Art Controversy Solution (Brightness and Contrast Filter)

[Sparda]

I've been really excited about Diablo 3 and along with many others, I found myself somewhat disappointed in the color palette that they used. The colors were way too bright and contrasting and wasn't as grey and dark as the first two diablo games (yeah The jungle and desert environments were not grey but that's fine. The most annoying thing is the bright greenish-blue dungeons).

There has been a great controversy about the color scheme and that some people like how its more colorful and looks like WoW and some wish it was dark and gritty and high contrast like in the old Diablo games.

I think there is a simple solution that I haven't heard anyone else point out

Why cant there be an option to just put a shader/filter that darkens color and increases contrast?

If any of you played Spore, there were console commands that made the display come out in sepia or even simulate 16-bit graphics. I don't see why Blizzard can't make a setting that will put it in "dark and gloomy mode" where the colors would just be darker and with higher contrast. It really shouldn't affect performance and it would make everybody happy.

http://www.diablowiki.net/images/b/bf/Art_controversy_08.jpg

Is there a reason why this cant be toggled from the options menu?

[BigKevSexyMan]

That bottom screen looks awesome, except a bit hard to see.



This might not be a possibility, seeing as they would be unable to use dark environments. If say you were in some dark dungeon and you had the filter on, then you wouldn't be able to see a thing. So you go back into your options menu and adjust, then when you leave the dungeon you have to adjust back. We'll just have to trust blizzard to do the right thing in the end.

On a side note, does anyone else notice the rainbow in the top screenshot?

[sunkenfaith]

I agree - the bottom pic looks awesome! I am a fan of dark environments / settings myself; so I am biased.

[AnimeCraze]

Indeed, such a thing already exist in D2 to a certain extent. There's gamma and contrast. I would see no reason why it shouldn't be in D3. If they can exaggerate it, all the better.

BTW, I love the bottom pic.

[lone_wolf]

Now that bottom pic is :cool: that is a nice look

[PReP]

Old pic, old tiresome debate.

Game is far from finished, blizzard can make good games, and as an outsider we can come with a few ideas but we can't grasp where d3 is heading since we aren't the ones working on it.

Gamma settings and so forth will be there, as in most games and as i previous games. aside from that, d3 doesn not look bad as it is, it is not too bright, and that example picture is too dark instead - if you have a correctly configured monitor atleast ;)

[lone_wolf]

then perhaps you need to reconfig yours.:coffee:
Mine was configured yesterday and that bottom pic is not to dark at all.

the top pic however tell me that we are fighting monsters during summer when the sun is shining and there is a light rain and the birds are singing with joy.

Sorry to burst your bubble but some of us dont give a damn about pictures that could fit in a game where you just travel the summer landscapes and take photos of the great summer weather while listening to the birds song.

If i want a kiddy game that carter to carebears i buy something for the wii not a pc game that is about fighting demons. Yes diablo 2 was colorful to hell and back i know that but when you hope for a more mature setting ala diablo 1 diablo 3 and its style feels like a generic mmo that carter to the generation who would scream for mercy the instant they face something that is remotly challenging or have a somewhat mature look and feel.

Det blir lite tröttsamt när vi lite äldre spelare alltid får höra att någonting some som ser lite seriöst eller mer realistiskt ut alltid är för mörkt PReP testa att åka upp till kiruna i vinter så får du se hur riktigt mörker ser ut.

Yes i write in swedish and the reason for that is that PReP should understand that just fine.

[AnimeCraze]

Here's an idea. Make norm mode look like the top one, and hell mode look like the bottom.

[NASE]

Are you all forgetting what blizzard said?

The game is supposed to look like that at the start of the game because at the start of the game, every is joyful and yes the birds are singing and all.

It's only later in the game the world of sanctuary will be in fear under the shadow of hell. And it's then when we will see the darkness we seek for in such a game.


Look at the new screenshots. The dungeons already seem more dark to me, and that's only act 2 IIRC.

[Runestar]

Interesting idea - the game world slowly growing darker and gloomier to reflect the growing taint and corruption in the land...:scratchchin:

[Moonfrost]

Pretty much every game lets you adjust brightness/gamma/contrast, I don't see why D3 would be an exception. If you feel the game should be as extremely dark as your bottom pic suggest, you're obviously welcome to change your video settings in order to emulate that look.

Personally, I think the bottom pic is a dark, terrible mess because it removes much of the detail present in the top pic. The only good thing about it as that it has a potential to make the Light Radius affix useful, because without it you won't have much of an idea what your enemies look like and how they differ from each other.

[Romak]

Here's an idea. Make norm mode look like the top one, and hell mode look like the bottom.
In an awkward way, this is the best solution I've ever heard to the Art Controversy :P

I have to disagree with the OP though.

I too support the dark theme of diablo, but I'm very very against the idea of "video customization". Because with all the respect, Blizzard are correct when they say that "color and brightness affect gameplay". Although I don't like the idea of bright and colorful, I hate even more the idea of me, playing dark and having a hard time while others play bright and fight more conveniently.

When I play, I want people to see what I see, have the same mood and feel and play with the same difficulty. It's like saying "Oh, you don't like the idea of skill runes? Toggle them off in the menu - Everyone's happy".

Also, Gamma and Contrast are not really an option for that. What the option basically does is add white/black to the picture. The photoshopped picture is alot more complicated than just "more black". You got stronger shadows, no raibows, less color, more blue... it's something that can't be done with a regular Gamma adjusment.

Enough with ideas like "Have an option to toggle X/Y/Z on and off in the menu - Everyone's happy". There's a reason Blizzard release games with the least amount of game setting options as possible.

[Jimbob]

Somewhere in between the two would be perfect.

I'm still disappointed that SC2 is darker than Diablo 3. SC2 is looking real great right now and a lot better than the most popular RTS game ever- SC1. However, Diablo 3 looks like it is failing to be better than its predecessor. Yet, I won't make any final judgments until I play the game. It will still be a good game at the least. Definitely worth buying.