In really dark maps, do you increase the brightness settings or just deal with it?

[Memfis]

If it's just a few areas I will usually play "fair", but if the whole map seems dark I might resort to gamma correction. It also depends on how atmospheric the level is. If it's all very moody I usually don't want to ruin anything.

[AdirBlaz]

It'd depend for me on what kind of "really dark" you mean. Like, pitch-fucking-black, or just things are barely visible?

 

Pitch-black, I'd probably slap on a fullbright if it's all across the whole map (unless this is due to a mod like lasting light)

 

Barely-visible darkness, I can actually manage to deal with.

[BigDickBzzrak]

IDBEHOLDL thru the dark part

 

...although it sounds like a good idea for a cheat or feature that increases all light levels by 32 or something.

[Cupboard]

Used to play a lot of MP Doom so I almost always play with maximum gamma correction, especially if sunlight comes in through the windows in real life. If it is night time I will lower the gamma correction.

[leodoom85]

If the map is way too dark, I'll raise the brightness. If the map is intended to be played in dark ambience, then I'll leave it like that.

[TDRR]

As in "Pitch Black" or "Can't see shit"? If it is REALLY dark, as in, you can only see your enemies when you can hear them breathing, or see walls only if you stick to them, then yes i will raise the brightness or IDBEHOLDL if it's really dark.

[Cruduxy Pegg]

I don't increase it, But if it is impossible to find the way (no cues or faint lights to guide) I don't play the map altogether. 

[Job]

Bad mappers usually, although not always, tend to rely on dark or poor lighting to possibly hide flaws. That, or they're under the mistaken impression that more dark equals more atmosphere. Atmosphere is cultivated by a lot of things, however, including music, gameplay/pacing, setting and contrast of lighting.

[Dragonfly]

5 minutes ago, Pegg said:

I don't increase it, But if it is impossible to find the way (no cues or faint lights to guide) I don't play the map altogether. 

Likewise. I do my best to respect the way the author intended it to be played.

[silentzorah]

I just squint really hard and hope to find some light amps around the corner somewhere.  Generally, I'll switch to the chaingun or plasma rifle in dark areas, since they'll illuminate the area just a little when you're firing full auto.  I never mess with the gamma settings.

[Phade102]

I attempt to make sure my maps are never so dark that you cant see. Typically, in most cases my light levels dont go below 128. 128 is dark, but with lighting and such it can help.

 

Honestly, one thign that can help dark areas, is to make areas nearby be lighter, it will make the area you're in feel lighter simply by the appearance.

[Demon of the Well]

Difficult for me to relate to this one, I've played with 0 gamma correction for the entirety of my time with the game, and I think I can count the number of times I've found a map dark to the point where it was negatively impacting playability in a really active way on my fingers. Almost all of these instances were maps that were designed for or assumed the use of GL rendering, too, come to think of it, so in at least some of them that experience may have arisen from my being too ignorant or inattentive to select the correct lighting model.

 

I've definitely had the experience of dark maps being temporarily unplayable due to screen glare from outside light filtering into the room with the computer in the wrong way, of course, but I've usually just combated that by doing something else until conditions were more favorable. Turning up gamma correction to address stuff like this is something I'm generally not willing to do, simply because I dislike how bleached/washed-out it makes everything look in comparison.

[Xaser]

I can't remember the last time I've played through a map where the lighting was dark enough to be problematic. The thing I do notice (as Job hinted at) that causes similar issues is when a map's lighting is completely devoid of contrast. If bad enough, this also makes it really hard to see things, especially so if the mapper committed the egregious sin of enabling evenlighting in MAPINFO -- that pretty much guarantees that everything will appear as a blobby, un-navigable mess that F11 won't fix.

[rodster]

That's why I put Gamma Settings to the maximum value on all ports I use. Some maps are really unnecesseraly dark, in my opinion.

[dl_simc]

1 hour ago, Phade102 said:

I attempt to make sure my maps are never so dark that you cant see. Typically, in most cases my light levels dont go below 128. 128 is dark, but with lighting and such it can help.

What is the border of acceptable darkness? Is it possible to define?

 

In Doom2 MAP02 the circular PIPEWAL2 pathway is 112 and the lower level blue keycard area is 96. 

In MAP04 the 1st area with clanking windows is 96-112 and 128 at the end with floorlamps.

