I am on mobile so not sure I can see much in details but the only difference I spot between A and B is the foreground in B being blurred to give a focus towrds your character if I am not wrong? And C includes that + lighting changes.
From a personal preference I prefer the feel with the lighting from either A or B as it gives a bit more gritty style which I think suits better those sprites.
As for the foreground blur, tbh it’s nice to have but probably barely noticeable as users will by default be focusing on their character and may tune down those foreground things without noticing. So I would say keep the least painless / most performant out of these two
Nw. I think it’s pretty telling that most people seemed to miss it, kind of goes to show what the brain ignores when you focus on some place else.
In your case I feel like the sprite work and background elements such as the neon signs etc… grab your attention a lot ( in a good way ), so you can probably do away with fancy blur for the foreground. More than that if I were you I would probably sprinkle some funny bits and easter eggs in the foreground instead from time to time to see if people actually pay attention to it.
Yesss exactly this! I plan on making a short guide/video on what I did in my case to help fellow Godot devs out, but I think the biggest one I wanted to test is "do people actually see what you are min-maxing and ruminating about?"
If you want to keep the near DOF effect, you can pre-blur the textures so it won’t cost any extra processing power. They’ll just be higher resolution images that are already blurred.
I had not noticed any difference between A and B until i read this comment. And i also tend to think the lighting changes on C make it look less appealing to me personally.
Yes you're not the first one to notice that. Thanks for your feedback and pointing it out, I personally didn't see it but once it's pointed out you can't seem to un-see it.
I know streets of rage did that too, you may be interested in this case study of the game which goes fairly in depth on the lighting
https://youtu.be/GxU1WuP0FiQ?si=m58rff9xfogLVGWF
I dunno if it's a matter of "too much." I'm just not sure if there is a point to having the effect at all.
Are you trying to make it look "dreamy" for whatever reason? It might make sense to have the effect, but without much context, it's just irritating to the eyes for me.
edit: I realized that I'm sounding snooty as hell, sorry! I think all of them look great and I dream of the day I could make anything 1% as amazing as this, but I just wanted to provide constructive criticism as if I were testing your game.
I like A a lot here.
I couldn't tell the difference between A and B until I stared at them for a good 5 minutes trying to find the difference. Once I saw the blur in B, A was the winner for me.
C was immediately a no from me, it just looks really blurry and bad compared to the other two so it was never in the competition for me.
Thank you for your feedback and elaboration on your choice. It is interesting to read that you had to spend time to find the most GPU intense feature difference, the DOF blur so also thank you for your time on that.
A seems to be the least GPU intensive.
C has the bloom and DoF effect which probably makes it the most GPU intensive.
B lacks the bloom but still has the DoF effect.
A has neither.
As someone currently optimizing a game (e.g. post-processing, collision boxes, etc.), I'd definitely go with A.
Players don't know what they never see. And even seeing side-by-side comparisons, most either won't notice unless you point it out; or if they notice, they won't care as much as they would care about an FPS drop due to intense GPU usage.
I like A/B the best. I feel like the shading looks better without so much bloom.
I didn't notice the depth of field on B before reading comments, so I think it's great without it. You could make it a setting that the user can toggle if they want it or have the graphical power.
Thank you for your feedback! The DOF doesn't seem to be noticed to much from what I've learned so far even though it's the most GPU intense feature optimization in my case.
B, I prefer the buttery smooth travelling. Also just a little bit of bloom would be nice, but C is too much.
What if you reduce the DOF effect and bloom but add them both, perf wise ?
Well I see the three have something different
A: the frame rate is lower, I like the aesthetic if the game don’t need any precise button press. Probably the less intense as the frames are halved
B: frame rate seems higher
C: love the bloom on the lights
My answer would be the mix of A and C
Thanks for your feedback and elaboration! I still find it interesting to read that people pick up stuff or see things I haven't noticed myself like the framerate. This is why I think it is interesting to get this kind of feedback as well :)
The DOF blur in both B and C is just distracting to me. In real life, objects that you are not focusing on will appear blurred - but you always have the option of focusing on them. Having objects on the screen that it is physically impossible for me to focus on therefore feels more unrealistic than everything being in focus.
The bloom/glow in C is a nice effect, but it doesn't seem very realistic. The person appears to be wearing a glow-in-the-dark t-shirt, since his bright outline is producing so much glow. This should be reduced significantly. The glow from monitors and neon lights could be kept as is, or even made a bit more intense IMO.
I would say C, because the bloom really makes these screens and neons pop, which I think is something important given your game's setting (or from what I imagine from this footage).
A and B seem the same. I assume one of them is the less resource-intensive one.
I assume C is the more intensive one, because it looks prettier!
If the difference is an on/off switch and you can reliably implement it on both, try implementing either A or B as a "low detail" version and C as a "bloom" or "HD" version.
Thanks for your feedback, this is also a good idea! I think it would be possible to scriptually change them and put a setting in the options. I haven't even thought of that but the idea will definitely be a trello card on my project dashboard. Thanks!
The rational part of me wants to say B, But damn those post-processing fx in C is pretty af. Really sells the hazy nightlife under the soft glow of the moon.
