Experiences from Path of Exile so far

That computer sounds like it's a few years old though it's tough to say with so few specifics. More to the point, it's hardly the most powerful computer and it can still run the game at max settings. Like many others, my PC is more powerful and I would appreciate if all that power was used.

The game looks really good already and that's the product of some very creative work in terms of modeling, texturing, and the amount of normal mapping used. The environment do look better than they did before the various decals were added but they still look a bit sparse. More 3D elements should be added to give it a more fleshed out feel. Things like tall grass and a more varied selection of rocks. Maybe even ancient statues and totems.

From my understanding of the Wreaclast's story it used to be a thriving and prosperous country before something terrible happened. Things like destroyed buildings can help with this idea.

Ambient particle effects are great too. Characters and monsters should kick up dust as they move and fight. It would be cool to see a character's breath in cold places like the Prison.

The lighting effects are nice but I noticed that some areas (like the Prison) could definitely benefit from some Ambient Occlusion mapping. Armor and Weapons could probably benefit from some more detailed specular mapping.

Of course don't be afraid to use multiple levels of detail for models. Some things like the trees could definitely benefit from it. There's a fence/railing in the area where you fight Brutus that is very obviously 2D.

re: specs
My computer is a laptop, and was bought new from a store about a year ago, however it definitely wasn't top of the line then.
It's a good laptop, but not spectacular :)

yay info .

Real time ambient occlusion would rape all the older pc's performances though.You cant have ambient occlusions just put on your textures with randomly generated environments.

I agree with the more 3d environments though.

Great read! Thanks for posting!

One thing I'd like to point out...

After growing up with both diablo 1 and diablo 2 which were both great games in my opinion! (wait... let me finnish before flaming me)

Diablo 3 though... Seeing what blizzard has become, making all their games so cartoonish nowadays I got very disappointed with diablo 3. And D3's classes.. comeon! They look so lame!

But then I saw the PoE trailer on gametrailers and I got hooked!

What I loved about diablo 1 and 2 is the darkness, the demonic feeling and the dark atmosphere... demons, skeletons, creatures... As I've understood it, this is basicly how GGG is trying to give make PoE. And I just love it!

So... to my point... please try to keep the dark atmosphere! And I dont mean dakness as in black, but the feeling like something is wrong in the world, something pure evil is rising. The world is soon coming to an end as we know it if nothing is being done. That kind of feeling!

I loved the atmosphere in the trailer! Especially in the dungeon, the cave and... well basicly everything! I really hope I'll get to help you guys in the beta!

Keep on the good job! Really looking forward for more gameplay videos!

"

Rustychops wrote:

Real time ambient occlusion would rape all the older pc's performances though.You cant have ambient occlusions just put on your textures with randomly generated environments.

I'm not talking about older PCs. I'm talking about taking advantage of the hardware in new PCs. If Gaza can play on max settings with a several year old laptop then a modern graphics wouldn't even break a sweat with the game as it is now.

The environments aren't completely random. They're randomly generated by piecing together predefined sections. Like a puzzle where each piece fits with every other piece. You're right that you simply wouldn't be able to get it prefect but with some creative coding and some ground decals you could still make things look a lot better and more natural.

I think a point to remember is this isnt diablo 3 with a near infinite budget, mega advanced graphical options in a F2P game which will be used by a minor % of the player base should certainly not be a focus over optimization and game play mechanics

I think the game looks good already, you can improve any game graphically but i am yet to be kept playing a game just because of a few extra lighting effects for example

its been years since i was amazed by anything to do with graphics, FFVll and GT3 being the last 2, both games being the success they were due to the game play and story, maybe im just old school but a few extra graphic effects will mean nothing to me


as for his specs, i think he said he wasnt able to run it on max all the time, adding in max instanced players and a screen full of mobs including the FX and gore by skills and environment and im sure it will be quite taxing on full graphics unless you have a gaming rig, and i doubt the main player base would have 1

there are reasons why runescape is popular lol

Thank you for the post- very informative.

hey, los requerimientos, de este juego deben ser parecidos a un juego rpg, base, con una tarjeta opengl que soporte pixel shader 2.0 y que tenga almenos 128 megas de video, y un procesador, sobre 1.8 ghz, creo que podria funcionar, eso si, con lamenos 512 megas libres

Thanks for the post man, really appreciate it. Really helped to shed some light on some areas of the game that were a tad gray earlier. Also, thanks to Chris for allowing him to reveal his experience with the game thus far. I appreciate all the work GGG is putting into this game, and I'd gladly pay for a full version, but you guys are going free, which I'm sure even more people appreciate.

Hope you all had a great Christmas, and everyone got home safely, etc. Take care!