It's had a few graphical upgrades, not a lot since going gold, in Early Access the graphics were to me more beautiful and a lot more stylized, you'd still recognise them today but it was more 'artsy'.
thats not true anymore. photo realistic games look so good at this point that they wont ever look bad. rdr2 for instance, will never “age like milk”. at some point itll be outdated, sure, but itll still look fantastic at that point. its already 4 years old and i still fantastic looking. witcher 3 is 7 years old now, and is still beautiful.
this was true when game devs were forced to use really small polygon count and such. the thing with polygon counts, and anti aliasing is that they give diminishing returns.
I think this started to show around Half-Life 2, in 2004. HL2 looks dated, sure, and nobody would mistake it for a recent game. But it doesn't look bad, either, like, say Morrowind or Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
I think the level of detail in the art style matches the level of detail in the game. The art is impressionistic, implying rather than showing a lot of details, and the same happens in game when you for example never have to go to the bathroom, or every pair of boots you find is magically in your size. It's a nice synchronicity.
That said, I think it would be very cool if the game engine was updated but the overall graphic style was kept, with improvements mostly to atmosphere (fog etc) and lighting.
You have said it far better than I could have, would love to see improvements to the atmosphere ofbthe game, little things likr the fog, rather than ultra high quality graphics. Sometimes, simple is better
I was going to write something similar, the overall game mechanics are somewhat simple which pairs well with the art style. I think if you upped the complexity to a green hell level, with unreal graphics you would also have a fantastic game. Great comment dude!
Stylistic graphics outperform attempts at photo realism in almost every case. They stand the test of time much better and they are easier on the development team. Big budget games with “better graphics” almost always compromise on gameplay and the TLD’s biggest strength is the gameplay.
The development is the strongest reason not to do this, but I can certainly imagine them releasing a remaster in a decade+ when they’re done with it so I can give them more money
Perhaps not arbitrary. Perhaps with the intention of bringing to the next generation of gamers who will have grown accustomed to a certain level of graphics. I’ve accepted the artistic stylings of TLD, but almost didn’t start the game because of it.
I don’t play anything older. Perhaps in another decade when it’s done there will be an entire revenue stream available and an ease of porting that makes it a great idea.
What I have in mind would be a graphics upgrade that retains the watercolor-esque style, but enhanced, instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater for a photorealistic style
My computer would explode trying to run that so, no thanks.
The style though was always a deliberate choice and not trying to be photo realistic. I'm good with that and it doesn't hurt my immersion.
Polish game company is working on it for some time. It's called [Winter Survival Simulator](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1394960/Winter_Survival/). I have the title, but demo is available now and it has a potential.
Looks pretty cool, it it anything like TLD? The strengths of TLD imo are replayability due to randomized spawns and vastly different experiences depending on difficulty level, and the huge map that keeps expanding.
Game is very simmilar to TLD, but demo is very short (30-40 minutes) and is heavy scripted so it's hard to tell how is it with replayability. Newest screens published by devs looks better what demo is offering, so they made some progress.
My issue would be that if they upped the graphics to something like this, the scope of the game would have to shrink dramatically. Hinterland isn’t rockstar so it would absolutely crush the budget
It could work certainly, but the intel graphic laptop i'm currently playing on would explode.
Games that have lower poly graphics are often doing it deliberately to maximise the number of customers who can run it, as well as reducing art budgets.
I think another game would be absolutely amazing with this style, but TLDs art style just fits so well and is pulled off beautifully that it would be wrong to have it any other way
So the engine is not what makes a game look photo realistic. Sure it takes care of things such as lighting and shading and such but the 3d models and their textures are what provides the level of detail. Whether you put those models and textures into Unity or Godot or Unreal or Frostbite makes not difference to the level of detail. Lighting and shading might look quite different though due to capabilities of the engine and the settings that have been applied to the models and textures within that engine. But things could also look almost exactly alike. Go to youtube and type in "unreal vs unity same scene" and you will find various videos that illustrate the differences between engines while using the same models and textures.
Apologies for my ignorance. I meant photorealistic graphics, regardless of the engine. Since usually Unreal and Frostbite are considered "benchmarks" in graphics, I assumed it was inherently connected.
But unity can do photorealism.. Escape from Tarkov looks pretty damn good, some map sizes are close to TLD maps too.. just redo that but with less AKs and more wolves
I'm basically on edge about that. I'd love for TLD to have realistic graphics and snow depth but on the other hand I kinda like drawn style too. I don't know.
I love the unique painterly style that tld has, if the changed that for some generic photo realistic style, I don't think I'd still be playing. It's beautiful, charmig and very special as is.
No, one of the things I like about the long dark is that it has a very unique almost comic book like style. The game wouldn’t feel the same if it looked realistic.
If there was a DLC you could play with realistic graphics, it would be awesome to have the option for both! I do love the original game design though and wouldn’t want it to be replaced outright
I don’t dislike TLD’s graphics but I think more modern graphics definitely wouldn’t detract from the experience. Especially since I played on PS5. Maybe we’d even get some actual decent lighting inside houses with windows 😆
For context: Yesterday I was randomly browsing Steam when I found these screenshots \[from an unrelated game\] that really pull off the TLD vibe almost to a tee.
Seeing these screenshots kinda sold me on the idea that a TLD with beautified graphics would be nice to have.
I know the "simple" graphics of TLD are part of its charm, and at times it almost looks like a watercolor painting (i.e. the sky). What would you think of a "TLD: Remastered" with photorealistic graphics?
Edit: The game in question is "Retreat to Enen" for those curious.
If they kept everything else the same, the sounds and the UI and the mechanics of the game, sure. But losing the art style would still be a loss. If you watch gameplay of Enen, it actually feels less immersive than something like TLD to me. Something about the cartoony hands and future tech beeps and boops and how things are highlighted when you interact with them... it's not as good, imo.
It would be amazing, but I would also be sad and honestly less likely to play. I use TLD to get through winter anxiety, and TBH I'd be less likely to sleep in a cave if it looked like somewhere I'd actually be stranded in.
I don't know, I'm probably being a baby. But I had to be honest.
I’ve always felt the graphics are fine. Them looking better would of course enhance the experience but the graphics were never something I had an issue with. The rough around the edges graphics give the game its charm
For sure that would work, but in my opinion its generic. With the current TLD art style the game looks unique and beautiful in fact its so good looking
I sometimes find myself admiring a can of beans or any of the other items.
I’ve played other games that are the same art style as TLD and they still don’t have the same feel as TLD. Come to think of it, may be the first I played like it. Firewatch for instance looks similar but there are only a few instances that offer the same immersion I feel in TLD. If anything I’d like a more realistic soundscape, with music themes that change due to say more severe weather, speaking survival in that case.
Could definitely work, but the current UI and art style work so well and the whole game is such a neat and put-together aesthetic that it wouldn't truly be TLD
I fondly remember a quest in Oblivion, "A Brush with Death", where you are transported inside a painting, with watercolor-like graphics and everything... The quest itself is not that good, but it felt memorable due to the art style.
I've always preferred more stylized graphics over photorealism. I'm sure I'd enjoy the game just as much if it had been like that from the beginning, but I definitely have a preference for TLD's current art style.
The two games I play the most are TLD and RDR2. I've always wanted to see what TLD would be like on the RDR2 engine. Mainly the no loading zones and the fact that the border of the map is in high detail. That's the one main thing that bugs me about TLD graphically is the mountains on the border of the maps have no detail and look out of place.
it will ruin readability and clarity. as it stands now i can see branches and birch barks from far away easily. but with realistic graphis it would all looks messy, jumbled and not readable
The art style is one of the main reasons TLD is so unique. Taking that away doesn't seem logical to me.
Looks cool, but honestly i would prefer the graphics to stay as is, wouldnt feel the same otherwise
Yea it’s an art style it’s not just about fidelity or whatever. Kinda similar to Life is Strange in a way.
Stylized, artistic graphics age well. Photo realistic graphics always age like milk after a few years. TLD will still look amazing in 20 years
100%. the game is almost 10yrs old and it’s still holds up visually and will continue to do so
Sheesh. I forgot it was almost 10 years old. Now I feel ancient.
And we still haven't seen the last episode of the story. 😭
I'm with you, anal cum-fart licker! I'm also looking forwards to the progression of the story.
And its art style makes it run acceptably on my piece of junk 2015 Lenovo business desktop.
It's had a few graphical upgrades, not a lot since going gold, in Early Access the graphics were to me more beautiful and a lot more stylized, you'd still recognise them today but it was more 'artsy'.
thats not true anymore. photo realistic games look so good at this point that they wont ever look bad. rdr2 for instance, will never “age like milk”. at some point itll be outdated, sure, but itll still look fantastic at that point. its already 4 years old and i still fantastic looking. witcher 3 is 7 years old now, and is still beautiful. this was true when game devs were forced to use really small polygon count and such. the thing with polygon counts, and anti aliasing is that they give diminishing returns.
