Today Bioware released an optional 1GB patch for the PC version of DA2 that installs high res textures.
http://social.bioware.com/page/da2-patches

This is the first occurrence of this sort of official patch that I'm aware of.

Does it bode well for the possibility of Bethesda releasing a similar patch for Skyrim?

I hope it doesn't require a patch, but that they come in the box as shipped.

TES games always launch with Hi-res textures in the game files. Then we modders will work on making even higher res textures over the months that follow the release for those with higher end computers.

BGS typically always releases higher resolution textures for the PC version. They did it with Oblivion, and Mr. Howard actually talked about this particular issue. More than likely, you can expect it to come with the actual game.

DA2 needs it way more than Skyrim too. Good thing they released this.

Can you clarify how high is "high res"?

In other words, can you explain what the likely level of resolution would be for the texture files in a vanilla version vs a heavily modded version? I only know how different things look (for example vanilla Oblivion vs. Qarl's HD Texture Pack).

I'm hoping that the vanilla PC version will at least include high res textures that are comparable to other 2011 games. The textures used in the highest display settings for vanilla Oblivion, FNV or FO3, did not look very high res to me.

I expect vanilla textures to be an improvement. I also expect to see higher-res texture packs within 24 hours of the game's release.

It should already be included.

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Wtf?

The hi-res textures were released that fast because the game desperately needed them.

The textures have to be included in the game, no in another patch :/

Bioware dropped the ball and had a very unfinished product, hence why the high res textures did not ship with the retail product.

Todd has already spoke about the fact the PC version will be coming stock with higher resolution textures. Don't quote me on this, but I believe PC textures are 1024 and console are 512.

I hope someone mods in textures that are 2048. My 2560x1600 resolution monitor is kinda wasted without them.

Someone will guaranteed mod higher resolution textures. I'd stake my reputation on it.

If Oblivion shipped with Hi Res textures then i'm Superman.

Blurriest game ever.

Did you play on PC?

i suspect its because the witcher looked waaaaaay better than DA2 cause projekt designed the game the correct way........PC first and then scaled back for the consoles.

Did you remember to turn them on?

Since I've been messing with modding tools for various games I can tell you that most of the textures not only Oblivion but also the majority of modern games have are 512x512 images,and look like this:

[img]http://plume.dk/pictures/oblivion/oblivion47.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.games-review.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/stalker-call-of-pripyat-1.jpg[/img]

The original Crysis and Crysis Warhead where the first games to include 1024x1024 textures,and looked like this:
[img]http://www.expreview.com/img/news/080116/crysis_1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www6.incrysis.com/screenshots/crysis_tod_art_2ptnfno.jpg[/img]

I think that for now "high res" textures are considered to be 1024x1024 images.
:mellow:

@Thread starter:
I hope the high resolution textures in case they are to be in the game,they will come inside the game's disc and not as seperate download.
Texture packs usually are very heavy files and downloading one would take too much time and then you also have to make a seperate install.
So if they have them it would be better to include them to the game itself IMO.

pfffffffffffft................ i want 4096x4096 textures. anything lower than that is like playing an arcade game for the 80s.

This is awesome info, thanks very much!

I have previously installed some 4k (4096x4096) texture packs for Oblivion and I still get decent frame rates.

if my display is only 1920x1080, does this mean I should replace these with a different texture pack (such as 1024x1024 or 2096x2096) in order to maximize fps? (or am I misunderstanding how this works?)

They currently look much, much better than the default Oblivion textures, but I'm not sure how the texture pack resolution correlates to the resolution of your display.

i will not approve of this sort of thing unless the patch would be 4 GBs in size at least. otherwise i wouldn't want to have to download it i'd want it in the pack.

No texture resolution doesn't have something to do with screen resolution.

Everything at a 3d world is made up by a mesh (a 3d model that takes space in the world) and then textures are applied to it.

A 3d mesh looks like that:
[img]http://www.eurecom.fr/~image/Clonage/maillage.jpg[/img]
After there is a geometry for something,we then have to apply an image as a texture up on that geometry.
Textures are actual image files like .jpg that we stretch and stick up on meshes.

The "texture resolution" is the resolution that the image we use as a texture has when it's not stretched and sticked up on a 3d mesh.
Higher resolution in textures means more detail and thus meshes dressed with higher resolution images look more realistic.
But the only difference a 512x512 texture with a 1024x1024 texture has when applied up on a mesh is the level of detail you can see up on that 3d model.

No matter if you are playing a game at 1024x768 monitor resolution or 1928x1080 the detail each texture has will be the same,so the resolution of the textures with the resolution of your monitor doesn't have to do that much.

Bigger monitor resolution eliminates the jagged edges so things that are supposed to be round look more round than made out of small squares,and lets you see more of the things happening,which is also why everything at your desktop screen looks smaller the higher your monitor's resolution is.

There must be extremes, however, for example, wouldn't it be overkill to use 4096x4096 textures on a really POS display?

It always boggles my mind when people complain that stuff like this should be the default or even only option, as if the universe revolves around them or people with hardware as powerful as their own. Options are good things, and there is nothing good about restricting textures to a high resolution not all the customers could run the game with. :facepalm:

What I find interesting about this is Mass Effect has a texture bug that affected one of the major characters as well as many of the NPCs... and Bioware said they couldn't fix it since the patch would approach 1GB. Perhaps their bandwidth costs went down enough to justify this kind of thing in the years since ME1 released.

We are paying them money, are we not? I'd like to think that gives our voice some credence.


Who said anything about restricting textures to a high resolution? It's not like having high-res textures means everyone is forced to use them. Just like in Oblivion, you could turn the texture resolution down. As you say, options are good.