Pictures speak better than words so there you go bud, as requested. All the pictures were taken with r_gamma 1.6.
First is ATCSR:
This is regular ATCS (exact same settings):
Easy pick for me: Regular ATCS. Fancy shadows do not make a map where you can’t see shit better. :L
Shadowing looks good outside but indoors it obscures your vision too much. People will just end up /r_gamma 2.0, hiding the shadows whilst also burning away their eyeballs.
DON’T DO THAT
It oversaturates shit so hard it literally makes your monitor contract ebola and explode in a diarrhea of coloured pixels.
For reference, this is UTCSUD with the same gamma as I used for that screencap above:
And UTCSUD is a pretty dark map to begin with.
Actually all those screenshots show the map same as they are rendered on my machine and i like this. Atcs vanilla for example has a terrible lighting. There are nearly no shadows and it looks like its not compiled with light settings. What we can do is: reduce the shadows in corners like the cubbies. I think its too dark there. Also when you play with max gamma then its your fault that maps look like shit. Isnt this obvious?
I recall this kind of issue some years ago. Problem was my Display.
When the majority of maps look fine with r_gamma people don’t give a shit about turning it down just for one. Plus there is a version that actually plays better because it is easier to see. Hence the /callvote atcs spam happening.
Problem is ambient light is a major factor of whether you live or not in a lot of situations. This is painful for a lot of players. Also as of now aliens can’t hide in the shadows so it’s really aesthetics vs gameplay, and nearly everyone who plays trem will lean towards gameplay.
A good part of the reasons why tremulous is still alive is because quite a few players can’t run more modern games aswell. You can’t really blame them for having shit computers unable to run your atcs2015 map, since they are most likely why tremulous is still alive to this day.
The above points would make me favor adapting maps to the community, rather than the community adapting to maps.
Most of the maps dont look good with max gamma. They are made around a fixed gamma setting. Ppl do that to get an unfair advantage.
That is true. But most of the maps don’t need anywhere as high a gamma value as ATCSR to be playable, and even then the shadows wouldn’t look oversaturated.
Also not to sound rude or anything, but there is a difference between ‘‘don’t look good’’ and ''oversaturated diarrhea of pixels". :L
I alrdy said that some part need more light but that has nothing to do with performance. Its more that a small group here tries to force everyone to play crappy content because their are too stingy to invest in a better pc and im not talking about something awesome. just a minimum to reach tremulous standard setting.
If people invested in a better computer they probably couldn’t be fucked playing a 2006 Q3 engine game.
My computer is fine. I run most modern games at very good FPS rates. I am just trying to help. It is your maps that people are skipping, not mine. I gain nothing from helping you. This is all in your interest.
You know thats no offence but this is going nowhere when you guys dont draw a line and say: u need this to play and if you are below this u have to make sacrifices. Its just a fact. If you cant do that you probly ar enot going anywhere. But thats my thoughts. Use them or ignore.
I am pointing out why your maps are getting skipped by so many people. You should try to work with those elements rather than just telling me I’m just crying because I get bad performances on your maps. The performances themselves aren’t the issue for a lot of players and they can deal with low fps, the visibility however is an issue.
Sorry but im not crying. As u might following other map threads by me it shows that you are not right about this. But i cant do anything else then telling you. If you want better looking maps then you have to pay a price. But whatever. Do what you want right? 
Its your project.
I didn’t say you were crying. I was saying you’re telling me I am crying. Anyway that’s besides the point.
Let’s leave performance issues out of this for a minute. Another major reason why ATCS_2015 gets skipped is because of the map’s visibility. It is lit up just fine for instance, but the textures are too colourful and distract people’s eyes. Enemies end up blending in with the background somehow, even if they are clearly not the same colour. Gameplay gets affected, and since people lean towards gameplay rather than aesthetics, normal atcs gets called.
I am all for good aesthetics on a map as long as the gameplay isn’t affected. It can be done in many, many ways. Making atcs darker/giving it fancier shadows (even though they look good, don’t get me wrong) isn’t going to make people play this version more than the original.
A very good example is atcs_onice.
Yea but i see no problem with this. If ppl want atcs because they like it abit more whats the problem with that?
???
cleanser
frax_b2r4
methane-beta1
parpax
mancannon_b4
mercy_b2 (although it’s a bit too bright)
narrow_edge
spacetracks-r1
specula_b4
station15-r1
thanatos_b3
utcsud
veddak-final
wrecktify_b2
ALL of these look good, and NONE of them make me have bad FPS, make me change my gamma settings, or take a fine map and make it worse.
The problem is that every time you make a shitty new atcs remake, Sparky has an orgasm and throws it on the rotation without even asking anybody if they prefer it.
Well then tell him to stop. Really not my problem (lol)
Close to my point. We should be bringing new gameplay experiences to the players, and work on replacing atcs rather than recycle it over and over and over and OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER.
Edit: AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER
PS: AND OVER AND OVER
PS2: AND OVER.
PS3: OVARIES.
I understand.
Lets quit this by saying bye.
Was a nice intermezzo.
Keep
calm
and
play
trem
r_lightmap 1
gamma problem solved
I seriously don’t see much point. It could do for movies because it has a gloom-like atmosphere in a way:
