Filtering in Doom: None or Bi/Trilinear?

[leodoom85]

I don't know if this specific feature has been touched here but let's cut to the chase in this "dilemma", shall we?. I really don't care if I choose whatever filtering in Doom, especially for advanced ports like GZDoom/Zandronum but I noticed that people are so picky for that feature that seems really ridiculous to me because it's such a feature that doesn't have such a relevance in terms of gameplay or performance, only the aesthetic of the assets in Doom.

So yeah, now it's your turn to say which filtering you use or if you don't switch into the hardware mode of these ports and play another simpler ports like PRBoom+.......

 

Let the debate begin!!!

Also, feel free to vote in the poll....

Edited October 24, 2017 by leodoom85

[PasokonDeacon]

Nearest mipmap is my favorite GL texture setting. I'm less educated about how GZDoom handles lighting (Standard and Doom look best to me for less modern WADs), but nearest mipmap doesn't hurt my eyes too much while giving me some crisp edges without lost detail.

[Misty]

I use texture filtering, because I don't care what other people think about my preferences and if I want less refined stuff, I just can load maps in software mode and have those nice old good pixels and unfiltered textures.  Oh and I mostly use trilinear filtering in gzdoom and zandronum.

[Bauul]

Depends on the map for me. Vanilla resolution textures are essentially pixel art, and thus I feel look best with it turned off.

 

Any higher resolution textures I find look better with it turned on.

 

I would never, ever, judge anyone for choosing to play with it on or off though, any more than I would for someone playing with a higher screen resolution than 320x200 or a higher frame rate than 35fps. 

[Remilia Scarlet]

Unless the port I'm using doesn't support it, I always use GL_LINEAR_MIPMIAP_LINEAR, aka trilinear filtering.

[PsychoGoatee]

I enjoy "none (nearest mipmap)" in GZDoom. I like to have the pixels showing for sprite art and whatnot without blurring, plus the nearest mipmap thing looks nice, I also have anisotropic filtering set to 16x.

 

"There's no wrong way... to Doom." - Orson Welles

 

[Lila Feuer]

Pixels or gtfo (Doom 64 is the exception because some things don't look so good unfiltered like the skies for instance).

But more-so; 8-bit or 32-bit rendering? As much as I love true color, I really prefer the original palette limitations for that fuzziness.

[Reisal]

None (Nearest/Linear/Trilinear) because I like those jaggies with full (32) color depth.

[Maya]

first half of cyan0s1s's answer

[Spie812]

I use a full anisotropic filter, which basically makes all filtering options look the same anyway, and none (trilinear) because It keeps my weapons and whatnot looking sharp.

[Spectre01]

Filtering looks much better when combined with a 3x High Quality Resize Mode of your choice. That way you're still able to maintain a crisp image while avoiding aliasing and pixel "shimmering", which doesn't look too great in large maps with a high level of detail. For instance, lets look at this map I'm never going to finish:

All filtering on, 3x ScaleX resize.

 

Everything off:

Notice how the wall in the centre now looks like a complete mess and other textures lose visual fidelity with distance. Nearest-mipmap reduces this problem, but moving the mouse will still cause everything to shimmer.

 

If I'm playing an older or vanilla wad and want pixels, I'd play in Software mode. Otherwise, I prefer GL with some resize.

[Nevander]

I don't use texture filtering anymore. What sucks though is there is some kind of bug in my video driver that essentially breaks anisotropic filtering, which means linear or nearest mipmap looks like total shit and the filtering itself doesn't even work correctly. So these days I am forced to use no filtering period. Kinda sucks because I love linear mipmap when it used to work. Word of advice guys: don't buy AMD cards.

[Pegg]

None.The walls looking slightly better is nice and all but I prefer sprites to not look like someone ruined them in photoshop.

 

Side-By-Side : https://imgur.com/a/mlK93 (the linear one doesn't fill all the way to the right, just the barrel and pistol)

[Spectre01]

@Pegg Hence combining filtering with HQ resize. The detail remains but is blended smoother.

[Pegg]

Gonna have to give it a shot. Also now I can' get over how stupid the shading on the barrel sprite looks and that line of grey at the bottom. 

[Koko Ricky]

Doom's entire style is pixel art derived. There is no artistic benefit in filtering the pixels given their size. Texture filtering is appropriate for games which are highly detailed and/or are aiming for a photorealistic or semi-photorealistic approach. There is absolutely no point in filtering older games.

[MrGlide]

No Filtering at all, But I do enjoy hardware enhanced rendering rather than software rendering.

[RjY]

The only filtering I have comes after the frame buffer has been handed off to SDL.

[Combinebobnt]

14 hours ago, leodoom85 said:

it's such a feature that doesn't have such a relevance in terms of gameplay or performance, only the aesthetic of the assets in Doom.

 

yes being able to see has no impact on the game

 

I play software in these oh so advanced ports but I like turning on some sort of filtering in OpenGL so I can see enemies better at a far distance and snipe. In software they usually look like a few pixels so it can be p tough... Otherwise the low filter settings make the game look fuzzy or whatever and I prefer no filter.

[scalliano]

Nearest filtering with the highest AF mipmap I can manage. Retains the original look of Doom without the distance noise/flicker.

[Da Werecat]

9 hours ago, Pegg said:

Also now I can' get over how stupid the shading on the barrel sprite looks and that line of grey at the bottom.

Why do you think it looks stupid?

 

[NeedHealth]

I am half blind. The whole world looks like shit to me.

[Pegg]

1 hour ago, Da Werecat said:

Why do you think it looks stupid?

 

The shades are extreme compared to everything else ingame.

[Koko Ricky]

Stupid is a bit extreme, but ugly is definitely a word I would use. I have a bit of an issue with significantly altering something from the way it was intended to be viewed. I would say that colorizing a movie would be a good example. Filtering attempts to modernize the game in a way that for most people doesn't work.

[Dyterius]

I used to hate trilinear filtering in GZDoom, but it's grown on me, however I mainly like None (Trilinear).

[Spie812]

Just turn textures off.

 

[Clay]

16 minutes ago, Spie812 said:

Just turn textures off.

 

 I do this often just for fun.

[roadworx]

ack, i hate texture filtering. pixelated looks so much better imo

[DANZA]

The way the art assets are, pixellated (none). Also I love the original palette limitations, the contrast in lighting, and the way the shading morphs the colours as you move is pure beauty <3
Resolution wise, 640x400 and upwards it's ok, but not too much that it looks cheap. That's the thing with older games, if you upscale things too much, they tend to look empty. The low res hides a lot, and fills the voids with user input/imagination...

[Lila Feuer]

2 hours ago, DANZA said:

Resolution wise, 640x400 and upwards it's ok, but not too much that it looks cheap. That's the thing with older games, if you upscale things too much, they tend to look empty. The low res hides a lot, and fills the voids with user input/imagination...

RetroShader might be to your liking for G/QZDoom.