HL2 will have support to HDR, says Rick

[felipaopl]

Well, guess this one is important, so I decided to put it here instead of put it in the official thread. Here's my question:

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HDR and FP32

Felipe Andrade <[email protected]> Mon, Jul 5, 2004 at 9:37AM
To: [email protected]

Hi Rick, how are you?

First of all, thanks for making one of the best games that will come
out, and thanks for answering the questions of us as well

Well, I saw a interview with the CryTek CEO about HDR support in the
upcoming 1.3 patch for FarCry. He said that this feature will be
available only in the GeForce 6800 series, mainly 'cause they support
FP32 blending capabilities that other cards don't. My question is, is
FP32 required to do HDR? I think is not, 'cause the DX9 Source demo of
HL2 was running in a 9800 PRO right? And I heard that maybe HDR would
not ship with the game, and could be added in a future patch... why
don't ship it already and create a option to switch it on, if
supported?

Thanks again for all,

Felipe
--
Felipe Andrade (Gmail beta tester)
Gmail - A Google approach to email.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rick Ellis <[email protected]> Tue, Jul 6, 2004 at 1:31PM
To: Felipe Andrade <[email protected]>

In HL2, we support HDR on most of the DX9 capable hardware, including
ATI.

Rick
Valve

 

[PvtRyan]

That's a good thing to hear, I pretty much bought my 9800 Pro for HDR.

I think it was already visible in the low res videoclips of CS:S from Seoul where the screen brightness adjusted itself to simulate the effect of a bright outside world when you're in a darker inside environment. That's what it looked like.

But could have been caused by the camera though.

 

[SMT]

OK, now also put it in the official thread, where they're supposed to be.

 

[Varsity]

Good news.

 

[lePobz]

Sweet, although I'm starting to wish i'd bought a 6800 ultra instead of an X800 XT - it is getting more software support than i'd anticipated. ;(

 

[felipaopl]

OK, now also put it in the official thread, where they're supposed to be.

It's already there Mr.

 

[Maxi]

In other words, Valve's HDR is better then cryteks?

 

[lans]

In other words, Valve's HDR is better then cryteks?

You do the math...you'll see HDR in HL2 even with a 9800 pro. While in Far cry, it's possible only with a FX 6800 normal/ultra.

 

[felipaopl]

You do the math...you'll see HDR in HL2 even with a 9800 pro. While in Far cry, it's possible only with a FX 6800 normal/ultra.

IMO, the HDR in FarCry will be a bit more advanced than in HL2, maybe by using SM3.0, giving it a speed boost with less performace impact, who knows.

But, by judging from screenshots that I've already saw in which the effect is enabled in both games, I don't see superior image quality in FarCry at all.

 

[Andy]

He said it worked with ATI too... why is everyone suddenly heading Nvidia's way?

 

[lans]

IMO, the HDR in FarCry will be a bit more advanced than in HL2, maybe by using SM3.0, giving it a speed boost with less performace impact, who knows.

But, by judging from screenshots that I've already saw in which the effect is enabled in both games, I don't see superior image quality in FarCry at all.

SM 3.0 is debuting in the Geforce 6800, and just about how many people have a $500 card like that at the momment? less than 10% for sure. And of course by the time it's price drops, many more games and engines will come that support HDR and look far better than Far cry, that are more optimized for the masses.

 

[felipaopl]

SM 3.0 is debuting in the Geforce 6800, and just about how many people have a $500 card like that at the momment?

Yeah, but the guys from CryTek already said that, in Far Cry's case, HDR will only available with the 6800 cards.

 

[Maxi]

I think thats wierd, and very un-economical to just make an effect for a few hundred, or thousand people. Why not improve some other graphic element that would make the game look better for more people?

 

[Crusader]

Because that's what Valve were talking about when they mentioned possibly not having HDR, and everyone jumped for the throat, they never once even said it wouldn't be in, while everyone began flogging it as fact, with my little voice saying "please sir, where did they say HDR wasn't going to be in?"

*cue roars and bustles, Oliver is not heard over the screams of "NO HDR??!! OMG WTF VALVE I BOUGHT MY 9800 PRO FOR THIS!"*

Ahem...

Soo... I'm going to have a cold shower now..

