Do games feel too bright/cool now?

[rusty_shackleford]

I suspect this is partially due to standardizing lighting, physical rendering, etc.,
But it's also just a stylistic choice. Games look rather low contrast now, and tend to have very cool colors.

Screenshot from Risen, I don't know if this was done entirely by light colors or with color grading as well. Also, the darkness is accentuated by the lack of any GI(light bounces)

videoframe_1891381.webp

Games used to be a lot warmer!

[TKVNC]

I suspect this is partially due to standardizing lighting, physical rendering, etc.,
But it's also just a stylistic choice. Games look rather low contrast now, and tend to have very cool colors.

Screenshot from Risen, I don't know if this was done entirely by light colors or with color grading as well. Also, the darkness is accentuated by the lack of any GI(light bounces)

Games used to be a lot warmer!

It's because of UE5 Lumen, mostly. Since it's attempting to simulate real daylight, it doesn't create that traditional look games had.

[rusty_shackleford]

I suspect this is partially due to standardizing lighting, physical rendering, etc.,
But it's also just a stylistic choice. Games look rather low contrast now, and tend to have very cool colors.

Screenshot from Risen, I don't know if this was done entirely by light colors or with color grading as well. Also, the darkness is accentuated by the lack of any GI(light bounces)

Games used to be a lot warmer!

It's because of UE5 Lumen, mostly. Since it's attempting to simulate real daylight, it doesn't create that traditional look games had.

Right, but that can be adjusted by color grading. I suspect a lot of devs don't even know where to begin with that tho, and just slap ACES on and call it a day.

[TKVNC]

I suspect this is partially due to standardizing lighting, physical rendering, etc.,
But it's also just a stylistic choice. Games look rather low contrast now, and tend to have very cool colors.

Screenshot from Risen, I don't know if this was done entirely by light colors or with color grading as well. Also, the darkness is accentuated by the lack of any GI(light bounces)

Games used to be a lot warmer!

It's because of UE5 Lumen, mostly. Since it's attempting to simulate real daylight, it doesn't create that traditional look games had.

Right, but that can be adjusted by color grading. I suspect a lot of devs don't even know where to begin with that tho, and just slap ACES on and call it a day.

Probably true, but it's also due to standardised tools meaning people don't really have to learn anything. So even if they wanted a different look, they wouldn't actually know how to get it.

[Demonic Fate]

Games used to be a lot warmer!

In the 00s we sarcastically called it the "realism® **** Filter"

[rusty_shackleford]

Games used to be a lot warmer!

In the 00s we sarcastically called it the "realism® **** Filter"

That was a genuine **** filter, the nu-doosex games have it and it looks bad

[rusty_shackleford]

Games used to be a lot warmer!

In the 00s we sarcastically called it the "realism® **** Filter"

That was a genuine **** filter, the nu-doosex games have it and it looks bad

Risen for example doesn't lose the color range like a **** filter, you can see warmth and coolness in the same frame, whereas a **** filter just makes everything ****

[KnightoftheWind]

I too miss the era of BROWN. As long as we are importing BROWN people, we should also have BROWN games, no?

[logincrash]

This "****/brown era of gaming" thing is a misconception.
When Video Games were Brown.

[rusty_shackleford]

I wonder if it's caused by developers becoming colorspace aware instead of doing lighting calculations in sRGB space

[Bertram_Tung]

This "****/brown era of gaming" thing is a misconception.
When Video Games were Brown.

i'm glad i could introduce you to this channel

[logincrash]

This "****/brown era of gaming" thing is a misconception.
When Video Games were Brown.

i'm glad i could introduce you to this channel

I heard about this from EFAP, actually.
I enjoyed this video, but the one other video of his that I watched (the AUG one) was boring and pointless.

[Bertram_Tung]

This "****/brown era of gaming" thing is a misconception.
When Video Games were Brown.

i'm glad i could introduce you to this channel

I heard about this from EFAP, actually.
I enjoyed this video, but the one other video of his that I watched (the AUG one) was boring and pointless.

his monkey island video is what made me a fan many years ago

RetroAhoy: The Secret of Monkey Island

[Segata]

No one knows how to use contrast anymore, they've become scared of it. The problem is not limited to video games -- it's also happening on cinema, anime, everything

[Demonic Fate]

This "****/brown era of gaming" thing is a misconception.
When Video Games were Brown.

I've watched the video and I don't think he proved anything.

His selection of games is dominated by popular stuff that was never part of the nerd "boy, this **** bloom is annoying" conversation. FIFA was always green, NBA was always brown, Pokemon and party games were always colourful. Sure, so what; those were never in question one way or another. Frat boys playing Madden sure didn't know or care what the **** a "bloom lighting" was.

The controversy was always about a relatively small, but very popular, subset of AAA action games that could set their own colour language, and which in the past had used a more appealing palette (eg. Halo vs Gears of War).

Also, at a higher level, "gen 7 games are brown" isn't a narrative that began years later, with possible retrospective cherrypicking. It was openly discussed at the time. So even if you have irrefutable statistics showing that "most games sold were green, ackchually", you still have to explain why people at the timewere annoyed by all the bloom and browns:

https://gangles.ca/2008/07/18/bloom-disasters/
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/art/why-q ... -and-grey-

[Roguey]

Artistic evolution of Piranha Bytes 2008-22
Risen

Risen 2

Risen 3

ELEX

ELEX II


Looks like there was a bigger shift with that last one.

[Atlantico]

i'm glad i could introduce you to this channel

I heard about this from EFAP, actually.
I enjoyed this video, but the one other video of his that I watched (the AUG one) was boring and pointless.

his monkey island video is what made me a fan many years ago

RetroAhoy: The Secret of Monkey Island

Monkey Island is a shitlib ****** coded slop

That's the real retrospective