Old games looking much better with AI help

Who doesn't want to stop playing ol' good games? Some classics we can't let go.

Unfortunately, for many of us with time, their graphics don't look so good. It's ok to feel that way after you've played some good-looking 3D games and then switch to a pixelated oldie. It's not that the game is bad. It's just that its graphics are outdated. It happens. It's natural.

Being aware of this, some modders are using Artifficial Intelligence to update these old games' graphics, such is the case of 2002's Morrowind.











This is a technique called upscaling. The technique itself is not new, but with the help of AI, it's done in a much faster way, yielding results such as seen above. What's also impressive is the speed at which this can be done nowadays.

It means restoring the graphics can be done in a few weeks by a single dedicated modder, rather than a team that has to work for years. As a consequence, there’s been an explosion of new graphics for old games over the past six months or so.

says the Verge.

Many games are being improved with this technique, including, but not only, Doom, Half-Life 2, Final Fantasy VII and GTA: Vice City.

However, the AI being involved doesn't mean humans don't have to work at all. A modder whose name is unknown told the Verge he spent 200 hours of work on Doom's updated visuals.

Will this mean a lot of us will be spending more time in old games? Do all old games need better textures to be playable? Will low-end users be affected by this? What else can AI do?