Graphics discussion

[Vermilion King]

Yes, i'm going to be THAT guy.

Looks like they've run some old sprites through a filter and touched them up on top, there's plenty of new sprites too, including the population.

Here's a comparison, zoomed x2 with no filtering. New game images from the store page, so they're a bit compressed.
https://i.imgur.com/xBnDfE9.png

Original with a widescreen patch still looks crisper and more detailed. By the looks of emoticon-like population and smoothed out buildings it certainly looks like a mobile game of a cheap caliber.

[m.stitek]

I'm afraid you're correct. Hopefully they will improve it for release.

[rataj]

Builders of Egypt will be much better! They really used OpenGL instead of directx. God what is wrong with the publisher?! 4 GB Ram (original 32 MB), for what? Ridiculous!
Next thing they saying 50 Missions in game description, which means 50 Missions within 3 Campaigns. Like original?!

[Noma]

Damn, it looks blurry, flat and less detailled. I thought that the image at the end of the trailer was just an homage of sort...

[Viriathus]

If you want to buy a new PC every 6 months to fit the (new) game graphic requirements, please, go ahade. But, if you played the original Pharaoh/Cleopatra and wish a revamped version you're on the right place.

I've some suggestions to the Devs but, on my opinion, the original core game must remain unchanged.

[Calorie Mate]

Yea I thought "remake? Nice!", but its looks to be just the same game in HD with some filters. Basically what patches do already.

I'm guessing the "modern standards" they're talking about are just some minor infoscreen changes as well.

I don't really see a reason to even buy this when Pharao + HD is still the ultimate version. Like, why even do this? What's the point? Making a quick buck?

[Jmi]

You guys got me all in doubt now about this game. I never played the original but I love city builders.

[Vermilion King]

Originally posted by Jimi:

You guys got me all in doubt now about this game. I never played the original but I love city builders.

The original and it's expansion are kind of amazing and they still work fine, install a widescreen patch for maximum enjoyment. Zeus+Poseidon is great but somewhat different than Pharaoh+Cleopatra. Also works and looks fantastic in 2020. Caesar i had trouble running, but that could be just me, it's also very similar to Pharaoh.

[Jorosyn]

Originally posted by Calorie Mate:

Yea I thought "remake? Nice!", but its looks to be just the same game in HD with some filters. Basically what patches do already.

It is not just a filter. The old designs have been re-drawn in a much higher resolution.

The new designs look "cleaner" because they do not have to compress all the details of the buildings into a 60 pixel wide sprite. So you don't get the same "muddyness".

[Vermilion King]

Originally posted by Jorosyn:

Originally posted by Calorie Mate:

Yea I thought "remake? Nice!", but its looks to be just the same game in HD with some filters. Basically what patches do already.

It is not just a filter. The old designs have been re-drawn in a much higher resolution.

The new designs look "cleaner" because they do not have to compress all the details of the buildings into a 60 pixel wide sprite. So you don't get the same "muddyness".

Old sprites are crisp and detailed, they're definitely not "muddy".
Moreso, new sprites are about the same size, so your idea of "compressed details" is kind of weird.

[=]NXS[=LT-WESKER]

Yeah the old graphics looks way better.

Pharao Classic :

https://external-preview.redd.it/ToHDowoWBXHW5bXqHYeKtTLHr92JmhIZO3ZE8NhoL4c.jpg?auto=webp&s=08bea00231283fb270b7b368b918f41d0be26665

Pharaoh: A New Era:

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/1351080/ss_fd3dd692299da70c780096dcbe08069c6ed53837.jpg?t=1598559876

[Matewis]

Originally posted by =NXS=LT-WESKER:

Yeah the old graphics looks way better.

...

Don't know about way better, but I'm leaning to the original graphics myself. This looks lighter (washed out?) with less jagged edges.
Some it is place holder stuff clearly, like the trees and hopefully the Nile mud as well. But some of it was done way too quickly, e.g. the temple to Bast is missing engravings on its one side, and the pillars look weird. Not sure what they did to the pyramid's edges either. Definitely a bit worrying.

[Dalv]

I'm not really sure how I feel about the new sprites either, they feel more cartoony? They seem a bit too washed out or something as well. Lost some clarity.

[Sinsem]

Originally posted by Matewis:

the temple to Bast is missing engravings on its one side

Engravings and hieroglyphs are not integrated yet, we want to check some of them with egyptologists first.

[Matewis]

Originally posted by Sinsem:

Engravings and hieroglyphs are not integrated yet, we want to check some of them with egyptologists first.

Wow ok +1 then.

By the way, if I may add to the deluge of wishlists here and elsewhere: presumably the trees are similar to structures, so they could perhaps easily support animations. It would look absolutely incredible if the trees were animated to wave around a little bit in the wind. I'm thinking of the charm that the animated flora adds to a game like Settlers 4. It would look especially great next to the enhanced water.
Even better, but harder unfortunately, would be to animate the grass and reeds next to the Nile, to create an effect like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTlwzsud-zg

[pitape]

It is exciting to have a remake of such classic. I just hope that it will run on light hardware such as Intel HD 620 graphics and will not use Unity 5 engine (so poorly optimised).