Major Graphics Update to League of Legends – a Fresh Look into Summoners Rift

League of Legends is set to go through a major graphical update with an upcoming patch receiving positive reactions from community members.

Being released in October 2009 the aesthetics of this highly popular F2P MOBA were starting to age, but the question then begs many of its target audience – what will the new PC specifications entail? It’s widely known that League of Legends can currently be played on rather low-spec computers or laptops, utilizing simple technologies such as on-board graphics or outdated CPU models. But will this major graphics overhaul exclude many that are so fanatical about their favorite gaming pastime?

In Riot’s announcement FAQ they have stated:

“At this very moment, the new map is more memory (RAM) intensive than the current map, however we’re optimizing like crazy and we’re committed to performance parity with the current Summoner’s Rift. You will not need to upgrade your PC or Mac.” Which is a very positive indication towards internet cafe’s and those unable to upgrade their machines.

Although this teaser video doesn’t delve into much detail, you can see some of the graphical changes Riot Games have been working on for its latest release. They’ve decided to keep their vibrant colourization and lighting style with including new models for things such as shrubbery and neutral creep placed in the ‘jungle’ amongst new spawn animations.

There have been changes made to the ‘dragon’ and ‘Baron Nashor’ pits along with some other changes to thickness of the jungle walling. Riot has stated that these graphical changes will not affect any gameplay in their previous announcements FAQ, also stating in the comments that the new special animations will not effect gameplay what-so-ever.

“We’ve made a number of quality-of-life changes around readability, but you won’t be fail-flashing because of the new map. Flashable walls, turret ranges, lane sizes, brush interaction and ward placements are all exactly as they are on the current map. Dragon and Baron feature reworked design and art, driving them toward feeling more intimidating and powerful. From a purely gameplay perspective, we focused on clarity, eliminating randomness in their attack patterns so skilled players can predict and avoid the monsters’ attacks.” Listed here.

There is nothing to be said for their other maps – The Twisted Treeline, Howling Abyss or The Crystal Star however, but one can assume all will overgo this update in due time.

As far as a release date is concerned Riot games have chosen not to pinpoint an exact time, claiming:

“We don’t have an exact date right now. We’ll be squashing bugs, ensuring great performance and listening for player’s feedback throughout the update’s stay on the PBE. All the work ahead makes a firm date tough to pin down.” Also located in their FAQ.

Stay tuned for what this MOBA heavyweight will bring out next.

Image courtesy of lol.stratics.com