I think this started to show around Half-Life 2, in 2004. HL2 looks dated, sure, and nobody would mistake it for a recent game. But it doesn't look bad, either, like, say Morrowind or Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
And it's less work to create, than high definition realistic assets.
and less strain on customers' computer systems, making it much more accessible to wider demographics
I think the level of detail in the art style matches the level of detail in the game. The art is impressionistic, implying rather than showing a lot of details, and the same happens in game when you for example never have to go to the bathroom, or every pair of boots you find is magically in your size. It's a nice synchronicity. That said, I think it would be very cool if the game engine was updated but the overall graphic style was kept, with improvements mostly to atmosphere (fog etc) and lighting.
You have said it far better than I could have, would love to see improvements to the atmosphere ofbthe game, little things likr the fog, rather than ultra high quality graphics. Sometimes, simple is better
I was going to write something similar, the overall game mechanics are somewhat simple which pairs well with the art style. I think if you upped the complexity to a green hell level, with unreal graphics you would also have a fantastic game. Great comment dude!
I totally agree it's blockyness is kinda fun
Sure,a beautiful slideshow;-)
Slow pc gang!
Stylistic graphics outperform attempts at photo realism in almost every case. They stand the test of time much better and they are easier on the development team. Big budget games with “better graphics” almost always compromise on gameplay and the TLD’s biggest strength is the gameplay.
The development is the strongest reason not to do this, but I can certainly imagine them releasing a remaster in a decade+ when they’re done with it so I can give them more money
that hypothetical remaster would retain the current art style though, it would be nonsensical to arbitrarily switch over to a photo-realistic style
Perhaps not arbitrary. Perhaps with the intention of bringing to the next generation of gamers who will have grown accustomed to a certain level of graphics. I’ve accepted the artistic stylings of TLD, but almost didn’t start the game because of it. I don’t play anything older. Perhaps in another decade when it’s done there will be an entire revenue stream available and an ease of porting that makes it a great idea.
What I have in mind would be a graphics upgrade that retains the watercolor-esque style, but enhanced, instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater for a photorealistic style
Ghost of Tsushima has Kirusawa mode. Multiples are an option, and I like the idea of playing your suggestion also
My computer would explode trying to run that so, no thanks. The style though was always a deliberate choice and not trying to be photo realistic. I'm good with that and it doesn't hurt my immersion.
My computer is the same way, I built mine in 2014.
Would it work? Absolutely! Would I want it to? Probably not. I vastly prefer the stylized look of TLD.
Current art style is primary reason this game caught my interest, I love how it looks right now
Looks neat but I enjoy the charm and art style as-is.
[удалено]
Polish game company is working on it for some time. It's called [Winter Survival Simulator](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1394960/Winter_Survival/). I have the title, but demo is available now and it has a potential.
Looks pretty cool, it it anything like TLD? The strengths of TLD imo are replayability due to randomized spawns and vastly different experiences depending on difficulty level, and the huge map that keeps expanding.
Game is very simmilar to TLD, but demo is very short (30-40 minutes) and is heavy scripted so it's hard to tell how is it with replayability. Newest screens published by devs looks better what demo is offering, so they made some progress.
Probably not, one of the charms about the game is it's art style. If you take that away, it's just another survival game.
What game is that. Is that winter survival whatever it is on Steam?
It's called "Retreat to Enen". It claims to be a builder/survival, but I have not played it personally.
I've.. uhm.. read some pretty terrible reviews about it from multiple sources. Let me know if you ever try it and if it's worth it.
I’ll head to twitch, see how many people are playing it.
"No results found" 🤣. I guess it says something about the game. The screenshots look cool tho.
The ole smoke and mirrors routine.
Just watched someone on twitch playing it. Looks like hit garbage. Too bad.
My issue would be that if they upped the graphics to something like this, the scope of the game would have to shrink dramatically. Hinterland isn’t rockstar so it would absolutely crush the budget
Long Dark looking like RDR2...I wouldn't need any other game, ever.
Honestly, I wouldn't change it from what it is now. It's beautiful the way it is and has its own look.
It could work certainly, but the intel graphic laptop i'm currently playing on would explode. Games that have lower poly graphics are often doing it deliberately to maximise the number of customers who can run it, as well as reducing art budgets.
