The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

Are you going to make the graphic in the game, new also?

No need. The original graphics are great. Plus, upping the resolution only would accentuate the incremental rotation limitations.

-Jim

Some of the graphics have been changed already. Such as the main menu, but that's because there was need for better organized menu to include few extra items. Graphics are preserved most of the part, unless there's techical reason to change those.

Although, I recall that in the last chat with the "Creators" they said that they wouldn't mind if the graphics were changed more (this is how I understood it).

i think new graphics would be great. Graphics are the only downside of starcontrol. if the graphics are better, than the game would be perfect.

I tend to agree with LordJim.
With great graphics, comes greater control issues.

Unless you mean something like the Speech Screen and such, but believe they are adequate enough to suit the game. Unless you like seeing animated puppets chortle at you.

-=PakoPako=-

i go with the obvious. the better graphics, the better the game ( i still think gameplay and music are more important)

Good graphics do not equal a good game, in any way. Good graphics are often times a cheap attempt to make up for bad gameplay.
If the programmers want to change the graphics then that's their prerogative, but that just means more for them to program. I'd rather they get the game 100% complete before playing with aesthetics.

I agree with Umgah Bob. There hasn't been a single game ever that has matched SC2 in gameplay combined with good music.

I think the better the graphics, the more you mess with gameplay. Timewarp's graphics are about as good as you should get for SC2. Other than that, it brings up problems with a 2d environment being unrealistic, and sc2 in 3d would be just... odd. and nigh impossible, as UQM team would need an army of obsessed 3d modellers, people to write up effects codes, and create the effects textures... I like sc2 where it is. Even with the shite turn angles. It's still the best... ever... in all of time.

graphics cannot makeup up for gameplay or music. but since starcon has perfected those two, why not make it perfect? and by make better graphics, i dont mean the 3d mode in sc3, more like the 2d mode in sc2. plus the ingame graphics in sc3 were good. the only probs were that the people that designed what the aliens lacked immagination (specialy the one that did the syreen) so if u take sc3 graphics, and use that to improve the sc2 aliens....

SC3 graphics cannot be used for legal reasons. And I have to say that I was never too crazy about the puppets. You make a good point though, a game that already has gameplay and sound needs not worry about losing itself in gfx.

i kinda ment that level of 3dness, not piracy (and by 3dbness i do not mean that crappy map

I wasn't saying by improving the graphics in this game, it would somehow make the game worse. The problems with the control would become more apparent, if the graphics were improved. PakoPako said it quite well: With great graphics, comes greater control issues.
I'd actually support a graphical improvement, but as I said earlier, I'd like to see the game completed first.

of course, this is just a when/if type thing. i sc3 melee in 2d had good graphics and good control.

Better graphics does make for a better game (in a sense), but it's really not worth all the work it would take. I think SC2's colorful pixels look prettier than SC3's grey lego blocks anyway.

Imrproving the graphics could adversely effect combat, in a big way.  If you implemented the smooth ship rotations of SC3, as opposed to the chunky, 16(?)-position ship rotation, the small ships would be seriously weakened.

One of the big things that makes david-goliath matchups (like, say, an Arilou vs. an Ur-Quan) possible in SC2 is that the little ships can take shelter between the rotation points of the bigger guys.  If that big bad Ur-Quan can only shoot along 16 different firing positions, the sly little Arilou can 'hide' between two of those firing positions and wail on the big lummox.  That completely goes away if the big ship can rotate smoothly through a circle.  The big ship could much more easily track the little ship and blow the living hell out of it.

"One of the big things that makes david-goliath matchups (like, say, an Arilou vs. an Ur-Quan) possible in SC2 is that the little ships can take shelter between the rotation points of the bigger guys"

thats a bad thing.

That's an quriky thing. May be bad. May be good. I'm not really one to say one way or another. It just is. Take that away and some people will complain. Others will praise it.

Play TW if you wanna see what tighter rotations does to game play. Personally, I think it's a good thing to have more rotations. However, I also think hiding in the rotation angles is also a good thing. It changes up the stragety a bit. Less realistic, but a good chalange.

Hmm, I wonder what a post on PNF would reveal about this.

However, I doubt that any modern commercial release could survive now-adays without tighter turning ratios. The public just would not accept 16 rotation points.

Sorry to go off like this. This just seems to be my day for it.

their is no end of stratagy in starcontrol. just with the planate u have more possibillities i have seen in any game. i would love it if their were more angles. the only downside i can think of now is that ud have to learn to tap the turn buttons ever so slightly

You'd have to make up for it some way though. As Chrispy poijns out, it's an equalizing issue. There's a limit on how slow you can make the rotation of a large ship to give the smaller ships an edge if they rotate smoothly. Maybe slow down the plasma shots and so on? That'd give the Skiff a better chance of weaving back and forth...

just random rambling. Ignore as appropriate.

slowing down the fuel regeneration (is the word dinamo) of ships like the dreadnaut and the marrorder would be good. maybe making the pkunk ariloo... faster

I was dissapointed by SC3 as much as anyone else,
but I guess if someone who really cared about the game made the graphics (especially someone who cares about FF's and PR3's opinions) it would be more fun to play. I'll just be happy with a somewhat better resolution. As long as the Mauradaurs don't become lego blocks...

the lego thing wasnt an improvemetn. its supposed to have carvings of alien writing

Sorry for bringing this topic back from the dead, but I didn't find any more relevant topic.
The in-combat graphics look really nice on 320x240 display, but on larger display (say, 800x600) they look pretty bad.
I thought maybe I'll offer my help in making a larger versions of the graphics. not really changing anything, just enhancing the resolution (say, x2 or x4) to make them look better.
If I do that, would it be possible to use them in the game?

There's alot of graphic remastering going on in this (http://uqm.stack.nl/forum/index.php?topic=2666.165) thread. Feel free to join in.

However, as for integrating them into the game, I don't know.