Opinions for everyone! \o/
I think you made a misspelling there. I think you meant "options"...
No. Saying you think film grain is a ****ty effect is an opinion (which, you didn't, but Klaustrophobia did). I, personally, disagree with it.
Similarly, saying bloom is a good effect is also opinion. Wouldn't take long to find someone here that hates it with a passion.
And I think I heard the "whoosh" as docfu's point sailed right over your head. Effects in FSO are optional; if someone doesn't like an effect, they can turn it off in the launcher. Which is why arguing about them is completely pointless.
Naw, Scotty is right. I shouldn't have made an inside joke against someone who doesn't know me.
That aside, I think there should be a separate panel in the options for post processing effects. While it would seem "the correct way" that individual mods turn on post processing effects as needed, it would be nice to stack up post processing effects right from inside the launcher. Turning on and off effects with sliders to get the whole game looking the way you want it.
I realize that to the newer generation of hi-definition gamers, anything that reduces resolution and clarity would probably seem to detract from the game, but if there is one thing that games need to look realistic its fluidity of motion and the appearance of a constantly changing environment. Space is obviously a "low light" situation most of the time (depending on your distance from the sun.) and anyone who has done true photography knows that filming in the dark is a next to impossible task due to the lack of contrast.
Some night shots you see in movies and tv are actually filmed during the day and then made darker using post processing later. This is simply because daytime lighting provides a higher contrast to work with and to make it dark all they have to do is tone it down a little.
Personally, while every ship in freespace "has" a cockpit in it, I've never felt like I've been in ship in this game. Maybe it's because every HUD is exactly the same, there is no internal cockpit drawn, and the perspective of the display window seems a little ackward. In this game I've always felt like I WAS the ship, rather than riding in one. (Until I played beyond the red line but that's another story.)
These post processing filters help to break that mold. It's easier to believe I'm lining enemy ships up on a big display in the cockpit rather than looking out a window at them. I also grew up in the era of crappy analog electronics and bad wiring so a little flicker just makes it that much more realistic.
Besides. I'd prefer film grain for a post processing effect over "dead pixels" any day...
And on a last note, I'd like to say these run fine on my Nvidia 8400GS. I seriously thought I was gonna have to upgrade my card to get any kind of a decent framerate but it runs mostly smooth in the game.
