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[Hypereides]

Focus on physics and AI improvement definitely seems to have become more absent in modern gaming and taken a backseat. I recall once when those aspects used to be pushed hard in tech demos as key features to sell a game.

Stuff like this requires skilled coders, and what we have working in these Western companies right now is the complete opposite of skilled coders.

The brain drain in the west has never been more apparent in western AAA than now tbh. Those senior long time devs with institutional knowledge are slowly being replaced by people who don't possess the same creative impulse, drive or skillset. Instead, they settle on some weird guys who'll screech about awkward societal/identity issues, because they don't have a well developed imagination or interesting life experience of their own to share.

Asian and some Euro developers are running in circles around those guys atm.

 

[djjinx2]

Red Faction Guerilla came out in fucking 2009 (OG was 2001 iirc)

Even older Battlefield games had great destruction, someone camping in a building just blow it to smitherines

 

[nkarafo]

Games are worse because more people play them (mainstream). So they have to cater to more at he same time, make sure they all understand them, make sure they can all beat them, etc.

They are also worse because not everyone involved in their making are nerd gamers like back in the day. Now you have political activists, feminists and DEI hires that an only do harm and add more obstacles for the actual developers.

 

[Shadowstar39]

I just find purposeful misinformation built around dishonest cherrypicked results to be tiresome and a microcosm of the outrage driven gaming community at large nowadays.


Waste of time and is only built to pile on to the victimhood perception that's so popular today around so many fandoms.

Victimhood, wtf... Nothing about that, its called noticing patterns instead of mindlessly consuming the "current shiny". Nothing wrong with being critical and noticing trends.

Also not all games are worse, there are tons of amazing modern games, but they come by way less often in AAA space. If looking at AA and indies, pc strategy and roguelikes, great games are flourishing.

 

[Laptop1991]

I know people dispute this, but I truly believe windows vista killing sound blaster and EAX really killed devs motivation to do good sound design.
Before that Soundblaster bundled games with their hardware and had deals with publishers to use their tech. The devs had to work environmental audio into games, make it impressive and showcase it.

All that stopped or seemed to stop after vista removed almost all sound card support except for el cheapo realtek /mb solutions or expensive xfi cards.
My work horse sound blaster live from 2000, had to be put to pasture.

People say realtek mb software sound is just as good as eax, and dedicated hardware, I don't believe it.
The on board chips may have some parity now, but the desire to leverage 3d audio and environmental effects isn't there.

EAX was great, and your right Vista did kill it.

 

[Fbh]

The video might have made a valid point, specially regarding physics and interactivity taking a backseat in AAA gaming, if they actually took the effort to compare games from the same franchises or at least the same developers, instead of just doing a bunch of cherry picked comparisons from completely different games by completely different devs.

 

[Aces High]

I 100% believe today's games would be much better if the industry had kept building on the small, cumulative effects of this attention to detail.

It's not hard to imagine the board meetings:

"Doesn't add to core gameplay. Distractive. Disrupts the pacing. Pareto principle. Etc"

The result:

Streamlined cookie cutter experiences without depth. Getting more shallow with every new generation.

Today's developers are the worst in the history of gaming. Period.

 

[Wildebeest]

I know people dispute this, but I truly believe windows vista killing sound blaster and EAX really killed devs motivation to do good sound design.
Before that Soundblaster bundled games with their hardware and had deals with publishers to use their tech. The devs had to work environmental audio into games, make it impressive and showcase it.

All that stopped or seemed to stop after vista removed almost all sound card support except for el cheapo realtek /mb solutions or expensive xfi cards.
My work horse sound blaster live from 2000, had to be put to pasture.

People say realtek mb software sound is just as good as eax, and dedicated hardware, I don't believe it.
The on board chips may have some parity now, but the desire to leverage 3d audio and environmental effects isn't there.

Creative already dumbed down sound with EAX from the best PC audio sound design of the late 90s. Games that had accelerated 3d audio were forced to use inferior reverb as Creative killed off competition. But now I don't imagine that audio is being held back by dedicated hardware, just people not caring enough to code software solutions to things like 3d or raytraced audio.

 

[winjer]

This is the biggest difference.

