Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Patch 8 - Colors Became Too Vibrant And Washed Out Darker Shades

Please make the colors look natural and lighting immersive again as unfortunately the characters look too vibrant and environments too washed out, brightened and tinted after Patch 8, due to lighting changes. BG3 looked impressively dark, gritty, realistic, natural and incredibly immersive in terms of its setting and lighting prior to the patch, where every scenery was worth a thousand words as it perfectly blended different shades of colors and shadows in order to create such beautifully unique atmosphere in every area of the game... but now it looks the complete opposite.

The characters seem to be the worst with these lighting changes, especially with hair, make-up and outfits, because previously every color was subtle and had different shades of light and dark to choose from, but now it's just really sharp colors going from vibrant to very vibrant, so it ends up looking really fake and out of place when it should be looking natural. Outfits went from looking really realistic and rugged to fake looking.

As for the rest of the game, specifically environments, everything now looks awfully bright, washed out without a contrast and tinted. Even the dark places such as crypts or the Underdark are no longer dark and lost their creepy dungeon atmosphere. The impressive scenery that was previously worth admiring is now non-existent unfortunately, as it no longer oozes that captivating atmosphere that made the game so attractive to the eyes.

Here are comparison shots between Patch 7 and Patch 8.

The Underdark comparison shots are located on the 3rd page.


CHARACTERS

This is my character using exactly the same colors in both updates. Darkest purple color got turned into vibrant purple, same with darker versions of other colors. And you can observe how terrible the leather shoulderpad looks now, doesn't look like rugged leather at all.


Outfits went from looking beautifully realistic and worn-out rugged adventurer's clothes to over-saturated downgrades that look more like cosplay outfits.


Lae'zel went from a dark brown hair color to light brown, so did her armor. Doesn't nearly look as good.



ENVIRONMENT

Environments went from sceneries worth admiring due to their artistically beautiful and immersive tones that create a unique sense of dread, mystery and exploration, to washed out color tinted areas that no longer have any contrast nor unique atmosphere worth admiring because all of the details are drowning underneath the mess.

But you have to appreciate their work with the lighting! They spent 6 months working on that!

/Sarcasm off

Yeah, I agree with you.

I fear I must agree with you as well. I guess we can only be thankful that it's not as sickeningly vibrant as DOS 1 was.

+1

Classic case of worsening improvement. These vibrant colors even give new meaning to Caerlar Argent's title, The Shining Lady. Wildheart Barbarian piercings for all characters would have been a better implementation...

wow that Patch 8 light brown leather armor looks like shit.
We are back to happy colors boys and girls!

If it aint broke...

It really did look better before.

Someone decided they now want to do a bright vibrant happy game instead of a more realistic gritty game where mind flayers, dark cultists and vampires murder people? Ironically, the lighthearted Bard would also stand out much more in the latter. Playing happy music (with realistic dyed hair) in a gritty setting would be much more powerful than playing the same music in bright pink hair in a bright vibrant setting.

Perhaps they were looking to make festive outfits for the Bards.

Maybe Undo the change and add some colors to the pallet.

People complained earlier about it beeing to dark. Now its to bright? They really cant win, can they

+1 Ya, not a fan

So after playing for a few hours and checking out a few places, the game really took a nosedive in graphical quality with the new lighting changes... from over-saturated vibrant colors on characters to washed out bland colors throughout the environment. The lighting does look great in certain cinematic scenarios, but the rest of the game looks disappointing to look at. Mostly because I used to admire a lot of the scenery in the game and it looked great.

Here is an example of Overgrown Ruins and how terrible it looks now. It's no longer dark nor spooky nor does it feel like a cold empty tomb. And even with all light sources turned off, it's so bright that you don't need a torch nor Dark Vision to go through it. The colors of the environment look washed out as if brightness was turned up, while the colors on the characters are so distracting due to their saturation and thus stick out like a sore thumb.



Really hope this gets tweaked and improved so the game looks realistically dark and gritty and immersive with proper colors again, because this is disappointing. Brought back memories of what happened to Diablo 3 between alpha and launch, when it went from a serious and gritty diabolical atmosphere to a colorful fantasy land which didn't match the setting whatsoever.

I'm glad that you point out those cinematics since that felt like it was highlighted in the panel but they never really talked about how the rest of the game would be affected.

+1
There also seems to be a noticeable difference between facial hair and (head?) hair, almost as if the facial didn't get the shiny gloss of "Patch 8 Herbal Essence."

That's because they apparently aren't "worth it" :P

It definitely looks too bright and vibrant now, I much prefer the old look for sure.

This topic is so perfectly on-point, I was compelled to make an a/c here to C&P what I’ve posted elsewhere (warning: it’s a rant). Apparently ‘they’ only look at Larian forums, so hopefully ‘they’ will look at this thread. I’ve edited some parts, as I made explicit reference to this thread from elsewhere. I’m stunned, to be honest, by what has happened with the art direction re: lighting. So here’s my endorsement of the OP's very valid remarks:

***

Some people clearly like their lighting to be neon-emblazoned camp, while others, like myself, prefer an earthier grit, something akin to a painting from the old masters – who clearly had more brains in the art department than Larian’s inept artistic leadership.

I haven’t played the game in months, so at first I thought I was mistaken for thinking the lighting had turned into this monotone candy-sludge. But the more I pressed on through the illithid ship, the more wretched the graphics became, until I emerged into the rancid sunlight of the beach and its surrounding visual puke.

