Where did these graphics go?

[Riekopo]

In all of the game's previews they were showing off amazing graphics. Then when we got the game it looks like a cartoon with graphical glitches. Where did these awesome graphics go?

http://i.imgur.com/v0FD2Uw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/wXRHN3d.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/pq1ZXeB.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/j2Qfnza.jpg

[Darkomen]

I have it on my PC. The game is just amazingly beautifull like in the screenshots you show us.

[SirPeacemaker]

Darkomen what what what???

[Captain W. Handberg]

Same here. I run it on max and it looks and runs better than amazing.

[Stívarðr Reynitré]

To be fair, my graphics aren't a million miles away from that. Plus it would be very naive to consider that developers don't do a little post process touch up on their games before marketing them.

But...as I say, my graphics aren't too dissimilar on very high/ultra.

[Vilkas09]

Darkomen Captain W. Handberg hard to believe. post your screenshots.

[Riekopo]

Here's the problem with that theory Assiduus. In the Carthage gameplay video it does look that good. What we got as the final product looks nothing like that.

[Toasty Fresh]

I think the main problem is the bloom that they've added to the final game. Makes all the textures look blurry and washed out.

Also, I think the SSAO was toned down for the final release, for some reason. I can barely notice it, I could swear it doesn't even work at all.

[Tolgon]

It's hard to believe because sadly Shogun 2 looks better and runs better on my machine. Sadpanda

[Rittsy]

The thing is you can potentially do that, it's just that you need the game running perfectly and you also need to meet certain conditions. I think that the AI needs to have larger auto-garrisons to allow for these battles, hopefully there will be a patch/mod to rectify it.

[Toasty Fresh]

http://puu.sh/4m790.jpgThis is on the highest settings possible (no AA because I'm using Nvidia's FXAA). I think it's safe to say they might have skimped out on the graphics for the final release.

[Mixxer5]

http://puu.sh/4m790.jpgThis is on the highest settings possible (no AA because I'm using Nvidia's FXAA). I think it's safe to say they might have skimped out on the graphics for the final release.

How can You not see a beauty here? You're soulless! But seriously- it looks bad. I guess that's a bug rather than a lie, because I've seen screens looking quite good. Sadly, in my case it's even worse.

[Bridger15]

http://puu.sh/4m790.jpgThis is on the highest settings possible (no AA because I'm using Nvidia's FXAA). I think it's safe to say they might have skimped out on the graphics for the final release.

That's not the highest setting. The game is overriding your settings because your hardware can't handle the higher levels. There was a post on reddit about this. There's a log file somewhere in %appdata%/something something that reveals what the game is really running the game on. You need to check "unlimited video memory" to prevent it from downscaling you, but doing that will really hurt your performance unless you have lots of vRam.

[zowrath]

I've got a custom rig, 3770k, 32 gig ram, ssd, 7970 Ghz-ed. The works. And with all settings to max, which the card can do without even getting audible, units looks like you've thrown a bucket of muddy water at it. All settings on max. While I think that how it's not supposed to be I am rarely in a position to study this anyhow because I'm usually zoomed out controlling the units.

[McCarronXLD]

I too am wondering where these amazing graphics are.. have every setting on extreme, or as high as it will go, with unlimited video memory and still the units.. the textures.. the effects.. everything looks worse than the first Rome: TW. Shogun 2 had bad performance when it first came out, lacked DX11, and some other nice things.. but at least the game still looked good and the units were very detailed on maximum settings.

[Raimeken]

I too am wondering where these amazing graphics are.. have every setting on extreme, or as high as it will go, with unlimited video memory and still the units.. the textures.. the effects.. everything looks worse than the first Rome: TW. Shogun 2 had bad performance when it first came out, lacked DX11, and some other nice things.. but at least the game still looked good and the units were very detailed on maximum settings.

You could tell there were alot of last minute revisions in the graphical department, especially in terms of unit detail. The inclusion of a very bad HDR implementation along with the grey-red filter on everything makes armor, especially segmentata look really dull, however the unit detail is also affected by the nature of the units being used in the battlefield. Samurai armor is a very intricate piece of work, because each one was made by hand for each warrior. In the setting of Rome, the goal of armor was to be cheap, and effective. Not to be aesthetically pleasing.

Aside from that, please anyone disappointed with the graphics, try using some of the SweetFX and shader mods along with the HDR/filter removals, you will definitely see the different when you're playing the game. Colors are richer, armor is more detailed due to the more vibrant lighting, and you can even through some SMAA into the mix.

[agent 47]

You could tell there were alot of last minute revisions in the graphical department, especially in terms of unit detail. The inclusion of a very bad HDR implementation along with the grey-red filter on everything makes armor, especially segmentata look really dull, however the unit detail is also affected by the nature of the units being used in the battlefield. Samurai armor is a very intricate piece of work, because each one was made by hand for each warrior. In the setting of Rome, the goal of armor was to be cheap, and effective. Not to be aesthetically pleasing.

Aside from that, please anyone disappointed with the graphics, try using some of the SweetFX and shader mods along with the HDR/filter removals, you will definitely see the different when you're playing the game. Colors are richer, armor is more detailed due to the more vibrant lighting, and you can even through some SMAA into the mix.

Smaa and luma sharpening do help alot, as does mech donalds hdr removal and the sweetfx/gem shaders. At the same time its obviously a huge dissapointment that we have to use these things to get the game looking somewhat decent. Total wars may have always been buggy on release but they have always impressed me visually.

I cant help but notice how the pictures and videos thread is so dead compared to what it usually is on the release of a new total war. Serious graphical modding needs to be done before that thread sees any life.

[nubcaker]

Guys, guys, just because your hardware doesn't show those graphics, doesn't mean they don't exist. There are plenty of people with visuals like in those screenshots. Although you should know those screenshots have been a little enhanced for marketing purposes. To think otherwise is a little naive.

[McCarronXLD]

I can see the darkening and enhancements, but still those are a far cry from what the majority of us are experiencing. If those graphics do exist I'd like to know how to get them because honestly I don't think it has anything to do with hardware. I don't think there is any possible way for me to upgrade my rig more than I already have.

[triptyck]

I can see the darkening and enhancements, but still those are a far cry from what the majority of us are experiencing. If those graphics do exist I'd like to know how to get them because honestly I don't think it has anything to do with hardware. I don't think there is any possible way for me to upgrade my rig more than I already have.

My graphics are maybe 95% of the way to the pre-release Carthage screenshots.And while my rig is relatively new, it's certainly not top of the line... i've heard of people with waaayyy better rigs than me, who are running into issues. It's definitely a software optimization problem, and not a hardware one... well, unless you have an AMD cpu. i'll post some screenshots for proof Cause some of the screenshots i'm seeming look like ass compared to my game...