 

[spookyfish]

Not gonna watch that shitty grifter video.

What about a gritty SHIFTER video??

 

[vpance]

The brain drain in the west has never been more apparent in western AAA than now tbh. Those senior long time devs with instutional knowledge are slowly being replaced by people who don't possess the same creative impulse, drive or skillset. Instead, they settle on some weird guys who'll screech about awkward societal/identity issues, because they don't have a well developed imagination or interesting life experience of their own to share.

Asian and some Euro developers are running in circles around those guys atm.

Firaxis fired a ton of long time employees to save money, were replaced with "modern devs" and Civ7 was the result.

But you're right the real talent left western AAA in droves in the last couple years, either by choice and better pay or driven out by these new age agenda pushing corporates.

 

[diffusionx]

Most old games were either totally custom engines or they rewrote huge parts of the engines they had. Devs would add custom tech just because it would benefit their game. Nowadays, if the stock engine can't do it, then the game's not doing it.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

show Starfield, or rather The Elder Scrolls VI when it's out. Same developer, same IP. Have things regressed?

Well, yes, Bethesda are in this very video on how their games have regressed

I think their games have regressed. I've played all of their games, including Starfield

I don't get your point.

It's apperent to most that studios have had a severe drop off in quality as of late. Its not even in contention.

 

[Fatmanp]

I feel that in the search for bigger and prettier games have gotten dumber and less reactive i.e NPC AI and physics. If the new Splinter Cell ever comes out we all know it will be open world and have crap NPC AI. But we all know it will at least look nice. Yay.

 

[Generic]

Very interesting video. Not just nostalgia goggles when we say older games were better. Developers(not all) really have gone backwards.

The problem of this video is that not every game is designed around destruction.

Also, using Skyrim as an example of good AI is pure lulz.

 

[tr1p1ex]

when they moved from sprites as used in Duke Nukem 3d to polygons then they had to go backwards in interactivity and cool details for awhile until the hardware/developers caught back up.

Or in the case of rts games...they kind of disappeared in the transition to polygons from sprites. AoE and Starcraft died out during that transition. Coincidence?

Similar with open world games vs 'hallway' games.

 

[JayK47]

I've always wondered why certain things cannot be easily copied from past games, like enemy AI and physics. Do they literally need to reinvent the wheel every time? We should not be regressing on these things. Yet AI now is so awful in most games. I am starting to think that talent has simply left the industry and the people who have replaced them quite literally are not able to do it. But they have pronouns at least.

 

[Bond007]

Saw a recent video highlighting how NBA 2K14 looks and plays better than 2K25.
I agree. 25 simply looks cleaner in 4K.

 

[Generic]

 

[Wolzard]

Red Faction Guerilla came out in fucking 2009 (OG was 2001 iirc)

Even older Battlefield games had great destruction, someone camping in a building just blow it to smitherines

I've yet to see a more beautiful destruction design than Age of Empires II Definitive Edition. And it's 2D.

 

[Fess]

Well, yes, Bethesda are in this very video on how their games have regressed

I think their games have regressed. I've played all of their games, including Starfield

I don't get your point.

It's apperent to most that studios have had a severe drop off in quality as of late. Its not even in contention.

Only skimmed through it but it looked like they compared Avowed to Skyrim on npc reactions and interactivity. No?
That makes no sense imo. Compare Skyrim to TESVI instead, once it's out. Or compare BOTW to TOTK. Zero Dawn to Forbidden West. KCD1 to KCD2. The Outer Worlds 1 to The Outer Worlds 2. Etc. Same devs, same IP, actual sequels. Otherwise you'll compare what one developer is focused on for one project to what another developer is focusing on for another project, which can differ a lot.

 

[{insert code here}]

Very interesting video. Not just nostalgia goggles when we say older games were better. Developers(not all) really have gone backwards.

100% and it's kinda shocking how many people 1) don't see it and 2) defend it and cape for it. And, of course, the nostalgia argument inevitably shows up like it's on call.

 

[Generic]

100% and it's kinda shocking how many people 1) don't see it and 2) defend it and cape for it. And, of course, the nostalgia argument inevitably shows up like it's on call.

 

[Killer8]

I stopped watching this after a few minutes because it's just cherry picked stupidity to fit a narrative of "modern game bad".

There's a part about how old game AI has better self-preservation. It contrasts clips of FEAR's bad guys taking cover behind walls while nu-Far Cry enemies just stand around catching lead. But then later in that AI bit, it makes a point of showing how Perfect Dark's AI won't shoot at you if there's a friendly in their way - yeah, cute feature... except the footage is showing just as dogshit self-preservation as any modern game!

This revelation may seem shocking to some: developers only have limited time and budgets and need to prioritize certain features and details. It's now taking 5+ years and often hundreds of millions of dollars to release a game as it is, they don't have the means to do everything.

Red Faction for example would've been an utterly forgettable series if the developers hadn't prioritized destruction as its main selling point. They purposefully went above and beyond on that specific feature - so much so that it still holds up today. Few other developers actually need destruction of that level to realize their vision, though. No shit Helldivers II won't have the same level as destruction as Guerrilla, or the stealth of Splinter Cell, because it's a game about shooting aliens and does that very well already without it.

Would it be nice? Sure. Is it critical to make the game at all good like in Guerrilla? No.

I also don't understand why it omitted some really obvious like-for-like examples. Why compare Red Faction to Helldivers and not Donkey Kong Bananza, which has an eerily similar destruction system in 2025? Why use COD as the modern example of bullet impacts while neglecting to mention Doom: The Dark Ages' spectacular bullet impact system using SSDO and POM:



The video also doesn't mention The Dark Ages' fantastic destruction for that matter, or Assassin's Creed Shadows' cutting physics:



Oh right, because all those don't fit the narrative of "modern game bad".

I've always wondered why certain things cannot be easily copied from past games, like enemy AI and physics. Do they literally need to reinvent the wheel every time? We should not be regressing on these things. Yet AI now is so awful in most games. I am starting to think that talent has simply left the industry and the people who have replaced them quite literally are not able to do it. But they have pronouns at least.

AI is all just tricks to give the illusion of intelligence. FEAR's AI combatants are not even aware each other exist and so don't truly work as a team. It just seemed that way because the levels were so small.

There's a good Youtube channel about AI in games that goes into it:






Some of the best AI I have ever seen is Sophy in Gran Turismo 7:

Gran Turismo Sophy

Gran Turismo Sophy's website. GT Sophy is a revolutionary superhuman racing AI agent that has been featured on the cover of the world's leading science journal, Nature. Project overview, innovative AI technologies, race movies.

www.gran-turismo.com

 

[poppabk]

AI is all just tricks to give the illusion of intelligence. FEAR's AI combatants are not even aware each other exist and so don't truly work as a team. It just seemed that way because the levels were so small.

Yeah I remember being gob-smacked by the 'AI' in half-life, but in reality it was mainly just solid scripting faking actual AI.

 

[Deerock71]

Modern pu$$ies need their hands held.

 

[Knightime_X]

That was the norm back in the Ps3 / 360 era.

At 1/8th the graphical quality...
They could barely run minecraft

 

[Nintendo's Witch]

Ok boomer?

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Only skimmed through it but it looked like they compared Avowed to Skyrim on npc reactions and interactivity. No?

Just watch it

Even the Far Crys got worse.

 

[ToneyJ]

Lots of cherry-picked examples but I think it's true that modern games took a big hit when it comes to AI, physics, and fun details in environments. They're cutting a ton of corners nowadays.

 

[Generic]

At 1/8th the graphical quality...
They could barely run minecraft

Is there a PS3/X360 game like Fortnite? Open-world, 100 players, building system, nearly everything can be destroyed, vehicles (on water, land and air), NPC enemies roaming the map and real-time events.

 

[Knightime_X]

Is there a PS3/X360 game like Fortnite? Open-world, 100 players, building system, nearly everything can be destroyed, vehicles (on water, land and air), NPC enemies roaming the map and real-time events.

They are games with some of these features and next to none with all of these going on at once.
And absolutely nowhere close to the image quality we have today.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

That was the norm back in the Ps3 / 360 era.

It really wasn't.

You need to take off your nostalgia goggles. I could list 200 games from that gen that had shitty or basic physics