The above Patch7/Patch 8 comparison photos deftly highlight the godawful U-turn they took with the lighting. There’s even loss of detail in the armour, as the OP notes. But look at that lurid rainbow-emblazed hair. Good Christ, my eyes…

Now check out how brilliantly the light alone transforms the illithid ship in Patch 7 to a sinister, foreboding and atmospheric lair of mystery and malignance. And look how such a simple change to ‘mere light’ in the Patch 8 screenshot can immediately devastate all the hard work the art team put into the assets.

I mean, this is what the art directors were doing for the last 6 months? In other words, they were actually undoing the progress made in the visuals.

It almost smacks of sabotage, it’s that obnoxious. As thoug¬h some conniving creative cutthroat decided the art asset team were getting too much kudos from the community – so it was time to bring them down a notch, by dousing all their great work in a florid sea of camp.

Now the visuals have been brought down to the stomach-churning mediocrity and ‘safeness’ of the tepid narrative. So there’s only the gameplay left – and could I endure a 100 hours of aesthetic vomit even if the gameplay was A1? No. I need at least some artistic chutzpah to enjoy these things – I don’t just play the games for the mechanics.

Now even – yes! – Blizzard have surpassed Larian in the visual department, with their superlative effort in the recent D4 updates: getting better and better. This is it now, people: the notorious Blizzard, once the grand-high lord of mainstream sell-out-ism, shows more creative daring, more maturity, more intelligence, more balls and more talent.

This lighting change is absolutely execrable stuff from people who don’t even work for a living – who get paid to have ‘fun’. I’m talking about the art directors, not the poor schmucks who have to listen to these talentless hacks.

On a positive note, it is technically ‘just’ lighting (in other words, doesn’t involve an entire graphics engine overhaul to change) – and surely they still have the far, far better previous lighting presets available. Just expose it as an option! Lighting has an unprecedented effect on atmosphere. One wrong turn can turn a great work of art into a monstrosity.

Just google ‘chiaroscuro’ and feast your eyes on the unparalleled evocativeness of extreme light against extreme dark. Now these are visuals with personality, balls, depth, intrigue and power. They’ve almost completely eradicated the colour black from their lighting.

What is wrong with these people who insist on such lurid, rainbow, glow-stick pustule-picture? It’s like the Dragon Age Dreadwolf logo reveal. Months before, I wrote – on other forums – that the initial reveal art for DAD was head-spinning-ly, out-of-control camp, with gratuitous glowing neon effects sparking out from every character and city. I was told by one guy that it was early days and no way were these an indication of what was to come.

It’s as if they read my remark and, as though to ‘stick it’ to me, made their official logo look like some thrashy Saints Row knock-off, all gaudy purples and fluorescent, sparkling visual diarrhoea.

Once again, I implore you to google chiaroscuro and see what could be – what was, in fact – and lament. Now please forgive me while I step away: my eyes have started to bleed again.

The absolutely highest praise that BG3 has gotten is in the graphics department...like unanimously.

Now the complaints start...they should roll back the changes.


I don't like what I am seeing overall with the color scheme, it looks crap now.

I haven't made up my mind on the individual tweaks to certain characters.

The leather in particular looked stunning before the changes.


This one of those times when negative feedback is not malicious..."You have a boog hangin'".

Absolute Crap!

Thanks for the side by side. I thought something felt off, but couldn't put my finger on it. I thought it was because the darks weren't dark enough and this pretty much proves it. It also shows that the textures got blurred out too. Which is odd because many other things like skin textures look sharper and so do rocks and other random elements. Then I run into situations where some areas are too dark and others are way to bright.

Oh and one other thing I noticed. I know they tried doing something with the sound to help things sound better and many things do, but many other things don't. Like for example before the Barbarian cry was loud and intimidating. It was just great and now its muted. You barely hear it over the battle.

Here are some more comparison images between the patches.

Apart from the ugly bland and washed out colors, the contrast is entirely gone and everything seems to be tinted now. The area around the crashed Nautiloid is tinted in blue, but I was shocked to see the goblin camp go from the actual dark and gritty warcamp atmosphere to whatever that is.

Have you used the same settings for that elf regarding skin tone or did the patch come with personal fake tan sprays? Lol

I just don't get why they felt the need for this change. The game was beautiful last patch. Sure, as others has said, the hair rendition is welcomed and was surely needed although I still haven't checked if there still are those weird hairfree patches in some do's. But the rest? If it ain't broken, don't try to fix it.

Is it not insane how bad this downgrade is? How is this topic not gaining more traction?

It’s like looking at ‘next gen’ being last-gen-ified.

Look at the bridge scene, in particular.

It was amazing. As in, past tense.

The last picture though… Lads, seriously.

Even those crappy, low-effort tombs looked great with the extra-dark lighting… The difference in the tiles! It’s crazy how bad this is… Even worse than David Drowie (Minthara in her David Bowie incarnation).

All I wanted was some eye-candy to go with the geekery of the DnD stuff. Basically just some attractive escapism. If I want to strategise ‘for real’, I just go back to my 9-5.

Now all this game has is gameplay, and nah – I’ve better things to be doing with my life than playing through a 100 hours of looking at this washed-out goop.

I can’t stop lol’ing at the last pic. PS5-ish to cheap early PS3 in just one patch.

