Whilst DICE still ain't allowing the use of the recent colour-tweaker mod, they'll add a console command to deactive the filters causing the desaturation and such. Some things, like the IRNV attachement won't display properly, but who gives a damn about that. Hopefully the patch in question will deploy soon.

Finally. Some minor relief on that front. Really hoping that bodes well for things to come. Pretty Battlefield 4 instead of gritty turn-me-off.

Have a look at how much better BF3 looks (if you aren't totally wrong in your opinions and preferences that is)...

Much ado about nothing. I play Battlefield 3 everyday and have never once been bothered by the look of the game. I can see why others may, though.

I don't see a problem with any form of mod to do this, but I do have a problem when people complain about a developers choice as "wrong." They chose to de-saturate the colours, thus that is part of the style they wanted. The comparisons I've made honestly don't do it enough for me and I'm used to BF3 as it is and do not plan on changing it "just because."

The problem with the mod is that contrast values were tweakable, meaning you could raise the minimum brightness, allowing you to see in the dark much easier. Adding a command or switch disabling the color gradation pass is definitely the correct way to do it. Especially since the default values floating around for the mod are WAY over-saturated.
 
Do you have a link where Dice says something about it? All I've seen is them saying that it looks too colorful, without acknowledging that the values were simply off. And that was a while ago.
 
edit: I don't like these settings presented in the video either. They're certainly not as oversaturated, but they don't look as good as the "default" settings when you mute them slightly either.

@brundlefly said:

Much ado about nothing. I play Battlefield 3 everyday and have never once been bothered by the look of the game. I can see why others may, though.

Totally agreed. I actually think the default looks is a lot better, much more immersive.

Like others, I liked the default. The mod didn't really do anything for me except to make some desert landscapes look like tropical islands, and esp. in that video, some dirty rooms look even browner/grittier. It wasn't really "better", just different. It's nice to have the option though.

@Giantstalker: @ck1nd: @brundlefly:

I found every Battlefield game prior to BF3 entirely more playable. The whole color desaturation thing, and especially the ridiculous contrast, and near-constant post effect screen filling sunglares (aided by a bunch of shit-tastic systems such as suppression), reduce player control and gameplay feedback - to the point where it's a worse game for it.

I can see how you might like it, if you are into the war-simulation-aspect of Battlefield - I'm in it for the game, and the game has never been worse than in BF3, and the whole visual presentation has a lot to do with that.

@ck1nd said:

I don't see a problem with any form of mod to do this, but I do have a problem when people complain about a developers choice as "wrong." They chose to de-saturate the colours, thus that is part of the style they wanted. The comparisons I've made honestly don't do it enough for me and I'm used to BF3 as it is and do not plan on changing it "just because."

If DICE prefers going for the look of modern one-color tinted action flicks, it sure makes for great looking trailers - everything else though is much worse for it. Especially evident to me, when I look at player montages using in-game footage. None of it looks particularly fun or impressive or anthing - it's just a soup of same-ish colours lacking clarity and being constantly blurred out by something or other. All the dynamics lost in some kind of cruel wash-out. Fuck ugly.

I'm not saying DICE are wrong for doing what they did (even though I do, but it's their prerogative do whatever they fucking want with it). I'm saying you are wrong for liking what they did. If they're going for the same type of gameplay-wrecking look for BF4, that might be a dealbreaker for me. While I've played over 350 hours of BF3, it should've been over 1000 by now, because no Frostbite-era Battlefield game had this much great content - it's just not especially fun.

I walk two steps into a map, get hit by a sunglare and am absolutely blind there, I turn the game off and yell - FUCK IT!

@MrKlorox:

Didn't find the settings in that video particularly great either, it just shows the general direction the visuals take without the tint-filter. I want sunny skies to be blue, not grey. I want colour like in an 80's action flick, not 50 shades of grey - because that not only looks like shit, it plays like shit too.

Color grading is fine in single-player, but has no place in competitive multi-player. This looks great!

I love colors in my games, but the default definitely looks better to me.

The only level I had an issue with was Wake Island- the filter was completely OTT there.

@Klei said:

I love colors in my games, but the default definitely looks better to me.

For me, it's more a of a 'play better' question than anything. I absolutely hate when filters and other post-effects make me nigh blind, just because they're shooting for a movie-look - at the detriment of playability and player control. Nothing against gameplay relevant lighting, but BF3 takes it way too far. As if random deaths from above weren't enough, now every shadow and sunglare can hide your killer - and let's not even begin to talk about suppression blur. On some maps, the sun literally blots out the entire picture from some angles - as in full-on blind. So stupid, it hurts my brain everytime I happen upon it.

I'm getting killed by people who can't hit a barn from inside the barn, just because I'm blinded by systematic blur, and my aim gets thrown off too. Ridiculous design.

Really hope they'll go for hightend senses under duress in BF4. Something along the lines of: De-saturate the normally very colorful and lifelike environments - to better highlight bullet flightpaths with tracer-like effects, highlight muzzleflash, highlight shooter outlines, highlight smoke, increase clarity and volume of shooters directional sound - making fighting back fun the new paradigm of the design, instead of keeping your head down. This whole being helpless shtick, because I'm not that kit with that loadout for this situation - it's getting old. In my kind of Battlefield, every kit is a different type of action flick hero. James Bond. Rambo. John McLane. Jesus. All-powerful and all-capable in all different ways.

Empower us - get away from this co-dependency by one-dimensional very limited kits and faux-realism by silly systems crap. Boring wanna-be mil-sim ain't what I'm playing Battlefield for.

But what about the ridiculous lens flares and sneezed-on-lens look? I hate those too!

@Seppli said:

@Klei said:

I love colors in my games, but the default definitely looks better to me.

For me, it's more a of a 'play better' question than anything. I absolutely hate when filters and other post-effects make me nigh blind, just because they're shooting for a movie-look - at the detriment of playability and player control. Nothing against gameplay relevant lighting, but BF3 takes it way too far. As if random deaths from above weren't enough, now every shadow and sunglare can hide your killer - and let's not even begin to talk about suppression blur. On some maps, the sun literally blots out the entire picture from some angles - as in full-on blind. So stupid, it hurts my brain everytime I happen upon it.

I'm getting killed by people who can't hit a barn from inside the barn, just because I'm blinded by systematic blur, and my aim gets thrown off too. Ridiculous design.

Really hope they'll go for hightend senses under duress in BF4. Something along the lines of: De-saturate the normally very colorful and lifelike environments - to better highlight bullet flightpaths with tracer-like effects, highlight muzzleflash, highlight shooter outlines, highlight smoke, increase clarity and volume of shooters directional sound - making fighting back fun the new paradigm of the design, instead of keeping your head down. This whole being helpless shtick, because I'm not that kit with that loadout for this situation - it's getting old. In my kind of Battlefield, every kit is a different type of action flick hero. James Bond. Rambo. John McLane. Jesus. All-powerful and all-capable in all different ways.

Empower us - get away from this co-dependency by one-dimensional very limited kits and faux-realism by silly systems crap. Boring wanna-be mil-sim ain't what I'm playing Battlefield for.

Dude, have you ever looked at the sun? Or had very bright light in your eyes? I don't know about you, but that shit blinds me, IN REAL LIFE!

As for your issues with the suppression system, read any account of actual warfare and you will be amazed at how useful suppressing fire is in real firefights. It's almost vital. If you have suppressive fire being layed down on your ass, you sure as shit won't be standing up and firing back like John Rambo. You will put your head down. It's military science, man. Play some other game if you don't like it.

Don't hold your breath, just launched BC2 after a long time and you know the bug that happens if you use the Auto Join/Login function? still there, my friend who plays BF3 on the PC keeps complaining about little bugs (many of them come as far from BETA)

@brundlefly said:

@Seppli said:

@Klei said:

I love colors in my games, but the default definitely looks better to me.

