ESO remaster/anniversary ed. If not for 10th year, when?

wenchmore420b14_ESO · May 2023

SkaiFaith wrote: »

@TaSheen I'll give you examples, so please tell me if these aren't distracting to you, I want to understand if it's a me thing...

One is a door in Windhelm and the other rocks in The Rift.
It being a 4K TV doesn't matter - those look bad to me... Definitely improvable. Isn't this kinda objective?

I am going to write it up as console. Sorry, and nothing against consoles, but I took SS of same door.
I am on PC, outdated one at that, with settings on max/ultra, 94 fps, and I think world looks fine.
And as said, a re-launch is way to much of a process for ZoS.

katanagirl1 · May 2023

wenchmore420b14_ESO wrote: »

SkaiFaith wrote: »

@TaSheen I'll give you examples, so please tell me if these aren't distracting to you, I want to understand if it's a me thing...

One is a door in Windhelm and the other rocks in The Rift.
It being a 4K TV doesn't matter - those look bad to me... Definitely improvable. Isn't this kinda objective?

I am going to write it up as console. Sorry, and nothing against consoles, but I took SS of same door.
I am on PC, outdated one at that, with settings on max/ultra, 94 fps, and I think world looks fine.
And as said, a re-launch is way to much of a process for ZoS.

You are much farther away from that door than the previous screenshot. Get up close where you would get the prompt to open it.

EDIT: lol, you guys can open it that far away, we can’t

SkaiFaith · May 2023

wenchmore420b14_ESO wrote: »

SkaiFaith wrote: »

@TaSheen I'll give you examples, so please tell me if these aren't distracting to you, I want to understand if it's a me thing...

One is a door in Windhelm and the other rocks in The Rift.
It being a 4K TV doesn't matter - those look bad to me... Definitely improvable. Isn't this kinda objective?

I am going to write it up as console. Sorry, and nothing against consoles, but I took SS of same door.
I am on PC, outdated one at that, with settings on max/ultra, 94 fps, and I think world looks fine.
And as said, a re-launch is way to much of a process for ZoS.

Ok but... If it's a console issue... Why the Series X version is afflicted with all the power it has? I mean... It's not a 4090, but it can keep up with a 2080-ish. Can't see why it has to look so much worse...

Edit: I can't talk for PC but on console the rocks of Auridon and Rivenspire are ages far from the rocks of Vvardenfell and Summerset in texture quality and polygons. I'm saying I would like if everything would be at the same quality of the latest DLCs, with some adjustments to things like those in the screenshots if DLCs are affected by them too (I can't think about it on top of my head now)

SatanicSister · May 2023

So, I went ahead and did some screenshots with my current settings. I don't have everything on the highest settings but quite close to it.

So, let's start with the Rift area, east of Fullhelm fort. I added Isobel too, as a sort of reference (changed her outfit in the middle of it, as Za'ji's outfit started annoying me). I wasn't really that bothered by the rocks and cliffs themselves. The only bit that looked bad was the rock wall from behind (middle pic). Let it be said, I don't like it how Isobel looks. It's like devs tried to make her look better than the rest of the people in Tamriel and gave her face some more texture. But her "polished" look seems out of place and is off-putting to me.

Vvardenfell. Not much difference there. I do apologise because now the pictures are taken at night.

Stonefalls (my favourite base game zone). Terrain and textures actually look better in some places than in Vvardenfell.

Rivenspire. Looks good.

Summerset, outside of Alinor. Different type of terrain, texture still feels the same.

And Imperial City, was released a little over a year after the base game. Even the rubble looks stunning.

What looks better in newer chapters are buildings and such, not the terrain nor vegetation. They are still pretty much the same. I am no expert but upgrading these would probably result in higher requirements. I don't think many people would want to buy new computers just so they could get better looking grass in the game.

SkaiFaith · May 2023

@SatanicSister it seems by your point that PC doesn't feel the need of an update, but the console experience is different and I'm starting to really wonder why - I can get base Xbox One and PS4, but PS5 and Series X are not justifiable... And since I am here, they also have quite bad pop-in and low viewing distance.
Sorry but seeing such a difference between PC and console is pissing me a bit: a 9 years old game, on a 2020 high level hardware, I simply don't understand...
At this point, should I hope for an enhanced version when mid-gen will hit shelves? (Sounds crazy to me...)