Yikes…

Anyway, it’s only a game. Sometimes they end up like the stuff we animals deposit in the various toilets of the world – you just have to flush and move on. Cya BG3 – was looking promising there for a while, but I guess y’all have a desperate deadline to meet…

Yup, exactly the same appearance in both images as this is the default character that you get when you press "NEW GAME", so this is how she looks between Patch 7 and Patch 8.

As for the hair, I personally think the new hair models are fantastic and and can't wait to see physics added back to them. Hair actually looks like hair now... if we ignore the eye stinging colors ^^

I see it now. I see the problem. They added that stupid blurry fog effect that every moder under the sun creates a mod to remove day 1, because it makes the game look like ass. Why haven't developers realized this yet? Stop using that!

Thanks for making me reconsider downloading and installing again.

Wow, I'm genuinely shocked at how vehement the hate for this change is. I get not liking it, there's plenty not to like, but I never expected this to garner so much passion. Seeing genuine insults getting thrown out makes me want to knee-jerk point out that real life is plenty vibrant and bright too, but after taking a beat, I do get that it's about creating an atmosphere and impression. While I find using the term realistic in relation to this kind of thing tedious, I will agree that color and art direction are important for creating a sense of mood and style that puts the player in the write headspace, whether it's actually realistic or not. I also don't see all the problems people are pointing out in the screenshots, but I see some of them, and I can't say that the change is actually an improvement. Some things look the same to me, some things look worse, which adds up to a net loss.

Those screenshots definitely look blurry now and also like the brightness got turned up too high. I hope they revert this change. Also I want the darker hair colours back (especially a proper black.) What we have now seems to be either washed out medium and light shades and a Manic Panic showcase. They could easily add the old colours back in by replacing several of the similar and duplicated fake shades.

I dunno ...
I can certainly sense some "we decided to give the Box to Shadowheart, and that led us into permutation hell ... instead of recognize the bad design and change the whole approach" vibes once again ...

Bare with me for a second ...
And tell me how far i am in your opinion:

1) In last (or previous? not sure honestly) patch, they decided to turn eyes of characters with Darkvision into flashlights ...
It sounds great on paper, it seems awesome in first atempts ... but slowly it starts to show issues ... and there is more and more of them the futher you go ...
That is equivalent of "lets give the box to Shadowheart" ...

2) People were complaining that PoV Darkvision sucks, bcs while it makes perfect sense from roleplay perspective ... we as a player (and not as a character) need to see our whole surroundings, not just small area in direct front of our character ... some areas had even with this feature overall visibility of tar pit ... especialy in the underdark ... especialy frustrating for characters with Supperior Darkvision, where your Drow should have ben able to see there (at least a bit) while he cant see his own nose.
That sounds like equivalent of "we are aware it cause problems, but we want to keep it anyway, bcs we thought the basic idea is awesome"

3) Larian started to "fix" the overall darkness of whole world, by incerasing amount of light in the places ...
Wich start causing yet another bunch of problems ... colors seems unnatural, places that should be dark and spooky are neither, darkvision is kinda loosing its purpose, since you can clearly see anywhere ... and areas starts to look really odd:
- Owlbear is in the "cave" that have hole in its roof that could fit all 3 Ogres in it twice what kind of "cave" is that?
- Nobody is able to find "perfectly hidden cellar of Neckromancer" but when you reach there, you can see on the floor that roof once again have holes in it where that Ogre could fall through once again!
- The "dank crypt" ... why bother, its just the same over and over, holes everywhere, its miracle this place still hold together. -_-

INSTEAD of simply accept that this idea, even tho it sounded cool, was bad one ... and rewind back to patch 1 Darkvision, where our Darkvisioning characters were simply source of their own "cold light" and whole space around them litteraly looked differently.
That is equivalent of "we will rather try hard to create bzillions of permutation for meeting with Shadowheart, than give that stupid box to player right after he leaves first room."

What do you think? Am i on right track, or completely off?

I mean, I haven't seen how darkvision looks now, but it does atleast feel like it could be true. It feels like that sort of overcommitment could be at play, certainly.

They had to downgrade it for console and Stadia gamers lol.

I'm certainly missing the darker colours. Everything is too bright now

You are I believe exactly on track. I've never watched a PFH before but to hear Sven constantly asking about throwing the gnome was as revealing as it was annoying.

Yeah, I preferred the old version of darkvision, where everything changed with the character selected. The flashlight eyes didn't provide enough illumination for the player.

I think one of the reasons for the environmental lighting change is because things were difficult to see in the last patch. As a player, I needed the light spell or torches, even on characters with darkvision.

Now I don't need the light spell, and my eyes haven't gotten any better.

*

In general, I want it to look dark for characters without darkvision. I want to need a light source, not just for combat, but also for navigating. However, I want characters with darkvision to be able to see without torches, again, not just for combat, but also for purposes of navigating.

I'm pretty sure that's what most players want.

Agreed ...
Funny enough that is also what players had ... with that older system. :-/

Too bad Larian decided to "improove" it ... and when that didnt work they start to "improoving" rest of the world, so their bad "improvement" work, instead of rewerting it back and simply say "we tryed, we failed, we fixed ... and now can move on".

True, I suppose a better term would be "natural" then. The reason why I used the term realistic is because the game's atmosphere truly looked realistic, like something you could see in real life. Something that is relatable. Best examples are showcases #2 and #3.