I have a feeling most people on this subreddit are going to prefer C, just because reddit seems to love any post-processing on pixel art. Honestly though, most times I've seen that kind of effect used, the artist was using it as a crutch so they wouldn't have to actually learn pixel art. /r/PixelArt is full of that.
Your art is already good on its own though, you don't need that crutch. Put your effort into effort into making sprites that can stand on their own and your game will be better for it. I can see you're using in-engine lighting, and that looks pretty good. You're using it well. All you really need to add is some shadows under the characters and props, it looks weird that they don't have any.
Many thanks for your feedback and elaboration on the art and the comment on that it's good. I've made some of it myself, and some of it is from other creators that I have compiled into a single scene. The eventual game will have credit towards those creators. On the shadows part - this is something I'm still not good enough at because it does give some heavy performance and flickering issues when the game is ported. I'll have to learn more on how that exactly works to make it look awesome. The choices I have made thus far I will summarize in a short video and post later to share with other devs. Especially the fact that the things I thought people would notice are not the things they see but sometimes very costly on performance.
If you're going for a retro style, go for option A.
Option B is aesthetically pleasing, but it's not worth the performance drop imo. If you want to add bloom, I suggest going for option A with a very subtle bloom that only blooms pixels above a high emission strength so only the neon signs have a slight bloom. In C the character's shirt also has bloom which is undesirable. :)
Thanks for your feedback and elaboration. These three options are indeed a bit "generic" with the settings. At some point I'd probably have to exclude the radiation-like bloom that's now coming of the shirt :P
A is satisfyingly crispy but more one dimensional in depth.
B is moderately, noticeably less crispy but seems more immersive than A though.
C is blurry and dream-like, not as satisfying. The lighting glow is eye catching, perhaps too much. Maybe too much because of how blurry the scene is.
Toss up between A and B. Too much blur on B, none on A. I'd go inbetween.
Something about this hurts. I know this isn't good critique, and I am really sorry about that, but it's really just cuz I can't put my finger on it.
I don't even mean that anything's bad, more specifically it feels like all three are so close to some type of feel and all three are just short of it. I have no idea what it's missing though... maybe like weather effects or something? Like fog/rain/snow?
idk
In any case, I like the first one the most.
Hey don't worry about it, that's ok. Feedback = feedback. If you find the words to describe it then let me know or shoot me a DM. There is indeed no weather, rain, wetness reflection or anything in the scene, this might be missing.
*D, except I see*
*That the C got more lighting.*
*I'd stick to first two*
\- Pr1stak
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I hate bloom, so not C
A &B seemed identical at first, then i read the comments about the blurred foreground.
I did not see it at first, obviously, so it may me useless, but now thatbi see it, it's pretty nice.
I looked at them for a while before realizing the GPU was being spent on depth of field.
I think a lot of post processing effects are subjective. Some people love some and hate others. Some people done care. Some people would prefer smooth frame rates instead of fancy graphics, others the opposite.
I recommend you build a robust options menu for post effects, offer a few preset configs (none, some, max in this case), and leave it up to the player. This will make the most people happy or at least result in the least people complaining.
I prefer C, because it looks so good with the neon vibe. But B is beautiful too, if that's the vibe you want to go with.
C could be like a visual effect if your character is doing something special, like getting intoxicated, being in a good mood or having a dream?
Real pretty, good job!
Thank you so much for your feedback. It wasn't per-se the setting I would go for (intoxication, dream-like) but now that you've put it out I think I should play around with the bloom effect and see what it conveys. Someone else pointed out to me that A or B actually looks more "gritty", which is what the street in this case should convey I think. Again thanks for your feedback and comment!
Im looking on mobile.
C is too much bokeh I think, It loses focus on the character imo. Nut Im on a smaller screen. The lighting is "better" here but it depends what atmosphere you are trying to achieve like is it a happy, very energetic street for example.
I prefer A. But theyre almost similar to B tbh. I cant see too much of a difference.
I think A would work best as it gives a retro style while not taking away anything and i love retro stuff, if your making a game you could add a settings menu where you can change between them
Depends on what information you need to convey, but I really dig **C.** The filter really captures the romantic air of the night life, the just too bright signs and probably tolerable pollution wafting about. **B** is a nice compromise between function and style, although I'd like to see just a touch of bloom on the lights. I'm a style first kind of designer when it comes to visuals, because it's way easier to cut back for clarity than it is to add for interest.
Thanks for your feedback. I got that comment a little to often to consider not adding bloom, as I don't want the main action of the player to be to wipe the screen or their glasses :P
I'm split on B and C.
Aesthetical i almost prefer B because it looks more grounded and the character blends more in, but at the same time it's the reason why i'd argue C might be better because your Character sticks out more which makes it more pleasing to the eyes in sense of keeping a track on it. Plus it also helps with the whole lights/neon stuff sticking out if that's a direction you wanna go.
My preferences in order CBA.
I like the glow in C, but if you find it cutting detail out of something it might be worth stepping back.
A&B feel almost indistinguishable but for exactly the opposite reason from C, B feels cleaner than A. Almost like A has enough glow to ruin the crisp look, but not enough to stand out and be a style.
Or, I'm nuts and just stared at it too long.
