HDR lighting

[hamis 0]

In arma2 there should be graphics option for disabling hdr completely!It's very easy to implement,just take a look for GDTModHDR:

Config.cpp:

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">class CfgPatches {

class GDTModHDR {

units[] = {};

weapons[] = {};

requiredVersion = 0.14;

requiredAddons[] = {"Extended_EventHandlers"};

};

};

class Extended_Init_EventHandlers

{

class Man

{

GDTModHDR_Init_Man="_this execVM ""\GDTModHDR\GDTModHDR.sqf"";";

};

};

GDTModHDR.sqf:

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">//sleep 1;

if (not (isnil ("GDTModHDRValue"))) ExitWith {};

GDTModHDRValue = -1;

Private["_keyspressed"];

setAperture GDTModHDRValue;

GDTModHDRKeypressed = compile preprocessFile "\GDTModHDR\GDTModHDRKey.sqf";

(findDisplay 46) displaySetEventHandler ["KeyDown","_this call GDTModHDRKeypressed"];

GDTModHDRKey.sqf:

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">if ((_this select 1) == 210) then

{

GDTModApertureValue = -1;

setAperture GDTModApertureValue;

hint "HDR ON";

};

if ((_this select 1) == 199) then

{

GDTModApertureValue = 50;

setAperture GDTModApertureValue;

hint "Day";

};

if ((_this select 1) == 207) then

{

GDTModApertureValue = 0.5;

setAperture GDTModApertureValue;

hint "Night";

};

if ((_this select 1) == 211) then

{

GDTModApertureValue = 4;

setAperture GDTModApertureValue;

hint "NVG";

};

if ((_this select 1) == 209) then

{

if (GDTModApertureValue <= 99.5) then

{

if (GDTModApertureValue < 0.5) then {GDTModApertureValue = 0;};

GDTModApertureValue = GDTModApertureValue + 0.5;

setAperture GDTModApertureValue;

};

};

if ((_this select 1) == 201) then

{

if (GDTModApertureValue > 0.5) then

{

GDTModApertureValue = GDTModApertureValue - 0.5;

setAperture GDTModApertureValue;

};

};

[Pyronick 21]

I guess the game only has dynamic aperture lighting. Which means there probably is no fixed aperture.

To summarize that; I don't think the developers will program to game to have non-HDR rendering.

[POTS 0]

I like HDR, as long as it's not overdone.

[sk3pt 0]

I think the HDR works great in ArmA. Sometimes it gets a little weird, but nothing serious.

[Lepardi 0]

ArmA HDR is just something horrible, there should be an option to change it off.

[sparks50 0]

Well in that case it should be a server setting, because having it on would be a big disadvantage.

After what I remember, the HDR in Arma 2 will be a bit quicker, but still with the effects intact.

I like the present one anyway.

[Pulverizer 1]

I think BIS needs to play Half-Life 2 Episode 2. That game got the effect right, clearly visible yet subtle enough to not annoy the hell out of everyone.

... and it's not "eye simulation". It's not realistic. Unless you have lost all eyelid and pupilae functionality and a go around with toilet paper roll binoculars on all the time.

[celery 8]

The HDR effect in the game simulates a camera lens, not a human eye. As such it's pointless and annoying.

[deady 0]

It's also incredibly GFX card intensive. Graphics processing which could be much better used doing other things.

[max power 21]

I think BIS needs to play Half-Life 2 Episode 2. That game got the effect right, clearly visible yet subtle enough to not annoy the hell out of everyone.

... and it's not "eye simulation". It's not realistic. Unless you have lost all eyelid and pupilae functionality and a go around with toilet paper roll binoculars on all the time.

Obviously not even ArmA's annoys the hell out of everyone.

And regardless of it's physical accuracy, it's BIS's attempt to simulate the human eye.

[sparks50 0]

I have yet to see something come closer in a game though.

One example, go from a lit room into the dark night. you have to spend a certain time in the dark before you have a chance to see anything.

For me this effect even seems to be a bit mild. When we had night-watch IRL, it was procedure to wake the people assigned to watch ten minutes before their watch actually started, so that they could stare into the darkness a while.

Its also a significant disadvantage in the game to fight towards the direction of a low sun. These are annoying things that has to be considered IRL, and they are also annoying in Arma. And for me, thats a good thing.

But I guess we are entitled to disagree on this subject. Im not gonna claim its perfect either, because it sure isn't. But its closer than anything else I have seen.

As for NVGs, they aren't very good in vanilla, but luckily mods like ACE sort of fixes that.

[Pulverizer 1]

Obviously not even ArmA's annoys the hell out of everyone.

Obviously, Cpt. Obvious. I meant everyone as in basically everyone.

Whenever I've heard someone just like say something about ArmA HDR casually, as in not as a part of some theoretical forum argument, it's always been something negative.

[EricM 0]

Because happy people usually don't post ?

HDR is fine for me, on my card at least. I know some people had troubles with it (=bug), but it's a nice feature.

[Pulverizer 1]

Because happy people usually don't post ?

I'm not talking about forum users, I'm talking about real people.

[max power 21]

Obviously not even ArmA's annoys the hell out of everyone.

Obviously, Cpt. Obvious. I meant everyone as in basically everyone.

Whenever I've heard someone just like say something about ArmA HDR casually, as in not as a part of some theoretical forum argument, it's always been something negative.

