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[buenoblue]

I'm playing Avatar Frontiers of Pandora and the last third of the game is just covered in shitty fog!
Why to developers do this?

It's not for performance reasons because some of the game looks absolutely stunning with massive detailed draw distance.

It looks so shitty and washed out and I've noticed a lot of new games have this fog everywhere.

Look at this! They can't think this is a good thing can they?

 

[Skifi28]

Some of us remember the N64 era fondly. In this case, maybe too fondly.

 

[SJRB]

If it isn't for technical reasons I assume it's for aesthetic reasons.

 

[N0S]

Well, there's good and bad fog

 

[lh032]

fog you thats why

 

[IFireflyl]

It's either for technical reasons such as draw distance and texture pop-in/loading, or it's for artistic purposes for games like Elden Ring where they want to invoke a creepy or ominous feeling. I can't think of any other reason for it.

 

[Majormaxxx]

Fog was a mistake

 

[RAIDEN1]

It's either for technical reasons such as draw distance and texture pop-in/loading, or it's for artistic purposes for games like Elden Ring where they want to invoke a creepy or ominous feeling. I can't think of any other reason for it.

This. It is to hide the deficiencies of the engine they are using, or sometimes it can add to the atmosphere, ie Turok the dinosaur hunter

 

[StereoVsn]

PS1 devs used quite a lot of fog based in the day to hide all sorts of technical limitations.

Why would a dev used a lot of fog in modern day console besides mostly atmosphere, athletics or far draw distance… no idea.

 

[struggler_guts]

Well, there's good and bad fog

THIS is why, when fog is done right it looks so goooood

 

[ReBurn]

This. It is to hide the deficiencies of the engine they are using, or sometimes it can add to the atmosphere, ie Turok the dinosaur hunter

The constant fog in the first Turok game was definitely to cover up the technical limitations. I think the atmosphere it created was secondary.

 

[RAIDEN1]

The constant fog in the first Turok game was definitely to cover up the technical limitations. I think the atmosphere it created was secondary.

True, I think it was the same for GoldenEye but they didn't use it from the start...(if I am correct..) it only appears in later levels..

 

[SportsFan581]

It can add a lot to a scene, especially if there are lights to play off of it.

It's one of the most notable differences between Arkham Knight and Gotham Knights. Now it may have come into play because of the limitations of the PS4, but still I think the effect there adds so much over the overly sharp GK. Personal preference of course.

 

[winjer]

Most devs don't go outside, so they don't know how the real world looks like.

 

[SenkiDala]

If it isn't for technical reasons I assume it's for aesthetic reasons.

Well exactly it can create an atmosphere. And on PS1/N64, etc, it was for technical reasons.

 

[bbeach123]

I love fog , fallout 4 and rdr2 fog look great.

 

[Wildebeest]

It is a cool Chinese urban aesthetic.

 

[intbal]

I thought it was a neat addition to the first Nightmare Creatures.
And it was exclusively there to add atmosphere because the game handled draw distance by fading to black since it was set at night.

 

[Hugare]

90% of the time its there to hide pop in/LOD daw distance and etc.

This is why pretty much every open world game has it. Some are better on blending it with the game's art, others not so much.

 

[HoofHearted]

 

[Fess]

Isn’t this mostly done to hide pop in and save up some video memory?

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

I prefer the fog to those pop ups... ON STALKER..... The sudden appearance of grass and bushes at every step bothered me.

 

[lughnasadh123]

Fog is a great way to introduce mood and atmosphere in certain environments preferably done in small sections as to not be totally overwhelming.

 

[Bartski]

Well, there's good and bad fog

also,

 

[DevilMayFlyForAWhiteGuy]

My man has never played Turok or Morrowind

 

[Sushi_Combo]

Artistic integrity

 

[mitch1971]

I foget why.

 

[T4keD0wN]

I feel the same way OP. Ive enjoyed the first 2/3 of Avatar a lot more, primarily because of the fog and i like fog a lot in most games, even in real life (unless driving). Unforunately setting "fog = 0" crashes the game otherwise id use it there.

The Upper Plains and Kinglor Forest are imo the 2 best looking locations in gaming and then there is the Clouded Forest which looks average 90% of the time, i dont really mind it in the polluted areas, it fits there.

 

[Robochobo]

also,

Not even close to being true... the game renders farther out than that. People have tested and fiddled with SH2 extensively. That "wall" of fog is deliberately placed there for obvious gameplay reasons, the main one being poor visibility and the fear of walking into the unknown.

 

[Fbh]

Other than to cover up pop in and draw distance I don't know.
I'm playing Hogwarts Legacy Right now and while the overall presentation is nice, the constant fog and haze takes it down a notch.
I get it's set in Scotland and I don't mind there being foggy and misty days but even the interiors are full of mist.

