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[SonnyBoy]

I love bloom.

This game is one of the exceptions. Bloom lighting was used to enhance their already beautiful art, and not to just sell the game and thrown in for kicks.

 

[sammy]

It's all about modesty.

respecting the art direction....

Bungie, if you can't do normal maping then don't do it at all ... I'd much rather have my 60 fps...

(Half Life 2, is the defenition of good taste and modesty with art direction)

 

[peedi]

Bump-mapping -- doesn't even look realistic.

 

[Mooreberg]

I like the visual approach to games like Half-Life 2 and Max Payne 2 where all the 3D models looks nice (humans actually look human) and have a lot of variety in the evironment textures. I can't stand shit like FarCry where all the models look like plastic toys.

 

[etiolate]

Bumpmapping.

I've seen too many games made to look fake by it. It just looks cheap. I actually like bloom lighting. Can someone give an example of bad bloom lighting?

 

[Electrii]

I can't get enough Bloom for some reason.

I hate bump-mapping because of how strongly it's used in most games. it should be a little subtle, not thrown in your face like everything is covered in plastic. HL2 is the first game that comes to mind that actually used those effects with moderation and style.

 

[BigBoss]

Bumpmapping.

I've seen too many games made to look fake by it. It just looks cheap. I actually like bloom lighting. Can someone give an example of bad bloom lighting?

Fable is a good example of bad bloom lighting, everything in that game glows.

 

[Ironclad]

I hate the enemies in Halo 2, in-game. It's like there's SO MUCH BUMP-MAPPING squished into the model that any features you might want to look at while blasting away are just mashed up into some horrid mesh of alien.

UGH. Nothing was really *clear* (NPC-wise) in that game, anyone know what I mean? Cutscenes were really nice though. Maybe it's because I'm not used to what these aliens look like, I need more time to see where their mouths are and stuff.

A lot of that was caused by an overuse of Normal mapping. It made every character look fake, and they stood out against the background.

 

[Shompola]

I can't get enough Bloom for some reason.

I hate bump-mapping because of how strongly it's used in most games. it should be a little subtle, not thrown in your face like everything is covered in plastic. HL2 is the first game that comes to mind that actually used those effects with moderation and style.

Played Enclave? It used bump mapping with "moderation and style". Was released years ago and still is one of the best looking games on any platform. Check it out mate...

 

[Eric-GCA]

I was planning on attending a seminar about normal/displacement mapping at GDC tommorow. It's being presented by a tech art director from Factor 5. Should be interesting knowledge.

 

[Ranger X]

Actually what people don't like in all those graphic effect isn't the graphics effects itself.
Any bad use of any effect is not looking good. It's the graphic of the game that is bad and you don't like, not the effect itself. Those graphic effect are hot and should take example of where it's put to good use to judge it.
Every develloper can make technically nice graphics but it takes TALENT to create good art/image. Many devellopers don't have that.

Something i personnally hate though is those blur effect in racing games nowadays when you're going fast.... it's supposed to trick my eyes but it's not working at all, i can see that the graphic behind the filter is still scrolling just as slowly and it's EXTREMELY annoying.
Make your graphic scroll faster or devellop another camera point of view to help speed sensation. If you can't do that, please don't make a fast racing game...

 

[DCharlie]

as mentioned by Funky Papa - it's how it's used.

Every effect, if used correctly, can be great.

What IS annoying is when someone does an effect and everyone feels the need to use it - the most annoying one being lens flare in the early PSX days, but even then... that was people using it for the sake of using it, it's not really the effect that i hate.

Also, ditto - RE4 hands down the best looking game i've seen on a console.

By the lake after ... that thing... in the dark with the storm going on in the distance > Moses' flipflops.

 

[pj]

A lot of that was caused by an overuse of Normal mapping. It made every character look fake, and they stood out against the background.

Halo 2 doesn't use normal mapping, it's all bump mapping.

/pedantic

 

[shpankey]

Antialliasing when it kills sharpness...Seriously I can't understand how people can stand playing games like if they had an entire can of vaseline dropped over the screen...

play a racing game that has long flat draw distances and turn it on then off and trust me, you will kill for FSAA!

p.s. Bloom lighting is awesome when done right. I can't get enough of it. Ico, the Prince of Persia's, etc. are just fricken awesome. Sometimes I just sit there staring at the bloom lighting in awe. I wish Halo 2 used it. Hell, i wish all games used the fuck out of it. I can't get enough of it.

I will agree though, Resident Evil 4 definately proved that none of that shit is necessary. RE4 is drop dead GORGEOUS!

 

[hukasmokincaterpillar]

Far Cry is a great example of When Bump Mapping Goes Wrong isnt it? At least as far as the models go. Combine that with some truely hideous character art and its a double threat. That "plastic look" is just evil on the eyes for some reason. Which made for a hell of a contrast in that game considering the environments for the most part we're pretty breathtaking IMO. After awhile I just wanted the trigens to go away so I could take in the view.

 

[Ozchin]

And don't tell me, it's about heat waves... you still can see very far very clear in hot environments

It has more to do with humidity... the water in the air distorts the light waves.

I am not a fan of hyper-sharp, super-detailed skin textures. I don't want to see every follicle!!!
Most of the other effects I can stand as long as they are used well (usually meaning "in moderation").