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[Seanspeed]

Stop it.

I feel like it's some industry-wide troll at this point. It's getting added to everything and anything, with no care taken at all to moderate it or make sure it's only used sensibly. And it's getting more and more common.

What's truly baffling is that many of the games I see it in show great looking pre-release screenshots that don't have it! It's like they know that it looks better without it and they send those promo shots out and then they fuck it all up for the final game just to piss me off. I'm usually supportive of developers making their own artistic decisions and direction, but this is just insane at this point. It looks BAD. And I think most people agree it looks bad. So why? Why on earth is it so rampant? There is no reasonable or rational explanation for it. It's not even free, performance-wise. It's hardly costly, but it still means developers are actually using resources in order to implement this IQ-ruining abomination of an effect, which makes it even worse.

Look at this mess:









WHAT IS GOING ON?!

STOP IT. FUCKING STOP IT. I don't usually get all that angry over video game stuff, but this is becoming infuriating. All the effort and resources to render at a relatively crisp 1920x1080 and then you just smear the whole thing up with CA. Don't do it. It doesn't look good. It looks bad 99% of the time. The rest of the time, as a short-lived effect or in a game like Alien Isolation, I might be able to deal with it, but I still don't necessarily like it or feel it improves anything whatsoever.

Please, for the love of god, stop using it. Or if you refuse to keep ruining the look of your games, please add in an option to turn it off. Seriously. It seems like a very small thing to ask for in order for the many of us who cant stand this effect.

 

[Stevey]

Yeah, it looked good in Alien Isolation IMO, but most of the time it looks dumb.

 

[Fracas]

I don't mind it in moderation.

 

[nowarning]

I don't mind it when it's used sparingly and makes sense like the screens inside the titans in Titanfall, but aside from that it can do one.

 

[epmode]

I don't mind it in moderation.

Sure! But it's almost never used in moderation.

I agree with the OP.

 

[bananafactory]

I think it looks OK in Bloodborne but it bothers me in Dying Light.

I think GTA V and Bloodborne use Chromatic Aberration very effectively, by only applying it to the edges of the screen.

Agreed

 

[Jabba]

I have to fucking agree. They won't stop. It's too "cool" of an effect. Fucking, Bloodborne would look a shit ton better with out CA imo.

 

[Seanspeed]

I don't mind it in moderation.

Do you think it improves the image, though?

 

[antitrop]

I think GTA V and Bloodborne use Chromatic Aberration very effectively, by only applying it to the edges of the screen.

Do you think it improves the image, though?

In the case of Bloodborne, absolutely. The more "fucked up" that game looks, the better. The image distortion fits in with the style, I think.

 

[Zombie James]

After starting Bloodborne later on in the launch day, I found the complaints against its use of CA to be way overblown. The effect is far more subtle than it appears in screenshots.

 

[Kezen]

They can keep doing it but I would not mind the option to disable it, sometimes it's truly overdone (Lords of the Fallen is truly the worst offender).

 

[silver.tongue]

I don't mind it really, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority on this.

 

[system11]

I'd happily back a petition for this, it's why I'm not buying Bloodborne having suffered through other games with the effect before. They make these lovely looking visuals and then apply an optical defect to them, BY CHOICE. It smacks of ticking boxes at this point, I can't believe anyone really thinks breaking colour convergence is a good thing.

 

[RoboPlato]

I liked it in Alien Isolation and it's very subtle and well implemented in The Order but I don't like it in most other games. The UE4 implementation is especially bad, looks like there's oil covering anything. I would love for it to be like film grain, an effect that usually has a menu toggle. I don't know why film grain does, I tend to like it, but a toggle would be nice if it continues to be so obvious.

 

[Corpekata]

But, like, man it's their pure perfect artistic vision to make parts of the image look shitty. Why do you want to censor them?

 

[Damerman]

I noticed it a lot in lords of fallen... Whats the point of it in a fantasy game?

 

[burgerdog]

As others have said, Bloodborne does it extremely well. Lords of the Fallen went absolutely nuts with it, though. Turned it off as soon as the patch went live.

