Can we get an option to update the colors to this century?

[Jonny Friggin Panic]

I'm joking... sort of.
A lot of areas are very monochromatic. What's been done is still great graphics, but the muted or nonexistent colors can be kind of grinding after a while. It'd be nice to be able to pull some of that good ol' 1930s Hollywood magic a la The Wizard of Oz and be able to switch it from "almost entirely black and white" to color. And maybe toss in some members of the Lollipop Guild and a cowardly Antlion. ;)

[Shard of Manus]

? The only areas like this are the Ancient Basin (and below) and Deepnest... and they're deliberately done that way.

[Omegatherion]

This is not a "happy" game by any means. The Kingdom of Hallow Nest is old and withered. Therefor colorful graphics wouldn't fit in the atmosphere this game wants to build up. I mean maybe there is some kind of mod out there but i think the chosen graphics style fits the overall atmosphere so much better

[Jonny Friggin Panic]

I don't disapprove of the color scheme, but while I can imagine playing this in the dark, on a big TV, with a friend to share the experience, and having a good ol' time, that's not how I'm playing it (on my own, in a brightly-lit space, on a smaller screen), and the dim lighting style of the game and muted colors get taxing after a while. That's the core of my point, I think. Even with the game's brightness turned up a good bit, I'm still squinting to differentiate things because of a lack of contrast and homogeneity of muted color schemes, and one missed bug can result in my getting juggled into multiple hits worth of damage... and then into spikes or death water surprisingly often.

[The Renderer]

I don't think I ever visually missed a bug (well, apart from those you are supposed to miss, like those little running bushes). Something seems off with your screen. Try fiddling around with your OS color settings or turning up the contrast and/or gamma of your screen/OS. Not just the brightness.

[Epic_Caesura]

The game absolutely pops on my laptop screen, and I've certainly never missed anything that was supposed to be visible. I think you need to look at your settings (or your hardware, I suppose).

[Jonny Friggin Panic]

What's odd about this exchange is that I'm not demanding the game be changed, I'm asking for an option. The issue isn't my system, it's the eye strain that the dark setting and muted colors cause when I'm playing in a brightly-lit area and on a smaller screen; brighter, more variegated colors would make things easier to see and identify.

Not a single person who has replied would be impacted in the slightest, and the result could prove interesting. As it is, someone else never missing a bug has no impact on my experience whatsoever (the game is filled with busy background ornamentation, destructible and destroyed debris, and foreground obstructions, and they're all almost monochromatic, along with the creatures), and the issue isn't a system flaw so much as a proposal concerning the game's palette choices to suit a different... not play style, but play environment.

I'd play in the dark and enjoy it... the game seems well-suited for that as-is... but PTSD and an overwhelmingly unreasonable fear of home invasion kind of precludes that.

[The Renderer]

We are only trying to help you out here. We are not the devs, we cannot do the changes you would like, so we are trying to give you options/ideas on how you might have a more enjoyable experience by changing what you actually can change. That's all.

If you really want to request this option from the devs you probably should contact them directly, I don't know if they even read these forums.

[Worswor]

You know... you can just increse the game brightnes, right?

[GeminiEclipse]

Options take developer time. Doing an entire artistic pass on everything just for an option is a lot of work.

[Epic_Caesura]

I'm not sure what you want us to say. We really only have two options:

1) Yes, I have that problem too. What you suggest would be great.
2) I don't have that problem.

It doesn't seem like anyone else has that issue. Do you want us to pretend that we have the problem when we don't, so the devs might think it's a widespread issue?

If you can't see in brightly lit area on a smaller screen, the obvious solution is a bigger and brighter screen, not for the game to change to accommodate your limited hardware. And recolouring whole stages is hardly a "flip a switch and it's done" kind of change.

[Q]

If you really wanted to, apply a ReShade to your game and increase the saturation.

[Jonny Friggin Panic]

It's quite interesting to note the reactions that boil down to "dude, you're Hollow Knight-ing wrong" when my post boils down to "dude, my needs are different than yours". I'm not demanding they accede to my request... that's why it's a request. Words are weird, huh? It's a suggestion. I would appreciate it if they considered doing it, that's all. I know a lot of folks would put this at the bottom of their priority list; I wouldn't. I'm saying as much. However, other suggestions I'd propose have already been well-covered.

On another note... The Hunter's got some OPINIONS, yo. Dude(ette?) is real judgy and political for a career apex predator!

[GeminiEclipse]

What do you expect? People to not respond on a forum? I think your suggestion is so completely unrealistic that it shouldn't even be suggested. Redoing the entire art of the game is a massive undertaking. It's not like they can just shift a few colors and call it a day.

The game has a style, and changing the color changes that style. It needs to be cohesive. Unless you're suggesting they put a half assed effort into an option which then doesn't look good on them as a company.

It's a waste of time.

[Onni]

Have you tried turning the light off or closing the window blinds.

[Minneyar]

Originally posted by Jonny Friggin Panic:

It's quite interesting to note the reactions that boil down to "dude, you're Hollow Knight-ing wrong" when my post boils down to "dude, my needs are different than yours".

Well, another perspective on that is that you're saying, "I want the developers to redo a ton of art assets and change the aesthetic of the game to suit my personal preferences," and the reactions are, "Dude, they're not going to do that." If you are having problems actually seeing the game, that's a technical issue and people might be able to help with it, but the muted color palette and limited visibility are aesthetic choices by the developers and aren't going to change.