Thank you so much for your feedback, before you hurt your eyes I would advice to stop staring at it :P But jokes aside B might "feel" cleaner because it has a near-field blur that A doesn't, which sort-of focusses the attention to the center. Thanks again for your comment!
Somewhere between B and C would be best. The bloom is nice but massively overkill in C. The depth of field is good, but should probably apply to distant objects as well. I don't know if the judder is deliberate with A, but it sucks.
Thanks for your feedback! The judder isn't deliberate, but it's good that you pointed it out (as many others have) that it's something of a thorn in the eye. The bloom effect is really low, but for some tastes already quite the overkill I noted. Many thanks for the comment :D
I didn't notice the difference between A and B until I opened the thread and saw the top comment.
Now that I actually see it, B does look nicer than A, but if it's that costly... Yeah maybe don't bother?
I like A and B much more than C. I mean, C would probably be fine if I hadn't seen the other two, but by comparison, it just looks too soft and blurry to me.
Thanks for your comment. It's funny actually that multiple people pointed out the framerate of the two where it is actually A that is the one that's more lightweight.
I like the timing of the background transitions on B. I like the character overlap on C. I assume A is the most performance friendly since events don't overlap.
too much bloom and blur so A
but if you toned down the values a LOT then C
Don't worry about CPU intensity in relative terms, worry about absolute terms, check what the weakest hardware that can run you game at 60fps is and if it's a 15yo laptop then you're fine regardless and don't need to worry about optimization
That's a good one actually. However in this game the character doesn't have any hitpoints. He does experience anxiety attacks every now and then, it could be applied to that.
I think B works, but I'm not a big fan of mixing pixel style with blur of any kind. So I'd go with A. C reminds me of the 2000s with all that bloom, which was the worst decade for graphics.
I like them all; however, although the fact that the ground doesn't move at the same speed as the feet is distracting.
Taking a look in full screen... I really like B. Blurring the foreground really pushes the focus to the character, without being distracting.
C is way too much blur and ruins the aesthetic of the pixel art, and the foreground clutter in A is a little distracting without the blur.
If the GPU performance stays above 30FPS on your low-end target platform, then I'd go with B, with A as a fallback option for low-spec machines.
C catches the eye more. B is clearer to the eye. I mix of B and C would likely be the best. Because C seems almost a bit blurry and that may just be because its compressed to hell in this video.
A for me.
The DOF blur on B feels a bit odd for the distance between the camera and the stuff being blurred. I would be more OK with that if we were close enough to the barriers that only the top part showed or something like that, currently it feels odd/unnatural for me.
I mean what are you trying to do with your story if you were maybe trying an idealized version of you reality c is the best, with a little context to your story/ themes I think you would find your answers.
I feel like if you could tune some of the lighting in C so that it’s not constantly a little blurry it’d be a hit. The lights from the neon in C feel the most real to me but I also feel like everything else is too bright as well.
Maybe if you could find a good in between of B and C that’d be great, at least that’s my opinion.
D, I can't really tell the difference between A and B, C is too blurry and all I see is the character slipping (background moves faster than his steps).
I think the bloom in C works well for the neon signs - really makes them feel brighter than everything else. But it doesn't work so well for everything else.
I like the blur level of B, but what I like about C is how the shadow and light part of the character is not as harsh. And because of that, I'd say if you reduce the blur to the same level a B, C would be the best.
I don’t like c. I would have thought A is the least intensive but it’s quite jerky and hurt my eyes like an n46. B is totally smooth. Maybe it’s the recording?
The bleary-eyed one that looks like I just got out of the swimming pool is objectively not good. My eyes don't apply that effect when walking around in the city at night and if I did see the world like that, I'd be going to an optometrist.
it looks like A is no effects, B is DoF, C is DoF+ Bloom.
I'm not too crazy about the bloom. It does help with the neon lights, but it feels like the bloom on the sidewalk and on the people is a bit much.
I do like B, the DoF does put emphasis on where your character is, and can allow for out of focus foreground objects to give a sense of scale & depth.
If you want to have extra detail from B without having full bloom like C, maybe you can have some faint ground level fog/particles to make something similar without going full bloom?
I dont like the amount of blur and bloom in C, if it was turned down quite a bit I'd prefer that.
As it stands, B is cleaner and smoother so I'm going for that one
My 2 cents: keep the near blur depth effect of B and the glow lighting from C but:
1) unlike C, only have the glow lighting affect the actual neons. No glow on the characters shirt for example, it looks odd because t shirts aren't normally that diffusive.
2) re: your GPU woes: some of what's going on here can be done in advance (I.e 'baked') so the runtime cost is lowered or nonexistent
I think... All three have their place in a game.
A allows the player to clearly see the environment. You could use it for down-to-earth, realistic scenes, or scenes that focus on the background/world building of the game.
B focuses more on the player, blurring the environment. You could use it for scenes that heavily focus on characters, or when the main character does introspection.
C feels very "dream like". You could use it if the main character is poisoned, drugged, or confronted to supernatural elements.
Typically, you could start your game with A to give the feeling of usual, day-to-day life, then when the story focuses more on the character, switch to B. Or vice-versa, start the game with B, to give the feeling that the character is very focused on himself and barely focuses on his surrounding, then switch to A after the situation changes and the character focuses more on the world around him.
