How can a videogame be in development for 5+ years, but have up to date graphics when it releases?
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Keep in mind that the other games with “up to date graphics” *also* have been in development for years.
In a way, “up to date graphics” are already years old when released, and the games that start development today have 2028 graphics.
When starting development of a new game, you don’t look at current graphics, you think about what computers will be able to run in 5 years and build your game for that.
ELI5 answer: All graphics are outdated upon a game’s release. There’s always something better being cooked up behind the scenes.
ELI5 answer: All graphics are outdated upon a game’s release. There’s always something better being cooked up behind the scenes.
ELI5 answer: All graphics are outdated upon a game’s release. There’s always something better being cooked up behind the scenes.
Keep in mind that the other games with “up to date graphics” *also* have been in development for years.
In a way, “up to date graphics” are already years old when released, and the games that start development today have 2028 graphics.
When starting development of a new game, you don’t look at current graphics, you think about what computers will be able to run in 5 years and build your game for that.
When you talk about “graphics” you’re actually referring to multiple aspects of the game that contribute to its visual appeal. A major component of that is [poly count](https://cdn.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/2486940-0248877224-ChsSw.png) and [texture quality](https://www.gamersnexus.net/images/media/2015/game-bench/blops-settings/blops-texture-comparison-2.jpg). The former is how detailed the 3D models are, the higher the poly count the better quality the model, more details, smoother edges etc. The latter is how detailed the textures are, textures are like a “skin” that wraps around the 3D model.
It’s easy to make high quality textures and models, usually the quality is reduced before shipping the final product so that the game performs well on average hardware at the time of release (or in the case of stagnant hardware eg. consoles, other techniques are used to optimise performance, allowing for better quality graphics). So you simply reduce the quality less if you want better quality on release, it’s all about balancing quality vs performance.
In some cases, other aspects like improved lighting effects, shading renderers can improve graphical quality with minimal effort by developers/artists. One of the main reasons to use a game engine for your game is that it makes it easier to take advantage of those improvements for minimal or sometimes zero effort. Or the improvements can simply be incorporated during the development lifecycle, it’s not like you’re stuck with whatever graphics features existed on day 1 of the project. In most cases the first several months or years of “development” you’re not writing a single line of production code, it’s all project planning, game design, storyboarding, maybe some artists creating concept art or a few assets, at best you might have a proof of concept mockup of the game.
There are also some advancements in graphics/game engines that cannot feasibly be incorporated into the game while it’s in development, and these simply don’t get used unless you want to scrap the whole game and start again (which has also happened). Because ultimately, you’re only competing against other games that also spent multiple years in development, so you’re all going to be lagging behind what the latest and greatest graphics technology has to offer. What you call a game having “up to date graphics” is simply graphics quality on par with competing products, even if the latest hardware is capable of more.
Depends on the team and on the game but generally the final game’s look isn’t really done until closer to release. They have simple or placeholder graphics that allows them to quickly make changes to more core parts of the game (mechanics, characters, etc) and when they finally get a good grasp of what the game is suppose to be, then teams will start trying to figure out the look and feel of the world and characters in it. There have been a lot of cases where games originally were going to have one look but the team pivots to a different look for whatever reason later on in development.
Please please keep in mind that this isn’t a 100% thing. Game development is still an evolving craft/artform and so best practices are still being worked on. I am also not a game developer so take everything I’ve said with a massive grain of salt. Game development is a complicated process that involves multiple people with different disciplines so not everything is going to be clear cut.
Depends on the team and on the game but generally the final game’s look isn’t really done until closer to release. They have simple or placeholder graphics that allows them to quickly make changes to more core parts of the game (mechanics, characters, etc) and when they finally get a good grasp of what the game is suppose to be, then teams will start trying to figure out the look and feel of the world and characters in it. There have been a lot of cases where games originally were going to have one look but the team pivots to a different look for whatever reason later on in development.
