Graphics/textures enhancement

[Wolfball]

I've got this question.
I've been playing games for a steady 8 years now, which started when I first had a bundle version of the Unreal demo. Unreal the First, mind you! With its stunning state-of-the-art graphics and fantastic atmosphere.

Now, to me, there were, after that, two pivotal moments in my gamer life. The first was found in Half-life. The gameplay slap it gave the player was just amazing, and it litterally FELT great. That is what is worth all these hours that we spend in front of a game.

Second key moment was when Deus Ex was released. THAT game was arguably one of the most intense virtual experiences one could have, a revolution. And, all geeky all crummy that it makes me, I must say it became a bit of my bible. At least, the greatest game of all times, in my opinion. I litterally felt the whole thing, and I keep playing it every one or two years, notwithstanding the TERRIBLE sequel (in my opinion anyways).


Now, to the point. Whether the funky colors of Unreal, futuristic sceneries of HL or cyberpunk beauty of DX, every living or computer-based thing gets older. To this point, I must state the soon-to-be obvious, i.e. I have absolutely no clue about the technical details of programming. Thus I might ask the dumbest question ever. Still, here goes:
textures are essentially files, aren't they?
Therefore, should one be kind and gifted enough to design enhanced textures for a given game, couldn't he/she barely swap the old files with the new ones, thus not changing anything to the game but the way it LOOKS?

The point is: if I was able to play Deus Ex number one with incrementally enhanced graphics/textures each time around, I would be among the happiest men. Because, even for your favorite game, it is still a pain to deal with too great a number of pixels, when you've got a FarCry in another drawer... which is also pure goodness, but still cannot top DX... although my mind starts spinning crazily when I think of the possibilities if the latter could benefit from the graphics of the former.

Now, obviously, I am not talking about the physics engine, as I suppose that would require a huge amount of work. But "JUST" the textures. Could it work?

And if so... why the hell hasn't it been done to date? (and I am not talking of the re-hashed version of HL that was published with the sequel)...

By the way, if I remember well, and although I never tried it myself, I once saw a mod for Morrowind which did nothing but this: texture enhancement/polishing. Don't know how well it worked, but al least it sounded promising!

Thanks for helping!
W

[ebackhus]

I feel your pain... As someone who plays many games on PCs and consoles I know how frustrating it can be to see low quality textures. I especially hate when a developer ports a console game to PC and leaves the textures the same as they were for the PS2 counterpart! There are some unofficial mods out there for many games and I've even seen some people redo the texture maps themselves. The biggest downside is the source files you're working from. If they come low quality then there's little you can do to make them better short of recreating each one. I wish I could help more but I've just taken to accepting things as they are.

[Wolfball]

I see...
But you mentioned "recreating" the source files. Although I am not too aware of what that would mean in terms of workload, I assume that would be feasible, wouldn't it? E.g. I just started a new Deus Ex game yesterday.

It is grand and all, but still the facial models are horrific, and this crummy NYC sort-of-drawing (cause I really don't know how to qualify such a bad one) in teh background, is really spoiling the view. This is the latest version, so I assume Ion Storm have done their best to enhance their "product". Still, what exactly would it take to entirely REDO the outdoor and facial textures in DX? (for example)

Who would do that? Would the designers themselves ever consider it? What do you think? There must be a way!

Personally, I would gladly pay the price of a brand new game just to replay one of my favorite games with revamped graphics... not to mention the physics engine, damage localisation and all the likes... Damn! I know it would be practically unfeasible from a commercial standpoint to market a mere "remake" of a game, but at least, I am pretty sure the entire fan community would pounce on it, as well as a whole category of gamers that might have considered playing it if they hadn't been so turned off by the dated graphics...

[ebackhus]

It'd be like taking the Mona Lisa and repainting it but with more quality to recreate the textures. I'd first look for mods that have been made and if none are available and you feel willing you can try for yourself.

[Wolfball]

Thx for taking the time to answer, and for suggesting I actually try and do something about it! I would have no idea how to do that! Thankfully for me and other equally challenged folks, some people actually seem to have the skills and the talent:

http://offtopicproductions.com/hdtp/

Definitely worth checking. It seems those guys are really smart, and I am really not smart. Either way; good news. Note that the 16th February deadline was given... that is... tomorrow?

W

[ebackhus]

Aye, tomorrow. Projects like revamping a game are usually taken on by groups or people with abnormally high levels of energy.

[Wolfball]

Yeah well, we'll see about that!