What's with lens flare and stuff in games where you aren't wearing lenses?

J

JoeUser

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Why is it that games in which your character isn't wearing goggles or glasses or anything that there is lens flare and that common "dirty" lens flare? Battlefield 3 has it and was playing ZombieU today and it has it. Makes zero sense. I don't get lens flare from just using my eyeballs to see...

It's annoying as hell!
 
because its like a render makeup to cover low res blotchy textures and low poly models from console games.
 
It is a artistic/style choice. What about all the unrealistically exaggerated animations, physics, lighting. Meh It's a game get over it.
 
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I've always thought lens flare in games draws me OUT of the experience more than drawing me in. It's like a reminder that I'm looking through a screen to play a game.

First person shooters especially...there's no lens flare in real life unless you were actually wearing glasses or looking through a camera.
 
But there are character models in BF3 that wear glasses/goggles:

post-121431-1308905061.jpg
 
I'm pretty sure it's done to imitate movies and make games look more "cinematic", much like how other unnatural lighting styles used in movies have made there way to games.
 
I do wonder though, maybe some folks high up have cataracts or some shit so they think this blurry image crap is normal?
 
SPARTAN VI said:
But there are character models in BF3 that wear glasses/goggles:

post-121431-1308905061.jpg
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Doesn't explain why they universally encounter it.

We can try and justify it retroactively, but what it really boils down to is some design lead tugging his own dick with a stylistic choice that supposedly makes shit look cool whilst massively detracting from the enjoyment and function of the game. Same reason every map in BF3 is either dawn or dusk - so they can shoehorn that glittery, superficial Star Trek/Michael Bay bullshit in at all times.
 
Ebernanut said:
I'm pretty sure it's done to imitate movies and make games look more "cinematic", much like how other unnatural lighting styles used in movies have made there way to games.
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Yeah, not that hard to figure out. The devs are trying to make a "movie" like experience.
 
electech98 said:
I've always thought lens flare in games draws me OUT of the experience more than drawing me in. It's like a reminder that I'm looking through a screen to play a game.

First person shooters especially...there's no lens flare in real life unless you were actually wearing glasses or looking through a camera.
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I agree. Makes my brain go "why the fuck is that there" other than "ohhhhh pretty!".
 
It's artistic appeal and a game mechanic (blinding sun in bf3)
I remember when bf3 came out and people were asking how to turn it off.
Because they couldn't see properly when looking into the direction of the sun.
Duh....Whether you like it or not it's a god damn game mechanic.

If they aren't too poorly done I like lens flares a lot.
 
You are looking through a camera, the camera of the game.
And as for blur, have you ever put up a finger, and look at it? Everyone else is blurry.

I don't know fi i like either a whole lot, but it's not bad until it's excessively done.
 
What you don't realize is the people you control in the FPS game are all sitting behind wheeled computer set ups also looking through a monitor playing the game. Hence the glare.

Fact.
 
pothb said:
You are looking through a camera, the camera of the game.
And as for blur, have you ever put up a finger, and look at it? Everyone else is blurry.

I don't know fi i like either a whole lot, but it's not bad until it's excessively done.
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The Camera thing detracts from the immersion.

And the blur only makes sense if you are looking through a scope, any other time it shouldn't exist because you are blurring the scene under the assumption that i am focusing my sight to the front only, disregarding the fact that i don't know you, but i for once am more than able to move my eyes enough to look around without moving my head, and doing so doesn't blur my sight.
 
Yeah chalk me up as one who hates post processing shit like that, along with shaky cams and excessively tight FOVs. It might have been artistic in the first couple of games it was done in several years ago, now it's just annoying.
 
Video games are trying to be as cinematic as they can. Lens flares were/are big in movies right now so video games are imitating it. Lens flares do not happen in glasses, they happen on the camera lens and thats what they are trying to immitate.

I like it I think it adds to atmosphere, then again I work in vfx but too much is not good. I like it when there is some and they are well done/placed.
 
r3awak3n said:
Video games are trying to be as cinematic as they can. Lens flares were/are big in movies right now so video games are imitating it. Lens flares do not happen in glasses, they happen on the camera lens and thats what they are trying to immitate.

I like it I think it adds to atmosphere, then again I work in vfx but too much is not good. I like it when there is some and they are well done/placed.
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Since you work on the vfx industry i will only present two things to you, one game related and one movie related:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1746249&highlight=hated

http://www.cracked.com/article_18664_5-annoying-trends-that-make-every-movie-look-same_p2.html


You can draw your own conclusions :p :)
 
haha I do hate motionblur in video games but I feel like it has been poorly implemented so far. Some movies have way to many lens flares I can agree with that but when done problem I enjoy the look. Star trek was ridiculous for example, they flashed flash lights on the camera lens on purpose to get that look. Although I enjoyed it I think it was maybe a little bit too much. Another hated effect is DOF which can create wonderful things in film but does not work for video games as well, gamers dont like effects that will make it harder to play the game, and tahts what lens flares, moblur, dof do.

