Dark teachings

Filters: sharpen.

Glowy fruit

Filters: none.

In the shade

Filters: none.


Filters: sharpen.


Filters: sharpen.


Filters: sharpen.

City sights

Filters: sharpen.


Filters: sharpen.


Filters: none.


Filters: sharpen.

Echoes of doom

It seems that not only does the new World of Warcraft patch add soft shadows to nearly everything in the game world, but it also slightly adjust the brightness levels of the entire game, which produces higher contrast. This is exactly the effect I have been applying to some of the images using Photoshop, and it's cool to see games doing this in real-time now (I've seen other examples as well). This also means that I won't have to apply these filter effects anymore, but since I still have unpublished screenshots, such images will appear for a while longer.

However, the increased view distance is one feature I won't always be using. Many landscapes in World of Warcraft do not benefit from it, as they were not built for it. Blizzard adapted the scenery for short view distances, placing set pieces at regular intervals so that there is always something interesting happening in front of you. If you're able to see further, you'll loose the suprise effect of what's around the next corner and unnecessarily clutter your view with all of the set pieces in the landscape. Removing the fog also removes some of the atmosphere of a location, and in some cases also removes the sense of depth and scale.

Hot in here

Filters: unsharp mask, sharpen.


Filters: none.


Filters: none.

Crystals and creepy crawlies

Filters: unsharp mask, sharpen.

Shrooms

Filters: sharpen.

Way down low underground

Filters: none.


Filters: unsharp mask, sharpen.

Almost Escher

Filters: none.


Filters: sharpen.

Warm and fuzzy inside

Filters: none.

Along a forest road

Filters: sharpen.


Filters: none.


Filters: unsharp mask.


Filters: sharpen.


Filters: sharpen.

Mundane areas

Just like the old Ultima games from Origin Systems, you will find interesting places around every corner in World of Warcraft, whether you like the art direction or not. Every stone and tree seems to be placed with an afterthought. I've found no other MMORPG with this amount of detail and most importantly of all, with an absolute consistent level of quality. No area looks unfinished or uninspiring. And yes, that includes Mulgore.