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TheWaxwingSlain's avatar
TheWaxwingSlain
12 years ago
Solved

Looks like grainy film

I've noticed that all of Need for Speed Rivals looks like a movie that was shot on grainy film, as if there was some kind of gauze over the lens of the camera.  One thing that every Criterion racing game has ever had is a very good sense of light and space.  During the daylight period, when the sun was high, everything was clear and "real" looking.  That is not the case in this game, where it always seems to be hazy.  The best thing about NFS Most Wanted and Hot Pursuit and even Burnout Paradise was the light and the way you could see into the distance.  Now, maybe in an effort to make it look like a movie, they've taken that away.

Does anyone know if there is a graphics setting that can fix this?  I've tried turning off ambient occlusion, but that didn't do it.  There doesn't seem to be very many graphics options on the menu.  

I love the way dust seems to kick up when driving on dirt, and the graphics of the game are artfully done, but I'd really like it to not have "film grain".  Any

ideas?

I am on PC, with a decent video card (Radeon HD 7870). 

  • Bob422's avatar
    Bob422
    12 years ago

    You didn't mention what platform you're on, but if it's PC alot of it is caused by the 30fps cap. Everything would be sharper and more clear at 60fps. If you want to see it for yourself, force Most Wanted 2012 to 30fps and see how ugly it gets. The other part is the Frostbite 3 engine. It just has a grittier look to it than the Chameleon engine Criterion used. The Run looked similar to Rivals and it ran on the Frostbite 2 engine.

5 Replies

  • Bob422's avatar
    Bob422
    12 years ago

    You didn't mention what platform you're on, but if it's PC alot of it is caused by the 30fps cap. Everything would be sharper and more clear at 60fps. If you want to see it for yourself, force Most Wanted 2012 to 30fps and see how ugly it gets. The other part is the Frostbite 3 engine. It just has a grittier look to it than the Chameleon engine Criterion used. The Run looked similar to Rivals and it ran on the Frostbite 2 engine.

  • HansShadowspawn's avatar
    HansShadowspawn
    12 years ago

    Turning off motion blur helped for me (on PC) and kicking everything up to Ultra exceeded graphics on PS4

  • TheWaxwingSlain's avatar
    TheWaxwingSlain
    12 years ago

    You're right, I'm on PC, and the 30fps is almost certainly the problem.  I just went and changed Most Wanted to 30fps and got very near the same effect.  I don't like it.

    And I'm pretty sure my graphics card could handle 60fps.  Any idea why they're capping at 30fps?  Does it have something to do with cross-platform multiplayer and trying to keep PC players framerates consistent with the less-capable Playstation 4's and Xbones?  And thank you for your reply.

  • psychic717's avatar
    psychic717
    12 years ago
    @TheWaxwingSlain wrote:

    You're right, I'm on PC, and the 30fps is almost certainly the problem.  I just went and changed Most Wanted to 30fps and got very near the same effect.  I don't like it.

    And I'm pretty sure my graphics card could handle 60fps.  Any idea why they're capping at 30fps?  Does it have something to do with cross-platform multiplayer and trying to keep PC players framerates consistent with the less-capable Playstation 4's and Xbones?  And thank you for your reply.

    They just don't care about PC...

    The engine is already optimized but they still can't make the game work like it should on PC.

    I also think that the "grainy film" is caused because of FXAA.

    I wish I could turn that off, it makes the game blurry...

    Devs should add more graphics options like different Antialiasing settings, this is PC after all.

  • 2291wlbjlk5o's avatar
    2291wlbjlk5o
    2 years ago

    I completely share your sentiments regarding the visual aesthetics of Need for Speed Rivals. The grainy film effect does create a unique atmosphere, but it seems to compromise the clarity and realism that were characteristic of previous Criterion racing games.

    I couldn't agree more about the importance of a good sense of light and space in racing games. It's interesting to observe how NFS Most Wanted, Hot Pursuit, and Burnout Paradise excelled in portraying daylight periods with clear visibility and a vivid sense of distance. The decision to introduce a constant haze in NFS Rivals does alter the overall experience, and I understand your concerns.

    Interestingly, your observation about the game's attempt to emulate a movie-like atmosphere resonates with the visual choices in another context – the "loklok for android" app. In both cases, there's an evident effort to create a distinctive visual style. However, it's crucial to strike a balance between cinematic aesthetics and the gameplay experience. Much like in NFS Rivals, the challenge lies in maintaining the essence of what made previous iterations enjoyable, especially in terms of lighting and visibility.

    If the developers of NFS Rivals took inspiration from the loklok app or similar visual styles, it might be worth exploring how user feedback could influence future updates. Perhaps a community-driven discussion on platforms like forums or social media could provide valuable insights into the preferences of the player base.

    Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts on this and any potential improvements you'd like to see in future updates.

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