True, it doesn't have raytracing, like most big game engines now. And the first city you come to is VERY plain and clean and oversized and underdetailed. It would probably be better if one started out in Akila or Neon or The Well somewhere with more details. But not every game, particularly one as open and customizable as this, can have EA level models or Cyberpunk level details. Nor is it the engines fault. Seen the Unreal Engine? How old is that one, 1998 i think? Nobody complains about that.

It is the fault of what they want to create. They want an engine that can do big open worlds, with interactable and persistent junk of all kinds, but that they can also very quickly create new content for. And is easily moddable with as little risk of mod conflicts as possible. And a very simulated AI, one that doesn't need handhelding through pre-placed paths, but can navigate freely even through user-created buildings and chaotic situations. They end up looking dumber than other games AIs, but thats only because other games rely more on the illusion of a smart AI.

[–] cmhe@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I agree! The content of the game is the issue, not the engine. Bashing Bethesdas engine is just a meme, at this point.

Linux is 32 years old, people wanting to throw everything away and start new, just because they don't like certain aspects of it, are crazy.

Personally, I don't really care about raytracing, or even improving the graphics that much, IMO they should reuse assets and code if that will make them invest more of their time to improve their writing, quests and let people go their own paths through the quests instead of just having 2 or 3 options (do the quest, don't do the quest and sometimes rat the people out to the authorities). So that we have BG3 level of writing and quests, in different kind of game.

And for god sakes, do simple things like let companions whisper when sneaking.

Also, New Atlantis doesn't look build for Humans but for giants, too much scaled up.

[–] emptyother@programming.dev 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is whispering while sneaking so easy though? It would double the voice acting budget, time, and the audio asset size. Theres no magic audio filter for making believable whispering out of regular voices.

Well, maybe there will be once game studios start using AI voice actors.

[–] Redditiscancer789@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

At the very least just lower the voice volume of companions in sneak even if it's lazy fix. I don't need breathy whispers in my ear for funny or throw away dialogue. But that's just my thoughts maybe other people are different.