In showcase #2 you can see everything lit up beautifully and the shadows actually dark. There's actual contrast to the whole scenery and everything has its own color:

• the tree bark is brown,
• the leaves are green,
• the Nautiloid is dark gray,
• the Nautiloid goo is dark purple
• the sand is actually golden
• the shadows are dark black

And then when you compare it to Patch 8, you can see everything got brightened up, washed out and tinted in blue. It became 50 shades of blue. Contrast is completely gone and so is individuality of colors. It went from looking beautifully natural to ugly.



In showcase #3 it is the same thing. The lighting in this scenery looked beautifully natural, everything had its own color and there was contrast. But now everything got brightened up, washed out and tinted in blue.




A fair comparison would be like the artistic difference between Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. One was filmed in actual locations with real landscapes and very little CGI, while the other was mostly filmed in a studio behind a green screen. There's a reason why LOTR won so many Oscars and why it's regarded as one of the best movies of all time. Apart from the story and actors and music, it won for best cinematography and best visuals as one of many awards. Because it beautifully blended all of the different natural and unnatural elements together, which made the movie look so believable, because those unnatural elements looked real. Compare that then to the Hobbit, where you can clearly tell what is CGI and what is not.

I work as a dev – but even if you didn’t, common sense will tell you that if they already created the config for a darker, more atmospheric lighting system, then making it an optional setting in the ‘graphics’ tab is trivial. The case would be closed right there: it would appease both sides, with minimal to no effort.

Instead, they make this reworked gaudy lighting system the ‘new norm’ and we’re all supposed to just accept that.

As for your apparent bafflement re: the ‘impassioned’ loathing of the thing – well, that’s simply down to tastes. Which are a thing. On a sensory level, our brains have vastly different, and unfathomably complicated, ways of processing what we see, hear, smell. I also paint/sketch as a hobby – in particular as a kid my sketches tended towards hyper-realism/photorealistic renderings of every little detail.

I don’t think I’ve lost this kind of attention to detail, and genuinely disagree that anything in those photos looks remotely similar, as you appear to suggest: ‘Some things look the same to me’. We’ll have to just agree to disagree – but we’re only talking about a mechanical evaluation of differences there, of which there are many.

It’s the dramatic stylistic change that’s the worst offender here. As I mentioned, if you throw ‘chiaroscuro’ into google images, you’ll see Larian – whether by fluke or otherwise – had achieved this remarkable style in the left screenshots (particularly pic 3, 4 and 10). It’s a very powerful style, accomplished with mere shadows: take out the shadows, and the images don’t have a fraction of the power.

While that’s an opinion, and opinions are by no means fact, I feel the new washed out, brighter world is dull as dishwater. It’s boring to look at: what once sparked the imagination and ignited the senses is gone completely. You may not feel the same way, but like I mentioned we’re not all created equal in that respect. Just as it is with food – I’m certain there are some dishes you despise that your pals might adore. Of course we all have very strong, very different reactions to the same sensory stimuli. This is especially true on a visual level: how my brain reacts to a woman is very different to how it reacts to a man (neutral/indifference to potential vomit, depending on the male image in question).

You’re correct in that the ‘real world’ is indeed ‘plenty vibrant and bright too’ – but so too so are many of the examples in the Patch 7 photos (pic 6 and 7 are in fact more vibrant than the washed out Patch 8 equivalents, ironically because of the heavier shadows providing sharper emphasis to the brighter colours). The main complaint is about the watering down of the shadow detail, to the point it might as well not exist – which is not true to reality (not that it would have to be, since we’re talking an art style here). The brightest sunshine casts the darkest shadows, but even in the grim overcast light of today, there is shadow/light drama aplenty that’s more than enough to inspire a painting or a sketch.

The only convincing argument I’ve read here in favour of the new lighting system is that ‘too dark’ is an accessibility issue. That’s fine: make it an option in the graphical settings then. Win-win, end of the problem.

I appreciate the in-depth responses I've gotten, it's done a great deal to help me contextualize people's perspectives. I think I was shocked by the intensity of some of the posts because it's an intensity that I don't feel like I see on the forums elsewhere, even on topics people are clearly invested in. I suspect that might be because this is something big and new. By this point, a lot of people have been ground down in their back and forth, so there's just not as much passion for them to muster, but this is getting the benefit of fresh emotion.

I'm not an artist, and have never been much of an art appreciator, not in depth anyway, so I doubt I'll ever see things in the same detail and depth that you do. That having been said, none of the example shots I've seen show the new version of the lighting looking better in my untutored opinion. Which tells me that the change is a net negative, just one that I'd be able to live with. But even then, I'm gonna support anyone saying things should go back to the older, better version. If the change really is about accessibility, then I support the impulse but it can absolutley be just a setting thing.

I should save this quote for later uses ... :3

I don't like new Alfira's colours.
She looks literally cartoony.

What are you suggesting here, exactly? There seems to be some implied snark. I build UIs for a living – and while I agree 'dev' is a largely broad term, and everyone’s a specialist of some form, we are talking about a UI-enhancement to the graphical settings that simply toggles a technically lowkey graphical detail: the hues of assets and the opacity of shadows. This doesn’t require an engine overhaul, nor does it involve any changes to, for example, something like ray-tracing. You can clearly see the same shadows are rendered in both left and right photos – the opacity has simply been muted out of existence.

I.e. screenshot 3: note the armour shadows are identical in every respect. There’s literally no difference in the rendering of them – but the opacity has changed from what would seem a 0.9 (left) to something like a 0.3/4 (right). The same is true of the staff.

Screenshot 5: this the most uncomplicated example – it’s clear as the beach’s daylight that there’s no difference in the shadow-rendering, except for the opacity.

Screenshot 6: same thing. Identical shadow rendering, right over to the tentacles and the shadows of the rocks, yet there’s a dramatic difference in the crispness of the images, with the right image looking like some phoney otherworld.

Only in Screenshot 4 does there appear to be any hue manipulation – the softer pink of the sparking machine and the floor in the right pic versus the gnarly pink-grey in the left. But that’s merely a hue.

I’m not a game dev, but feel free to ask me any question on the topics of Firebase, TypeScript, React/Angular, React Native etc – I’ve 11 years in the industry and am a lead in my job. Definitely have nothing to hide.

So in effect what is being asked for is a simple new UI slider that alters the hues of the assets from campy-bright to gritty-grim, and then the opacity of the shadows. That’s it. Unless you’re telling me that in game dev such UIs and value changes don’t work in a similar fashion as it would translate to technical effort – in which case, I’d love to hear your ‘expertise’ on the subject, as it doesn’t add up to me.

Actually washed out colors is how lighting works naturally. If you point a beam of sunlight on a colored surface, a color wouldn’t crank up in its acidiest iteration, but will shift into white. I really didn’t like the cranked up colors of previous builds, yet I haven’t yet tried the current one. Judging by the screenshots they worked in right direction so far. Hoping to see they addressed the issue.

You must be living in a different reality to me then, because there are no ‘washed out’ colours in the room in which I type this note. Only stark shades of light and dark. I’m not trying to sound like a smartass, but if someone was telling me that the world looks washed out, I’d be gently encouraging them to consult an optician.

The point of the OP’s post, however, was not about making the game look like reality. The game is ‘art’ – it has an art team, art assets etc. It also has an art style.

I don’t know any art movement called ‘washed out’ – but do send us on a few pics of it: I’d love to have a wee gander.

Like I said, chiaroscuro is an art style – it’s powerful and evocative and it’s based on a very simple thing: the contrast of dark and light. In fact, if you google the word, the photos of the style are taken from reality – there’s no photoshop involved in the presentation. If there was, the photography would have no merit.

I also don’t ‘get’ what you’re saying about the ‘cranked up’ colours of the previous builds.

Screenshot one – the same colour purple used: on the left it’s subtle to the point of almost being black – on the right it’s cranked up to the point of being my-little-pony level purple.

Regardless, I’ve already advocated a simple solution that will work for everyone’s tastes. And it involves virtually no technical effort, as I’ve clearly outlined in my previous post. A slider that alters shadow opacity and asset hues.

So you get your ‘washed out’ dreamworld (I’ll pass, personally) and the rest of us can get our dark shadows. At no technical cost.

They could probably ok this in one morning and have a pull request open 4 hours later, the effort is that minimal.

It may come as surprise ... but im suggesting here exactly what i said.
Anything else you see there, is just in your mind.

I can hardly wait for patch 9.
What a settings and Baldur's Gate immersion disaster. This isn't Fearun but <D&D> sauced Rivellon.

I thought they would have worked harder to distinguish the art styles of the two given this is Larian's first new IP title in... almost ever? Wouldn't that be a goal? And wouldn't the predecessors of this newly licensed title provide inspiration for the direction they should move in distinguishing the two properties, especially if they intend to hold onto the license in the long term?

Yeah, I have to agree. BGIII should be darker and grittier than the DOS serie. I’d revert the changes

I played the new patch today and yes, some of the hair colors make you blind. The environment is mostly ok for me as far as I have seen, but as someone, who spents a ridiculous amount of time in the cc, that is really ... taxing.

Sad story ...
I dont see any relation to anything tho. O_o

Yeah, I've reconsidered and don't think it's relevant to the thread, so I've deleted. Now can you please clarify what 'I should save this quote for later uses' means, since I assume it's related to the OP's topic and I'd like to give you a proper answer.

It means that this quote could be usefull in the future, i shall save it, and if apropriate opourtunity appears (and i believe it will) i shall quote it.

I dont really know what do you want to hear. O_o

If you don't tell people why, specifically, it might be 'useful', or why you might want to quote it, then it can be misconstrued as a sarcastic remark, essentially inferring that you want to trip that person up. Since I assume that's not your intent, why specifically do you want to save the quote for 'later uses'?

And more importantly Rag, and I guess the reason for the mistrust on konmehn's part, why let everyone know that you intend to save it? It feels like a weird thing to write without any other motive than saving it(which you can do without having all of us knowing)

Various reasons ... for both.
I dont predict future, do you? O_o

We may talk about it once i quote it, then there will be "specific" reason for that "specific" situation ...
Until then ... what exactly would be the point, and how exactly should i even do that anyway? :-/

Do you know deffinition of madness?
Its repeating the same thing over and over, while expecting different result ...

You asked this question for 4th time in row ...
So if you want to know the answer, go re-read previous 3 answers, it didnt change. :-/

---

Might be ...
I would guess its slight paranoya. :-/

But that dont really seems like my problem to solve. :-/

Who said that message was meaned for "everyone" ?
Its just easier to write it here than PMing all certain people specificaly.

Those for wich it was meaned knows ... or could/should know ...
And if they dont, they will ... eventualy.

Or that opourtunity i expect never come and we all will forget this.
Time will tell.

There is other motive, obviously ...
To let them know.

I suggest you watch this video



It nails the topic very spot on. Even if you’re not a design person, it’s quite interesting nonetheless.

If you've nothing to hide, then why can't you specify the reason for your remark? Isn't that what normal people do in normal civilised conversation?

Then again, you've called me both 'mad' and 'paranoid' directly, so I assume civilised conversation isn't your jam.

That's ok - I've let the moderators know and I'll be interested to hear their take, since I see from your post history you have a long record of calling people names and harrassing them. Only recently, I see you've called another individual a 'hypocrite'.

See, you can't be doing that sort of thing, mate. Crazy that I have to even write that.

I answered that question before ...
And i repeat once again: I DONT KNOW WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME.

Hint: If you will just repeat the same question, it dont help.


Dunno ... where i am from, people in normal civlised conversation accept answers they get.
Instead of demanding them again, once they allready get them.


And you called me "abnormal" and "uncivilised", so i gues we are even. O_o

Deffinition of madness was not done by me, if you dislike the word, deal it with Einstein.

As for paranoidity ... how else would you call that you out of nothing presume some nefarious reasons behind something for wich you dont know reason? O_o


Then its out of my hands anyway ...
So ... i dunno, kinda dont see any reason to react on the rest.

The more screenshots i see from you, the more im convinced that Larian took our complaints in last patch for this game being too dark, so even characters with superior darkvision cant navigate in space at all without any source of light ... too litteraly. :-/

So dear Larian ... if you listen this time aswell ...
You missunderstanded us. :-/

We didnt wanted to add more light into universe, we wanted better implementation of Darkvision.

That's what I was thinking as well before I even joined the forums.

The lighting was perfect as it was, the only thing that needed better implementation was Dark Vision, as it felt a bit too weak. But now every race with Dark Vision is obsolete as there is no difference between a Human or a Drow in the Underdark.

I'm 100% certain this can't be intended and won't stay like this, because otherwise they might as well just delete Light cantrip and Dark Vision. They don't serve a purpose now, same as torches and the ring that gives +12m of Dark Vision. Such a terrible change that unbalanced so many things at the moment.

The comparison of the Underdark is indeed telling. I didn't see too much difference in the wilderness, but in the Underdark it is very visible.

Well they do serve a mechanical purpose, since it still affects your hitchance and perception checks ...

I also have to remember to use some source of Light when fighting Duergars ... last time i noticed they HAVE sun sensitivity, when you examine them ... and i wondered why, since there is no way to drag them abowe ground ... so maybe ... ?

When sane people quote another person, they have a logical reason for doing so. So you must have already imagined a future scenario where you think what I wrote might be 'useful' - all I'm asking is what you imagined that scenario to be. It's really simple stuff.

If you can't answer that question, it makes me wonder why you would take a specific sentence I wrote and just randomly remark that you're saving it for a future scenario you can't even define in a theoretical context.

I know no one on this planet who does that, since it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

I can, i dont want to, therefore i would not ... satisfied?

Especialy since now you also called me insane ... pretty display of "normal and civilised conversation" that is your jam.
And i dont want even to continue talking with you, so i would not ... think whatever you want.

I don't think going from the talking to, to warning phase would make a difference as you seem to miss the point entirely, Ragnarok. See you in a week.

Oh very interesting, I will definitely have to check that when they fix the bug with "Examine" causing a hard crash to desktop. But I truly hope they don't just remain just bland buffs for targets obscured by darkness after these lighting "improvements".

Well.... I guess it's no longer the Underdark but the Underbright.

The lighting change is absolutely horrible and should either be reverted entirely or we should get a toggle/slider, allowing us to adjust the lighting and colour saturation.

Haven't made it to Underdark yet in my Patch 8 playthrough but those screenshots are really disappointing.

For me, the colour in Patch 7 was almost perfect, so I'd love for them to revert it back.

I don't mind them brightening certain areas, but right now it feels like there's filter that makes everything a bit washed. We've lost a lot of contrast.

Ugh! I wanted DARKER dungeons. Not BRIGHTER!

It's official. Larian hates me. They're just making changes now to be contrary to everything I'm suggesting and asking for.

Okay. From now on, I'm going to suggest the opposite of what I want.

She,! BRIGHTER DUNGEONS, Larian! That's my suggestion. BRIGHTER! Want full Daylight on the Underdark.

I have to agree about the lighting in the underdark. Last patch, I enjoyed sneaking around, moving quietly in the dark, relying on torches and spells.

Now it's a stroll.

*

Just a couple thoughts about light sources:

1. Please let Everburn act like a torch in the light it gives off, and

2. Maybe don't let a character sneak/hide if they're carrying a light source.

Thanks.

Making everything super bright also makes the spells that light things up pointless.

I vote for a choose your color palette and light options tab (or section) in the game settings...changeable on the fly for testing.

Custom if possible.


Addendum: OK already mentioned...I 2nd then.

Brighter?! Copy that! Brighter it is!

The lighting toggle is the best idea I've seen in here so far. If it truly is an accessibility issue (which I can definitely see - no pun intended), that's a very common thing to have lighting/hue changes for. I'm thinking specifically of colorblind filters, which I see in most other games I play nowadays.

