On The Subject Of Visibility In Wf.

[DSpite]

First, visibility in Warframe is generally getting lower. This image below is an exaggerated situation, where I was sitting in front of a single dead Corpus, aiming over the top at a clear section on the map, and took the screenshot just as he evaporated.

 

http://i.imgur.com/EzNBcJw.jpg

 

But something similar did happen in many maps during combat, I just normally know better now then to stand over the top of dead enemies if at all avoidable. Normally I'd say "disable this from happening", but the fact seems to be that we are getting more and more visual effects added as time goes on, and simply asking "allow me to disable everything" will not get me very far.

 

I rely heavily on the minimap for everything. Radar Mods are almost a must for me to get anything done now. If I quickly spin around to take inventory of the mobs around me, I will simply miss too many to make that sweep useful, and still, my position on the radar map is a white triangle on a whiteish background, and in many instances the minimap turns red, and the enemy dots STAY red. Red on red on a spinning rectangle. I will even mention Archwing where we have a flat map and enemies dots next to you that could be 5 or 500 meters up. Explosions and energy abilities filling the map, weapon fire, electrical beams, Mirage having a disco party with 4 other people, and all those people are actually her. If you have EVER had 3 Mirages on a your team, I'm surprised you did not have to get a retinal reconstruction straight afterwards.

 

On the Halloween event, the minimap was how I played the entire event, due to the fog. I barely looked at the "main" screen, to me, there was simply no point. I coptered and flew everywhere, and only used the main when I got stuck in things. I can no longer really play Archwing because the screen shake - which exists in varying forms on slow and fast flying, and in weapon recoil (I'd add a Recoil mod, but AW has none) - is causing me terrible issues.

 

I rarely play most PvP shooters because it always boils down to "if me and an enemy enter the same room, I take longer to see him then he does me" and you know how that ends. Brown levels with brown players. Dark areas. Inability to tell if I am really hiding in a "dark spot" because it looks dark to me, yet people sweep by, see me and shoot me. The list goes on.

 

I almost failed MR13 because the Grineer on the platforms were black shaped against a black background. I specifically brought Zephyr so I could fly closer and then shoot them.

 

I know I'm a minority, and all these teenagers with high reflexes and perfect vision are probably the mainstream, but becoming unable to play a game because of it's visuals and not say because you find it boring, is a sad, sad reason to not play.

 

If I could hack the video drivers, I would. If I could patch out textures I would. It's a coop game, I would gain no relevant advantage in "cheating" in this way. Enemy Radar already tells me exactly when the enemies are, even through walls, but standing in front of one 5 meters away and being totally unable to see them because one of their friends corpses evaporated at an inopportune moment, or because a Vauban Loot Ball starts spinning in my face, or because Frost decided to make his Snow Globe bright green is making me beat my head on my keyboard in frustration.

 

I wanted to ask this in Devstream 40, but was not home in time. I'd write to DERebecca or something, but I feel like an idiot asking "make your game less pretty because of little ole me". Good one Marco, let's go back to 10 polygon models like in Descent.

 

I'm not ever sure what I really want, in the end. All I know is that I am worried that in the not too distant future, even this game will look "too realistic" for me to play properly. Back to MineCraft I guess, where men are blocks and Creepers run really really fast.

 

EDIT: Maybe a toggle in options that states "Make my game look like it was written with the Quake engine" might be the go. Just make it less brown, cause THAT game was just shades of poop.

 

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealIsBrown