This : ==
SuperScience1900_2.jpg
LabPlace.jpg
RealisticMachinery2.jpg
Machinery5.jpg
PRDR3900555231.jpg
PRDR31145698980.jpg
MetalDetector.jpg
NewOrleansStyle.jpg
PRDR31562314989.jpg
STEAM2.jpg
TROLLEY33.jpg
CityMap.jpg
PRDR31075030354.jpg
PRDR31259506156.jpg
PRDR3862644082.jpg
LangfordsHobby.jpg
STEAM1.jpg
Filter3.jpg
Lighthouse_i.jpg
RDR2Trolley_old.png
RDR2Kitty2.png
Rdr2kitty.png
RDR@Trolley.png
These pictures are from the 2018 game "Red Dead Redemption 2".
----
----
----
== Various Rendering Errors Spotted in Infinite BS ==
DefectiveRenderSkyline.jpg|See-through Skyline Rail
CreepyNPCs.jpg|If you watch this scene in Battleship Bay you see the hand go into the back of the other NPC - just sloppy intermesh animation
ItBeScripting.jpg|Distorted anatomical figures - Another one that care wasn't really taken with (expectation that the player wouldn't look closely)
UnRetouchedHaze.jpg|Overuse of 'Haze' effects
BankZProps.jpg|Haze within 10 feet (not realistic) 
SoDramatic55.jpg|Bad Contrast - incredibly intense interior lighting
BitWeirdYes.jpg|Anatomical distortion by the 'Ragdoll' Physics used to flop various things
YetMoreCandlez.jpg|Amazing amount of Light put out by Candles
Facinating.jpg|Details didn't always have enough 'triangles' in their '3D' Meshes
GhostMemoriez.jpg|Leftover bits of figures with Corpse-to-Lootbox substitution 
PropDistortion.jpg|More distorted level developer use of '3D' Assets
SomeIssues.jpg|"Ragdoll" Physics Strangeness were Legion ...
SeriousIssues_RP.jpg
BitWeirdYes.jpg|Definite Problem There
NavMapGaff1.jpg|Perhaps MORE a Nav-Map Error ...a "Nav Map" is a set of Data of where the moving objects in the game are allowed to be.
GhostMemory222.jpg|Lighting Effect Overlays Which Stuck Around (Malfunctioning Object Cleanup)
AFewLevelIssues.jpg|Telephone/Power wires which did not quite match up.
--- --- --- 
Problem is more of Bad Navigation limits/scripting for Elizabeth in her filler behavior actions.
--- --- ---
Fink's Assistant who gives you your mission - you can "Devils Kiss" him. Probably was not meant to be interactive in that way ( your Weapons/Vigors should have been disabled until the door you go thru closes and he can disappear ... )
--- --- ---
I wonder if City Inhabitants automatically reappear after they fall off an edge like this ?
--- --- ---
A slight problem here with an impossible game Date. Did they just copy a real address and not bother to correct some detail to properly match the game ??
--- --- ---
FillerTerrain.jpg
Fillerterrain2.jpg
--- --- ---
Filler Assets ... They perhaps thought the Players wouldn't notice ?
--- --- ---
--- --- ---
--- --- ---
--- --- ---
I like looking at things in games. The way that hand was flexing backwards was hard to miss.
--- --- ---
Were they overusing this effect to cover up the rough quality of many of the objects/terrain ??
--- --- ---
Right around the corner from after that big 'Mackintosh' (Mac) Ad type giant 'talking head' they put so much effort into ...
Fricken Gianourmous Gears they can't even keep from screwing up the Terrain walls...
TESTING IS A GOOD THING 
--- --- ---
That hole was from the gun with that far smaller barrel. Just another oversized thing they wanted to make sure the Player wouldn't miss seeing ??? (( You do THIS in the MMORPG, then you get the bill to fix it. ))
--- --- ---
 
Everything inside should be sliding about when tilting this much.
--- --- ---
 
What a difference 5-10 years makes. The game machines would have the greater capacities for Rendering.
Interactive objects would have also the added CPU and Memory, and the Internet Connection improvements as well.
--- --- ---
 
The 'Trick' in Games when "Level Of Detail" (LOD) techniques are used is : To have their Transitions with higher detail levels to be far enough away as to not be noticeable.
--- --- ---
The MMORPG would have well over a Decade of Human Figure Improvements over these.
--- --- ---
--- --- --- --- ---
.
.