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Our Graphics Will Suck in the Future: Difference between revisions

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Our Graphics Will Suck in the Future (view source)

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[[File:Micros.jpg|link=Star Wars|frame|Well, it was a long time ago.<ref>In a galaxy far, far away.</ref>]]
 
{{quote|''We've got screens figured out '''now'''. What happens in the future that makes them worse?''|'''Graham Stark''', ''[[Unskippable]]''}}
|'''Graham Stark''', ''[[Unskippable]]''}}
 
{{quote|''Ugh, you'd think in the future they'd have better graphics than ''[[Pong]]''.''|'''Joel Robinson''', ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]: [[Warrior of the Lost World]]''}}
|'''Joel Robinson''', ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]: [[Warrior of the Lost World]]''}}
 
To the right is what a computer display in ''[[Star Wars]]'' looks like. Now look anywhere at your screen, and compare to what your computer can do.
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See also [[Extreme Graphical Representation]], [[Holographic Terminal]], [[Magic Floppy Disk]]. Related to [[Science Marches On]] and [[Tech Marches On]].
{{examples}}▼
 
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
 
* ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]]'' was made in the late 80s and mostly used command line terminals.
* ''[[Legend of Galactic Heroes]]'', apparently set in the late 3590s, also has bulky computers showing simplistic vector graphics.
* ''[[RahXephon]]'', set in 2027, has computers with interfaces [http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4386762/rahxephon/old_x-windows.jpg that seem to come from an X Window System interface from the 90s]{{Dead link}}.
** Not just any Unix installation, either—it's very clearly the desktop environment from Silicon Graphics' Irix, whose UI has remained largely unchanged since '''1991'''.
* At least they did better than ''[[Gundam Wing]]'', which doesn't even have GUIs who knows how many centuries in the future.
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* Compare the drab all-text computer graphics from ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]'' with the rudimentary graphics from ''Aliens''. 7 years is a long time in computer science.
** Also, check out the digital photo that briefly appears in the director's cut of ''Aliens''. It looks to be about .001 megapixel resolution.
** In fact, ''Alien'' did have wireframe 3D animation on some of the CRT monitors in the shuttle craft's bridge (see [http://www.filmsite.org/visualeffects9.html here]). The code for these was written in FORTRAN by British programmers on a Prime 400 microcomputer with 192 kB RAM (see [http://www.asfq51.dsl.pipex.com/bitsinmotion2.pdf here]).
* Averted (a bit) in ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'', which used modified cel animation to depict computer readouts that would otherwise be difficult or impossible in 1968, but played painfully straight in the sequel ''[[2010: The Year We Make Contact]]'', with graphics typical of 1984.
* In ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture|Star Trek the Motion Picture]]'' their scientific adviser took a look at what the effects people had come up with for their viewing screen tactical displays, and told them "I can do better than that on my [[TRS-80]]," so what we see in the movie is what he did on his [[TRS-80]].
** Some of the displays in ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|The Wrath of Khan]]'' and ''[[Star Trek III: The Search For Spock|The Search For Spock]]'' are definitely low-grade computer graphics. Then Michael Okuda came along on ''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home|The Voyage Home]]'' and vastly improved the look. It's particularly jarring, though, when one of the bridge displays in ''The Wrath Of Khan'', set in 2285, is primitive compared to the display of a circa-1986 computer in ''The Voyage Home''!
* The text we see when [[RoboCop]] [[Robo Cam|is first activated]] shows that he is running under MS-DOS 3.3.
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== Live Action TV ==
* Many a Trekkie has suffered brain damage trying to explain the dichotomy between the [[Viewer-Friendly Interface]] on computers in ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise|Star Trek Enterprise]]'' and the flashy lights and hand-made slides in ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]''—we get a little help from the fact that we almost never see the screens of video displays on TOS showing anything other than fullscreen video. We get a better look at a TOS-era display in the ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise|Star Trek Enterprise]]'' episode "In a Mirror, Darkly", where it appears to be a sort of art deco version of the TNG-era LCARS interface.
** ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' and ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' suffered from the same problem mentioned in the trope description of frame rate refresh being visible on screen. For that reason, only specialised TV monitors whose refresh rate could be adjusted to match that of the cameras were used, which meant that there you rarely saw an animated display in the background, only the ones necessary for the plot.
** While DS9 has considerably more animated displays than TNG, it makes it look like the Cardassians [[Salt the Earth|trashing the station on their way out]] replaced [http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/File:Bajoran_Intelligence_net.jpg certain displays] with (377-odd year old) Macintoshes, if the Chicago font is any indication. At least some of us wouldn't put it past those [[Affably Evil]] Cardassians....
** Voyager retconned this by stating a time traveler introduced computer displays to the 20th century. The result was an alternate timeline similar to our own.
* In ''[[Knight Rider]]'', all of KITT's "complex" displays are source listings of BASIC programs.
* Even worse, in ''[[Timeslip]]'', a futuristic (evil) computer can output ''directly as brainwaves'' or on a video screen. The video screen ''shows the image of a teletype printing out the computer's output.''
* The makers of the original ''[[Battlestar Galactica Classic(1978 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' made an effort to avoid (well, delay) this trope by using the top-of-the-line graphics systems then available for the bridge display of incoming enemy fighters. They looked rather impressive for about five years.
** Oddly enough, the [[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined(2004 TV series)|re-imagined series]] [[Invoked Trope|made a point of this]] with the computers on ''Galactica'', which [[Word of God|have been described as]] being far below the specs of today's systems.
*** It is presumably due to trying to avoid this trope that you don't really see the computer displays on the ''Pegasus'' (which is a more up to date battlestar) or any of the civilian ships, all of which would be running the "current day" (or at least more modern) colonial computers as opposed to the obsolete systems on the ''Galactica''.
*** The spin-off ''[[Caprica]]'' used much more flashy looking displays and technology in general - for instance, the tablet device Zoe uses and then rolls up to put back in her pocket.
** When the film ''[[Space Mutiny]]'' (which used classic ''Galactica'' scenes) was featured on ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'', Mike and the 'bots took notice of this easily.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* Monitors of any sort are rarely seen in ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' (it being a miniatures wargame, after all) but the graphical quality of what little we do see [[Zig Zagged Trope|tends to vary]]. Often justified since most races, especially humans, are living in a [[Used Future]]. The most recent example (at time of writing) is the [[Cold Open]] in the tie-in video game ''[[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine|Warhammer 40000 Space Marine]]''. The Imperial command's monitor has a fully functional GUI and supports a click-and-zoom map of the galaxy, but can only display yellow, red, and black.
 
 
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* The famous song from ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]'' is displayed on a monochrome terminal screen as it is sung, and illustrated with ASCII graphics.
** As is the interface on its [[Viral Marketing|companion website]], [http://www.aperturescience.com/ aperturescience.com]. Justified by the text of the secret employee entry: "And while we're all working on twenty year old equipment, somehow they can afford to build an 'Enrichment Center'." Suggesting that all funds were being diverted into developing GLaDOS and/or Portal technology while keeping everything else on a one-thread-of-a-shoestring budget.
** Not to mention that the monitors "don't need to print text one character at a time", so either [[G La DOSGLaDOS]] is sucking up all operating power as well, or she is just messing with people working at the enrichment center.
* Ansem's Computer in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]] 2'' is supposed to be highly advanced and storing all of his and his students research data. Yet, it uses 8-bit graphics and a user-interface which looks like the most primitive form of Windows the world has ever seen. Not even a mouse is used. It's somehow justified by the fact that this computer is the gate to "Space Paranoids", a world based on the '80s science-fiction movie ''[[Tron]]'', and the fact that it ''is'' at least ten years old already by the time ''KH2'' takes place, and there hasn't exactly been anyone around to upgrade the software.
* The computers in ''[[Grim Fandango]]'' appear to be teletypes hooked up to enormous amber-monochrome screens. It fits with the Art Deco theming everywhere.
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[[Category:We Will Not Use an Index In The Future]]
[[Category:Magical Computer]]
[[Category:Our Graphics Will Suck in the Future{{PAGENAME}}]]
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