HL2 lighting is too basic , dont u think?

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Silent_night

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The graphics look amazing but poor lighting really takes away from the spooky parts of the game ,for example in the e32k3 video when u r fightng with those zombies there should be better lighting like doom 3 or far cry. It looks just too basic like an oridnary game from last year.
 
The lighting looks fine. Whilst it doesnt have dynamic ligthing, it compensates for that with HDR and Radiosity
 
Silent_night said:
The graphics look amazing but poor lighting really takes away from the spooky parts of the game ,for example in the e32k3 video when u r fightng with those zombies there should be better lighting like doom 3 or far cry. It looks just too basic like an oridnary game from last year.
Click to expand...

lol.. Don't make assumptions until you have played the game :p
 
HL2 is a lot of open environment. I'd rather they did that right than include lighting that must be a bitch to calculate is such large environements.

Doom 3, on the other hand is mostly narrow corridors. From the get-go they had to have good shadows since it would look great is such tight quaters.
 
It's the topic that refuses to die! lol

But seriously, HL2's lighting and shadows are done in a way that's mean to save on performance. Source is capable of dynamic lighting and shadows. HL2 DOES feature dynamic lighting, just not dynamic shadows.
 
The lighting is very bad. The character shodows stay the same in any environment (dark shadows on light shadows of a mesh). You will notice this in the CS:S movies and in some HL2 screens.
 
Same thing happens with Doom 3. Its how most games work. Either the shadows are too hard or too soft.
 
ray_MAN said:
The lighting is very bad. The character shodows stay the same in any environment (dark shadows on light shadows of a mesh). You will notice this in the CS:S movies and in some HL2 screens.
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You mean the shadows are bad not lighting?

I like the way valve has done the lighting, its very realisic IMO, and thats what they were going for.
 
DJ_Cheeba said:
Good lighting? Check this STALKER video out! ! ! http://files.gsc-game.com/st/stlkwlk4_big.mov
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that was amazing! i haven't really been paying attention to STALKER but this has sparked my attention. that disappearing guy was cool.

Does anyone know if HL2's flashlight will cast shadows on characters and objects, or just objects, or just walls or what? I know it's supposed to be dynamic, but how dynamic exactly?
 
Sparta said:
The lighting looks fine. Whilst it doesnt have dynamic ligthing, it compensates for that with HDR and Radiosity
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enough said...
 
ray_MAN said:
The lighting is very bad. The character shodows stay the same in any environment (dark shadows on light shadows of a mesh). You will notice this in the CS:S movies and in some HL2 screens.
Click to expand...

As others have pointed out, you're talking about shadows, not lighting.
I do agree, the shadows look a bit meh considering they have one direction no matter where you are
 
But maybe most everyone will actually be able to have them on instead of turning them off for performance...
 
I understand the game is mostly in beitiful enviroment , and the enviroment is stunning , but a lot of parts would look much better with more realistic lighting. and if they r worried about performance problems then it should be an option to turn it on , anyways 3 quartres of us now have powerfull computers to run games like hl2 and d3
 
Silent_night said:
I understand the game is mostly in beitiful enviroment , and the enviroment is stunning , but a lot of parts would look much better with more realistic lighting. and if they r worried about performance problems then it should be an option to turn it on , anyways 3 quartres of us now have powerfull computers to run games like hl2 and d3
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Shadows and lighting are not the same thing.
 
Ugh...please, stop complaining over things like lighting. Half-Life 2 can't have EVERYTHING you know. They have to solidify the feature list sometime. Doom III was built with a focus on lighting for a creepy mood. Half-Life 2 is a game set on creating a different sort of atmosphere than Doom III, or Far Cry for that matter. It delivers amazing results in the physics and AI departments. It's here that HL2 and the source engine finds it's strength, and the intense focus on these areas means some trade-offs must be made in others. Valve has decided to sink it's time and effort into an engine that would provide you with great graphics (static lighting or not, the game looks great), fantastic physics, and great AI. They want you to have a blast playing the game, not watching it.
So what would you rather have, fantastic physics and AI systems in place to enhance the gaming experience, or shadows that move? Take your pick and choose the game that suits you best.
 
qckbeam said:
Ugh...please, stop complaining over things like lighting. Half-Life 2 can't have EVERYTHING you know. They have to solidify the feature list sometime. Doom III was built with a focus on lighting for a creepy mood. Half-Life 2 is a game set on creating a different sort of atmosphere than Doom III, or Far Cry for that matter. It delivers amazing results in the physics and AI departments. It's here that HL2 and the source engine finds it's strength, and the intense focus on these areas means some trade-offs must be made in others. Valve has decided to sink it's time and effort into an engine that would provide you with great graphics (static lighting or not, the game looks great), fantastic physics, and great AI. They want you to have a blast playing the game, not watching it.
So what would you rather have, fantastic physics and AI systems in place to enhance the gaming experience, or shadows that move? Take your pick and choose the game that suits you best.
Click to expand...
What he said :D
 
Far Cry had awesome graphics too, but the gameplay wasn't that fantastic. HL2 though, has good graphics, while they're not the best they still look good, and the gameplay is gonna be incredible. After I beat far cry and played multiplayer for a few hours, I never touched it again. After I beat half-life 2, i'll play multiplayer for months, and download all these cool mods. Now what would you rather have? A game with the best graphics in the world but the gameplay is shit? Or a game that has good graphics but the gameplay is so amazing you cream your pants x10
 
qckbeam said:
Ugh...please, stop complaining over things like lighting. Half-Life 2 can't have EVERYTHING you know. They have to solidify the feature list sometime. Doom III was built with a focus on lighting for a creepy mood. Half-Life 2 is a game set on creating a different sort of atmosphere than Doom III, or Far Cry for that matter. It delivers amazing results in the physics and AI departments. It's here that HL2 and the source engine finds it's strength, and the intense focus on these areas means some trade-offs must be made in others. Valve has decided to sink it's time and effort into an engine that would provide you with great graphics (static lighting or not, the game looks great), fantastic physics, and great AI. They want you to have a blast playing the game, not watching it.
So what would you rather have, fantastic physics and AI systems in place to enhance the gaming experience, or shadows that move? Take your pick and choose the game that suits you best.
Click to expand...


