16 replies to this topic

[Lightfoot]

Used to just be on Forest Colony, now I get it on all maps. Once someone starts shooting at me my screen turns black, then about 5 seconds after they stop shooting the view comes back.

I have always thought this was a bloom issue, maybe it's not. It also doesn't look like smoke, there is no billowing to it like smoke has in MWO.

Anyway, it is ruining gameplay for me now. You can't defend yourself in a black shroud, blinded, so it is literally game over for now.

[Stingz]

Heat and/or night vison are possible workarounds, the windows dim to keep the pilot from being blinded/fried by explosions/lasers near the cockpit.

I see how it's annoying for players that don't have keybinds for screen brightness though. All it takes is a few shots near the head to blackout the pilot's screen.

[ShdwWraith]

What settings are you running? Custom user config?

[HarmAssassin]

This happens to me quite a bit as well. I play with settings on high, and as soon as I start taking hits anywhere near my head, I can't see (screen goes black, and the red targeting boxes can't be seen through the explosions drawn on the screen).

It's really annoying to be in an assault mech, taking on a medium mech, and I can't even see the darn thing because I'm blinded through the whole time it takes for them to kill me.

[Stingz]

ShdwWraith, on 25 January 2013 - 10:23 PM, said:

What settings are you running? Custom user config?

Playing on a laptop, F2-F3 control screen brightness. It's horrendous how dark Forest Colony is when fighting.

[Kommisar]

I've had this issue for months. Going all the way back to Close Beta when they switched over to the new Cryengine. It had been getting better, but after this last patch (January 23, 2013) it is now as bad as it has ever been. It is annoying and, at times, crippling on all maps; but makes Forest Colony completely unplayable once the fighting starts. Even my own weapons fire will cause it. My stalker is the worst with those energy mounts right under the cockpit. One shot from them and I have around 5 seconds of complete black. If I am also taking fire, you could turn off my monitor and I wouldn't notice save for the HUD elements. This effects heat vision and night vision equally as much as normal vision; so they are not a work around.

I've played with every visual setting in the game. Including going into the files themselves to alter brightness and contrast. None of them have altered the issue at all. If I drop all the settings to their lowest levels, it is lessened to a degree, but still problematic.

I've been bringing this up for as long as it has been affecting me and I have yet to find any acknowledgement of the issue or that it is deemed an issue. Perhaps I have just missed the posts. Or, perhaps this is an artistic decision. They seem to REALLY like dark, grim and drab. Or, it is the results of trying to work around the engine to do dusk/dawn level lighting with texture darkening. Or, perhaps it has something to do with hardware and how it is rendering; but it effects a LOT of people.

Not hating. Just bringing up the issue. And giving feedback that all black screen game play is not enjoyable or immersive; if it is indeed an artistic decision. Along those lines, you guys are not going to sell a lot of paint jobs when the majority of your maps require heat vision/night vision to play or are otherwise so dark and dim that no one can even tell if you even have a paint job. Right now, the only map I can really see paint jobs on is River City (normal). Otherwise, I'm in heat mode, night vision, or the mechs are so blurted, dimmed, dulled and shadowed that while I can see them, I really couldn't tell you if they had a custom paint job once the fighting starts.

Oh well, wandering a bit far afield now. Forest Colony, for me and a lot of other guys I play with, not enjoyable due to the darkness issues. We all groan when we get this one rotation. We want to fight mechs... not fight to see.

[Lightfoot]

ShdwWraith, on 25 January 2013 - 10:23 PM, said:

What settings are you running? Custom user config?

Everything on high except for post-processing which I turned off/lowest to try to avoid this problem. Nothing Custom though, just what is in Options Tab.

It just cost me the win in a well played match, I assume since at the end I was fighting two Ravens whom I couldn't see. I got one, but I went from decent armor to low and most weapons gone just because of the blacked out monitor. The Ravens never had this problem so pretty unfair to have this in the game. Why would your viewscreen completely black out in a Mech battle? Dim, maybe, black-out? That's doom, gameover, completely un-canon. It's just stupid or a bug. I would just take it out of the game until the graphics are working right for it.

Nvidia 550 TI, with current drivers. Do Radeons have this problem?

Edited by Lightfoot, 26 January 2013 - 09:31 PM.

[Elder Thorn]

Lightfoot, on 26 January 2013 - 09:18 PM, said:

Do Radeons have this problem?

yes

[Teh Hobo]

Just chiming in, I have this problem on the forest maps too, it's completely gamebreaking, isn't there any workaround? A user config tweek maybe?

[Draxa]

Have you played with your moniters contrast and brightness?
The only time I have had a problem with a dark screen was when contious firing machine guns on my hunchie.
Occasionally in combat, my screen gets a little darker, but not blacked out like your describing.
I play with an Nvidia card, if that means anything.

[Xeraf]

For me it's visible at rainy forest colony map. Lowered to medium graphics, and not helped. (Radeon HD 6790)

[EnigmaNL]

Stingz, on 25 January 2013 - 08:33 PM, said:

Heat and/or night vison are possible workarounds, the windows dim to keep the pilot from being blinded/fried by explosions/lasers near the cockpit.

Don't tell me you actually believe that...

It's a graphical issue, it has nothing to do with simulation or anything else.

[Lightfoot]

Draxa, on 27 January 2013 - 02:44 PM, said:

Have you played with your moniters contrast and brightness?
The only time I have had a problem with a dark screen was when contious firing machine guns on my hunchie.
Occasionally in combat, my screen gets a little darker, but not blacked out like your describing.
I play with an Nvidia card, if that means anything.

The Brightness on my Monitor is set to 100%. That's the default setting too. LG Flatron w2353v. It's a LCD true color monitor.

How about enabling the Brightness, Gamma, etc. on the MWO Options Tab, PGI guys?

[Inertiaman]

It especially makes a mockery of river city night this bug. Hopefully eight months represents enough time to work it out.

[Stingz]

EnigmaNL, on 27 January 2013 - 03:24 PM, said:

Don't tell me you actually believe that...

It's a graphical issue, it has nothing to do with simulation or anything else.

I'm saying it's something that needs to be changed, Forest Colony gets ridiculous dark when fighting.

Edited by Stingz, 28 January 2013 - 05:58 AM.

[Kommisar]

As I said, this is an issue that has existed (and I have been trying to work around) for months.

It is much worse on certain mech builds. Lights are fast enough and (mostly) lag shielded. So, they don't have a lot of hits around their cockpits in continuous streams. But, their own weapon fire can drop the Globe of Darkness on them in a hurry. Assaults suffer from it because they are slow and can get pummeled. Worse of all are the mechs with cockpits in center of mass areas. Stalkers, Awesomes, Catapults, Cataphracts. The worst of the worst are those that also have weapon mounts next to their cockpits. Stalkers, Catapults, Cataphracts. The "bloom" effects of their own weapons will blind them.

My Stalker is the worst offender I have. Especially if I have PPCs on the torso mounts.

[Corvus Antaka]

This happens to me as well. First i noticed it when firing machine guns my screen darkened. then recently I saw it in my raven when firing my 3 medium lasers the rest of the screen darkened. I triple checked to make sure it wasnt the brightness from the lasers causing this illusion - no for sure it is the screen actually darkening slightly (losing brightness) when I fire.

Very strange bug.