Dev versions - too much "image sharpening"?

[Ildamos]

This isn't a bug so I decided to post it here.

At the default settings of 2.3, the game has gaudy colors (too much contrast?) and it looks like someone has upped the Image Sharpening setting of the Nvidia Control Panel above acceptable degrees.

It's fine for someone who knows how to tweak the video options but I know a lot of casual players who don't even know the first thing about resolution and "options," much less contrast and gamma.

Could these be adjusted to lower defaults in the final 2.3 build?

[Mattn]

hm. this is not the case on my system. could you maybe provide some sane values for the gamma and contrast cvars (see config.cfg) - that would help me a lot

[Ildamos]

I'll have to DL Odie's compilation first --- I deleted the last build from my system. (The Beam Me Up Scotty bug was annoying big time.)

I used the defaults.

'Soon as Odie ULs a new build, I'll DL and install it, take screenshots of the default settings and tweaked settings that are more agreeable to me (and hopefully to other users as well).

[Ildamos]

Further note:

Please see Muton's pics in the bugs (V2.3) forum. You can see in any of his pics that due to the bumped up contrast/image sharpening, the ground shows abnormal splotches of white. The color of the firebird is not the usual green too --- everything looks diluted and too bright.

[odie]

Further note:

Please see Muton's pics in the bugs (V2.3) forum. You can see in any of his pics that due to the bumped up contrast/image sharpening, the ground shows abnormal splotches of white. The color of the firebird is not the usual green too --- everything looks diluted and too bright.

Hmmmm, strange...to me, the place still looks very much the same for me (at least i have been using Tropical Map to test for these last many versions).

But i do agree tat there is a lil more contrast which i noticed. Which is nice IMO.

[Ildamos]

It couldn't be my system though --- v2.2.1 looks ok. When I have the time I'll post comparative screenshots between the stable version and one of the dev builds.

Maybe it's how the dev builds "react" to my Nvidia drivers? 181.22 is outdated. I'll try to see if I have the time to update my drivers later.

[Mattn]

it might differ on ati and nvidia and it might heavily differ if you deactivate shaders (as there is no fog and so on)

[odie]

It couldn't be my system though --- v2.2.1 looks ok. When I have the time I'll post comparative screenshots between the stable version and one of the dev builds.

Maybe it's how the dev builds "react" to my Nvidia drivers? 181.22 is outdated. I'll try to see if I have the time to update my drivers later.

Oh.....

In case u r one of those lazy to find ppl, here's Nvidia's site for autodetecting ur drivers:
Nividia Drivers Download Autopatch Page


If u want to manually download those:
Nividia Drivers - Manual Download Page


And in case others come along and find this link discussion, yet like Mattn said, looking for ATI drivers:
ATI (AMD) Drivers Manual Download

[Ildamos]

@Odie: Hehe! Thanks man but no need. I am a driver nut: http://imbacore.blogspot.com/2008/05/nvidia-drivers-benchmark-results.html

@Mattn: Shaders? Theres an option for that? Ill look into it once I DL odie's latest build. I doubt it's my system though as Muton's screenshots of his 2.3s look fubarred (pardon the expression) color-wise.

[odie]

WHOA! Hahhahahaha..... yes, u r mad! Truly nuts. lol.

I tot i was nuts enuf, hahahhahaa.....

But hor, u know, newest is not always best(bestest). lol.

Tats why i have this also:
http://www.oldapps.com/list_drivers.php
http://www.driverguide.com/

Lol

[Ildamos]

newest is not always best

Yep. That's why I also have old installers saved in my My Docs. 

I also use RegCleaner by Vuorio, CCleaner, and Driver Sweeper (Guru3d's).

We are also dangerously out of topic mwahahhaa! 

[Ildamos]

Tsk. I finally found time away from the office. (Work is fun but time-consuming.) Anyway, here are pics that show what I mean by too much contrast and image sharpening displayed by v2.3 at its default video settings:

V2.2.1: UFO00 and UFO01 - desaturated colors that look realistic. The first two pictures below.

V2.3: Too many whites everywhere. I realize this is an effort to introduce a "specular/bloom" effect in the game (sorry; I'm not a programmer --- I don't know the jargon) but I IMHO it's off. "Shine" effects in the weapons, faces, and metallic objects turn little areas into white regions that detract from the overall effect.

I can see this happening in Muton's screenshots in the bug thread too so it's happening to others too, not just my PC.

Also, the hues are TOO saturated. Everything is too green, too red, too blue.

Can you guys set the default settings at more acceptable levels when the final build comes out? This way, people who like the "saturated" look can always have the option to up the sliders but it won't turn off newcomers who don't know a thing about settings.

PLEASE TAKE NOTE THAT THE PICS BELOW ARE TAKEN FROM THE SAME COMP. THE FIRST TWO ARE 2.2.1 AND THE 3RD AND 4TH ARE V2.3s.











EDIT:

hm. this is not the case on my system. could you maybe provide some sane values for the gamma and contrast cvars (see config.cfg) - that would help me a lot

@Mattn: what lines? I'm not a programmer so I don't know how to tinker with this one. I used the search tool, found the config.cfg file under Application Data, opened it with Notepad, searched for gamma and found this:



Is this the right entry? If so, I'm going to tweak a bit with the sliders, find realistic levels and report the values in this config file (if this is the right one) to this thread.

[Ildamos]

This is still a minor problem. Just a heads-up.