I understand the Physics and the AI r gonna be awesom, but this topic is about the lighting . why do u guyz automaticly think i am dissing hl2?
 
Silent, you are confusing LIGHTING with SHADOWS. aaaahhhhhhhh... lol
The lighting in HL2 looks pretty good. The lightmaps are, well, lightmaps, but the transition between dark and lit areas looks GREAT now, as opposed to last year.

The lighting is great. The shadows are not.
 
Even if Hl2 will have better gameplay (which I think it will) I feel source will be over-shadowed by the doom 3 engine because of its out-door enviornments, and therefore less detailed shadows. I think Source might fail in the licensing aspect.

But, if you recall the bugbait videos, the lighting and shadows in that enviornment (prison?) was quite impressive...as was trap town. These enviornments are quick loading, expansive, and relatively non-linear. Doom can't claim any of these things.

Just look at this Doom 3 picture, its engine limitations on large map sizes is quite obvious:

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/doom3/screens.html?page=80

This HL2 shot shos its strenghts:

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/halflife2/screens.html?page=68

The way Doom 3's engine is implemented pretty much insures wide-open spaces will be close to non-existant.
 
Silent_night said:
I understand the Physics and the AI r gonna be awesom, but this topic is about the lighting . why do u guyz automaticly think i am dissing hl2?
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The way you worded it sounded hostile.
 
Shuzer said:
Silent, you are confusing LIGHTING with SHADOWS. aaaahhhhhhhh... lol
The lighting in HL2 looks pretty good. The lightmaps are, well, lightmaps, but the transition between dark and lit areas looks GREAT now, as opposed to last year.


The lighting is great. The shadows are not.
Click to expand...

lol , true
 
manny_c44 said:
Even if Hl2 will have better gameplay (which I think it will) I feel source will be over-shadowed by the doom 3 engine because of its out-door enviornments, and therefore less detailed shadows. I think Source might fail in the licensing aspect.
Click to expand...

Source is capable of both dynamic lighting and dynamic shadows. HL2 just doesn't use both methods.
 
Erm. So, how would it fail in the licensing department because the casual gamer doesn't know the engine is capable of more than it is currently achieving?

Developers aren't casual gamers. Source already has 2 licensees.
 
One thing I've been thinking about is how HL2s graphics that were once the greatest ever!, all of a sudden got to be OK. I mean when the 2003E3 was first shown everyone creamed their pants and said they were great. Whats changed? Doom3s graphics ( which looks amazing) havn't changed all that much, we'd seen great footage from STALKER and still everyone agreed that HL2s graphics were on par with those games. But now its pretty much agreed that they are ok. Cause I guess I'm the only one who feels its graphics are still great.
 
But developers sell to casual gamers, who have been wooed already by Dooms shiny graphics. A developer may go with whats popular and proven rather than trying to make the Source engine do a similar thing. It should technically be able to, but no ones seen it.
 
brink's said:
One thing I've been thinking about is how HL2s graphics that were once the greatest ever!, all of a sudden got to be OK. I mean when the 2003E3 was first shown everyone creamed their pants and said they were great. Whats changed? Doom3s graphics ( which looks amazing) havn't changed all that much, we'd seen great footage from STALKER and still everyone agreed that HL2s graphics were on par with those games. But now its pretty much agreed that they are ok. Cause I guess I'm the only one who feels its graphics are still great.
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Agreed..........
 
brink's said:
Thats concept art, srry :(


Shuzer I know trokia licensed source but who else did?
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The creators of Arx Fatalis
 
Same here, HL2's graphics are unmatched when you're talking about the areas it renders in the detail it does it in. Hell all you need to do is watch the e32k4 movie again. GFX wise the game hasn't gotten any weaker, it's gotten heaps stronger, just take a look at the latest flashlight screen to see. It's shadows for characters might be a liddle weird looking but for cryin' out loud look at the bigger picture!
 
Kazuki_Fuse said:
Same here, HL2's graphics are unmatched when you're talking about the areas it renders in the detail it does it in. Hell all you need to do is watch the e32k4 movie again. GFX wise the game hasn't gotten any weaker, it's gotten heaps stronger, just take a look at the latest flashlight screen to see. It's shadows for characters might be a liddle weird looking but for cryin' out loud look at the bigger picture!
Click to expand...
Not to mention that the flashlight wasn't finished in that pic.
 
lol , i just realized something from the e32k4 video check out the video from time 16:26 to 16:36 , it is the part where u control that machnie and u lift that thing and u throw it on the soldier , well look at the shadow of the magnet , u can still see it even though it is behinde that shed thing
 
games are in beta's for a reason, i doubt you can really judge a game till its released.
 
Welcome to last century. They already fixed this bug ;)

And about the topic, in a word. No.
 
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