quality issues with Civ 5

[mdrago]

So I finished my 4th game... between 25 / 30hrs of gameplay.
Im so sad... I can't believe they actually released this kind of game... been eagerly waiting for this game 5 / 6 years, to get this

Im not gonna point out all the "new" concepts already been discussed in other threads (no religion, no culture sliders, no espionage, the 1upt and hexes endless discussion, etc, etc, etc.)

I just wanna say, regarding quality issues, that:
1) The game is poorly coded "3d engise" wise... it looks like they got the engine sdk and just go for it, no optimization whatsoever... the game runs VERY slow considering the POOR QUALITY 3D graphics
2) Speaking of graphics... those 3d models are really a joke... BARELY better than Civ4... and six years has passed
3) Did anyone noticed the rivers? the are just "plain blue" and when they end in an ocean the contrast is really shamefull... that's low quality in any league
4) No movies for WW? Ok, I read somewhere in this forum that "that money for the movie could be used to make the game better, instead of making a lot of movies you are gonna watch just 1 time". Thats a cool concept, however, looks like they didnt use the saved money at all! Come on, AT LEAST put some DECENT pic of the wonder, not a low quality, pixelated pic! Funny thing is, when the wonder pic appears, my Core7 "struggles" to do the "fade in" effect
5) The interface... oh god almighty, the interface!!! I havent even figued out how to know with whom Im at war with Yes, probably Im an idiot coz I havent found that checkmark hidding in some submenu, but this idiot have that information first hand when playing Civ4... hey, I even dont know how to rotate the map (if that is even possible)... yup, already tried CTRL + ARROW.
6) The leaders... these guys at firaxis are so cheat that you can distinguish the background graph from the 3d leader model in just half a second... a low quality, ultra AAsed background pic with a 3d model in front... that's just WRONG! Take any FPS in the market for example, you have 10 guys in the screen, a full 3d enviroment, lots of rockets flying around, background ambient models, etc, etc, etc and these guys can even do a 3d background
7) what's up with the cartonish, japanese like, interface graphics?

Im not expecting high end 3d graphics, but also I wont settle for low quality pics

Again, Im not arguing against the new game concepts... Im strictly speaking about quality concerns... the mayority of the points above wont get QA approval in any mayor developer house.

I would love to hear something that will convince me that this game is not a "low budget" release

Been waiting 6 years for this game... im so sad

[Proteus_MST]

Which DX version do you use? 9, 10 or 11?
(I ask because with DX11 rivers aren´t just plain blue, but have the same mirror effect for water that you can find in oceans and lakes (although with a much more blue hue), making them look a little bit different from the plain blue you mentioned.
I have to admit that the estuary mouths of the rivers with the static borders between river water and salt water look strange however...maybe they should have put a little bit more dynamics into the run of the borders between salt and sweet water.

All in all In don´t complain about the graphics too much...this is a Civ game, therefore I expect them to put much more energy into the development of the game mechanics and AI, than into graphics (and they have added nice features graphics wise...the ocean with its tiny waves looks almost real [at least with DX 11])

[mdrago]

rivers

Yes, Im running in DX9. I have a first gen HP Envy 15 with a Radeon 4830 and this card run DX9 faster than DX10, thats why. However, they should have put some attention to those details.
Im also not expecting high end graphics... its a QUALITY issue.

Civ4 colonization looks polished, this thing looks cheap and rushed out.

[MxM]

Well, I do agree that graphics could be better. Compare this game with Down of Discovery, for example - looks better, runs faster, AA works... And the revers are ugly even in DX10.

[mdrago]

console?

Been playing all day... I think I finally got it.
"Cleaner" interface, simpler rules (no corruption, religion, etc), cartonish icons... this thing is comming to the consoles!!!

Think about it, grab a console player and show him Civ4... he will pee his pants in about a minute... now show him Civ5... he'll love it!

I think we are "beta testing" the next Civ for consoles

[Proteus_MST]

They don´t necessary have to plan to bring it to the consoles...
I agree however that they probably made the game a little bit easier, to make it more mass compatible.

Otto-Normalgamer (no matter whether console or PC) usually isn´t as hardcore as people like ourselves who post on Apolyton and/or CFC, so you have to make the game a little bit easier to get him to buy (and enjoy) the game
(doesn´t mean that they won´t make the rules harder [more Civ IV like] with the next expansion packs, however, I mean, Otto-Normalgamer who bought the vanilla game [and enjoyed it] will very probably buy the expansion packs as well, even if they contain more complicated game elements )

[SandMonkey]

All in all In don´t complain about the graphics too much...this is a Civ game, therefore I expect them to put much more energy into the development of the game mechanics and AI, than into graphics

I agree. I run XP, so I play this game knowing that the graphics would look better if I upgraded to Win7. That said, I'm pretty disappointed in the AI, and I think they should have done a better job preparing the computer opponent for the rigors of playing against gamers in the Civ community. I played my second game on Prince and rolled all over the AI. In my experience with prior versions of this series I shouldn't be able to start playing on King difficulty after only two games.