Edit: the issues I pointed out in my screenshots, or the higher grass density, to me they seem to need a proper rework, I don't know if they can be addressed in an enhanced version just for a mid-gen console...

colossalvoids · May 2023

Honestly don't see such plans executed anytime soon, and on a later dates the game might enter an actual maintenance mode (yeah, more than now, I know) making it even less likely. Most zones are still looking from fine to good imo. But I'm not really big into graphics but gameplay which might be a minority thing now.

AvalonRanger · May 2023

ESO remaster

I couldn't touch Marvelous designer 8 years ago. But, now we can use it.
I made dark fantasy cloth and monster with only photoshop and Zbrush 8 years ago,
but we can use substance painter and designer now.

And, we can use Unreal Engine5 now.

So, it's time to remodel old model. Especially apparel model.

TaSheen · May 2023

@SatanicSister - I was going to do screenshots today, so thanks, now I don't have to! Game looks for me like your shots do - though I run the game on a 4k screen, which might make mine different from yours. So I'm thinking it really is a case of console not doing graphics quite as well.

And again, I don't think they need to spend the time and money on that sort of thing at all. My previous experiences with "major graphics overhauls" were NOT good, leading to me outright quitting a couple of games.

Tenthirty2 · May 2023

I'm with @TaSheen in that I'd be too concerned any "upgraded" visual would drastically change the facial structure of my characters and that would be a game-ender for me.
I can (and have) put up with a lot of changes in the game and found ways to continue to find enjoyment in it.

I also put a lot of time and a lot of ME into my characters facial appearance and personalities. They're like extensions of my spirit.
Do not fetching touch my spirit.

I agree that character body\face models are a bit "blocky" at times, odd seams on the skin with some outfits, low-res textures on outfits, etc. There are moments of brilliance too but those can also be frustrating.

For example the character gen menus, the faces can be beautiful when created, all the neat details really show nicely.
But then you get in game and the rendering is obviously lowered. So it leads to some irritation of what looked good to me when created, gets "changed" during a live session.

Same thing happens when you do locally rendered cut scenes, the crow banker\merchant come to mind. When you use the banker and the crow sits on your forearm, you get a nice zoom in of your character's face and expressions, they are gorgeously done, lifelike, etc. In world however, less so.

Other things that are irksome are world textures in the older zones.
And grass-type textures, gods I think there is nothing that drives me nuts more than those cruddy 2D textures they use for grass. The way it rotates when you look at it, trying to "appear" 3-dimensional. Especially in housing when I've done some nice terracing or put up paths or low walls in a garden. Looks great from one angle, then you move and see the bloody grass rotate THROUGH the objects I placed, it just looks awful. I wish we had the option in housing to just DELETE stuff like that.

So things like that I wish they could change in an updated game engine.
On the technical side I totally understand why they don't/can't, but it's still a dream I have

And also for the reasons I mention initially I don't think I'd want them to mess with the character models.
OR if they did offer upgraded visuals, let us choose what we want to use or not.

In the end tho I'd say leave the base-game visuals be, continue to work on bug fixes and optimizations to improve fluidity and game play.
This would be my wish\dream.

Vrienda · May 2023

Never. MMO's pretty much never get remastered.

Re-released in their classic form yes, but not remastered.

Fenris_Arainai · May 2023

No, thanks. I think the game doesn't need any "remaster" as it's great the way it is (also working for lower end PCs, don't know about consoles).

I'd also rather they worked on new content, instead of repainting old walls.

markulrich1966 · May 2023

there must be something wrong with that xbox screenshot above.
Maybe the TV is set to "gaming mode"? In that mode, it reduces latency by drastically reducing grafics quality. This mode is intended for FPS shooters like Fortenite, using a different HDMI input (NOT "game") or setting usually can deactivate gamemode.
Or the next gen patch was not installed, the screenshot reminds me of my former oldgen One S. Less "depth" and detail.