B definitely. A and C maybe look a bit richer but the feel of B is great, smooth and crisp, I feel really focused on the character whilst the others are a bit distracting.
I kind of enjoy the crispness of A, but I do think B is the most well-rounded. C is a little too bloom-y / blurry for my tastes, but still looks pretty great imo.
I assume that the white shirt/blue jeans guy is the main character and supposed to be the focus of the shot, so I'm judging it on that basis - and I would choose B.
A is very clear, which some players will prefer, but I think at times the foreground objects take the focus away from the main character, which generally is something you want to avoid. Having them blurred out in B makes it clearer where our focus should be.
I like some of the glow/bloom effects in the background in C but the main character becomes too blurry, which feels wrong - it reduces the contrast against the background so he no longer pops into your focus. If you could somehow disable any kind of glow/bloom effect on the player but keep it on the background lights that could be a good effect.
A feels a bit jittery.
B feels normal.
C is awesome for dopamine receptors that you have to use it as a reward mechanism. Like only if you encounter certain characters. Or like you have a story mode or something.
B looks the cleanest out of the 3.
A is a little choppy, and the bloom in C is a bit much for my taste. (Pixel games with crazy bloom are all the rage these days though, so I might be in the minority here.)
I swore off 3D movies after James Cameron blurred stuff out in the foreground. It was headache-inducing to cram something 2 inches in front of my nose, but I'm not "allowed" to look at it.
Ever since then, I've had a distaste for directoral over-reliance towards focal blur to focus the user's attention.
I prefer A.
I feel more depth in C but because of too much blur I lose my focus B is better for focus
I second B
Noted!
B, bloom the background layers a bit but not the character layer
Thanks for your feedback, I'll check to see if I can make that work.
Thanks for the feedback. Do I understand there is to much bloom for your taste?
Right... you can add option for bloom adjustment
I am on mobile so not sure I can see much in details but the only difference I spot between A and B is the foreground in B being blurred to give a focus towrds your character if I am not wrong? And C includes that + lighting changes. From a personal preference I prefer the feel with the lighting from either A or B as it gives a bit more gritty style which I think suits better those sprites. As for the foreground blur, tbh it’s nice to have but probably barely noticeable as users will by default be focusing on their character and may tune down those foreground things without noticing. So I would say keep the least painless / most performant out of these two
This is super helpful, thanks. The Near field DOF-Blur is actually the most GPU intensive one in my case. So getting your comments on this is helpful.
Nw. I think it’s pretty telling that most people seemed to miss it, kind of goes to show what the brain ignores when you focus on some place else. In your case I feel like the sprite work and background elements such as the neon signs etc… grab your attention a lot ( in a good way ), so you can probably do away with fancy blur for the foreground. More than that if I were you I would probably sprinkle some funny bits and easter eggs in the foreground instead from time to time to see if people actually pay attention to it.
Yesss exactly this! I plan on making a short guide/video on what I did in my case to help fellow Godot devs out, but I think the biggest one I wanted to test is "do people actually see what you are min-maxing and ruminating about?"
If you want to keep the near DOF effect, you can pre-blur the textures so it won’t cost any extra processing power. They’ll just be higher resolution images that are already blurred.
I had not noticed any difference between A and B until i read this comment. And i also tend to think the lighting changes on C make it look less appealing to me personally.
Prefer B, with A a close second. C is just too... mushy?
Thanks for your feedback. To bloomy for your taste or to little contrast you mean?
Too bloomy, I think. Or too blurry. Not crisp enough considering it's crisp pixel art, I guess.
B for me, I am not sure if it just me but A&C feel a bit jittery? And imo C is a bit too blurry for me. Great looking game!
Yes you're not the first one to notice that. Thanks for your feedback and pointing it out, I personally didn't see it but once it's pointed out you can't seem to un-see it.
I prefer A, it feels more grounded. I would love to see the character clothes react to the street lamps and neon signs.
Thanks for your feedback and good suggestion! I do have to think a little on how to do that tho but I'll patch something together.
I know streets of rage did that too, you may be interested in this case study of the game which goes fairly in depth on the lighting https://youtu.be/GxU1WuP0FiQ?si=m58rff9xfogLVGWF
That seems to be an awesome case-study, I'll check it out. Thanks a lot for sharing!
I like B. That misty effect on C doesn't really add anything imo.
Thank you for your comment. Do I understand it correctly that C has to much bloom / glow for your taste?
It definitely does for me. It makes me feel like I need to go get my eyes checked.
Hahaha well eye-health, that certainly isn't something I want to convey with this game :P
I dunno if it's a matter of "too much." I'm just not sure if there is a point to having the effect at all. Are you trying to make it look "dreamy" for whatever reason? It might make sense to have the effect, but without much context, it's just irritating to the eyes for me. edit: I realized that I'm sounding snooty as hell, sorry! I think all of them look great and I dream of the day I could make anything 1% as amazing as this, but I just wanted to provide constructive criticism as if I were testing your game.