For me, it's more a of a 'play better' question than anything. I absolutely hate when filters and other post-effects make me nigh blind, just because they're shooting for a movie-look - at the detriment of playability and player control. Nothing against gameplay relevant lighting, but BF3 takes it way too far. As if random deaths from above weren't enough, now every shadow and sunglare can hide your killer - and let's not even begin to talk about suppression blur. On some maps, the sun literally blots out the entire picture from some angles - as in full-on blind. So stupid, it hurts my brain everytime I happen upon it.

I'm getting killed by people who can't hit a barn from inside the barn, just because I'm blinded by systematic blur, and my aim gets thrown off too. Ridiculous design.

Really hope they'll go for hightend senses under duress in BF4. Something along the lines of: De-saturate the normally very colorful and lifelike environments - to better highlight bullet flightpaths with tracer-like effects, highlight muzzleflash, highlight shooter outlines, highlight smoke, increase clarity and volume of shooters directional sound - making fighting back fun the new paradigm of the design, instead of keeping your head down. This whole being helpless shtick, because I'm not that kit with that loadout for this situation - it's getting old. In my kind of Battlefield, every kit is a different type of action flick hero. James Bond. Rambo. John McLane. Jesus. All-powerful and all-capable in all different ways.

Empower us - get away from this co-dependency by one-dimensional very limited kits and faux-realism by silly systems crap. Boring wanna-be mil-sim ain't what I'm playing Battlefield for.

Dude, have you ever looked at the sun? Or had very bright light in your eyes? I don't know about you, but that shit blinds me, IN REAL LIFE!

As for your issues with the suppression system, read any account of actual warfare and you will be amazed at how useful suppressing fire is in real firefights. It's almost vital. If you have suppressive fire being layed down on your ass, you sure as shit won't be standing up and firing back like John Rambo. You will put your head down. It's military science, man. Play some other game if you don't like it.

We had gameplay relevant lighting in BF:BC 1 & 2 (and the Vietnam Expansion) and BF 1943 - without it being absolutely blinding. You are never completely blinded by the sun, even if you're looking right at it. Especially not if you're wearing freaking Oakleys.

As for suppression. Who gives a fuck about the reality of suppression? And I don't need a dumbass system blurring my vision and throwing off my aim to be effectively supressed. I was plenty suppressed in prior Battlefield games without these systems. I don't need a game to systematically turn itself blurry and fuck with my skill - I don't want that. Battlefield : Bad Eyesight simulator. Barf.

It's Battlefield, not military service. Battlefield 3 is an iteration in a storied franchise. The post effects overkill and the silly systems have no precedent. These new designs make Battlefield 3 hard to love, and I'm arguably much more of fan than you'll ever be - who are you to tell me what to play? I play loads of other games, and that's what's bugging me. I can't stand the fact, that these things chip away at my enthusiasm until I cannot stand to play it, or even look at it, anymore. After a couple of sessions, the bullshit has been piling up too high for me to play more Battlefield 3. I cannot play it indefinitely, as I was apt to do with most other iterations of Battlefield.

You're "arguably more of a fan than I'll ever be."? Get a grip dude. Who cares? Life is too short to nitpick about shit you hate. It's so simple- If you don't like the aesthetics, don't play it. You're gonna live, I promise.

You're "arguably more of a fan than I'll ever be."? Get a grip dude. Who cares? Life is too short to nitpick about shit you hate. It's so simple- If you don't like the aesthetics, don't play it. You're gonna live, I promise.

@crazyleaves said:

@brundlefly

You're "arguably more of a fan than I'll ever be."? Get a grip dude. Who cares? Life is too short to nitpick about shit you hate. It's so simple- If you don't like the aesthetics, don't play it. You're gonna live, I promise.

Dude, it's hopeless. I hope this happens soon so you can stop making these threads.

Everything's better if you care. You young'uns will learn soon enough. Don't be shallow, be negative to show your love - constructively of course. Not like that crazyleaves guy.