This is the Series S (the small nextgen, 230 Euro) in performance mode, 4k, HDR deactivated (as I don't like HDR on my Asus Gaming Monitor):

Further away like on the PC screenshot:

Closer for comparison with the xbox screenshot:

SkaiFaith · May 2023

@markulrich1966 interesting. I have Game mode disabled on my TV, I also disabled 120Hz. I don't think Dolby Vision is the issue...
I am in the process of doing a clean reinstall of ESO: I have bad internet so it will take until tomorrow. I'll see if anything change...
Btw, the game icon has the X|S optimized logo and in theory the smart delivery system should provide the correct version on each device.
I may have an idea of the issue but I'll wait to see the results of the reinstall cause I could be wrong. (Would be a messy situation if it's what I think but should be solved then).
Thank you for the insight!

richo262 · May 2023

I don't know about a total remaster, but the base game is very much showing its age.

SkaiFaith · May 2023

markulrich1966 wrote: »

there must be something wrong with that xbox screenshot above.
Maybe the TV is set to "gaming mode"? In that mode, it reduces latency by drastically reducing grafics quality. This mode is intended for FPS shooters like Fortenite, using a different HDMI input (NOT "game") or setting usually can deactivate gamemode.
Or the next gen patch was not installed, the screenshot reminds me of my former oldgen One S. Less "depth" and detail.

This is the Series S (the small nextgen, 230 Euro) in performance mode, 4k, HDR deactivated (as I don't like HDR on my Asus Gaming Monitor):

Further away like on the PC screenshot:

Closer for comparison with the xbox screenshot:

Btw, zooming in your closer screenshot (I'm on mobile) it seems to me that the "lock" of the door still has some issues - I mean it's not super defined, right? A bit grainy on some details... Even if better than mine.

markulrich1966 · May 2023

SkaiFaith wrote: »

Btw, zooming in your closer screenshot (I'm on mobile) it seems to me that the "lock" of the door still has some issues - I mean it's not super defined, right? A bit grainy on some details... Even if better than mine.

yes, not "perfect", but somewhat antialiased, good enough it does not disturb when playing, as you usually don't stand still and stare at the door.

I was reluctant to buy the series S, as on screenshots and videos the difference old/new did not look drastic.
But I now see the difference, especially in performance mode (I first used fidelity - btw. this is a way to determine if you have the patch, the video option ingame has HDR and performance/fidelity settings in the X/S version).

The nextgen adds many subtle improvements, that *in sum* result in a much better looking game. Even on my 50'' Full-HD (no 4k) Samsung TV that I play in less than 1 metre distance (have plastic lenses in my eyes, cataract, so a fixed point of focus), that I will not replace as the colours beat anything I have seen so far.
The game looks more detailed, better shadowed, more realistic lightning, as a result has more "depth", and the smooth movement in performance mode usually "blends out" remaining low details, I very rarely notice them. Someone mentioned tomato-crates, yes, such crates still look ugly.

Hope you can solve your settings issue!

SkaiFaith · May 2023

@markulrich1966 yes, I had Fidelity too but changed to Performance mode when they enabled dynamic 4K.
The thing is I had lots of improvements from OneX to next-gen: shadows, reflections, illumination, 60fps, loading times... But textures, level of details, viewing distance, remained ugly in my opinion (as you saw) - I'm guessing there's been an error with the automatic update of the game when I transferred it from old gen to new gen; I didn't redownload it back then. It would be pretty weird that the update gave some features and not others, but I can't find other explanations if my experience is not shared by anyone else.

If other Xbox Series players (or PS5) have similar graphical issues, please let me know!

At least you can see the reason I think a remaster is needed XD I want it to look better than what I have right now... Rightfully so...

Edit: My ESO reinstall has failed two times already - a problem I always had with this game on every console. Not only it is 100GBs but it also fail the download many times before deciding to complete it, and every time it restarts from zero. Frustrating.

ArchMikem · May 2023

ZOS has talked about revisiting the base game zones visuals, but only after they fill the map with new content first. We just may get out "remaster" but it's a way off.

SkaiFaith · May 2023

ArchMikem wrote: »

ZOS has talked about revisiting the base game zones visuals, but only after they fill the map with new content first. We just may get out "remaster" but it's a way off.

This sounds further than TES 6.