Game design wise, I also felt that not being able to see things properly myself was a fine reminder to turn on a light for my characters that also couldn't see in the dark. If I go at the game the way it is now I can definitely envision a situation in which I'll be slugging away at Underdark baddies with hella disadvantages and wondering why the game is going so poorly.

Ok. Finally got to play Patch 8 for 30 min. Created a gnome bard and I gotta say I liked the changes...

...

.....

The I tried to create Diadell.



I can't match her hair color at all. It no longer exists. She's supposed to have that hair color by default. I mean, she's a Master of Disguise and can look however she wants, but... Her default look is gone.

I'm now worried about all the characters I originally made. Will none of them look right now? I had plans to remake them and play through the whole game.

As for lighting on the Nautiloid, I thought it was okay. I didn't notice that it was overly bright or anything. So far - haven't played much mind you - it seems overall good... So far...

But Diadell's hair!... Sniff... I really liked that color.

How about keep all the new and bring back the old too.

Best alternative right now until and if they fix the ugly lighting changes, is to use black color as your main color and then use highlights with the color you are trying to get. You'll have to put the Highlights slider to 1. It won't look as natural nor dark as Patch 7 did, but it's the closest thing to dark hair colors right now.

Ok. I'll try that. Thanks.

I used auburn brown with lighter highlights, that gave me the red, I think, you are looking for.

Thanks. I'll maybe try that too.

It's very confusing now, I will say that. I kinda expect orange to be orange. There are like 5 options of orange, but none actually are. And highlights turn orange blond.

I LOVE how much diversity you can have with it, but it now requires a lot more tinkering and trial and error to get the right color you're looking for.

I do think, that they messed up the color palette quite a bit and that that might get changed soon. There are some colors clearly labelled wrong.

While I want the darker dungeons back let's not be untruthful, it might not look as dark, but light is still needed unless you want to have disadvantage from obscured due to darkness.

Exactly, even because I don't think I remember a single soul complaining about the game being too dark. On the contrary, since the start of this forum people were complaining about BG3 "not feeling dark enough for a BG game".
The previous iteration of colour palette and lightning was 100% better than this. People just wanted to see better in the dark with their features (darkvision), not a brighter universe.

I didn’t like the previous color palettes for them being too saturated, but I very much liked that the game had deep contrast and really dark dungeons. Now they seem to have turned down the saturation, but lowered a contrast as well while cranking up brightness. One step forward, one step backward. Hoping they’ll find the sweet spot here.

I honestly go back and forth. Being able to see Larian's Underdark environment and dungeons is artistic and beautiful. So, in that regard, it's kinda nice to actually see everything. On the other hand, being able to see everything ruins the entire immersion of the super dark, scary Underdark with monsters coming out of the shadows to pounce on you - who are waiting just beyond your torch's glow.

I get that it's a video game, and that in some respects lighting is incredibly important. The last thing you want is for players to be floundering around in the darkness getting frustrated because they can only see maybe 60 feet in front of them constantly. On the other hand, other video games have done it well.

Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance 2. Roaming through the spider lair in the goblin caves. It was pretty dark, but there was a sort of glow around the characters allowing them to see a fairly decent distance in all directions. It wasn't great visibility, but you could see, and enemies would suddenly come out of the darkness and attack. It added to the intensity of the encounters.

I really don't like the flashlight vision because you can't see behind you or in any other direction but the cone. That's not good for a game where facing isn't important. I'd much rather have it be similar to the Dark Alliance 2 game where those who have Darkvision have a sort of glow up to 60 (or in the case of drow 120) feet around them when you select them. Everything beyond the glow is pitch black. For those without Darkvision, pitch black unless you are using a torch. IT'S THE UNDERDARK!!! You shouldn't be able to see ANYTHING unless you have Darkvision or a light source.

And, frankly, if you don't use a lightsource, those who don't have Darkvision should be totally unable to function. Even if they don't darken it and you, the player can see everything, the characters should have some sort of reaction when they don't have a light source in total darkness. They are absolutely blind. I shouldn't be able to run around as my drow with Gale, for example, and have absolutely no light, and simply forget that Gale can't see. He should be like, "Um. Excuse me. A little light, please. I can't see a thing down here." And he frankly shouldn't move. The man can't see to run, let alone jump. You might argue that the drow could lead him about in the dark, but that only goes so far. I'm just saying, even if they don't darken the environments, the characters should at least react to what is supposed to be total darkness.

+1 Yep the new colour scheme is way overdone. The Underdark looks fine but that should have been done in the art/scene lighting for those areas not a global change, which is frankly lazy. Then again I didn't have an issue with I just used a light spell for my non-Darkvision characters so I could see everything, you know like the reason the spell exists...

Also for people who were complaining about the darkness you do have a Gamma control.

Larian, please go back to the Patch 7 lighting and if you still feel the need to brighten the dark areas then go in and adjust them in the scene lighting and don't take the lazy way out by using global changes.

(Also please hire some more staff to help out so we can get the finished game sooner than next year)

+1, having a disadvantage on attacks when a target is unlit is a bare minimum.

IMO, the Patch 7 illithid ship had an appropriately dank, bleak, alien vibe with the starker colours and pitch black shadows. Now it looks, to me at least, like a child’s plastic toy. I also liked the harshly oversaturated colours on the exterior – it really makes you feel like you’re in some kind of ‘other dimension’, with its own searing, hellish lighting system. Apparently the ship is supposed to be hurtling through a realm of hell, after all – not that I can take seriously an iota of the hyperactive plotline: at least not enough to give the narrative more than the scantest attention.

