Graphics Why are AAA textures so crappy?

[Gamer (ex-Cantavanda)]

Hello there, I have a question, why are the textures of AAA games created this day, still so crappy? I mean, when I get up-close to them, they're all a pixelly mess, if it's something like stone or character clothes.
The reason why I find this weird is because Skyrim mods have better textures then the ones I see in AAA games, personally, I have downloaded and installed many 4K - 8K texture mods for my Skyrim game, and shaders, and it is the best looking video game in my colleciton.

So my question is, if a group of unpaid modders can do SUCH a good job with texturing and graphics, why are the graphics, or at least the textures of modern-released AAA games so pixelly and messy? EVEN ON PC ON ULTRA SETTINGS!

Now, I really hope that for Skryim: HD edition, they'll use the graphics made by modders, or at least make it as good as that, but I have a little feeling modded original Skyrim will look better then the new enhanced version.. ... ...

 

[Coded Games]

I think Skyrim is a very poor example of good textures, or even a modern AAA game. Keep in mind it was made to run on hardware nearly a decade old and the game itself is almost half a decade old.

 

[HammerOn]

The bigger the texture the more time and money it takes to create because you need more details. It also takes more memory, loading time and performance.
Silhouette is more important than details. Unlike plain 2D images, real-time 3D is guaranteed to have sharp silhouette no matter the distance from the camera because the final geometry is calculate on the fly. A simpler but similar concept as vectors. Plain 2D is unforgivable to upscaling but you can get away with textures for 3D models because the edges remain well defined.

There are more advantages than drawbacks in using low resolution textures.
Modders care only about the graphical result. Developers have to deal with technical issues in hardware, design and costs.

 

[Khao]

Meanwhile, I avoid hi-res texture mods like the plague because they often only care about increasing the detail and resolution. There's mostly little to no thought on how good they actually look, or how well they fit the object they're placed on, or if their colors fit the mood that the original texture was going for.

There are exceptions out there, of course, but the vast majority of texture modders do an extremely amateurish job that ends up looking worse that the original despite being sharper and more detailed.

 

[whale_cancer]

but the vast majority of texture modders

I agree, but that is more a condemnation of most mods than it is of high texture mods specifically.