Dropping Official HDR Support

[ROCKFISH Games]

Hey there, HDR pilots!

We know that HDR is not in a good spot, and it looks like we won’t be able to do much about it. First off, HDR in UE4 has never left the experimental state, as you can read here[docs.unrealengine.com] (the page was written for UE4 and has not been updated to UE5 yet). Unfortunately, we have little hope that it will ever be officially supported in UE4—upgrading the entire project to UE5 is out of the question since it may create more issues than it would solve.

HDR implementation was actually pretty straightforward, but there are not that many console variables that we can work with. The biggest challenge is that we’re using a lot of background blur for our UI, which seems to not work with HDR at all, unfortunately.

While there might be a solution by tweaking the source code of UE4, that would be a significant undertaking, and we simply wouldn’t have the resources; plus, we avoid leaving the vanilla version of Unreal at all costs because it would create dev hell for future updates.

We might still be able to make a few improvements, like disabling HDR in-menu, but if that won’t do the trick, we plan to patch out HDR from the official version because we won’t be able to support the feature properly.

However, if that happens, we’ll leave the option to tinker with it through an .ini command as some pilots are actually quite happy with the implementation when using DX11 (this might not be possible for pilots on Gamepass, which is running on a different version for platform-specific reasons).

/Michael

[WhiteCrow]

Sounds fair, and completely understandable. Don't fret, the game is absolutely gorgeous without it. Truly having a blast and thank you for communicating this!

[Kalil]

Thanks for leaving the option via ini file (please don't forget!)

I think you should revisit this one day or maybe for the next title. Space games (including this in DX11) look great in HDR.

[This PC]

You legends with HDR screens can probably use overlays like reshade to achieve better HDR than what the devs can do with the tools they have. ♥

[wololo]

That's fair, thank you for the thorough explanation.

To anyone else out there who isn't happy with the soon-to-be .ini option: if you really don't want to waste great space visuals on SDR and don't mind putting in some effort, I strongly recommend looking into Special K. It takes some tinkering but it can produce a great experience.

[TrafalgarLaw]

Very VERY disappointing. There are a multitude of Unreal Engine 4 games with good HDR implementation. At the very least you could have consulted others on how they managed to get a good HDR-implementation in their UE4-game and decided what to do next. It seems to me you as the developers just don't feel like putting in the work. That's okay, I won't put in the work to support your future projects either.

You can't hide behind "We're an indie dev" when you charge €50 for your game.

[Rudi Turbo]

in DX11 it works for me. Why should i use DX12? Are there any graphical differences?

[magnumaniac]

Originally posted by TrafalgarLaw:

Very VERY disappointing. There are a multitude of Unreal Engine 4 games with good HDR implementation. At the very least you could have consulted others on how they managed to get a good HDR-implementation in their UE4-game and decided what to do next. It seems to me you as the developers just don't feel like putting in the work. That's okay, I won't put in the work to support your future projects either.

You can't hide behind "We're an indie dev" when you charge €50 for your game.

Interesting take, considering your response to another post on this forum just under a week ago, quote "Can't believe how entitled some people are"

I guess you missed the part about HDR only ever being an experimental feature in UE4 - so it is up to the UE4 devs to, as you say, put in the work.

[Vault Traveler]

Its interesting that some features are literally held back by the engine itself.

Its sad and also kinda heartbreaking it took you so long to get this message out but well it is how it is. Glad those are rather minor set backs in an overall good development arc.

[Havoc]

So no more further optimizations happening then, aye? I mean just refactoring HDR support to work with how you designed your UI is a "huge undertaking" already. Very disappointing.

Hopefully, you can hire more people to optimize your next game more properly in the future.

[This PC]

I'd rather they put the work in their own code ie: the game, instead of refactoring someone else's code, which I can say, as a coder, is a fricking pain in the ass and takes a lot more time than writing your own.
Y'all have solutions to run HDR, like Special K, absolutely no need to shame the dev for it, that development time isn't lost, it's going towards future content instead.
This ain't a matter of optimization, optimization would be "more fps", not "more eyecandy that I can have with other means anyways". ;o
They might be charging 50$ for the game, but a majority of players are playing this on gamepass, or have bought the game on steam early for 20$.
Another thing I'm gonna say about this is that HDR implementation only benefits a minority of players, especially considering there is alternatives to run it. New content benefits everyone.

[TrafalgarLaw]

Originally posted by magnumaniac:

Originally posted by TrafalgarLaw:

Very VERY disappointing. There are a multitude of Unreal Engine 4 games with good HDR implementation. At the very least you could have consulted others on how they managed to get a good HDR-implementation in their UE4-game and decided what to do next. It seems to me you as the developers just don't feel like putting in the work. That's okay, I won't put in the work to support your future projects either.

You can't hide behind "We're an indie dev" when you charge €50 for your game.

Interesting take, considering your response to another post on this forum just under a week ago, quote "Can't believe how entitled some people are"

I guess you missed the part about HDR only ever being an experimental feature in UE4 - so it is up to the UE4 devs to, as you say, put in the work.

Because VR makes up maybe 1% of the playerbase, such a small and insignificant number. HDR however is a mainstay not only in console games and TV's, but also monitors and PC games now. A significant amount of PC gamers do have an HDR monitor now. Such as how support for higher resolutions became a standard by wide adoption, so did HDR.

To me it is incredibly disappointing that the developers do not even want to try for a solution. It is basically saying to go ♥♥♥♥ ourselves.

[Enderfleck]

Originally posted by TrafalgarLaw:

Originally posted by magnumaniac:

Interesting take, considering your response to another post on this forum just under a week ago, quote "Can't believe how entitled some people are"

I guess you missed the part about HDR only ever being an experimental feature in UE4 - so it is up to the UE4 devs to, as you say, put in the work.

Because VR makes up maybe 1% of the playerbase, such a small and insignificant number. HDR however is a mainstay not only in console games and TV's, but also monitors and PC games now. A significant amount of PC gamers do have an HDR monitor now. Such as how support for higher resolutions became a standard by wide adoption, so did HDR.

To me it is incredibly disappointing that the developers do not even want to try for a solution. It is basically saying to go ♥♥♥♥ ourselves.

"A significant amount of players" have a HDR monitor.. Only someone not knowing about HDR will say something like that lol. A "real" HDR monitor is so expensive, VR is cheap compared to it.
So what is 50€ for someone owning a HDR monitor? Nothing really.

[Noruas]

the dx11 HDR version is absolutely gorgeous and works perfect for me. if they remove it i will never purchase another title from them and probably will not continue/finish playing this title either as i have no desire to play it in sdr after enjoying it in hdr. i refuse to use 3rd party software like special k.

[Blue Cloud]

This comment is awaiting analysis by our automated content check system. It will be temporarily hidden until we verify that it does not contain harmful content (e.g. links to websites that attempt to steal information).

[Vault Traveler]

Originally posted by Noruas:

the dx11 HDR version is absolutely gorgeous and works perfect for me. if they remove it i will never purchase another title from them and probably will not continue/finish playing this title either as i have no desire to play it in sdr after enjoying it in hdr. i refuse to use 3rd party software like special k.

Thats kinda silly ngl.