I never said that how it looks doesn't matter and I didn't mean to imply that. What I was saying is that gameplay is what matters the most, not modeling out every window frame and adding tons of unnecessary detail that wastes performance. Valve is very good at creating environments that are believable and have the perfect…
The thing is, it's made to be played, not to stop and look at. Anyway tiny details like a window not being 3D don't bother me. The quality of the way the environments are organized and laid out is much more important to me than if it's at a high level of detail. You can easily believe that their environments are real…
I think a few of you guys hit the nail on the head here. Valve visuals are always expertly concepted and tweaked for a perception of a believable place and real characters. It's much more impressionistic than literal and it's seldom actually as photorealistic as you think it is. Take their assets individually and they can…