People also mention film grain which I can understand, it has no place in video games.

Like I said though, certain flares and lightblooms, as stylistic choices, can add to the atmosphere and if done well I will enjoy em.
 
Revdarian said:
The Camera thing detracts from the immersion.

And the blur only makes sense if you are looking through a scope, any other time it shouldn't exist because you are blurring the scene under the assumption that i am focusing my sight to the front only, disregarding the fact that i don't know you, but i for once am more than able to move my eyes enough to look around without moving my head, and doing so doesn't blur my sight.
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You might be able to, but that isn't very easily conveyed through games, so most developers just make the head move. Atleast, that's all I've seen, I don't think I've seen eyes move to simulate looking around.

Jellylesg said:
what
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pothb said:
You are looking through a camera, the camera of the game.
And as for blur, have you ever put up a finger, and look at it? Everyone else is blurry.

I don't know fi i like either a whole lot, but it's not bad until it's excessively done.
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That.
 
pothb said:
You might be able to, but that isn't very easily conveyed through games, so most developers just make the head move. Atleast, that's all I've seen, I don't think I've seen eyes move to simulate looking around.
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That is the thing, they simulate the head movement, so they should never add a depth of field blur effect unless you are looking through a scope, because we, the gamers, should be able to move our own eyes and fixate our sight wherever we want, and not just the center of the screen.
 
Jellylesg said:
Doesn't explain why they universally encounter it.

We can try and justify it retroactively, but what it really boils down to is some design lead tugging his own dick with a stylistic choice that supposedly makes shit look cool whilst massively detracting from the enjoyment and function of the game. Same reason every map in BF3 is either dawn or dusk - so they can shoehorn that glittery, superficial Star Trek/Michael Bay bullshit in at all times.
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it also adds an element of strategy into said maps. Not just eye candy.

think about it... In both the real and virtual worlds, are you really going to want to hold a position, looking into the sun where you're partially blinded?

I think this is why the dazzlers (or whatever they're called... it's been a while) and tac. lights work so good in BF3. If there was no lens flare or advanced lighting effects, I don't think it would work nearly as well (or as realistic) as it does.

Until hardware becomes powerful enough to do realtime light simulations instead of shaders immitating said conditions, we'll just have to live with it. It's either that, or just go back to CS and older games that have no lens or atmospheric type of light distortion.
 
They do the same things with movies, it adds a dramatic element, who cares.
 
pothb said:
You are looking through a camera, the camera of the game.
And as for blur, have you ever put up a finger, and look at it? Everyone else is blurry
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1. Why put a camera between me and the game, especially if it's a FPS? It's distracting for some, breaking immersion.
2. When I put my finger up to look at it, I can also focus my eyes on other things. Let me do this in a game please! This also breaks immersion.

I often wish I was more ignorant because I imagine I'd enjoy things in life more. This is not to say those who enjoy these things are ignorant, but rather when I know how something works it tends to ruin the fun a bit.

it adds a dramatic element, who cares
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Obviously some people care. Your comment lacks respect. Fuck Off :p
 
I hate to be that guy, but we have 2 lenses in our eyes so its not impossible to receive some glare with just your eye.

Such internal scattering is also present in the human eye, and manifests in an unwanted veiling glare most obvious when viewing very bright lights or highly reflective surfaces. In some situations, eyelashes can also create flare-like irregularities, although these are technically diffraction artifacts.
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There is actually a lot of interesting things with the eye. The majority of the stuff is always there so the brain has learned to just ignore it and replace it with extrapolated information basically.

Watch to learn how to see blind spots and blood vessels in your eye.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_W-IXqoxHA
 
I wouldn't confuse disinterest with disrespect. Its just something they add for dramatic flair, most people don't care and they probably aren't going to change it, just how I see it....
 
Jellylesg said:
Doesn't explain why they universally encounter it.
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Well it would take even more time (maybe not a lot) to program something for specifically a few characters. I'd rather they just leave it out myself for everyone.
 
i just saw a review for tomb raider. Oh man you guys will hate it, tons of bokeh effects!
 
r3awak3n said:
i just saw a review for tomb raider. Oh man you guys will hate it, tons of bokeh effects!
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3rd person games are different IMO, because you are subconsciously more accepting of the fact that you aren't really there but rather a creepy camera floating in the sky. FPS, especially the more realistic/simulator-ish ones, it's so much more distracting. Like eating a cheesecake made of tofu... just be realistic about this, either give me the real deal or don't pretend and try to convince me - that's just lame!

Dammit, now I'm hungry...
 
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