Bourne wrote:A tip from Bourne, shut up. This would kill marathon. Seriously, this is one of the most idiotic ideas i've heard on here for ages.
Here's what I simply do not understand about some of you guys:
Complaining about sizes and load times.
Regardless of the Shapes issue (and I personally find messing-about with a Shapes file to be no fun at all), things like hi-res textures linked externally via scripting and sounds that are full-blown 16-bit stereo add massive amounts to the game, at very little overhead.
Who can complain today about sizes of things when hard disks are so incredibly cheap, fast, and huge? RAM, the same. Video boards, the same.
I read one post here where somebody said something to the effect that they actually LIKE the low-res 128 textures that shipped with the product back in 1996 (or whenever it was). Are you kidding? You must be playing at a locked 320x240 screen size on a widescreen plasma or something.
It's interesting that so many of you are willing to sacrifice quality for some perceived "savings" of space and resources, as if someone's trying to take something away from you, or as if you have little of either. I never understood this miserly mentality, even back in the day when resources were few. For instance, guys who'd build a scenario and then cripple the sounds to 8-bit because, God forbid, the hi-res sounds might take an extra 45 seconds to download.
If your machine is THAT pathetic, buy a new one. If your RAM is low, buy more. It's not that expensive these days.
I'm running A1 with a mix of 1024, 512, and 256 textures. All the textures are replaced in all the flavors either with stuff from the Hi-Res Texture Set off the Ar'Kive, or with my own creations that mimic or duplicate the original look, feel, and intention of the Bungie textures.
I play at 1650 wide, with the HUD. I use the Landscape Enhancement Package.
The images I see are really incredible and sometime downright mind-blowing. I cannot possibly imagine using low-res garbage. It's as if Marathon were reborn. Some of these scenes are so beautiful, they almost look real.
Sacrificing quality to save resources that need no savings is, to me, a sign of mental illness. I can't do it. Never could. Never understood those who think it's okay to do so.
I would never hire a person who thought this way, and never work with a person who thought this way. Quality is job one, as the old saying goes. People who accept less will always have and be less.
Thank you.