 

[felipaopl]

I think thats wierd, and very un-economical to just make an effect for a few hundred, or thousand people. Why not improve some other graphic element that would make the game look better for more people?

Well, in HDR's case, they don't have much to do, as it'a a DX9 effect. Remember the Steam survey? The number of those crappy GeForce 4 MX's that exist around the world is incredible...

 

[Tork]

Heh this is Valve for you folks, not forgetting about the 9700 pro and 9800 owners. You rock Valve

 

[Big Fat Duck]

why is everyone going crazy about HDR on HL2, because it is OLD news, google for the bink of source_hdr02.exe it was released a while ago

 

[Caminante]

I belive Gabe himself said something similar a while ago....

 

[Moto]

why is everyone going crazy about HDR on HL2, because it is OLD news, google for the bink of source_hdr02.exe it was released a while ago

That's not it. We have had many scenes from E32K4 vids that showed no evidence od HDR support. They seemed to have taken it out. It was a cool feature, and some of the guys with kick ass computers (like myself) were pissed that they took it out. We want the game to look its best. Now that we've heard that it's back in, we are happy. Yay! :rolling:

 

[Tork]

That and they just wanted to double check if they were not going to go the Crytek way and they are not.

 

[ailevation]

:naughty: Cool, HDR power in Half Life 2! So much eye candy that I am getting cavity's in my eyeballs!

 

[crabcakes66]

SM 3.0 is debuting in the Geforce 6800, and just about how many people have a $500 card like that at the momment? less than 10% for sure. And of course by the time it's price drops, many more games and engines will come that support HDR and look far better than Far cry, that are more optimized for the masses.

Try less than 1%

 

[dream431ca]

Yeah, but the guys from CryTek already said that, in Far Cry's case, HDR will only available with the 6800 cards.

Lest we forget...FarCry is mainly with Nvidia while Half-life 2 is Mainly with ATI so it is no surprise that Crytek went with Nvidia.

 

[MindCrafter]

What is HDR?

 

[Tork]

High Dynamic Range

http://www.beyond3d.com/misc/hl2/
see pics

 

[Crushenator 500]

w00t

..too bad my card isnt dx9 ..



led zeppellin - d'yer mak'er

 

[felipaopl]

w00t

..too bad my card isnt dx9 ..

LOL

But consider buying one, 9600's and 9800's are getting really cheaper.

 

[blahblahblah]

The clip from CS:S Korea, did not have HDR in it. Shaky cam adds HDR because HDR is something that happens in real life. The only way to tell if HDR is added in a game is by looking at a monitor that is displaying the HDR demo.

As for the Crytek 6800 HDR, I don't know. It looks like it was written for a specific piece of hardware (read: the 6800 series). If Crytek was using DX9 HDR, both Nvidia (including the FX series) and ATI cards would be able to run HDR. I suspect Nvidia is forcing Crytek to add 6800 only features to its games.

 

[FISKER_Q]

Well, guess this one is important, so I decided to put it here instead of put it in the official thread. Here's my question:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
HDR and FP32

Felipe Andrade <[email protected]> Mon, Jul 5, 2004 at 9:37AM
To: [email protected]

Hi Rick, how are you?

First of all, thanks for making one of the best games that will come
out, and thanks for answering the questions of us as well

Well, I saw a interview with the CryTek CEO about HDR support in the
upcoming 1.3 patch for FarCry. He said that this feature will be
available only in the GeForce 6800 series, mainly 'cause they support
FP32 blending capabilities that other cards don't. My question is, is
FP32 required to do HDR? I think is not, 'cause the DX9 Source demo of
HL2 was running in a 9800 PRO right? And I heard that maybe HDR would
not ship with the game, and could be added in a future patch... why
don't ship it already and create a option to switch it on, if
supported?

Thanks again for all,

Felipe
--
Felipe Andrade (Gmail beta tester)
Gmail - A Google approach to email.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rick Ellis <[email protected]> Tue, Jul 6, 2004 at 1:31PM
To: Felipe Andrade <[email protected]>

In HL2, we support HDR on most of the DX9 capable hardware, including
ATI.

Rick
Valve

As far as i know SM 3.0 just offers more lights per pass. Which might make it performance better with HDR enabled.

 

[felipaopl]

As far as i know SM 3.0 just offers more lights per pass. Which might make it performance better with HDR enabled.

That's what I said some posts earlier