 

[Twenty7KVN]

The effect it self isn't bad it's the over use of it. It's like the enable the effect then turn it up to ten,instead of leaving it at 5.

 

[Adaren]

It's Christmas every day of the year in Yharnam.

(while moving the camera, the red/blue sections flicker rapidly).

 

[Caffeine]

there are a few games i have played where i feel it was used well but lords of the fallen basically splash that shit all over in excess.

im ok with it as long as its used well same goes for motion blur.

 

[Blizzard]

Some people presumably love it. It really bothers me and I assume some other people.

An option to disable it would be an awesome middle ground.

 

[Noobcraft]

If there was an option to turn it off in Bloodborne I would. It looks awful.

 

[The End]

After starting Bloodborne later on in the launch day, I found the complaints against its use of CA to be way overblown. The effect is far more subtle than it appears in screenshots.

This.

Staring at a screenshot from a foot away is different from seeing it on a large TV from the other side of a room.

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

Amen OP. CA is a goddamn plague on the industry right now. It is never, ever a welcome addition IMO. Maybe it's my 120" screen or something, but it's just deplorable to me.

 

[ashecitism]

On the Unreal Tournament stream 2 weeks ago they said artists like it because by introducing noise, disturbance to CG it makes it look more natural and realistic. With that said they're removing it, because they know people prefer their gameplay crisp and clean. So, there's that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxy5IYn82oQ#t=33m30s

from 33:30

Agreed btw. It's like, it burnes my eyes sometimes, because I'm looking for the clean stuff, but I can't find it!

 

[Markster]

Would someone be able to describe what is wrong in the OP's example images?

I will admit ignorance over what Chromatic Abberation is, though I would have thought that with 4 examples, I could have figured it out. Apparently not.

Also: ah, the eternal cycle of what the new Lens Flare is.

 

[Piercedveil]

Looks like ass in all situations. I'd love to see it go.

 

[epmode]

Do you think it improves the image, though?

When I say it's useful in moderation, I mean that it can be used for very specific special effects. Like, trying to simulate a shitty lens (a vew through a security camera, maybe). It's also good for hit/damage effects. See Teleglitch an example.

But just slathering it over the main playing window with no regard to what's actually being displayed? Awful.

Would someone be able to describe what is wrong in the OP's example images?

Maximize the first image and try to focus on the leaves on the upper left corner. The colors are bleeding.

 

[Lunar15]

I guess my question is: Why do developers use it in the first place? What's the justification? What artistic effect is it supposed to be achieving?

 

[Ziffles]

Chromatic Abberation is the colored lighting of 2015. I imagine it's fucking hideous in VR. (that is, when it's not just used at the edge of the lens)

 

[Seanspeed]

I think it looks OK in Bloodborne but it bothers me in Dying Light.

It ruins Bloodborne's IQ massively. Its fucking tragic how awful it looks.

Here's Bloodborne before they added CA. Ya know, one of the screenshots that made the game look great pre-release:

 

[Kain]

Would someone be able to describe what is wrong in the OP's example images?

I will admit ignorance over what Chromatic Abberation is, though I would have thought that with 4 examples, I could have figured it out. Apparently not.

Also: ah, the eternal cycle of what the new Lens Flare is.

Yeah, I would like to know too, I've seen it mentioned a few times lately and I still don't see the effect.

 

[RoboPlato]

After starting Bloodborne later on in the launch day, I found the complaints against its use of CA to be way overblown. The effect is far more subtle than it appears in screenshots.

Sometimes it really works in Bloodborne and other times it seems off. A more subtle implementation would be nice since I do think it works with the game's look. Honestly, more subtlty with the effect would go a LONG way compared to the usual engine default values for adding it.

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

I'm usually not a big fan of film grain either.

 

[TSM]

You can add this effect to every game you own by playing on a misconverged rear projection CRT.

 

[DragonSworne]

On last week's Unreal Tournament stream they said artists like it because by introducing noise to CG it makes it look more lifelike. With that said they're removing it, because they know people prefer their gameplay crisp and clean. So, there's that.

Agreed btw. It's like, it burnes my eyes sometimes, because I'm looking for the clean stuff, but I can't find it!

Lifelike? I don't see CA in real life. It's a shitty effect trying to replicate flawed photo cameras. It needs to die.

 

[XOMTOR]

Absolutely agree, it's god damned awful. The word "aberration" in CA should be a hint that it's not desirable.

I've been an avid photographer since the mid 80s and have always bought the best lenses and did everything possible to eliminate it in my shots. Shit's terrible.

 

[Lima]

Looks absolutely terrible in Bloodborne so yeah fuck that shit. Anyone that says it is subtle in that game, eh you might wanna get your eyes checked.

 

[bananafactory]

It ruins Bloodborne's IQ massively. Its fucking tragic how awful it looks.

Here's Bloodborne before they added CA. Ya know, one of the screenshots that made the game look great pre-release:

The problem is that Bloodborne's IQ is not nearly as good as that bullshot. The CA helps mask some of the deficiencies and I also think that the slight 'distortion' effect gives it a more stylized appearance that I prefer but is obviously subjective (and I assume many people will dislike)

 

[No_Style]

It doesn't bother me.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

I want somewhere more specific than 'developers' to aim my ire at so I don't end up randomly throwing shade on some tools programmers. Who is in charge of determining the look of a game at that level? Art Directors?

 

[Seanspeed]

Yeah, I would like to know too, I've seen it mentioned a few times lately and I still don't see the effect.

This is an example of a game(Alien Isolation) where people say they like it. I don't get it, but you can see what the effect is and how it ruins clarity at least:

 

[Accoun]

On last week's Unreal Tournament stream they said artists like it because by introducing noise to CG it makes it look more lifelike.

Maybe not really lifelike, but less sterile and not that much like a piece of CG. I'm pretty sure they haven't said anything about being lifelike.

 

[Lunar15]

Dammit GAF, this is going to be one of those things where I never noticed it before hearing about it on here, and now I'm always going to notice it.

EDIT: OK, I did notice it in Alien, but I thought the whole point of that was to mimic the effect from the original movie.

 

[CLEEK]

Chromatic Aberration is the one effect that I find hilarious the reaction about. It's such a subtle thing. In most games that have it, I don't know they do have it until I read people complaining about it.

In the four screenshots in the OP, CA is only obvious in the Bloodborne screen, but I've not noticed it while playing the actual game. I can't see it in the image from the F1 game at all, and it's so minor in the other two games that I had to zoom in and scan the edges of the images to find where it was.

 

[ashecitism]

Chromatic Abberation is the colored lighting of 2015. I imagine it's fucking hideous in VR. (that is, when it's not just used at the edge of the lens)

Luckily for VR devs implement CA correction to negate it. You want your VR experience to be crisp and clean.

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

Most, if not all of these screenshots actually look good and I think to the general populace (the majority of people who buy these games) think they would too. And that's all that matters to publishers. You're getting too worked up.

 

[Seanspeed]

The problem is that Bloodborne's IQ is not nearly as good as that bullshot. The CA helps mask some of the deficiencies and I also think that the slight 'distortion' effect gives it a more stylized appearance that I prefer but is obviously subjective (and I assume many people will dislike)

Yes, the aliasing in that shot has been clearly dealt with by supersampling, but the general clarity from the lack of CA is still apparent.

 

[epmode]

Chromatic Abberation is the colored lighting of 2015. I imagine it's fucking hideous in VR. (that is, when it's not just used at the edge of the lens)

Actually, VR devs should program negative chromatic aberration into their games since the lenses inside the headset naturally add CA into a standard image. It's pretty weird.

 

[TSM]

Lifelike? I don't see CA in real life. It's a shitty effect trying to replicate flawed photo cameras. It needs to die.

I unfortunately do see it in real life. I have a ridiculous amount of astigmatism and anything not in the center of my glasses lenses has it to some degree. Things that are visible at the edges of my lenses have the blue/red borders just like the screen shots.