OnionKnight on 25/11/2006 at 05:40
I'm really picky about the gamma while playing Thief, I get a feeling of guilt if it's too bright since it feels like I'm cheating.
I'm not gonna bother post my settings or screenshots because it varies with whatever screen you're using so what I see will probably not be what you see. When I switched from a CRT screen to a TFT I had some problems adjusting my brightness. This TFT screen was overall darker and would only allow me to see the center of my eye focus, which is fine with me because to my experience it works like that in darkness in reality too, but it has given me a hard time to adjust to it.
Take Thief 3 for example, when you set your gamma (without starting a game) you get a test screen where you see Garrett up against a wall in the dark to compare to. Now if I set it so that Garrett becomes invisible I can't see anything at all in general, and if I set the gamma so that the surrounding nocturnal environment becomes more natural and playable (so I can actually see something) I'm bothered because I can clearly see Garrett when he's in absolute darkness, as well as other things.
Thief and Thief 2 has similar problems.
So I wonder, how are you guys playing it? How much visibility do you have?
The inscrutable po on 25/11/2006 at 06:08
Sounds like you're playing T3. I don't. However, when I play T2 fan missions I often lower the brightness ingame using the plus and minus keys. A little while later I raise the brightness levels because it's no fun not being able to see a hole in the ground when it's right in front of you. Eventually I settle on something. Garrett has eyes like a cat compared to the guards. The brightness levels I use... I'm sure that's how it looks to him. Why would I want to play with inferior guardvision?
Aja on 25/11/2006 at 06:29
TFTs (other than, apparently, the highest-quality, ultra-expensive models) suck for Thief. The contrast ratios are simply not high enough to show the difference between somewhat dark and completely dark. I've avoided an LCD for years because of this.
Right now I'm using a CRT; for Thief, I set the monitor's brightness extremely low - low enough that a pitch-black screen emits no light (the monitor looks like it's shut off), and then I adjust the gamma in-game until it's playable. The colours and contrast are so much richer this way.
The inscrutable po on 25/11/2006 at 06:43
I too am of the CRT users.
Thief has made me so.
Darkelf on 25/11/2006 at 08:42
Reading this thread has convinced me to not buy an LCD for my thieving. Thank you so very much... ;)
The amount of brightness (actually we should name it darkness) is too important in such a game. I too had that issue in Thief 3 where I used the test screen for calibration and later on in the game the levels were too dark, I couln't see a whole lot. It made me the worst thief in history.:erg:
I tend to stick it where I can just barely see the outlines of Garrett when he is in complete shadow. And I use his Eye to explore my surroundings.
In Thief and Thief 2 its a matter of not exactly playing in the darkest levels but just up a notch to be able to recognize the different shades of darkness. Too bright kills the effect and gives the visuals a grey washed out effect.
The inscrutable po on 25/11/2006 at 15:24
I use a 19 inch p95f+. Viewsonic (The brand with the parrots in the top left corner)
It's the only monitor I could find with real black. Everything in Best Buy gets gray at the most. I returned two or three other monitors because of this. Even the CRT's in Best Buy and Circuit City show gray when they should be showing black. The p95f+ is more expensive than a cheap CRT, but it's a lot less than that thin screened stuff. It's only downfall is it's huge size and weight. Must be twenty inches deep. The first one I bought, I could barely get it in my car. The second one I had delivered by UPS. Web pages and jpgs look a lot better too.
R Soul on 25/11/2006 at 18:37
If I'm playing a puzzle-based mission I'm not very bright at all
Aja on 26/11/2006 at 02:41
Quote Posted by The inscrutable po
Even the CRT's in Best Buy and Circuit City show gray when they should be showing black.
My Samsung CRT had the same problem. I posted about it here, and was advised to try adjusting the internal controls. It's a bit dangerous removing the case (if you puncture the tube, it'll implode), but the result is a monitor that can display perfect black levels.
I think CRT manufacturers want the brightness level of their monitors to be comparable to LCDs, so they deliberately set them extremely bright from the factory.
Martin Karne on 27/11/2006 at 01:19
You can't puncture the tube, you might break it in its weakest link, the neck, you might get to crack it with a very good blow, but you just need to set the "screen" potentiometer down a few millimeters (which is located in the flyback transformer, as a precaution you should have it unplugged and wait about 30 minutes before doing this*), if you can't crack it with the front panel controls.
*And avoid touching the big round rubber with that long wire a top of the CRT with your hands or a tool, penalty a small shock (non lethal however).
Those 30 minutes of wait time will permit sufficient discharge of some 311~155V DC from the main power supply and some other high voltage areas.
Aja on 27/11/2006 at 03:28
Oh right, I forgot to mention the risk of electrocution.
Watch out for that, too.
I left mine unplugged overnight before I attempted anything.