I don't think that it's basically everyone either. I think it's basically everyone who complains, or basically everyone who has a graphics card where the HDR acts up. My x1950s ran the HDR very well and stable. They had no strobing, no flickering or radical changes in lighting depending on the pixel you're looking at. No dramatic flare ups when looking at the ground, and the ground didn't disappear into total darkness after looking to the sky. This was regardless of over clocking, but crossfire made it flicker a bit when a scene was first loaded. My x3850x2s are a little wonky with it, though, and in crossfire they really hate it.

[sparks50 0]

So the general notion against the HRD is caused by a few people having technical problems? That makes it more understandable.

[Maddmatt 1]

Because happy people usually don't post ?

I'm not talking about forum users, I'm talking about real people.

Yes because forum users only exist on the Internet

I don't find the HDR annoying. It's not perfect, but I like it.

I agree about it looking good in Half Life 2 though. ArmA used a simpler form of HDR (8-bit?), which seems to have a few issues but is much less demanding on performance and works even on lower end cards that would normally get killed by HDR.

But with ArmA 2 requiring SM3 cards as a minimum there should be no need to stick with 8-bit(?) HDR. That should eliminate the main problems.

[Pulverizer 1]

Yes because forum users only exist on the Internet

That's not what I said. Surely you understand the difference of having a private conversation with a handful of "real people" and discussing things on a public forum potentially read by hundreds of users. Many people are wary of saying anything negative in public, even when they have a strong opinion about something.

[Pulverizer 1]

So the general notion against the HRD is caused by a few people having technical problems? That makes it more understandable.

To me it's not about the technical probelms as much it's just bad design.

Like the amount of light is calculated only from what's visible on the screen, not how much light would actually be hitting the avatars eyes from all directions all the time, even when he "zoomed" at a shadow on the ground or when some small branch blocked the bright sky. The visible area is much smaller than RL, so the lighting is just wrong.

Also, the effect is way too strong, making the abruptly changing lighting even more annoying. It's nothing like IRL. At least I have never noticed any such effects. Seeing the sun in the corner of your eye does not blind you.

[Pyronick 21]

Because happy people usually don't post ?

I'm not talking about forum users, I'm talking about real people.

Yes because forum users only exist on the Internet

I don't find the HDR annoying. It's not perfect, but I like it.

I agree about it looking good in Half Life 2 though. ArmA used a simpler form of HDR (8-bit?), which seems to have a few issues but is much less demanding on performance and works even on lower end cards that would normally get killed by HDR.

But with ArmA 2 requiring SM3 cards as a minimum there should be no need to stick with 8-bit(?) HDR. That should eliminate the main problems.

FP16 is 64-bits and FP32 is 128-bits.

At the moment single precision FP16 is the easiest solution, single precision FP32 the optimal resolution.

Shader hardware is now powerful enough to do double precision FP32 or FP64, which is out of the question for Shader Model 3.0 hardware.

I'd rather have HDR with a lower dynamic range and volumetric clouds than the full dynamic range package.

[NeMeSiS 11]

Because happy people usually don't post ?

I'm not talking about forum users, I'm talking about real people.

Yes because forum users only exist on the Internet

I don't find the HDR annoying. It's not perfect, but I like it.

I agree about it looking good in Half Life 2 though. ArmA used a simpler form of HDR (8-bit?), which seems to have a few issues but is much less demanding on performance and works even on lower end cards that would normally get killed by HDR.

But with ArmA 2 requiring SM3 cards as a minimum there should be no need to stick with 8-bit(?) HDR. That should eliminate the main problems.

The HL2 HDR does look better, however the ArmA HDR affects the gameplay in a much better way, altough more unstable and more prone to bugs for people.

[hamis 0]

Quote[/b] ]So the general notion against the HRD is caused by a few people having technical problems? That makes it more understandabl

I think it's working for me,but i still hate it like hell!Precious gpu power should really be used for something else!

[Dark SudoNix 1]

well whatever... alot of people are complaining about arma having performance problems. HDR is a HUGE FPS killer...

They should have made it where you can turn it off... and besides people, if you want total realism, go walk outside?!?

as a matter of fact, outside in the real world, is about as high def as you can get.. you can actually feel what you see...

keep in mind that arma is just a game... A GAME

[Maddmatt 1]

well whatever... alot of people are complaining about arma having performance problems. HDR is a HUGE FPS killer...

Yea but that's not really the case any more. HDR is pretty standard in games and with modern hardware the performance hit isn't a problem any more.

If you still have crap performance in ArmA then your PC is seriously outdated. Hell mine is outdated and gets great performance since the last two patches.

[Pyronick 21]

well whatever... alot of people are complaining about arma having performance problems. HDR is a HUGE FPS killer...

They should have made it where you can turn it off... and besides people, if you want total realism, go walk outside?!?

as a matter of fact, outside in the real world, is about as high def as you can get.. you can actually feel what you see...

keep in mind that arma is just a game... A GAME

To be able to play Armed Assault 2 you need at least a Shader Model 3.0 graphics accelerator as is mentioned in the system requirements.

I assume that the game will not start without Shader Model 3.0 hardware.

Shader Model 3.0 hardware is more than capable of High-Dynamic Range rendering with no noticable performance hit.

The original Armed Assault could be played with Shader Model 2.0 hardware, which means any graphics accelerator since somewhere in 2003 with the launch of the ATI R300 (Radeon 9700) series.

That hardware by definition is obviously very outdated and have trouble with HDR rendering.

In other words, you can't play with a card that isn't capable of rendering in HDR with high framerates.