Please please keep in mind that this isn’t a 100% thing. Game development is still an evolving craft/artform and so best practices are still being worked on. I am also not a game developer so take everything I’ve said with a massive grain of salt. Game development is a complicated process that involves multiple people with different disciplines so not everything is going to be clear cut.
When you talk about “graphics” you’re actually referring to multiple aspects of the game that contribute to its visual appeal. A major component of that is [poly count](https://cdn.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/2486940-0248877224-ChsSw.png) and [texture quality](https://www.gamersnexus.net/images/media/2015/game-bench/blops-settings/blops-texture-comparison-2.jpg). The former is how detailed the 3D models are, the higher the poly count the better quality the model, more details, smoother edges etc. The latter is how detailed the textures are, textures are like a “skin” that wraps around the 3D model.
It’s easy to make high quality textures and models, usually the quality is reduced before shipping the final product so that the game performs well on average hardware at the time of release (or in the case of stagnant hardware eg. consoles, other techniques are used to optimise performance, allowing for better quality graphics). So you simply reduce the quality less if you want better quality on release, it’s all about balancing quality vs performance.
In some cases, other aspects like improved lighting effects, shading renderers can improve graphical quality with minimal effort by developers/artists. One of the main reasons to use a game engine for your game is that it makes it easier to take advantage of those improvements for minimal or sometimes zero effort. Or the improvements can simply be incorporated during the development lifecycle, it’s not like you’re stuck with whatever graphics features existed on day 1 of the project. In most cases the first several months or years of “development” you’re not writing a single line of production code, it’s all project planning, game design, storyboarding, maybe some artists creating concept art or a few assets, at best you might have a proof of concept mockup of the game.
There are also some advancements in graphics/game engines that cannot feasibly be incorporated into the game while it’s in development, and these simply don’t get used unless you want to scrap the whole game and start again (which has also happened). Because ultimately, you’re only competing against other games that also spent multiple years in development, so you’re all going to be lagging behind what the latest and greatest graphics technology has to offer. What you call a game having “up to date graphics” is simply graphics quality on par with competing products, even if the latest hardware is capable of more.
When you talk about “graphics” you’re actually referring to multiple aspects of the game that contribute to its visual appeal. A major component of that is [poly count](https://cdn.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/2486940-0248877224-ChsSw.png) and [texture quality](https://www.gamersnexus.net/images/media/2015/game-bench/blops-settings/blops-texture-comparison-2.jpg). The former is how detailed the 3D models are, the higher the poly count the better quality the model, more details, smoother edges etc. The latter is how detailed the textures are, textures are like a “skin” that wraps around the 3D model.
It’s easy to make high quality textures and models, usually the quality is reduced before shipping the final product so that the game performs well on average hardware at the time of release (or in the case of stagnant hardware eg. consoles, other techniques are used to optimise performance, allowing for better quality graphics). So you simply reduce the quality less if you want better quality on release, it’s all about balancing quality vs performance.
In some cases, other aspects like improved lighting effects, shading renderers can improve graphical quality with minimal effort by developers/artists. One of the main reasons to use a game engine for your game is that it makes it easier to take advantage of those improvements for minimal or sometimes zero effort. Or the improvements can simply be incorporated during the development lifecycle, it’s not like you’re stuck with whatever graphics features existed on day 1 of the project. In most cases the first several months or years of “development” you’re not writing a single line of production code, it’s all project planning, game design, storyboarding, maybe some artists creating concept art or a few assets, at best you might have a proof of concept mockup of the game.
There are also some advancements in graphics/game engines that cannot feasibly be incorporated into the game while it’s in development, and these simply don’t get used unless you want to scrap the whole game and start again (which has also happened). Because ultimately, you’re only competing against other games that also spent multiple years in development, so you’re all going to be lagging behind what the latest and greatest graphics technology has to offer. What you call a game having “up to date graphics” is simply graphics quality on par with competing products, even if the latest hardware is capable of more.
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