SweetFX on Planetside allowed by developers

Is there a way that you can allow certain Sweet FX to further improve the stunning visuals of the game, i feel that if you created a list of allowed modifications to the game players would feel more comfotable modifying the game from withing that list without having to worry about being banned. Also would be nice if such list included the sweet fx, any game is touches it turns it really pretty.

It would indeed be really nice if SOE greenlighted sweetfx, as it does in no way alter any game files, but simply adds postprocessing effects... in other Words, they have no reason to not allow it, but id be surprised if they do allow it.

Actually, i have yet to see SOE make an official response on this topic...

There are lots of official responses to this topic buried in the forums. The bottom line is SOE doesn't like people farting around with the rendering pipeline, post-processing or not. Period.

So we have ssao, motion blur, dof, hdr, heavy bloom/glare, dirt, god rays/light shafts and other graphical effects. What's left? Contrast, brightness and saturation ( gpu and monitor settings ). Why would you need more than that? It's possible to build custom shaders for sweetfx which could be used for cheating. Think about HS/NV ( for free + full render distance).

Its a slippery slope that no multiplayer dev ever wants to start. Post processing can be used in many way to actually hack a game, so to speak. For example modifying color values so that infiltrator cloaks are more easily seen, not an intended feature. Also can be used to enhance visibility in areas where they may want very little, like for instance changing the behavior of smoke and flashbangs.

Simply put it takes the control of how the game plays out from the devs and puts it into the hand of each and every individual player. It can make the game more enjoyable however it can be used to exploit mechanics and put them in favor of that individual. All multiplayer games have a ban clause that if you abuse/use a medium to get an unfair advantage over another player, it is bannable. Using post processing effects like color correction can lead to individuals being able to use it for personal gain that only enhance their own experience at the degradation of others. Being able to see a cloaked infiltrator farther because you use a post processing effect puts you in a position where the average player is not. Its not built into the game, and has no way of actually checking if its simply for eye candy or a pseudo hacking tool.

In sort, many multiplayer games will never allow you install 3rd party software or extension for the simple fact that it can and will be abused in ways the devs did not intend. It can throw off the balance of the game and destroy the direction the devs want to take the game in terms of the mechanics and limitations they coded in.

Also many wall hacks actually work through a post process effect by simply highlighting a silhouette that goes through all objects once it finds a player model rendering similar to the spot mechanic. "Post processing" is not a term that automatically means "non-abusive".

Padapong : the answer is ANTI ALIASING... the jaggies in ps2 are horrible, and smaa (which you get through sweetfx) greatly reduces the jaggies... and lumasharpen (which you also get through sweetfx) helps clearing the blur in the game... leaving you with a clean, crisp image.

Eyeklops : theyve responded, yes, but never given a proper answer... just alot of bs.

I dont understand why SOE dont just incoperate sweetfx into the game files... its a free program, and would take them less than a min to add it, and would make the game look a Whole lot better, at minimal performance costs.

What if the developers added SweetFx themselves with the only option given a yes or no box to activate it? I would be satisfied with that. They could perhaps looks the options file or modify SweetFx to a level where only they understand how the new Sweet FX works.

CrimsonSunBear : they could easily do that - the code is open source, and the ini file has On/Off options for all the effects... meaning they could just incorperate those options to the Graphics menu of the game, and not allow altering of the sweetfx ini files (in case they are paronoid someone wants to abuse it).

Get real people, this is SOE we are talking about.

Yes, its SOE we are talking about... and we know for a fact that at least Highby uses sweetfx, but its been mentioned that a number of SOE employees uses sweetfx, while playing planetside 2... so why shouldnt we be allowed to? There are several options available to SOE, which lets people use sweetfx, without it possing a security risk.

I've seen people use it, and post about it, without issues. I haven't used it myself, and wont until its officially cleared, I'd rather not take chances.

But I know they probably aren't going to say its clear, even if it is.

Kirdra : Youre right about that - it probably is clear, but they wont say so, because they still want people to fear the ban hammer...

Its just really really lame, cause it fixes alot of the visual shortcomings of this game, and as previously said, they could easily greenlight or even incorperate it into the game.

Of course it does not alter any game files - because it alters memory content directly. It may be used and will be used to cheat (or is used to cheat already - i.e. to gain unfair advantage - by removing indar sandstorms, esamir fog, etc.).

Which is why SOE should simply add sweetfx directly into their game files, and not allow altering of the files, and instead having the options ingame to turn on/off the various sweetfx effects... would eliminate any cheating possibilities, and would give us the nice looking pixelz.

This.

Lordmondando : ill qoute my previous post "Which is why SOE should simply add sweetfx directly into their game files, and not allow altering of the files, and instead having the options ingame to turn on/off the various sweetfx effects... would eliminate any cheating possibilities, and would give us the nice looking pixelz. "

1) From a legal standpoint that's not even close to easy. Its free but privately owned piece of software.
2) Thats also a pretty big re-write of the render engine.

So its going to be a no, on cost and manhours.

Just need to let this one lie, not going to happen.

Until then - it is a bannable offense. You can use it on your own risk, and anyone using it will be banned eventually.

LordMondando : Its very true, that its a piece of privately owned software, but the owner (ceejay) has allowed everyone who wishes to use it, to do so... so if they simply clear it with him, then it would be zero problem.

How would it be a rewrite of the render engine? The point is that its not a part of the render engine, but simply a series of shaders, which runs on top of the game, and adds postprocessing effects. Thats why you can simply copy paste the shaders into your game folder, and it Works asap... aka nothing would need to be rewritten, except for the Graphics menu.

The official response was that SweetFX wasn't allowed, it's been some time ago tho so I can't easily dig up the source for you sadly.
Maybe they've retracted it but I highly doubt it.