I think the solution seems very simple. If you hate the aesthetics of the game, the suppression mechanic and the idea of occlusion of information due to things other than solid objects, then this isn't the game for you. If you have such a strong dislike for so many, arguably integral components of the game, surely there's something better out there for you. To me, removing those things from BF3 would be like removing the cover system from Gears of War. I understand that some people prefer less avatar importance and more direct control in their games, but that's why we still have games like Quake (and I guess Modern Warfare, right?). Battlefield 3 is, unfortunately for you, not that kind of game. Increased avatar importance is nothing but positive to me, I think more games need a lot more than that. If my avatar can freak out because someone's shooting at him, or be blinded because of the in-world sun or a flashlight in his face, then yeah, maybe I'll be frustrated because he's not doing what I want to do and not acting on the information I, personally, have access to. But in the end, I think it makes the world feel so much more real, if not to me, then to the digital creature I'm in control of, and that automatically serves to immerse me so much more.
 
Then there's the issue of aesthetics. Yeah, BF3 actually looks pretty bad in some spots, when their weird contrast filters manage to clash to make a particular rock look both blown out and too dark at the same time, but I think the general look of the game is great and very characteristic. Looking at pictures side by side, the levels of washed out blueness do end up looking a bit ridiculous, but if you still notice that after more than five minutes of actually playing the game, you're paying attention to the wrong things. And whoever thinks Metro and Death Valley look better without the color filter has no right to criticize the game's art style because they clearly have no idea how aesthetics work at all.
 
Now I may not be a long time Battlefield fan, I only played a bit of 2, sunk 150-ish hours into 2142 and another dozen into Play 4 Free before I could finally get BF3... But I love what this game brought to the table. Including the blue. It makes it look distinct, easier to tell apart from the other billion modern shooters that for some reason keep coming out as if they have any chance at competing with the established giants of the genre. The only things I don't like are the questionable balance of the vehicle unlocks and the downplayed importance of squads. And I guess that friendly fire seems to be off by default, when it was on by default in 2142... But I guess you don't care about that part, because you're not into it for the military simulation. Which is strange to me, because the odd sense of realism is what got me into the series in the first place, so I whole-heartedly welcome changes to emphasize that.
 
Now if they could only remake 2142 with the Frostbite 2 engine, add BF3 levels of destructibility to all the levels, include the parkour elements and suppression mechanic and bring back commander mode... That would be my favorite game of all time. They could even make it blue and I wouldn't give a crap.

@Seppli said:

@Klei said:

I love colors in my games, but the default definitely looks better to me.

For me, it's more a of a 'play better' question than anything. I absolutely hate when filters and other post-effects make me nigh blind, just because they're shooting for a movie-look - at the detriment of playability and player control. Nothing against gameplay relevant lighting, but BF3 takes it way too far. As if random deaths from above weren't enough, now every shadow and sunglare can hide your killer - and let's not even begin to talk about suppression blur. On some maps, the sun literally blots out the entire picture from some angles - as in full-on blind. So stupid, it hurts my brain everytime I happen upon it.

I'm getting killed by people who can't hit a barn from inside the barn, just because I'm blinded by systematic blur, and my aim gets thrown off too. Ridiculous design.

Really hope they'll go for hightend senses under duress in BF4. Something along the lines of: De-saturate the normally very colorful and lifelike environments - to better highlight bullet flightpaths with tracer-like effects, highlight muzzleflash, highlight shooter outlines, highlight smoke, increase clarity and volume of shooters directional sound - making fighting back fun the new paradigm of the design, instead of keeping your head down. This whole being helpless shtick, because I'm not that kit with that loadout for this situation - it's getting old. In my kind of Battlefield, every kit is a different type of action flick hero. James Bond. Rambo. John McLane. Jesus. All-powerful and all-capable in all different ways.

Empower us - get away from this co-dependency by one-dimensional very limited kits and faux-realism by silly systems crap. Boring wanna-be mil-sim ain't what I'm playing Battlefield for.

I prefer the first one, it is the middle east after all. Gives a real hot feel to it. Wouldn't mods like that be like cheating. Like the ones that removed bloom and smoke from BC2

By the way, it's not going to happen. DICE sticks to its guns, and keep the current look of BF3 mandatory. No console command forthcoming after all.

Oh well.