Minimal Infestation looks really bad

JektJekt Join Date: 2012-02-05 Member: 143714Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
edited March 2013 in NS2 General Discussion
So since release, minimal infestation has looked like this.

nWokqEo.jpg

Streaks and barcode like infestation textures cover every surface. There's been a few threads about some servers that have had an infestation bug causing it to look like this.

47f141667347c2c3c72f576558855d.png

This is the greatest bug I've seen. It should be a feature.



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Comments

  • john_wesleyjohn_wesley Join Date: 2013-02-28 Member: 183445Members
    Bugs becoming features you say? Sounds exactly like uwe's design philosophy.
  • |strofix||strofix| Join Date: 2012-11-01 Member: 165453Members
    A lot of the textures and models also look quite bad on the lowest settings.
  • XariusXarius Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24630Members, Reinforced - Supporter
  • NeokenNeoken Bruges, Belgium Join Date: 2004-03-20 Member: 27447Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Playtester
    I'm not a fan of that bugged infestation, but I did like the original minimal infestation. It was still good at release, but got messed up later on.
  • TheriusTherius Join Date: 2009-03-06 Member: 66642Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
    That lawn-clippings-like infestation does look much better than having brightly colored patches, but only here and there (especially when they bug out like in OPs picture).

    Would that be easier on CPUs? Looks like it still covers most of the textures even though its lighter.
  • tarquinbbtarquinbb Join Date: 2012-11-03 Member: 166314Members
    edited March 2013
    yeah it's a big deal too.

    full infestation leaves huge bubbles that hide buildings, cysts, hydras or enemy players etc. also make it difficult to catch a wall-jump as the distance to wall is hidden.

    minimal infestation not only looks 'patchy', but it's totally unintuitive because it looks like you should be able to place building/mines when you actually can't.


    wouldn't it be nice if there was a 'middle ground' ?? keeps a little bit of the 3d effect, but not enough to cover cysts etc.
  • SidderSidder Join Date: 2012-12-23 Member: 176034Members
    The bugged one looks way better lol then what the current minimal gives usually .....
  • JektJekt Join Date: 2012-02-05 Member: 143714Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
    What game is that ? ?? ?
  • lwflwf Join Date: 2006-11-03 Member: 58311Members, Constellation
    Hey guys remember me
    Those were also incredibly glitchy.
  • ScardyBobScardyBob ScardyBob Join Date: 2009-11-25 Member: 69528Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    Minimal infestation means exactly that. Its likes turning the texture quality to low and complaining that the texture quality sucks.
  • RegnarebRegnareb Join Date: 2007-08-26 Member: 62008Members, NS2 Playtester
    lwf wrote: »
    Hey guys remember me
    Those were also incredibly glitchy.
    The glitchy ones are the ones we have now, not the ones that is in the screenshots, who looks awesome in comparison!
  • rantologyrantology Join Date: 2012-02-05 Member: 143750Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold
    edited March 2013
    I, too, hate the duct-tape strips on minimal infestation.

    It's particularly obnoxious when you have no idea where you can place your Hydras so that they grow themselves. :/
  • buhehebuhehe Join Date: 2012-05-15 Member: 152140Members
    tarquinbb wrote: »
    yeah it's a big deal too.

    full infestation leaves huge bubbles that hide buildings, cysts, hydras or enemy players etc. also make it difficult to catch a wall-jump as the distance to wall is hidden.

    minimal infestation not only looks 'patchy', but it's totally unintuitive because it looks like you should be able to place building/mines when you actually can't.


    wouldn't it be nice if there was a 'middle ground' ?? keeps a little bit of the 3d effect, but not enough to cover cysts etc.

    Yea, infestation completely covering stuff can be annoying.
    Once, in Mineshaft, our Cavern Hive was constantly being shot by an ARC but we couldn't find it... after some time, it turned out it was completely immersed in infestation :l

  • Arkahm719Arkahm719 Join Date: 2012-05-13 Member: 151988Members
    OP, that second one is my picture!! haha, I like the old minimal it actually looked like infestation, one of the biggest alien mechanic is infestation thats new to the game and they cant even make it work anymore.
  • lwflwf Join Date: 2006-11-03 Member: 58311Members, Constellation
    Regnareb wrote: »
    lwf wrote: »
    Hey guys remember me
    Those were also incredibly glitchy.
    The glitchy ones are the ones we have now, not the ones that is in the screenshots, who looks awesome in comparison!

    No, not at all. I'm saying that the old ones were glitchy as well. Your cherry picked screenshots looks mostly good but the old minimal infestation only did so occasionally, most of the time it looked horrible. Even in your screenshots there are several jarring transitions and stretched textures.
  • RegnarebRegnareb Join Date: 2007-08-26 Member: 62008Members, NS2 Playtester
    Yep, there was some problems, but those are already on the actual one and a LOT less noticeable, especially in movement (and it was not as many as that, and especially not as many as it is now).
  • ResRes Join Date: 2003-08-27 Member: 20245Members
    IMO, there should be no minimal infestation at all. Rich infestation should be on permanently with no option for it turning it down.
  • MisterYoonMisterYoon Join Date: 2012-08-18 Member: 155747Members
    Res wrote: »
    IMO, there should be no minimal infestation at all. Rich infestation should be on permanently with no option for it turning it down.
    As soon as performance gets far better. I'm looking forward to build 242, because most the public testers wrote about minimal/or even big like +20 fps performance increase.

