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[Tito2k6]

QUOTE(VariableElite @ Mar 12 2006, 01:07 AM)

It's the equivalent of the Bevel and Emboss or Outer Glow effects to noobs of Photoshop. Once they get the hang of it, they'll realize how to use it effectively, instead of sticking it everywhere possible.

It reminds me of the early days of lense flare  It's worse though because it takes away from visual spender that both GRAW and Burnout have.

[ILLusions0fGrander]

i got bored and just rented burnout instead of waiting for gamefly... used one of my 2 monthly game rentals at bbuster since they had it, which makes the game 52 bucks if i decide to buy it, as well as the 25 in store credit i got, and its pretty fun, decent graphics... just glad i didnt really play the xbox one too much besides the time i rented it.

[m_hael]

some misconceptions need correcting here.

bloom is NOT HDR.. bloom is a technique used to essentially "spread" a highly contrasting light into the darker areas.. much like a streetlamp on a dark night exhibits a noticeable "aura" ... bloom effectively generates that aura.

HDR stands for high dynamic range and whilst it is possible with floating point frame buffers in current gen hardware it is extremely rarely used as using floating point frame buffers effectively halves the fill rate of the hardware. The difference between HDR and none HDR is simply this... normal rendering stores color values in the range of 0..1 HDR stores them in 0..LIMIT where LIMIT is defined by the hardware limitations... this means that lighting can be more accurately stored and thus post effects can act on more accurate source information ergo they are able to be more accurate and mimic some of the more advanced effects we see in real life.

the effect that has been mentioned in this thread is the exiting tunnel bleaching effect used in NFS:MW and PGR3. This is a fudge that uses the bloom effect to mimic HDR radiance techniques.... the most common implementation of bloom uses a cutoff value above which it will treat pixels as "VERY BRIGHT". These very bright pixels are then extracted to a secondary buffer, blurred in many different ways and then overlayed back onto the main screen to achieve the "spread" we see. Now consider this... if normally the "cutoff value" is say 0.9 (luminance) meaning only VERY bright pixels bloom then we wouldn't see much of an effect... bleaching lowers this value immediately to say 0.3 thus blooming almost the entire screen then gradually returns it back to the normal value of 0.9.... this mimics the way the eye accomodates changes in the dynamic range of light it receives.

HDR will one day be standard, bloom will no longer be an "effect" but will be real based on HDR frame buffers... until then its mostly hacks and limited implementations.

that said - bloom & fake HDR are definitely the new lens flare.

Also - someone mentioned FOV... were you refering to the focal length of a camera or the eye not being respected within games?... this technqiue is called Depth of Field and was first used a LONG LONG time ago in a game called "Outcast"... many games use it these days for dramatic effect and to hide LOD effects in the distance. It should however be noted that the reason it isn't used as the eye sees within gameplay on games is because the designer of the game cannot know where you are looking on the screen.

[Tito2k6]

Thank you m_hael.  I truly respect your opinoin.  It just is one of the big let downs of this generation(of gamiing, lets keep this in perspective).  Don't get me wrong....both of these games look great except....this effect takes away from both.  DID THEY ONLY BETA TEST BURNOUT ON AN HIGH END PLASMA HDTV CAUSE MY SORRY ASS 3yro 56 inch Projection HDTV looks like a durd!)  From what a I've read, I'm not the only bitch!

I just hope this gets out of thier system faster than lense flare did!

[hamwbone]

here's to someone else that played outcast!!!

i thought my packard bell was gona choke playing that game

[Tito2k6]

QUOTE(hamwbone @ Mar 13 2006, 06:22 AM)

here's to someone else that played outcast!!!

i thought my packard bell was gona choke playing that game

Mine didn't but....gurgl....grugl...BUY>>>>DO THESE DEVELOPERS RELIZE THAT NOT EVERYON PLAYS ON   EITHER A 60INCH PLASMA OR A 13 INCH RV?

[m_hael]

QUOTE(hamwbone @ Mar 12 2006, 09:22 PM)

here's to someone else that played outcast!!!

i thought my packard bell was gona choke playing that game

yeah I talked with the programmers for a while, they had to compromise on a LOT of stuff just to get it out... was supposed to be 3D accelerated but Direct3D couldn't do what they wanted to so they bailed.

good game tho..

[hamwbone]

m_heal,  just reminiscing... what was that software engine called?  i think it used the same stuff as delta force  another awsome game BTW

[twistedsymphony]

I just picked up Burnout yesterday, I havn't played it yet (I decided I'm not playing anything but COD2 until I finish it) but I watched my GF play it for a while, I really can't stand the graphics, the color pallet and various visual effects just make your feel like everything is part of a dream sequence or something.

Having played the NFS demo it's the same way... I just don't get how some people prefer that over what we see in PGR3  

[LowProfileWurm]

QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Mar 13 2006, 09:56 AM)

I just picked up Burnout yesterday, I havn't played it yet (I decided I'm not playing anything but COD2 until I finish it) but I watched my GF play it for a while, I really can't stand the graphics, the color pallet and various visual effects just make your feel like everything is part of a dream sequence or something.

Having played the NFS demo it's the same way... I just don't get how some people prefer that over what we see in PGR3  

It's funny you say you can't stand the graphics, because I found PGR3 dull.  I guess I don't take racing games that seriously so I enjoy the 'unrealism' of Burnout and NFSMW.

[brooksie48]

QUOTE(LowProfileWurm @ Mar 13 2006, 11:11 AM)

It's funny you say you can't stand the graphics, because I found PGR3 dull.  I guess I don't take racing games that seriously so I enjoy the 'unrealism' of Burnout and NFSMW.

same here

[VinnySem]

Bought Burnout Revenge and GRAW the same day, love them both, but have been spending most of my time on MP GRAW. Tonite I'll play BR for a couple two three five hours, rack up some achievements!

Comparing the graphics of BR to PGR3, I think the edge goes to PGR3, but I thought the AI and gameplay in PGR3 was horrible, nowhere near as good as Forza on Xbox. I'll have to wait for Forza 2 for a real racing sim. Burnout is the ultimate stress-reliever for gamers! I need to get moving and unlock the Criterion van and really knock some trailers for a loop!

[spinr34]

i like all 3 games (pgr3, nfsmw & burnout revenge).  each game's look fits its mood.  as long as it does that and it's fun to play, i'm cool with it

[Dagoth]

Picked up Burnout yesterday.. Not overly impressed with it to be honest.

The handling just doesnt compare to the original xbox version, I'll admit it looks quite nice (especally the paint scrapes on the cars) but it just doesn't do it for me.

And to top it all off, on the second event (the hot lap with the 360 car) it locked my box (but i think thats more an issue with the crappy Hitachi drive my box has - it got so bad I called M$ and they're replacing it for me   ) - DOA4 does the same as well.

It will probably grow on me the more I play it, but my inital impressions where that of a poorly converted xbox version