That's it... no AA?!?!! Forget about Half Life 2...

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yeggz

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Okay, so right now, probably the most debated part about Half Life 2 is the AA, or lack thereof. Even though Valve has stated that it's a problem with Direct X 9, and not their software, and even though Valve has stated that Microsoft WILL fix it, everyone is still going insane. Rumors are flying that there will never be AA support for Half Life 2. You know what?

WHO CARES? AA is a SMALL part of the graphics that, while playing, you BARELY notice. The physics engine will be JUST AS GOOD, the AI will be JUST AS GOOD, the character models will be JUST AS GOOD...

I watched the trailer and I didn't even notice AA was off. It still looked like the best graphics out there, it still looked incredible, my jaw still hit the floor just as hard... so I really don't care if they put in AA or not.

Discuss. ;-)
 
Yeah really, how could you miss it man? These double topics keep poping up more and more.
 
well, AA is important issue, why? becuase when someone buy a card for over £350 he/she wants to play any game with all the features turned on.
 
The reason that HL2 won't have properly working AA with DX9 is probably because they simply are not completely compatable with each other (its not a problem with either of them). Work on Source started 5 years ago, that means that Valve had to predict ahead how rendering would be done in the future, they said that the current pixel shaders and such have not been released yet to do AA properly. That probably means that Valve had thought they would be released by now when infact they weren't. Not that is isn't a major problem, it will end up getting fixed in the end anyway.

Please note that I am no expert, so I may be very wrong. Its just my view on things.
 
WATCHYA TALKIN ABOUT WILLIS?

fsaa makes a huge visual difference for me.... lol maybe i have super vision:afro:
 
AA will be fixed one way or the other...why would they put a game out with no AA support? doesn't make sence
 
I was expected another I WANT AA!!! bitch thread... sigh
 
I thought the problem was only with nVidia cards
 
AA means lag. I have a VERY good computer with everything upgraded and when I turn AA on even COUNTER STRIKE and HALF LIFE slow down. How do you think HL2 will run with it?

Think about it..
 
AA isnt that important. And if you think its super important you most likely are being a little anal about the graphics there fella.
 
...Half-Life 2 will still rock with or without FSAA.

I wouldn't worry about it.


G.F.
 
FSAA is pretty cool, but seriously, Half Life 2 will half great graphics with or without FSAA. I'm more worried about how objects could possibly destroy as one... i.e. hit a box w/a crowbar once, it shatters into a million pieces.
 
AA means lag. I have a VERY good computer with everything upgraded and when I turn AA on even COUNTER STRIKE and HALF LIFE slow down. How do you think HL2 will run with it?

Think about it..

AA and HL/CS has been a prob for most cards for at least a couple years; I dunno why... I had a good debate on this last year tho, can't recall much of it, except that the major defect is blurred text, and that gf4 mx 420/440/460 runs it better than a gf3/gf4ti/8500 on almost any config.
 
i ditto whoever started this post, there are some real idiots out there.

besides, aa is only a problem if you have to run on a low resolution... and who would do that? :D

i just wish they had antistropic filtering on in the docks video... everything that wasn't up close was just scary.
 
i never run in AA cause it slows down FPS and if your not in a pansy rez you wont see pixels anyway
 
Originally posted by Peks
i never run in AA cause it slows down FPS and if your not in a pansy rez you wont see pixels anyway
Click to expand...
Slow down? 16x12 is a much more slowdown than 10x7 with 2 or 4xFSAA, and the latter actually look better most of the time (most games are designed from a 10x7 point of view with menus and all).
Anyone who actually play with FSAA on the latest ATI generations knows what FSAA do, and its neither slow or unnoticable :)
 
According a Valve officials quoted in forums at HalfLife2.net web-site, there are problems with the way that current hardware implements FSAA. If you enable it, you will see a lot of artifacts on polygon boundaries due to the way that current graphics processors sample texture subjects with FSAA enabled.

Valve continued that this is a problem for any application that packs small textures into larger textures. The small textures will bleed into each other if you have multi-sample FSAA enabled.

Currently both leading graphics chips designers use multi-sampling or hybrid multi-sampling + super-sampling methods to for FSAA.

The developers of the legendary Half-Life game said that drivers are not likely to solve the problem, however, it still can be solved for graphics cards based on VPUs from ATI Technologies, such as RADEON 9500-, 9600-, 9700- and 9800-series. As for NVIDIA GeForce and GeForce FX-series, there are practically no chances to find a workaround, according to Valve.
Click to expand...
Nvidia cards cannot enable AA. While ATis can (In the near future that is).

