Hello World,

I was wondering, how exaactly do they make the kind of graphics that they have now a days? I mean if you look at games like Crysis 2 and 3 (which are a head of there time if you as me) there graphics are superior to just about any game out there. Is it the amount of detail that you put into your 3d models and levels that determine the graphical quality, or does the game engine produce the graphical quality? I guess what I am trying to say is, if I wanted to put together a level with high resolution graphics on par with some of the professional games out there, how do I do that. I look at a lot of the 3d modeling tutorials out there and a lot of what they produce isn't bad, it's just not as good as what you see in triple AAA quality games. I am trying to produce a model of superman that I want to use in the UDK 3 engine, however I'm not sure how to make a high quality model? Can anybody point me in the right direction?

yes... there's a reason these titles consume huge budgets

Ok, my programming skills aren't bad, just I am a total newb when it comes to making 3D models.

As others have noted, it's a combination of both. A fancy pants rendering engines will look bad if the artwork is of poor quality/craftsmanship and likewise an artist will have their hands tied if the engine is limited in terms of features. Saying that, I'd say that great artwork can save less-than-stellar graphics features but the reverse isn't really true. Bad programmer art looks bad regardless of cutting edge technology.

Honestly, as a programmer, I tend to forget how crucial artists are. I love graphics, but my artistic talent will never match what an artist could do. Give me the Cry Engine and a team of programmers only and there is no way in hell we could pull off a scene that looks as good as any scene in the actual Crysis game.

As programmers we deliver the tools, but the outcome of the product is artistic. It is the art that looks good. The tools we make as programmers are meant to allow the artistic team flush out what they invision in a convenient and flexible way while utilizing the hardware as efficiently as possible. This bond between the 2 teams (programmers & artists) is tightly coupled. As programmers, we wouldn't have good looking graphics, and without us, artists would have no way to express their visions. It's a beautiful complement... especially when you, as the customer, get to immerse yourself in the art. I'm currently playing Bioshock Infinity and the artistic immersion is truly mind boggling.

Also... I wish I had artist minions . What I work hard to implement would be so much more satisfying if it looked good.