In MAP05 the dark tunnel with imps and blinking road-sign-like floor markings is 80. The red keycard area and the water floor tunnels are 112. 

 

Are they too dark?
 

[nxGangrel]

I always take it in. I find turning the brightness up to be pathetic. The only time I would turn it up is if the lighting where I am playing is too bright and I can't see the screen. Specifically when the sun is shining my direction.

[leodoom85]

Unloved is a good example of leaving the settings as it is, at least for me

[StoneMason]

Never really had an issue with dark rooms, myself. Though, that could be because I play in software mode, which even in a brightness level of 0, can still be somewhat visible.

[VGA]

1 hour ago, dl_simc said:

What is the border of acceptable darkness? Is it possible to define?

 

In Doom2 MAP02 the circular PIPEWAL2 pathway is 112 and the lower level blue keycard area is 96. 

In MAP04 the 1st area with clanking windows is 96-112 and 128 at the end with floorlamps.

In MAP05 the dark tunnel with imps and blinking road-sign-like floor markings is 80. The red keycard area and the water floor tunnels are 112. 

 

Are they too dark?
 

These should be the standards for dark rooms. The problem is that from what I see on Youtube videos, most people play in glboom with the default shitty filtering in sprites and shitty gamma. It looks like washed out crap with blurry sprites.

 

Even in GZDoom, while I appreciate the effort put into the lighting choices, I cannot replicate the look of software-rendered ports, with the pixelated look, the 8-bit palette, the close-up lighting and diminishing light. Gamma = 0.

[Deleted_Account]

I just turn the lights on.

[Pirx]

i prefer change brightness and / or contrast slightly, so i can see. i prefer a darker game though. i avoid increasing gamma because i don't like the washed-out look.

 

every current lcd panel tech has some weakness: tn has modest contrast and colors, va is rather slow, ips has that inherent glow. i use an ips display and don't need  to make its weakness worse. can't wait for oled to become affordable in... dunno, 10 years, at this pace? to have classic doom finally look like on crt again.

[kmxexii]

4 hours ago, Memfis said:

If it's just a few areas I will usually play "fair", but if the whole map seems dark I might resort to gamma correction. It also depends on how atmospheric the level is. If it's all very moody I usually don't want to ruin anything.

I usually roll with it but I've become acutely aware of the eyestrain involved after playing through Dragon Hunter's MAP12 from Sacrament so on rare occasions I will IDBEHOLDL

[Nine Inch Heels]

Just now, kmxexii said:

I usually roll with it but I've become acutely aware of the eyestrain involved after playing through Dragon Hunter's MAP12 from Sacrament so on rare occasions I will IDBEHOLDL

He's alive. :-)

 

How's your summer break been?

[galileo31dos01]

Nope, never, the only time I resorted to gamma correction was with Newgothic Movement 2, in map 05 where there is a very dark section I couldn't see my enemies clear. And I am one of those old-school players, no lights on projectiles or some sort of configuration to make scenarios less dark, I like it this way, darkness makes it seem creepy or haunted.

 

(there are no ghosts in Doom so why did I came with that adjective...)

[kmxexii]

31 minutes ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

He's alive. :-)

 

How's your summer break been?

Lots of work and a bout of Strep throat, but my daughter is starting to talk and I got to take my family to Chicago, so i take what i can get

[Nine Inch Heels]

Sorry to hear you've so much stress going on. It's pretty cool that your daughter starts talking on the other hand, I always find that very heartwarming.

[Empyre]

On a scale where 1.0 means no adjustment, I leave mine set at 1.3, which is just a slight adjustment.

[Reisal]

Adjustment of sector lighting mode.

[KVELLER]

I didn't know the gamma settings existed until I started using D-Touch.

[Phade102]

8 hours ago, dl_simc said:

What is the border of acceptable darkness? Is it possible to define?

 

In Doom2 MAP02 the circular PIPEWAL2 pathway is 112 and the lower level blue keycard area is 96. 

In MAP04 the 1st area with clanking windows is 96-112 and 128 at the end with floorlamps.

In MAP05 the dark tunnel with imps and blinking road-sign-like floor markings is 80. The red keycard area and the water floor tunnels are 112. 

 

Are they too dark?
 

Oh absolutely not, they aren't too dark at all. 128 being my lowest level is just a personal standard for me. I'm not saying lwoer levels are wrong in any way shape or form, its just a personal opinion of mine when I design my maps.