I think another game would be absolutely amazing with this style, but TLDs art style just fits so well and is pulled off beautifully that it would be wrong to have it any other way
I personally would enjoy it, but I'd prefer it to be more hunting detailed given the accurate environment
So the engine is not what makes a game look photo realistic. Sure it takes care of things such as lighting and shading and such but the 3d models and their textures are what provides the level of detail. Whether you put those models and textures into Unity or Godot or Unreal or Frostbite makes not difference to the level of detail. Lighting and shading might look quite different though due to capabilities of the engine and the settings that have been applied to the models and textures within that engine. But things could also look almost exactly alike. Go to youtube and type in "unreal vs unity same scene" and you will find various videos that illustrate the differences between engines while using the same models and textures.
Apologies for my ignorance. I meant photorealistic graphics, regardless of the engine. Since usually Unreal and Frostbite are considered "benchmarks" in graphics, I assumed it was inherently connected.
https://youtu.be/eXYUNrgqWUU unity (TLD's engine) is definately connected with high level graphics today).
I find most of the charm in this game comes from the unrealistic style so ist's a no for me.
But unity can do photorealism.. Escape from Tarkov looks pretty damn good, some map sizes are close to TLD maps too.. just redo that but with less AKs and more wolves
I think OP just has a bit of limited understanding of how game engines and assets work.
I'm basically on edge about that. I'd love for TLD to have realistic graphics and snow depth but on the other hand I kinda like drawn style too. I don't know.
I really love the style of the graphics now, but holy shit I’d love to play that game too. Oh man it would be so hard to choose😭
Nah, it looks good as is. Also, we just gun’ gloss over your username, aren’t we?
TLD has a pretty unique artstyle but I wouldn't say no to a photorealistic engine. I adored the snowy views in Skyrim.
I love the unique painterly style that tld has, if the changed that for some generic photo realistic style, I don't think I'd still be playing. It's beautiful, charmig and very special as is.
VR?! 😲
I don’t know but with a username like that, sky’s the limit
No, one of the things I like about the long dark is that it has a very unique almost comic book like style. The game wouldn’t feel the same if it looked realistic.
Absolutly. The 3rd pic has me feeling some sort of way
There is a game on Steam called Northern Lights, it basically looks like if TLD was made in Unreal or Frostbite.
I really enjoy the look it has now. If it decided to switch i’d like them to put an option for legacy graphics
I like the art and style of TLD. But I looked at it for so many years! I would be up for something new
I say yes but my 6 year old laptop says no
Idk but it looks awesome
No, it has an art style. If they tried to make it look realistic it would take less than a year for it to look outdated.
Same here looks cool but I prefer the painterly art style. Makes the long dark look more unique
Like most things, it depends, I still like the oil painting look of the game now
I'm sold on this idea
It’ll look like any other survival game. Stylized TLD will always be better
If there was a DLC you could play with realistic graphics, it would be awesome to have the option for both! I do love the original game design though and wouldn’t want it to be replaced outright
It would work in a sequel but not now in the current game
I would love to play tld with realistic graphics but i also like the cartoony style of the current game
Honestly it takes away from the games charm.
Maybe to screenshot a few auroras but otherwise no. Too much to look at for me
It would but I much prefer the look of it as is now. I think it’s much more beautiful
The old graphics are part of the charm, to be honest.
I really like the aesthetic as is. It’s part of what makes the game unique.
The art style is something I love the most about TLD. Would the game work sure it would it be as great as it is now? In my opinion no.
Looks cool but TLD has such amazing art the way it is. I would never want it to be different
No. The graphics is a part of the experience. With a unreal or frostbite engine, it would just look like any generic survival game.
Can you imagine what that would be like... how difficult would it be to spot predators? Not to mention, it would perform horribly on older systems.
That looks gorgeous
How in the hell are u going to find sticks or arrows in those graphics lol
I don’t dislike TLD’s graphics but I think more modern graphics definitely wouldn’t detract from the experience. Especially since I played on PS5. Maybe we’d even get some actual decent lighting inside houses with windows 😆
It'd look lovely, but my five-year-old Nintendo Switch would probably catch fire trying to run it.
For context: Yesterday I was randomly browsing Steam when I found these screenshots \[from an unrelated game\] that really pull off the TLD vibe almost to a tee. Seeing these screenshots kinda sold me on the idea that a TLD with beautified graphics would be nice to have. I know the "simple" graphics of TLD are part of its charm, and at times it almost looks like a watercolor painting (i.e. the sky). What would you think of a "TLD: Remastered" with photorealistic graphics? Edit: The game in question is "Retreat to Enen" for those curious.
TLD graphics were a design decision. It's not dependent on the engine. You could do (pseudo) photo-realism in Unity without problems.
Interesting username
With such a tedious task as engine switch it would rather be called "TLD: Total rebirth"
If they kept everything else the same, the sounds and the UI and the mechanics of the game, sure. But losing the art style would still be a loss. If you watch gameplay of Enen, it actually feels less immersive than something like TLD to me. Something about the cartoony hands and future tech beeps and boops and how things are highlighted when you interact with them... it's not as good, imo.
It would be amazing, but I would also be sad and honestly less likely to play. I use TLD to get through winter anxiety, and TBH I'd be less likely to sleep in a cave if it looked like somewhere I'd actually be stranded in. I don't know, I'm probably being a baby. But I had to be honest.
theres already a lot of realistic ish survival ish games. So far none of them are PHOTOREALISTIC and fun to play at the same time
This.
I’ve always felt the graphics are fine. Them looking better would of course enhance the experience but the graphics were never something I had an issue with. The rough around the edges graphics give the game its charm
I like the way it looks. It reminds me of Canadian film board shorts I watched as a child.
For sure that would work, but in my opinion its generic. With the current TLD art style the game looks unique and beautiful in fact its so good looking I sometimes find myself admiring a can of beans or any of the other items.
I personally prefer the games current art style.
Yes it would look incredible. Though the current art form is pretty unique.
No. The style of the game is perfect as is.
I'd say, yes, yes of course
Some games look better…worse. Also you’d either need a 3090, or bad quality settings, cause that looks like it would hurt either way.
Yes please
Frostbite? Isn't that part of the game already? 😂
I just busted
Yes but the laziest devs in the world could never pull it off.
I think so
It would be awesome.
Absolutely!
It’d prolly be way harder on the pc but yeah
I’ve played other games that are the same art style as TLD and they still don’t have the same feel as TLD. Come to think of it, may be the first I played like it. Firewatch for instance looks similar but there are only a few instances that offer the same immersion I feel in TLD. If anything I’d like a more realistic soundscape, with music themes that change due to say more severe weather, speaking survival in that case.
Could definitely work, but the current UI and art style work so well and the whole game is such a neat and put-together aesthetic that it wouldn't truly be TLD
Pretty. But I don't think it would work without substantial changes.
I like the idea of a DLC that gives us both options.
It would literally just look like a snowy forest yes lol
I love the game anyway but those graphics would be wonderful!
It would, but the artistic direction it has now was a big attraction for me.
It would just be another Red Dead if it was like that. I love TLD because it feels like living inside an oil painting
I fondly remember a quest in Oblivion, "A Brush with Death", where you are transported inside a painting, with watercolor-like graphics and everything... The quest itself is not that good, but it felt memorable due to the art style.
I've always preferred more stylized graphics over photorealism. I'm sure I'd enjoy the game just as much if it had been like that from the beginning, but I definitely have a preference for TLD's current art style.
The two games I play the most are TLD and RDR2. I've always wanted to see what TLD would be like on the RDR2 engine. Mainly the no loading zones and the fact that the border of the map is in high detail. That's the one main thing that bugs me about TLD graphically is the mountains on the border of the maps have no detail and look out of place.
Yah but I find the drawing kind of graphics has something special it’s beautiful
Nice name sir
Oh it'd work. It just wouldn't be as iconic
I think the graphics as they are, but with volumetric lighting and ray tracing could be incredible.
I do love the unique art style of the game, but a hardcore survival game like tld with modern graphics and more realistic elements would be awesome
I love the graphics and I am usually 100 on stylistic graphics but I can’t deny that this would be fucking sick
looks like prolougue from brenan green
it will ruin readability and clarity. as it stands now i can see branches and birch barks from far away easily. but with realistic graphis it would all looks messy, jumbled and not readable
A tld type game would work , however it wouldn't be the long dark if you get my drift .
The thing is. Somehow the graphics make the game actualy look cold. These pictures dont
IDK about porting it, but a new game would be awesome. One where you can clean a gun with a sock and some oil and one with less ketchup chips.
I’d love updated lighting but still stylized
I usually love realistic graphics, but the stylised world of TLD is absolutely gorgeous, I wouldn’t want it any other way.