Comments on: EQ2 Screenshot Throwdown!

By: The Common Sense Gamer » Rise of Kunark Impressions

The Common Sense Gamer » Rise of Kunark Impressions — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 17:54:52 +0000

[...] This has always been a complaint of mine with EQ2…their use of color. However, I do hear and have seen screenshots of “brighter” spots all over the game that I probably have not been to yet. [...]

By: Tipa

Tipa — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:08:41 +0000

There don’t have to be winners and losers in the MMO wars. People play what they enjoy, and that’s okay. If someone doesn’t like EQ2′s mix and prefers WoW or LotRO, well, then I’m glad those options are available for them. We live in a world of gaming riches.

But if I were to start ranting that WoW sucked because, say, the zeppelin ride from Orgrimmar to the Undercity took twice as long as the EQ2 griffon ride from Freeport to Nektulos, well, WoW players would say that was not a fair comparison, and that I carefully picked my test such that my game would win.

EQ2 has great graphics :) My laptop won’t update its video drivers; I think I have to get them from the Asus site. I would love to have nice graphics, but the shots I took were *not* at max graphics settings, so it could be that I just needed to amp up the settings a little more and the ground would have looked nicer. I checked and I do have Flora turned on, but at the lowest settings.

By: Openedge1

Openedge1 — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:39:53 +0000

That comparison site was full of it…it was a laugh…
I actually left LOTRO 3 months ago…and found EQ2 2 months ago…and was so impressed at how much better it was…
It is a more rewarding experience, and if the graphics are tuned just right…looks better and runs better.
I even noted in YOUR shots that the ground is kind of smudgy…I had that and switched my video cards drivers to 16x…and the ground is unbelievable…

Anyways…I have been in the LOTRO/EQ2 argument for months now, on various sites, including MMORPG…and it is hard to win…the game is great for the player who has 60 minutes or has a ton of friends in a guild…but, if you want a game with everything (solo/group/raid/various starting areas/variety of class and race)…then it is only EQ2 in my opinion
Cheers!

By: yunk

yunk — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:15:03 +0000

One thing LOTRO just released their beta code for DX10 and I turned it on for awhile and it just blew me away, I could not believe the difference in their own 2 versions of the game. Of course, Bioshock using DX10 is amazing. I can’t wait till things get more stable and more games can use it. (I had to turn it off in LOTRO due to some memory leak).

You use fraps? Hmm that might solve some problems I have…

By: Tipa

Tipa — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:49:54 +0000

I had those settings high as could go and it was compressing my 1680×1050 screen bitmap to 65-70K. Just throwing information away. I changed EQ2 to save screenshots in Targa format, and those were better, but the colors were still desaturated. I mean, the results are clear when compared with Fraps, which just gives you what’s on the screen.

By: Quylein

Quylein — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:47:22 +0000

LOL well EQ1 maybe true since when I played it there wasnt even an option for shadows. BTW there is a optiong to put Jpeg to 100% when snaping a show under options you not sure if you mean they still look bad even when you do that?

By: Tipa

Tipa — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:16:21 +0000

Nice screenshots — that LFay screenie is amazing.

I use Fraps to take screenshots — I can choose the format and more importantly WHERE it stores it. Vista seems to be kinda random about where it places screenshots due to the protected nature of the program folder. And it works with every DirectX game same way. Since I started using Fraps, my screenshots have become *identical* to what I see on screen, instead of being duller and blander for no reason I could ever find.

By: Xaxius Shadowspire

Xaxius Shadowspire — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:51:18 +0000

EQ2 has the most realistic graphics I’ve ever seen in a MMO. The trouble is, EQ2 also has one of the worst screenshot mechanisms incorporated in the game. The result is most screens being taken at 80% quality and in .jpg mode. However, done right… you can really show case some truly magnificent shots. Here are a few I’ve taken myself…

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z274/Xaxius/eq2_001564.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z274/Xaxius/eq2_001208.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z274/Xaxius/eq2_000001.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z274/Xaxius/EQ2_000220.jpg

By: Tipa

Tipa — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 23:26:26 +0000

EQ1 shadows suck. I like EQ2 shadows but like you say, occasionally they get lost. I can’t raid at full settings; FPS drops to 6-8 and I just can’t play like that. Balanced gives me 20-30 and that’s fine.

By: Quylein

Quylein — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 23:18:43 +0000

And then there was this Vista it's one of my favorites cause you can only get it once per toon :) Im sorry but on the debate of EQ2 and LOTR, EQ2 wins hands down. While LOTR is nice and more fantasy it still lacks in the effort of EQ2 realism. And I'm not sure what everyone's complaint of Shadows are on eq2 they work fine if you dont have the memory leak of zoning alot or in bad zones where the leak is prevelent. I play on Extream settings w/ shadows on blast until they fade and I have to relog my computer to get them back but other then slight problems here and there I have EVERYthing turned on unless I raid. I only turn off spells and shadows if Im on raid and I get 40+ FPS.