Not the best shot but here's an interior underground hallway

And here's the same hallways if you walk back a bit before the mist kicks in

Here's is the great hall right as you walk into it and the mist hasn't kicked in

Spoiler

Here's is the great hall once you move a bit closer and the mist kicks in

Spoiler

 

[simpatico]

Expecting Avatar to be good was your first mistake pal. Plenty of devs use fog to great effect as evidenced by posts in this thread.

 

[Laptop1991]

Depends on the game, Fog can be a resource hog and cause poor visibility in any game, but it's also realistic and immersive as well, it should always be an option for me, i use to find it funny at the pitch black dark nights mods as i couldn't see a thing and thought i've spent all this money on a GPU to look at a black screen lol, may as well of turned the monitor off, but i get why some gamers like it.

 

[NomenNescio]

It all depends on how it's implemented. When done properly it adds a lot of atmosphere to certain sections:

 

[Codes 208]

Oh man, i remember when 343i took the fog out of halo ce for the level guilty spark in the remake.
The fanbase went ballistic

 

[Dirk Benedict]

Some of us remember the N64 era fondly. In this case, maybe too fondly.

Even the textures looked foggy.

 

[Doom85]

Other than to cover up pop in and draw distance I don't know.
I'm playing Hogwarts Legacy Right now and while the overall presentation is nice, the constant fog and haze takes it down a notch.
I get it's set in Scotland

Wait, what?

(quickly checks)

I mean, I’m not the hugest HP fan, only read all the books and saw all the movies once and never revisited them as I enjoyed them but they’re not among my favorite books/movies, but I must have missed that detail.

 

[bender]

It's either for technical reasons such as draw distance and texture pop-in/loading, or it's for artistic purposes for games like Elden Ring where they want to invoke a creepy or ominous feeling. I can't think of any other reason for it.

Or both. Designing around technical limitations often showcases the creativity of games' design.

 

[SantaC]

Zelda totk is a big offender of this. Fog comes from the ground all the time

 

[buenoblue]

For all those saying about PS1/N64 games . Yeah that was a technical limitation. But the PS5 is like 1064 GameCubes so there really is no excuse technically speaking

 

[IAmRei]

well, if the implementation is good, it should add aesthetic means. but i get Your point. sometimes it looks worse

 

[buenoblue]

Here's a pic from the stating area. Looks great. So it's just an artistic choice to make the game look crap.

 

[Robb]

Yeah that doesn’t look great. Fog can be fun though, as long as the devs aren’t stuck on it only being there for aesthetic purposes.

 

[Neff]

Sometimes developers are morons.

 

[amigastar]

The constant fog in the first Turok game was definitely to cover up the technical limitations. I think the atmosphere it created was secondary.

That was a big feature of the N64, no pop up because of using Fog to cover up limitations. It was something new that time.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

It entirely depends on how devs use it. In HFW for example it adds instead of subtracts from the overall look of the world.

Tagging GymWolf since I know how you love when I post these HFW 'bullshots'.

 

[gtabro]

Other than to cover up pop in and draw distance I don't know.
I'm playing Hogwarts Legacy Right now and while the overall presentation is nice, the constant fog and haze takes it down a notch.
I get it's set in Scotland and I don't mind there being foggy and misty days but even the interiors are full of mist.

Not the best shot but here's an interior underground hallway

And here's the same hallways if you walk back a bit before the mist kicks in

Here's is the great hall right as you walk into it and the mist hasn't kicked in

Spoiler

Here's is the great hall once you move a bit closer and the mist kicks in

Spoiler

Oooooooooooooh my pet peeve - fog in enclosed spaces. The icing of the cake is when you move and the fog "moves" with you, completely showing how it's just an object in a video game and instantly taking you out of the game world. Garnish this with obvious billboarding and I'm just switching off the game. Volumetric effects may be expensive but I'll be damned if they don't add a lot to the believability of a world.

 

[AngelMuffin]

Silent Hill, the thread.

The fog in that game, even though born from technical limitations, made the game much scarier since you were always stressed about the unknown.

Kinda like when Spielberg couldn’t get the mechanical shark working on a regular basis while filming Jaws so you don’t see the shark all that much, which made the movie scarier.

 

[ahtlas7]

Fog can really screw with your perception

 

[Gangster Bastard]

Fog exists in reality and is an important effect if you want to convey a sense of scale, especially in open world games which rely on various tricks to create an illusion that the space is larger than it really is.
Breath of the Wild would feel downright claustrophobic if the mountains in the distance weren't covered in that blue haze, though realistically the effect is clearly exaggerated.

 

[EverydayBeast]

The goal of fog is to emerge through it.