  • aeroripperaeroripper Join Date: 2005-02-25 Member: 42471NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation
    Looking forward to infestation getting a few more passes before its final down the road. I still think the current bubbly implementation looks sort of middle of the road. Still gotta get those vines stretching across mature patches of infestation and all that good stuff, kind of like how the gorge tunnels look. Probably a lot more important stuff to do first before that fluff though :D
  • LagLightLagLight Join Date: 2012-03-31 Member: 149708Members
    Looks like the inside of my mower after I cut the lawn....
  • NeokenNeoken Bruges, Belgium Join Date: 2004-03-20 Member: 27447Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Playtester
    Chris0132 wrote: »
    Neoken wrote: »
    Res wrote: »
    IMO, there should be no minimal infestation at all. Rich infestation should be on permanently with no option for it turning it down.

    Why on earth would you force such a thing on players?

    Because full infestation causes noticeable difficulties in gameplay, the full infestation can significantly obstruct visibility, depending on the circumstance.

    It is like suggesting that low model quality should remove some of the level geometry to make it easier to see, and that there's nothing at all wrong with that state of affairs.

    Players should not be choosing between functionality and aesthetics. Either full infestation needs not to block visibility, or low infestation needs to start doing it, or there needs to be no option to switch between them.

    If one was to follow that logic you'd have to turn on shadows, ambient occlusion and atmospherics permanently as well. Because they too give a player some visual disadvantage. What said about resolution and FOV? What about the sneaky ones who turn up the brightness/gamma of their monitors?

    For most shooters, increasing the visual splendor will no doubt influence the visibility of the game in some part, not to mention the fps. That's just how it is. The options allow you to choose to play the game very casually and enjoy as much as the visuals as possible, or choose to play it very competitively and cut away all the pretty stuff. Or one can find a middle way.

    IMO, if one was to change something in this case, rich infestation needs to cut down a bit on the bubblyness, so it can still look good without obscuring too much.
  • Chris0132Chris0132 Join Date: 2009-07-25 Member: 68262Members
    Well, yes, actually, you do need to enforce shadow consistency between clients. Atmospherics are another problem too, they are significantly obstructive if you turn them on, and the FOV slider is... well some people feel ill with wide FOVs unfortunately so I see it more as a support feature for people who have a problem playing the game as you really should play it if you can.

    But, with regards to atmospherics and shadows, those are both actively addressed, a few patches back they cut the atmospheric intensity of flashlights because they were causing the exact same dichotomy, visibility for visual appeal. Shadows are also important to consider which is why mappers are (or should be) careful not to rely on shadows to make their lighting work. If lighting looks drastically different with shadows on and off, you need to redesign the room to change that, you cannot use shadows as a component of gameplay-affecting lighting because players have the option to turn them off.

    The problem is that you're suggesting that gameplay and visual appeal somehow should be opposite ends of a scale, rather than unfortunately so as a limit of the game developer's ability, which is a silly argument, what possible benefit is there to separating them if it is possible to not do so?
  • FlipperFlipper Join Date: 2012-08-08 Member: 155120Members
    Don't worry we have babblers and gorge tunnels.
  • ScardyBobScardyBob ScardyBob Join Date: 2009-11-25 Member: 69528Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    Olmy wrote: »
    Not really sure I follow your argument. The minimal infestation appears to be rendering incorrectly, this isn't subjective.
    Its a bug, but the point of minimal infestation is function over looks. Its like complaining that the low-quality textures look bad.

    I can sympathize that the patchy nature of the bug makes it difficult to know the extent of the infestation for hydra placement, but I've never had many problems with it in practice. There is almost always enough patchy infestation around for you to make a good guess how fair it extends.
  • tarquinbbtarquinbb Join Date: 2012-11-03 Member: 166314Members
    ScardyBob wrote: »
    Olmy wrote: »
    Not really sure I follow your argument. The minimal infestation appears to be rendering incorrectly, this isn't subjective.
    Its a bug, but the point of minimal infestation is function over looks. Its like complaining that the low-quality textures look bad.

    I can sympathize that the patchy nature of the bug makes it difficult to know the extent of the infestation for hydra placement, but I've never had many problems with it in practice. There is almost always enough patchy infestation around for you to make a good guess how fair it extends.

    for me the biggest annoyance (aside from looking glitchy) is mine placement... the mine is actually 'green' to denote valid placement, but then you try to place and it doesn't work. you literally have to spam the mouse button to find where the infestation actually ends.
  • ScardyBobScardyBob ScardyBob Join Date: 2009-11-25 Member: 69528Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    tarquinbb wrote: »
    for me the biggest annoyance (aside from looking glitchy) is mine placement... the mine is actually 'green' to denote valid placement, but then you try to place and it doesn't work. you literally have to spam the mouse button to find where the infestation actually ends.
    Certainly true, but its generally a bad idea to place mines so close to infestation. Its trivial for the alien comm to drop a 1TRes cyst to detonate 5-15PRes worth of mines. I only try to do it so I don't lose the mines before I die.
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