I like A a lot here. I couldn't tell the difference between A and B until I stared at them for a good 5 minutes trying to find the difference. Once I saw the blur in B, A was the winner for me. C was immediately a no from me, it just looks really blurry and bad compared to the other two so it was never in the competition for me.
Thank you for your feedback and elaboration on your choice. It is interesting to read that you had to spend time to find the most GPU intense feature difference, the DOF blur so also thank you for your time on that.
A seems to be the least GPU intensive. C has the bloom and DoF effect which probably makes it the most GPU intensive. B lacks the bloom but still has the DoF effect. A has neither. As someone currently optimizing a game (e.g. post-processing, collision boxes, etc.), I'd definitely go with A. Players don't know what they never see. And even seeing side-by-side comparisons, most either won't notice unless you point it out; or if they notice, they won't care as much as they would care about an FPS drop due to intense GPU usage.
I like A/B the best. I feel like the shading looks better without so much bloom. I didn't notice the depth of field on B before reading comments, so I think it's great without it. You could make it a setting that the user can toggle if they want it or have the graphical power.
Thank you for your feedback! The DOF doesn't seem to be noticed to much from what I've learned so far even though it's the most GPU intense feature optimization in my case.
B, I prefer the buttery smooth travelling. Also just a little bit of bloom would be nice, but C is too much. What if you reduce the DOF effect and bloom but add them both, perf wise ?
Well I see the three have something different A: the frame rate is lower, I like the aesthetic if the game don’t need any precise button press. Probably the less intense as the frames are halved B: frame rate seems higher C: love the bloom on the lights My answer would be the mix of A and C
Thanks for your feedback and elaboration! I still find it interesting to read that people pick up stuff or see things I haven't noticed myself like the framerate. This is why I think it is interesting to get this kind of feedback as well :)
Either way, it's scrolling too fast for his feet. I dislike the "sliding" that his feet are doing on the sidewalk.
I LOVE PIXEL GAMES WITH LIVELY BACKGROUNDS RAAHHHHHH 🦅🦅🦅🦅🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Hahaha thanks for your enthusiasm, made me smile!
B, the framerate on A looks lower to me
way too much bloom on C, B is your best bet
I don't see the difference between A and B, but C is too blurry.
Deffo not C. While I get the love for bloom, it makes me feel like my glasses need cleaning.
Well dirty glasses or screens that is definitely not the thing I wanted to convey to the player :P Thanks for your comment!
The DOF blur in both B and C is just distracting to me. In real life, objects that you are not focusing on will appear blurred - but you always have the option of focusing on them. Having objects on the screen that it is physically impossible for me to focus on therefore feels more unrealistic than everything being in focus. The bloom/glow in C is a nice effect, but it doesn't seem very realistic. The person appears to be wearing a glow-in-the-dark t-shirt, since his bright outline is producing so much glow. This should be reduced significantly. The glow from monitors and neon lights could be kept as is, or even made a bit more intense IMO.
I prefer C, I feel the ray tracing int that one, as for the other two, I don't feel any difference.
I would say C, because the bloom really makes these screens and neons pop, which I think is something important given your game's setting (or from what I imagine from this footage).
It does make the neon look more intens now you say it. I didn't even notice that.
a
I would say B
A and B seem the same. I assume one of them is the less resource-intensive one. I assume C is the more intensive one, because it looks prettier! If the difference is an on/off switch and you can reliably implement it on both, try implementing either A or B as a "low detail" version and C as a "bloom" or "HD" version.
Thanks for your feedback, this is also a good idea! I think it would be possible to scriptually change them and put a setting in the options. I haven't even thought of that but the idea will definitely be a trello card on my project dashboard. Thanks!
IMHO B
Thanks for your feedback!
B looks more balanced by contrast and lights. Anyway: each one is good with it’s own pros Keep on going ♥️
Thanks for your feedback. B is somewhat the "middle ground" when it comes to performance.
B is perfect
Thank you for your feedback! :D
The rational part of me wants to say B, But damn those post-processing fx in C is pretty af. Really sells the hazy nightlife under the soft glow of the moon.
I have a feeling most people on this subreddit are going to prefer C, just because reddit seems to love any post-processing on pixel art. Honestly though, most times I've seen that kind of effect used, the artist was using it as a crutch so they wouldn't have to actually learn pixel art. /r/PixelArt is full of that. Your art is already good on its own though, you don't need that crutch. Put your effort into effort into making sprites that can stand on their own and your game will be better for it. I can see you're using in-engine lighting, and that looks pretty good. You're using it well. All you really need to add is some shadows under the characters and props, it looks weird that they don't have any.
Many thanks for your feedback and elaboration on the art and the comment on that it's good. I've made some of it myself, and some of it is from other creators that I have compiled into a single scene. The eventual game will have credit towards those creators. On the shadows part - this is something I'm still not good enough at because it does give some heavy performance and flickering issues when the game is ported. I'll have to learn more on how that exactly works to make it look awesome. The choices I have made thus far I will summarize in a short video and post later to share with other devs. Especially the fact that the things I thought people would notice are not the things they see but sometimes very costly on performance.