SoraJP · May 2023

The game already does include higher quality assets for EVERYTHING, which aren't being used. It is possible to use the assets on PC using .ini file tweaks. Most of the tweaks can be found and explained here: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/347224/optimized-usersettings-ini-for-next-gen-ish-pc

These tweaks to make the game look much more modern, at the cost of performance. The game is horribly optimized for this, most notable is loading screens with this. While it did double my loading time, I had near instant loading screens beforehand. This would be even worse if it were on console.

An upgrade could happen in the future because these assets do already exist, it is just a hardware and optimization issue.

Ragnarok0130 · May 2023

On my PC ESO still looks amazing. I also run large group content in trials with lots of things going on so I don't want a heavier graphics load than we already do since certain boss fights like the Reef Guardian are already taxing even on a higher end PC.

Are there some low res textures from 2014, certainly but they're usually in things like a crate of tomatoes that don't really stand out. The majority of the game really looks nice for an MMO IMO.

Mrtoobyy · May 2023

I play with my Reshade setting on PC and the graphics are awesome IMO. Of course alot of things could have the textures updated but I don't need a total remaster of the graphics.

However I would LOVE for them to go over the animations, there are so many animations that are bad and look awkard.
Like light attacks with a staff... I have said it so many times, look back when the game launched or even earlier. They had so much good stuff going on but I think the choice of keeping animation canceling in the game is the reason we have spasmic/clipping animations. I would love more fluid "weighty" animations as it was earlier in this game, look at many NPC's or mementos they have great animations.

SkaiFaith · May 2023

As expected, after reinstall nothing has changed. Tried both Fidelity and Performance mode with identical result.

Am I allowed to expect a "remaster" of blurry details like these? 😝 Consoles can definitely be improved...

Edit: I've put out the Nazaray staff for comparison - that one looks good! It's the base game that needs an upgrade, from top to bottom in my opinion, so many things need adjustments/refinements...

Danikat · May 2023

It really doesn't bother me if certain textures look a little bit blurry when you get right up close to them or if every rock isn't perfectly realistic or whatever. I know ESO doesn't have the latest top-of-the-line graphics but I don't think it affects my enjoyment of the game at all.

As other people have mentioned what would affect my enjoyment is if everything was redesigned to someone else's idea of "better" and my characters didn't look like themselves anymore, I had to re-do my houses because furnishings have changed etc. (I use a few 'tricks' in my decorating like embedding objects in walls or the floor or turning them upside down to look like other things and there's a good chance at least some of that wouldn't work if they were redesigned.)

At best I think it would be a lot of work for little/no benefit. At worst it could ruin the aesthetics of the game for at least some people and make it unplayable on lower or mid tier PCs. I bought a new PC last year and specifically didn't get a 4K graphics card because they're still quite expensive and I'd have to buy a new monitor as well (and besides we have the PS5 if we really want a game in 4K) so I definitely wouldn't be happy to see the game force everyone to use 4K graphics. Either it'd have to be downscaled, making it pointless, or I'd have to upgrade my PC and then I'd just quit playing until I was ready to do that rather than upgrade for one game.

I don't understand this obsession some people have with re-releasing everything ever few years just to slightly tweak the graphics. I understand why companies do it, they can keep re-selling the same game over and over for much less effort than developing a new one, but I don't understand why players are happy to waste their money re-buying those games over and over just because certain things will look a bit different.

markulrich1966 · May 2023

SkaiFaith wrote: »

As expected, after reinstall nothing has changed. Tried both Fidelity and Performance mode with identical result.

Am I allowed to expect a "remaster" of blurry details like these? 😝 Consoles can definitely be improved...

Edit: I've put out the Nazaray staff for comparison - that one looks good! It's the base game that needs an upgrade, from top to bottom in my opinion, so many things need adjustments/refinements...

Here is another screenshot from my system, I tried to make it from the same distance as yours for better comparison.

It is closer than my first two, and yes, it looks less detailed now, close to yours.
So your settings might indeed be correct, small differences might be caused by different contrast/brightness settings.
I am ok with it, as I mostly play in 3rd person perspective, where you never get close enough to see this issue.

As others I share the opinion, that I prefer permormance over more detail, also the current download size of 90GB is already huge and should not be increased. Just as optional package.

