Why do game characters glow in the dark?

News & General Discussion
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I’ve seen this a bunch of times, mainly in Fable games. The second you walk into a dark area of a game, you start emitting a yellowish glow, lighting up stuff around you.

Obviously this is done to allow the player to see stuff, but it can’t just be that. Because who ever just starts glowing, and doesn’t even question it. If it was just a lighting trick to make visibility for the player easier, and had absolutely no relevance to anything else, why do games do it instead of using something else like the player taking out a light source (torch, lantern, etc.).

Does anyone have any knowledge about this?

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It’s pure UI design. It’s just so the player can see where the character is and what they are doing.

Have you ever tried playing a game where you can’t see the game?

Remember, the goal isn’t to simulate real life, it never has been and never will be. The goal is to provide the player with an awesome experience.

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Because it’s easier than simulating character’s eyes adjusting to the dark, duh.

You’ve made some pretty dumb question threads lately. Like the one about strafing.

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Game mechanic so that even in the darkest of places, you can at least see what your character is doing. Same thing has existed in all Souls games.

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Eye Adaptation is actually a pretty simple image effect.

And there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers. To add to that, I really don’t see how my post about strafing could be seen as “stupid”. Strafing isn’t a thing you see as much in real life, so I was curious why is happens so much in games.

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It is just that.

There’s no reason for your character to glow automatically, especially across multiple engines. If it glows, it is a design decision.

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Everyone is strafing at all times, we do not ever walk directly forward. In military training exercises, you’re taught various movements which will involve strafing. Nearly all martial arts including boxing have strafing as the default move. It’s like you took the previous thread, ignored every single answer and now you’ll do the same in this one.

To answer you, fable glows in the dark. Not many games glow the character in the dark. Some don’t at all. It’s purely a choice per game.

I notice you compare with reality. Perhaps it is easier to compare marvel films? These films break reality rules. Everyone can strafe and be a crack shot. Iron man’s armour is deliberately broken rendering so it shows up at night. Hulk isn’t even there. Sounds a lot like games and entertain similar audiences.

I guess there are no dumb questions, this is true. But you can assume all answers are dumb.

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Not for Microsoft, it seems.

You don’t see much adventuring, shooting or dying in real life either. Also in real life your field of vision isn’t limited by a rectangle.

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But what is the main thrust of these threads? is it to break down the nature of games and question everything? If so then nintendo is going to give you a different answer to Sony. Everyone is an inventor in game development.

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I never saw said thread, but I find this rude. Perhaps @Denisowater is just thinking out loud, everybody??

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When I say strafing, I mean walking completely sideways (and not at all forward), rather than just not moving perfectly forward. I think that’s the main confusion people had in that thread.

And I don’t mean it as movement in general, just in walking. Like if you were standing in a park, and just started walking completely horizontally.

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I’m just generally curious about basic and common game elements that I see a lot.

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It happens all the time, just pay attention.

in real life people are not battle tanks and are not floating cameras with capsule collider attached attached to it. Your head, torso, hip, legs and feet can rotate in relation to each other, so you can walk in almost opposite of your view direction.

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Ok I’ll give you a chance to define it clearly, then.

Relative to what?

Is there that much demand for ultra realistic park walking simulator? Just imagine your legs not pointing in the same direction as your head and torso or something.

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I know you can, but you wouldn’t just see people side stepping on the sidewalk (quite an ironic name) all the way to the bus stop (as you can in games). People usually move parallel to the path they’re walking on.

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I’m just making comments to explain what I meant, and you seem to be taking them as me saying that games need to be more realistic or something.

I’m not saying there’s a demand for anything, or that strafing in games is a bad thing, I’m just making an observation that it’s not very realistic (which is true).

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Answer my question. Sideways relative to what?

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GTA V offers a good observation: the root motion character turns and runs left, but the head looks right. This is strafing if you cannot see the body, but just a man running forward and looking right if you can see the body.

Strafing isn’t really moving sideways in some games. It’s running forward to the side while still looking at a target. This probably is one way for you to explain some decisions.

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You would. Pay attention. Let’s say you stand minding your own business and then see few people carrying something heavy. You’re in the way. Rather than doing the whole “turn left 90 degrees, take one step, turn right 90 degrees”, you’l ltake one step to the side.

Also, honestly… goalkeepers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qumIgBpm2u4

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Relative to your body’s movements and the world around you. Your right arm is at your side, so if you put your right leg outward in your arm’s direction, you are moving it sideways.