But then there does seem to be a case for ‘too dark’ being an accessibility problem – plus some people do apparently have a preference for Patch 8 lighting.

Toggle or slider, then, definitely seems to be the way to go. Right now it looks like someone took a big dirty slash against one of my favourite paintings, staining it into a muted mess of its former self.

I agree, particularly with regards to contrast. Much prefer 7.

Yeah that is pretty much how I see the game right now as well. Like I'm watching a cheap copy of my favorite painting through foggy glasses. As for it being a toggle, unfortunately I see that suggestion posted on these forums way too often and we would end up with an option menu with 3000 pages of toggle options at this rate

If the current lighting really looked good, then it wouldn't even need a toggle/slider nor would so many people express their opinions about the loss of quality. So the real solution naturally is to fix the lighting and colors, through adjustments and tweaks. And once it looks great, then the Accessibility options such as Brightness and other customizability options could be added.

At least a lot of people are recognizing the clear loss of quality in lighting, contrast and color quality across the board, which is good. I just hope BG3 doesn't lose something which was universally praised since its release, which is incredibly impressive graphics.

I agree a toggle-fest is undesirable, but for ‘big impact’ changes like this, I’d be inclined to say it’s the only way. Because you can’t remove accessibility options. But you should also be able to stick to your artistic guns and implement a style that’s maybe less accessible but has more personality for those who don’t mind, say, a bit of darkness.

So, my son walks in while I'm playing. He never plays BG3. Knows little about it. I'm in the prologue just about to meet Lae'zel. He says, "What's wrong with your graphics card. That game runs real bad on your PC. It looks terrible, like worse than Minecraft. The colors are awful."

That, I think, says it all. When I told him they changed the colors for this patch, he was floored. He said it was WAY too saturated and hurt his eyes.

I'm torn on the lighting.

On one hand, I do enjoy things like the chapel and tomb being a little more well-lit, since there is some sun coming in. The outdoor spots look fine to me, except yes, things like the goblin camp should definitely be more dark and grimy to give that specific impression of the environment.
However, in spots that are underground with zero lighting (ie. The Underdark), it should be almost pitch black.

Give me a reason to use my Darkvision and Light/Dancing Lights. If players complain they can't see, then that's kind of their own fault for
A) Not taking Light/Dancing Lights (Which are available to both Shadowheart and Gale)
B) Bringing a torch or two along
C) Bringing Astarion along

If people STILL complain about it, simply add an item to the game that provides the Dancing Lights Cantrip. Solved.

And the hair.. OOF, the hair.
I've created quite a few characters since Patch 8 dropped, and I can't find a single good redhead or blonde colour. It seems like all the blondes have gone gray, and all the redhead colours have gone pink, or literal orange/red. Nothing looks natural anymore.

lol, not only are there torches everywhere, there's already a locket that does the dancing lights cantrip *and* a ring that does the light spell.

people just seem to complain no matter what. it's like that letter in the game: An Open Letter On Oppression and Peacocks.

sometimes I get the feeling that letter is meant to represent some of the comments Larian gets.

It’s a bizarre notion to assume, like sheep, people will just graze upon whatever grass Larian puts before them – if you’ve any sort of mind whatsoever, you’ll likely have an opinion on the grass: whether it’s positive or negative is irrelevant, as it’s all down to taste.

I just scan-read the suggestions pages, and see you do a fair amount of complaining yourself either way. I.e. what do you call the below:

Exhibit 1
Exhibit 2

Pot, kettle, black, much?

Maybe Larian are referring to your own wee complaints in the ‘letter’ – and wouldn’t that be funny now, seeing as you’re snickering at everyone else for being ‘moaners’?

No offence, but it’s probably the more trifling lamentations about the likes of Us and familiars that has them rolling their eyes, considering they’re up to their elbows in what’s sure to become – if it hasn’t already – dev hell, given the scope of their ambitions. Bigger fish to fry and all that.

The lighting change has an obviously immense impact on the global visuals, which effects every single asset they’ll create. Some people approach the change from a purely mechanical point of view, in that it’s either practically useful or not. Whereas many others, obviously, have approached it on its dubious artistic merit.

It’s simply an opinion – there’ll be many more. I wouldn’t scoff at them. You’re only shouting at a brick wall anyway, since people will always express them.

Some folks seem to think this thing is the infallible Second Coming of Christ – now that’s where the real lols are at.

"From the mouths of babes"

The lighting is totally off too. My halfelf bard with copper hair looks like she has bright pink hair on the Nautilus for example.

So I don't know if anyone mentioned it here, at least I did not find it when searching - the skin rendering is EXCELLENT in this patch. The skin tones look a bit darker, but we're back to the initial skin rendering where you can see every minute detail like pores, freckles, veins etc. It looks really gorgeous. In patch 6-7 I think the skin looked really washed out and didnt do justice to Larian's beautiful textures. Patch 8 brought it back.

With everything else - hard agree - the colors do look brighter and way too washed out.

Interesting. I created Diadell again as a Rogue -. BTW, Expertise now makes her perfect according to Tabletop using Charlatan instead of Master of Disguise. So, very happy there.

I used Orange 5, like I did in previous patches. Didn't look right, but I kept it anyway. Get into the game, and she looks fine. The hair looks more orange even on the Nautiloid. So I wonder how many are just messed up on the character creation screen.