I just can't make time for games that don't look good anymore. They don't have to be cutting edge, but they can't be plain, without lighting or an interesting color palette.
This engine is based off a 1990's game called Total Annihilation, Because of this, most of the fans and developers have an affinity towards the more simple graphics that mimic the original game.
Also, there can be thousands of units on the map, and each projectile is physically modeled.
Not to invalidate your stance, just providing background to why it is the way it is.
For the record, the engine was written from scratch, and not based, only inspired by TA - to bring its style of RTS to true full 3D. It has compatibility/easy portability of TA maps and units though.
The market is flooded with good looking games that are not fun.
Consider the fact that big budget games spend a majority of their budget on graphics, and are conservative in gameplay, because it is a risk to do anything else otherwise. See also: the film industry[1].
If you want to play games that are fun, look for games with graphics that are less than AAA quality. Smaller studios focus on what they want to build, at the risk of bankruptcy. This is the exact type of game engine you should be keeping an eye on, because small studios and independent developers don't all pick Unreal. They aren't spending their time building PBR-workflow assets because they take exponentially more time to build than the traditional 3D and 2D art workflows of yesteryear.
It is a project management objective to trade those things off, so one can ship a game.
There's a reason why games like Minecraft and Factorio have overwhelming mass market appeal. And Factorio actually has AAA level 2D graphics, but most kids wouldn't recognize that.
There are more games than ever, and in addition, there are now games that are several years old which never stopped being fun.
That's interesting. I find myself the opposite. The games that are improved graphically year on year are normally quite boring or scripted. Fifa and COD series for example.
I can appreciate great graphics like Red Dead 2 but if it could be 10% more fun but look 10% worse I would always pick the more fun option.
Exactly. I'm playing Red Dead 2 now and it's mind blowing how slow and limiting the controls are despite the world looking so full and lively. For the sake of realism and movie-like presentation, the player is reduced to A-B button pushing, to not interfere with the nicely laid out scripted scenes.
One thing I've picked up on that I especially hate is when a cut scene has you press buttons solely for the sake of interactivity, i.e. they don't utilize game mechanics.
"Press X to..." in a situation that you will never encounter again or press X again in. Like the cut scene isn't teaching you a mechanic, it's just making you pay attention.