SkaiFaith · May 2023

If PC players don't see the issues I encounter on console I can see why they don't want a remaster.

I talk as a person who purchased a Series S and then upgraded to a Series X for the sole purpose of getting rid of the aliasing that was making impossible to enjoy the game to me, since I play on a 55 inches display from around 2 meters and the jagged edges were really distracting.
I am also the kind of person that is ready to preorder the "Series X Pro", and I only play ESO, so I think it's fair for me to be a bit upset in investing so much to still have issues that afflicted the base game since the base Xbox One, and that PC players tell me they don't have even on lower end PCs, while modern consoles definitely aren't that weak.

So if you don't want to call it a remaster it's fine, but the base game on consoles needs to be upgraded, even more now that the "mid-gen" is approaching. (Trigger Warning cause this could irritate someone: ) The actual state simply doesn't feel right or just to a loyal long time player/investor, and even though I'm not advocating for this I can see why many players want the devs to abandon the old-gen machines.

I really love ESO, and because of this I'm asking for it to be made more marvelous than what it appears right now on consoles. I don't want to buy the next console hardware only to hear PC players telling me it runs better on their old hardware - it's quite annoying, hope you understand.

Edit: I focus on updating visuals and not "more important broken things" simply because visuals should be easier to upgrade since there is a matching hardware upgrade that should result in giving more capabilities in the hands of devs - something a generational change doesn't do for those "more important broken aspects" like bugs and stuff that always require more work... (Speaking in my admitted ignorance on the matter).

Kiyonami · May 2023

xclassgaming wrote: »

SkaiFaith wrote: »

The title. When (if ever) do you think we will see a remaster or anniversary edition of ESO with reworked visuals/animations?

I would love to see many things redesigned 'cause, yes ESO is on the higher end of MMOs visually speaking, but still, it shows its age in some aspects.

Any educated guesses? Or even wild ones... I would explode of joy if 10th year would be THE year, but I set my hopes low.

Note: I'm just talking visually - PLEASE DON'T START COMPLAINING ABOUT PvP or "broken aspects"; I don't want this thread closed. Thank you

The game is gorgeous it doesn't need a "Remaster."

This^. Totally agree.

P.S. Maybe just add more character customization options and better animations.

Dr_Con · May 2023

SkaiFaith wrote: »

*turns on 800x600 aspect ratio, fullscreen, and zooms in on a pattern on a door*

my my, this game DOES look bad

*turns it back to full screen windowed*

nvm

I'm in the camp of performance over detail anyways,

SkaiFaith · May 2023

Dr_Con wrote: »

SkaiFaith wrote: »

*turns on 800x600 aspect ratio, fullscreen, and zooms in on a pattern on a door*

my my, this game DOES look bad

*turns it back to full screen windowed*

nvm

I'm in the camp of performance over detail anyways,

Lol, funny, but I detailed how I play and that is simply what I see everytime I open a door without zooming anything in first person - even more: my first person FOV is widened. So no, not really what you said.

P.s. you know... Playing above 50 inches is always "zoomed" compared to a 24 inches...

P.p.s. also you voluntarily avoided to look at the image of the rocks in The Rift, and as your name suggests it's a troll comment, right? So shame on me for falling for it.

danno8 · May 2023

markulrich1966 wrote: »

SkaiFaith wrote: »

As expected, after reinstall nothing has changed. Tried both Fidelity and Performance mode with identical result.

Am I allowed to expect a "remaster" of blurry details like these? 😝 Consoles can definitely be improved...

Edit: I've put out the Nazaray staff for comparison - that one looks good! It's the base game that needs an upgrade, from top to bottom in my opinion, so many things need adjustments/refinements...

Here is another screenshot from my system, I tried to make it from the same distance as yours for better comparison.

It is closer than my first two, and yes, it looks less detailed now, close to yours.
So your settings might indeed be correct, small differences might be caused by different contrast/brightness settings.
I am ok with it, as I mostly play in 3rd person perspective, where you never get close enough to see this issue.

As others I share the opinion, that I prefer permormance over more detail, also the current download size of 90GB is already huge and should not be increased. Just as optional package.

He is also taking a picture of the screen as opposed to an actual screenshot. That will never look as good.