Hmm its looking a but dark the map

[Nats]

Cant help thinking that the map is looking a bit dark - whats wrong with nice greenish fields rather than mucky green they have presently got? :

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=hearts of iron 2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjH7N2V3-DKAhXKHxoKHUiTC_gQ_AUIBygB&biw=1760&bih=853#q=hearts of iron 4&tbm=isch&tbs=isz:lt,islt:2mp&imgrc=vhtWP5Ne9LKOyM:

The winter graphics look very good but its the summer ones that look too moody and dark:

http://www.dsogaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/lwpxalq.jpg

I know its all alpha and all but my experience with HOI3 was that they didn't change the graphics much to release. And that game looked really bad without my mods to help it out, really dark fog of war etc:

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/nats-mini-mods.643065/

The present HOI4 screens look so mucky-greenish that you cant even see the soldier sprites and the tanks very well (yes I know they are camouflaged before anyone says it!).

Hope they address this by lightening up the whole map. Could do with a nice pleasant game map to look at. I know its war and all but we dont need to play a game on 'dark satanic hills'.

Something looking like this would be good:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=hearts of iron 2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjH7N2V3-DKAhXKHxoKHUiTC_gQ_AUIBygB&biw=1760&bih=853#tbs=isz:lt,islt:2mp&tbm=isch&q=ww2 computer wargame &imgrc=iz5gmoPWTs8nvM:

...well maybe not that bright, its just but at the moment its all looking just a bit too dark during supposed daytime.

 

[zalk12]

Personally I don't mind that it's dark because it makes it look a lot cooler In my opinion

 

[Cheesecakeczar]

Grass was actually darker during WW2 and every day was overcast and gloomy.

 

[Nats]

Grass was actually darker during WW2 and every day was overcast and gloomy.

Well I understand that having the map super cheerful and bright green would not be appropriate but I think somehow the sprites need to stand out more and I wouldnt like to see a glow around them or anything so either they have to get lighter or the map does. Because at the moment you cant see them.

My eyes are not bad either, but they also need to be considering people with poor eyesight as well (disability design and all that). Its something games programmers need to consider now that we have lots of older people playing games - and its only going to get more important. I mean I am nearly 50 and I wont be stopping playing games when I am 60/70. But my eyes will not be great by then no doubt.

It didnt matter so much with HOI2 and 3 because everybody played on the map mode with ownership colours anyway so all the troops stood out. But in this game if we are expected to play on the terrain mode map generallysomething is going to have to be done. Because at the moment the only way you can see the units is from their shadows (and icons when zoomed out):

http://www.dealspwn.com/writer/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/hearts_of_iron_4_20140808_04.png

Just lightening up the whole map a touch would improve matters probably.

 

[grandad1982]

I too would prefer a slightly lighter colour green. Pretty sure there will be plenty of mods for this type of thing or I might even work or how to do it myself!

 

[Sir Garnet]

There are games were making things hard to see on screen is part of the game, especially on the first person and lowest tactical levels. I expect Paradox does not intend to do so and has taken into account the impact on people with visual impairment of various kinds and availability of adjustments of particular settings to sharpen unit and terrain identification.

From a feel point of view, having the map be a helicopter or orbital view of the terrain looks nice, and the night and day, but I would want to be able to have the units all stand out. And consider that the political and military leaders we play used maps drawn to be informative for military purposes, and markings or markers used on them were intended to be clear and readily recognizable.

 

[Adonnus]

Your example is way too bright for me, I like it moody and dark. The Hoi3 map was far too bright for me actually. Very pale and pasty. Yeuch!

 

[Nats]

I didnt like the really dark Fog Of War in HOI3 and yes the map was flat, indistinct and lacked interesting features. HOI4's 3d map will be much better I am sure. But a bit of contrast between map and units would be helpful. At the moment the ground doesn't look like grass fields, more like ... I dunno - dark green Spinach or something !

Green fields were still green fields even during WW2. But I would love to see the impact of fighting on the terrain - for example provinces subjected to fighting showing burning cities, blackened trees, etc - that could look great.

And again the sand even looks a bit too dark, I think, it doesn't look much like a desert to me:

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

I suppose it could be due to the lighting of the moving sun - this image does look like it could be early morning from the long shadows. I will have to watch WWW today to see what the terrain looks like in full sun, see how easy it is to see the units.

 

[Retkiapina]

Have there been any screen shots of option menus yet? Perhaps there will be a gamma correction slider in the graphics menu. A simple setting like that should help quite a bit with variety in lighting conditions, monitor types, eyesight and personal preferences.

 

[Centurion1973]

Looks good to me.