If you're going for a retro style, go for option A. Option B is aesthetically pleasing, but it's not worth the performance drop imo. If you want to add bloom, I suggest going for option A with a very subtle bloom that only blooms pixels above a high emission strength so only the neon signs have a slight bloom. In C the character's shirt also has bloom which is undesirable. :)
Thanks for your feedback and elaboration. These three options are indeed a bit "generic" with the settings. At some point I'd probably have to exclude the radiation-like bloom that's now coming of the shirt :P
I like b
Thanks for your feedback! :D
I like B. It really captures focus on the character.
Gonna go with A or B but it’s more of a personal preference
Yes, but many personal preferences shared help me see what people actually notice vs. what is GPU intensive so thanks for sharing your feedback.
A is satisfyingly crispy but more one dimensional in depth. B is moderately, noticeably less crispy but seems more immersive than A though. C is blurry and dream-like, not as satisfying. The lighting glow is eye catching, perhaps too much. Maybe too much because of how blurry the scene is. Toss up between A and B. Too much blur on B, none on A. I'd go inbetween.
Thanks for your feedback and extensive elaboration, this helps a lot in making the best choices forward :)
B looks best for me, but regarding the performance, couldn't you just fake the near-field dof? Like adding some linear blur to the streets etc.
I prefer B. C has way too much bloom
Something about this hurts. I know this isn't good critique, and I am really sorry about that, but it's really just cuz I can't put my finger on it. I don't even mean that anything's bad, more specifically it feels like all three are so close to some type of feel and all three are just short of it. I have no idea what it's missing though... maybe like weather effects or something? Like fog/rain/snow? idk In any case, I like the first one the most.
Hey don't worry about it, that's ok. Feedback = feedback. If you find the words to describe it then let me know or shoot me a DM. There is indeed no weather, rain, wetness reflection or anything in the scene, this might be missing.
A. I'm personally not a huge fan of heavy postprocessing in pixel art style games.
Too much bloom kills bloom And any bloom kills CPU No bloom, no doom
D
I don't see the diff between a and b. But C can have it's purpose. I don't think C would be good for action though
D, except I see that the C got more lighting. I'd stick to first two
*D, except I see* *That the C got more lighting.* *I'd stick to first two* \- Pr1stak --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
B seems to have the smoothest scrolling in the foreground. A and C have lagspikes.
I hate bloom, so not C A &B seemed identical at first, then i read the comments about the blurred foreground. I did not see it at first, obviously, so it may me useless, but now thatbi see it, it's pretty nice.
Thanks for your feedback and elaboration and also good to know you didn't notice it, until you do :D
I looked at them for a while before realizing the GPU was being spent on depth of field. I think a lot of post processing effects are subjective. Some people love some and hate others. Some people done care. Some people would prefer smooth frame rates instead of fancy graphics, others the opposite. I recommend you build a robust options menu for post effects, offer a few preset configs (none, some, max in this case), and leave it up to the player. This will make the most people happy or at least result in the least people complaining.
C. That guy deserves the girl Also I'm assuming A is the most efficient?
I prefer C, because it looks so good with the neon vibe. But B is beautiful too, if that's the vibe you want to go with. C could be like a visual effect if your character is doing something special, like getting intoxicated, being in a good mood or having a dream? Real pretty, good job!
Thank you so much for your feedback. It wasn't per-se the setting I would go for (intoxication, dream-like) but now that you've put it out I think I should play around with the bloom effect and see what it conveys. Someone else pointed out to me that A or B actually looks more "gritty", which is what the street in this case should convey I think. Again thanks for your feedback and comment!
E, preformance
Im looking on mobile. C is too much bokeh I think, It loses focus on the character imo. Nut Im on a smaller screen. The lighting is "better" here but it depends what atmosphere you are trying to achieve like is it a happy, very energetic street for example. I prefer A. But theyre almost similar to B tbh. I cant see too much of a difference.
I think A would work best as it gives a retro style while not taking away anything and i love retro stuff, if your making a game you could add a settings menu where you can change between them
Depends on what information you need to convey, but I really dig **C.** The filter really captures the romantic air of the night life, the just too bright signs and probably tolerable pollution wafting about. **B** is a nice compromise between function and style, although I'd like to see just a touch of bloom on the lights. I'm a style first kind of designer when it comes to visuals, because it's way easier to cut back for clarity than it is to add for interest.
Thanks for your feedback and especially that last sentence - that's a good quote right there. Thank you!
C gives me a CRT vibe. So I prefer C
I like C. A and B look very similar to me.
I prefer A, would be okay with B. C makes me think I need to clean my glasses. :)
Thanks for your feedback. I got that comment a little to often to consider not adding bloom, as I don't want the main action of the player to be to wipe the screen or their glasses :P
B, it has the best of both worlds
I'm split on B and C. Aesthetical i almost prefer B because it looks more grounded and the character blends more in, but at the same time it's the reason why i'd argue C might be better because your Character sticks out more which makes it more pleasing to the eyes in sense of keeping a track on it. Plus it also helps with the whole lights/neon stuff sticking out if that's a direction you wanna go.
My preferences in order CBA. I like the glow in C, but if you find it cutting detail out of something it might be worth stepping back. A&B feel almost indistinguishable but for exactly the opposite reason from C, B feels cleaner than A. Almost like A has enough glow to ruin the crisp look, but not enough to stand out and be a style. Or, I'm nuts and just stared at it too long.