/me hugs his 9700 pro.

Read the rest of the article here
 
Man seeing some of you don't know what FSAA is... kinda scary.
 
Perhaps fixing this bug for Nvidia cards will disrupt their unification drivers.
 
AA fixes jaged edges, I just can't remember what AF did except that it has something to do with the distance of things and that I noticed some kind of change in the farther away floors and ceilings when its enabled..
 
Originally posted by SpuD
I thought the problem was only with nVidia cards
Click to expand...

That's because people do not know how to read properly.
 
Originally posted by Adam
AA fixes jaged edges, I just can't remember what AF did except that it has something to do with the distance of things and that I noticed some kind of change in the farther away floors and ceilings when its enabled..
Click to expand...

The best example of AF is when it's turned off the floor will be blurry a few steps infront of you, when you turn AF on the floor will have detail and will also tiles will seem closer to each other the further it as from you.

And that goes for EVERYTHING in the game world, not just the floor.
 
AF, IMHO, is way more important to get right for a consistent gameworld, since AA can mostly be fixed by bumping up the resolutions. However, it is a pretty darn important feature for many gamers who don't have expensive monitors or vid cards.
 
Yes. AF is far more important than AA, but AA is important indeed especially as Apos mentioned.
 
I say they dont fix it for nvidia! Then, you know what! ati fanboys can have more of a reason to say nvidia sucks! yes! And valve is helping the situation by like so much you know? If it werent for nvidia after all, ati would have a monopoly and could shoot their prices through the roof, wouldnt we all like that?
 
And then Microsoft will just buy Nvidia and make their own cards.
 
I think that all who think that superb graphics is the main condition for a game to become excellent are totally wrong, because gameplay has much greater importance (I find physics engine far more important issue, for example). If you want great graphics, look through your window! :D

Therefore the AA and AF issue are not relevant at all, Source still kicks ass in the big picture. I think you're missing the whole point of gaming with this "oh no, I can't play the game if don't have on 8x AA&AF, although I don't notice them, when I play the game".
 
Actually if some of you are going to put such a big emphasis on AA...then it may be a good thing.

You all know how hype works? Hype kills.

If you all don't think a whole lot about the physics and you think about the AA not working....then the game will be better.

If you don't understand what I am talking about then you have never looked forward to a game, bought it, and then it sucked.

Am I saying HL2 sucks? Of course not...it is obviously going to be good...but it can be better if the hype is "shadowed" or held down.
 
FSAA pisses me off anyways.
who needs it. just run in a higher res and it looks way better.
 
AA is for people with small monitors...AA can make a game on 800x640 look like 1600x1200 or something but it laggs more so I have a geforce4 ti4200 and a 19" screen so i can run it on 1600x1200 and less lagg then on 800 so I dont really care
 
Originally posted by A.I.
I think that all who think that superb graphics is the main condition for a game to become excellent are totally wrong, because gameplay has much greater importance (I find physics engine far more important issue, for example). If you want great graphics, look through your window! :D

Therefore the AA and AF issue are not relevant at all, Source still kicks ass in the big picture. I think you're missing the whole point of gaming with this "oh no, I can't play the game if don't have on 8x AA&AF, although I don't notice them, when I play the game".
Click to expand...

Not relevant at all? It is for me! And I'm sure a few millions of other people agree.
http://w1.855.telia.com/~u85528876/EF2Compare.bmp
I took that a while ago after an AA/AF discussion, its dark yes, but look really close...
The top pic is no FSAA/AF, the lower is with 2xFSAA/16xAF. Look at the ceiling in particular, those lights running the entire lenght of the corridor. And that box on the right side, there you can see the effect of FSAA on the top (its not a very good pic to compare FSAA in general, I know, mostly just AF).

The top pic looks HORRIBLE compared to the bottom! You cant say its not relevant at all. Both FSAA and AF increases quality and gaming experience 10 times, and more.
 
like Nvidia wont do something about it to change it?
 
dawdler there is like no significant difference between the 2...
 
Originally posted by ferd
dawdler there is like no significant difference between the 2...
Click to expand...
Then you have to go and get your eyes checked. I thought gaming actually INCREASED your perception on pixels, as I have a tendancy of seeing something as small as a few pixels change when I play :D
If I still had it installed I could get a better and brighter picture... Maybe I can try with morrowind, still have that, or BF1942.
 
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