Extreeme Visual Effects Near Death

[selfless]

(0.256) I think there were always visual distortions when health fell below 10%. But now there seems to be a new mix of blurring and lowered frame rate. From 9-8% its a good effect. Once one gets below 5%, no longer.

I'll try to explain what I see:

The frame rate keeps slowing down as you die and by 5% is already like 1 FPS.

The blur effect seems a constant composite frame of what you should currently be seeing in your field of view double-exposed with the eight previously rendered views.

Because the frames are rendering so far apart, the blur is now incorporating views that are 8 seconds old, but you can still move just as fast as when you could see clearly.

So you get images on the screen like two different windows overlaying a bed overlaying a bookcase and a fireplace, or some such, and you have to be conscious enough to figure out which one you are currently looking at by eliminating the information you already have seen.

Or hold perfectly still for ten seconds until all the images line up then take a guess on how much to move before freezing again and waiting for your head to clear once more. By 2% you are basically blind.

May be a great simulation of the death experience, but its hardly playable. Anyone who finds themselves needing to navigate to save themselves from a very near death is in for quite the challenge indeed.

[Fluffy]

Yes, but the problem isn't just one of navigation. Once below 5% condition, the effects look too much like the cut-scene transition effects, so you don't know if you're 'in-game' or not for a while.

I just died of blood loss because I thought I was still in the bear-attack cut scene (you know, the bit where you stand up again afterwards), and I was waiting for it to end! It didn't help that I was inside a fishing hut at the time and so couldn't actually see anything except for a blur of reddish brown, so didn't know whether I was standing up or not. By the time I realised that my condition was dropping, there was scarcely enough time to open the inventory and stop the blood loss.

(Slightly off-topic, but I like that bears can attack you in fishing huts now, if you've provoked them. I thought I was safe, but no I'm going to start to think before shooting now!).

[random calliope]

Yesterday, when starting a new game, I went to bed with hypothermia. I woke up at 5% still hypothermic and severely dehydrated. It took a few seconds with the blur and FPS to realize I had some control remaining. I made it through the door and started a fire outside, using the precious accelerant and melted .03 gallons of snow and drank it dirty with 1% health remaining. I made it back to bed and woke upmostly healthy. What an experience that was. I really like this effect and was sure I was a gonner.