Tyler and I have been experimenting with bloom and iris adjustment. HDR does make a small difference, but it's not really an effect in and of itself. It's just a buffer format, and it can preserve the bloom color better so it doesn't wash out to pure white. Basically, I wanted really dark shadows for outdoor areas, and really bright sky coming in windows. I think this is that indistinguishable quality that makes Crysis and Far Cry 2 look real.






This is pretty interesting stuff: