DICE Reneges on Disabling Color Grading Issue in Next Battlefield 3 Patch

[Shawn Zipay]

A few days ago, it was revealed that DICE would be implementing a command line switch for Battlefield 3 that would allow players to safely disable the game's color grading. This came a bit after other solutions were discovered by the community that not only made the game look absolutely gorgeous and not washed out, but also resulted in a large number of server kicks being dished out for modifying game files.

Well, as it turns out, DICE has gone back on their stance and will not be including this feature in the next, or any, patch.

Mikael Kalms, an employee at DICE, made this official remark on the Mordor HQ forums

After discussing this further with my colleagues, we have decided to not implement this feature. This is the studio’s take on this matter, and I support this decision:

"As a studio, it is extremely important for us at DICE to have a unique identity in our games, not only from a gameplay perspective, but visually as well. While we appreciate that some players might want a slightly different look to the game, we are proud of the visual identity of Battlefield 3 and do not wish to change it."

If that isn't a huge kick to the pants, I don't know what is.

(via MordorHQ forums; special thanks to 5t3v0 for initially bringing this update to our attention)

[teetsaar123]

"we" count is too damn high. So, it might be possible that the next battlefield game has flying ponies and whatnot because they want that and they are proud of of their visual identity.

[Anarchy1]

Doesn't sound like he agrees, and I don't blame him. It's a terrible decision. Probably one of the moronic studio heads like Gustav stepped in and said no.

I'm glad that we are allowed to have the freedom to play the game as the studio heads intend.

[Stev0esque]

Yay! Partial Notability!

Though I am currently not playing BF3 it does disappoint me. Was hoping to officially play around with the colours when I got my new Gaming rig by early next year.

[Eagle101]

urgh wtf.

[CptainCrunch]

People liked the Alpha colors better and said so MANY times. Why wasnt that kept?

THOUSANDS of people using injectors to modify the coloring because they dont like it.

DICE also changed just about every single aspect of the game as far as health, weapons, vehicles, smoke, and IRNV scopes. The game is VERY different from first release. Constantly nerfing at the whim of a few players.

But, DICE has to draw the line somewhere, right?

[Eagle101]

Agreed, specifically as well on the nerfing of the IRNV scope, srsly man.

[K-16]

If the terrain looks too beautiful, it probably overglorifies modern-day war which is probably why they are sticking with this overall theme. I mean, it's unethical to do silly things like mass skydiving adventures, going joyriding with vehicles, improvising unique ways to use explosives, and putting too much color in the world. Battlefield 3 is a serious tactical shooter with a disheartening gritty theme about capturing checkpoints, destroying M-COM stations, and territorial control. Now do you all see why DICE embraces the color grading and can not allow us to vandalize the game and desensitize the environment/theme?

Go back to playing Battlefield 1943 if you want more rich color in your games. We all know WWII games don't use gritty themes. Oh you don't have a PS3/Xbox 360? Then play Battlefield: Bad Company 2. That's a cartoon shooter so rich color is okay there too. I mean the FRAGS commercial sums up the less serious theme in that game.

[spoiler= ]I'm going to see how many people think I was being remotely serious. I mean, I overused italics for crying out loud. Do I really need to do the clichéd </sarcasm> tag because it's too difficult to understand sarcasm through text?[/spoiler]

[Vreki]

I am not surprised, the community has been hating their "Artistic Vision" since before the game was released. Clearly someone powerful at DICE supports it.
Just another sign of how arrogant and self-sufficient they have grown over time.

I dont really se myself buying BF4, I am getting tired of their attitude.