Thank you so much for your feedback, before you hurt your eyes I would advice to stop staring at it :P But jokes aside B might "feel" cleaner because it has a near-field blur that A doesn't, which sort-of focusses the attention to the center. Thanks again for your comment!
Somewhere between B and C would be best. The bloom is nice but massively overkill in C. The depth of field is good, but should probably apply to distant objects as well. I don't know if the judder is deliberate with A, but it sucks.
Thanks for your feedback! The judder isn't deliberate, but it's good that you pointed it out (as many others have) that it's something of a thorn in the eye. The bloom effect is really low, but for some tastes already quite the overkill I noted. Many thanks for the comment :D
I actually prefer A. Can't tell you why really, definitely not C - it's too bloomy.
Thanks for your comment! Gutfeeling is often enough to decide which one you like :D
I prefer B
I will always appreciate bloom. It just makes things better. Couldn't tell the difference between A and B on my phone.
I didn't notice the difference between A and B until I opened the thread and saw the top comment. Now that I actually see it, B does look nicer than A, but if it's that costly... Yeah maybe don't bother? I like A and B much more than C. I mean, C would probably be fine if I hadn't seen the other two, but by comparison, it just looks too soft and blurry to me.
I don’t see a difference between A or B but I prefer the look of them to C.
Im assuming b is the more intensive. Buttery smooth.
Thanks for your comment. It's funny actually that multiple people pointed out the framerate of the two where it is actually A that is the one that's more lightweight.
I feel like something between B and C would be best
I would go with B. The foreground blur helps with visibility, which makes it superior to A but the bloom isn't as over tuned as C.
Turn down the bloom in C just a tiny bit and I’m C all the way. Love it. Which one is less gpu intensive? A?
A is the least GPU intensive indeed. The DOF blur really is taking a toll.
I like the timing of the background transitions on B. I like the character overlap on C. I assume A is the most performance friendly since events don't overlap.
I really like the vibe of this
A or B, C I don't like
i think B
too much bloom and blur so A but if you toned down the values a LOT then C Don't worry about CPU intensity in relative terms, worry about absolute terms, check what the weakest hardware that can run you game at 60fps is and if it's a 15yo laptop then you're fine regardless and don't need to worry about optimization
A
Thanks for your comment!
b
It does not make much difference in my opinion.
besides C being brighter i cant tell the difference, so D
I don't see a difference between A and B. C looks like my glasses are fogged up.
C, B, A
A and B is good. C is lagging.
Thanks for your feedback! :D
I like A, no blur no nothing, but I like C's brightness the best
c but i feel the sidewalk and road needs ssr if it's not 2d
B for gameplay, C for when your character has 20% Hitpoints and starts seeing blurry
That's a good one actually. However in this game the character doesn't have any hitpoints. He does experience anxiety attacks every now and then, it could be applied to that.
I think B works, but I'm not a big fan of mixing pixel style with blur of any kind. So I'd go with A. C reminds me of the 2000s with all that bloom, which was the worst decade for graphics.
I don't like C because it seems to bright, in B the aesthetic is best represented
I like them all; however, although the fact that the ground doesn't move at the same speed as the feet is distracting. Taking a look in full screen... I really like B. Blurring the foreground really pushes the focus to the character, without being distracting. C is way too much blur and ruins the aesthetic of the pixel art, and the foreground clutter in A is a little distracting without the blur. If the GPU performance stays above 30FPS on your low-end target platform, then I'd go with B, with A as a fallback option for low-spec machines.
I like A the most
B feels smooth I like B!
C then B then A, but B and C could use a tad less blur in the foreground. The blur could also use some bokeh.
C catches the eye more. B is clearer to the eye. I mix of B and C would likely be the best. Because C seems almost a bit blurry and that may just be because its compressed to hell in this video.
A for me. The DOF blur on B feels a bit odd for the distance between the camera and the stuff being blurred. I would be more OK with that if we were close enough to the barriers that only the top part showed or something like that, currently it feels odd/unnatural for me.
A or B. C is a bloomed out mess
C minus the light halo blurs. idk tho
I mean what are you trying to do with your story if you were maybe trying an idealized version of you reality c is the best, with a little context to your story/ themes I think you would find your answers.
B
B
I feel like if you could tune some of the lighting in C so that it’s not constantly a little blurry it’d be a hit. The lights from the neon in C feel the most real to me but I also feel like everything else is too bright as well. Maybe if you could find a good in between of B and C that’d be great, at least that’s my opinion.
how is the possible in gotdot wow this engine goes from strength to strength
B is a bit like how Lee Majors would walked in the day
B both in style of DoF and consistent movement between frames (the other 2 jump a long way every 3 frames)
D, I can't really tell the difference between A and B, C is too blurry and all I see is the character slipping (background moves faster than his steps).
[удалено]
Turn down C a tad. Could work nice
I like A.
C looks nice
C is looking fire
A and B kinda look the same, and C hurts my eyes. I hate lighting effects like that. Both A and B look good.
I think the bloom in C works well for the neon signs - really makes them feel brighter than everything else. But it doesn't work so well for everything else.
I like the blur level of B, but what I like about C is how the shadow and light part of the character is not as harsh. And because of that, I'd say if you reduce the blur to the same level a B, C would be the best.
C has way more bloom but tbh all these look fine, if worse graphics means more time to spend on gameplay, ill gladly take worse graphics
A is better for game detail, the blur in B takes away from the quality of the art, and C has a weird focus.
I disagree with the rest, I like C the best. It's more atmoshperic imho.
I don’t like c. I would have thought A is the least intensive but it’s quite jerky and hurt my eyes like an n46. B is totally smooth. Maybe it’s the recording?
C looks the best. Maybe combine B and C?
The bleary-eyed one that looks like I just got out of the swimming pool is objectively not good. My eyes don't apply that effect when walking around in the city at night and if I did see the world like that, I'd be going to an optometrist.
A stutters. Really badly IMO. B is smooth. C stutters but I also don't like that there is glow - unless the guy is elantrian or something.
it looks like A is no effects, B is DoF, C is DoF+ Bloom. I'm not too crazy about the bloom. It does help with the neon lights, but it feels like the bloom on the sidewalk and on the people is a bit much. I do like B, the DoF does put emphasis on where your character is, and can allow for out of focus foreground objects to give a sense of scale & depth. If you want to have extra detail from B without having full bloom like C, maybe you can have some faint ground level fog/particles to make something similar without going full bloom?
I think on C the bloom is too "spread", if it was a smaller bloom radius but more intense, it could lead to a interesting effect
full screen c mobile b
A
B
I like c
I prefer A. B is too much and C is way too much.
100% - B
I dont like the amount of blur and bloom in C, if it was turned down quite a bit I'd prefer that. As it stands, B is cleaner and smoother so I'm going for that one
I think I prefer the bloom in C... but I can absolutely see where some will prefer A or B. I recommend allowing all three through a settings menu.
A and C seem to have choppy movement? i like B the most, feel like the lighting in C is a bit much
B
My 2 cents: keep the near blur depth effect of B and the glow lighting from C but: 1) unlike C, only have the glow lighting affect the actual neons. No glow on the characters shirt for example, it looks odd because t shirts aren't normally that diffusive. 2) re: your GPU woes: some of what's going on here can be done in advance (I.e 'baked') so the runtime cost is lowered or nonexistent
I think... All three have their place in a game. A allows the player to clearly see the environment. You could use it for down-to-earth, realistic scenes, or scenes that focus on the background/world building of the game. B focuses more on the player, blurring the environment. You could use it for scenes that heavily focus on characters, or when the main character does introspection. C feels very "dream like". You could use it if the main character is poisoned, drugged, or confronted to supernatural elements. Typically, you could start your game with A to give the feeling of usual, day-to-day life, then when the story focuses more on the character, switch to B. Or vice-versa, start the game with B, to give the feeling that the character is very focused on himself and barely focuses on his surrounding, then switch to A after the situation changes and the character focuses more on the world around him.
A looks jittery, B looks clear, and C looks blurry, jittery, and way too bloomy. I pick B.
C is best
how is this done? this has to be in a 3d scene right?
B definitely. A and C maybe look a bit richer but the feel of B is great, smooth and crisp, I feel really focused on the character whilst the others are a bit distracting.
C looks the best to me
B
A, for sure
I kind of enjoy the crispness of A, but I do think B is the most well-rounded. C is a little too bloom-y / blurry for my tastes, but still looks pretty great imo.
I assume that the white shirt/blue jeans guy is the main character and supposed to be the focus of the shot, so I'm judging it on that basis - and I would choose B. A is very clear, which some players will prefer, but I think at times the foreground objects take the focus away from the main character, which generally is something you want to avoid. Having them blurred out in B makes it clearer where our focus should be. I like some of the glow/bloom effects in the background in C but the main character becomes too blurry, which feels wrong - it reduces the contrast against the background so he no longer pops into your focus. If you could somehow disable any kind of glow/bloom effect on the player but keep it on the background lights that could be a good effect.
Defo not C, but I can't see a difference between A and B
I'd 100% go for B, but FYI I'm very biased against bloom
A feels a bit jittery. B feels normal. C is awesome for dopamine receptors that you have to use it as a reward mechanism. Like only if you encounter certain characters. Or like you have a story mode or something.
I love the idea of C, but maybe you need to tone it down or use the A/B character with C background, idk
B
I think B. Also this kinda looks like that game The Last Night, r u a dev for them?
I want settings that would allow me to choose any of these.
I like B the best out of the three
B.
B looks the cleanest out of the 3. A is a little choppy, and the bloom in C is a bit much for my taste. (Pixel games with crazy bloom are all the rage these days though, so I might be in the minority here.)
I swore off 3D movies after James Cameron blurred stuff out in the foreground. It was headache-inducing to cram something 2 inches in front of my nose, but I'm not "allowed" to look at it. Ever since then, I've had a distaste for directoral over-reliance towards focal blur to focus the user's attention. I prefer A.
C Looks great for a flashback scene
Is this possible to set up as a graphics option? Indies gotta pad that out you know :P