Eye strain

[Salchi]

Hi, I've found that after an hour of playing my eyes get sore and blood injected. I can play other games for hours, but this one destroys my sight. I'm currently playing with the UI scaled to 150, and using windows night mode, but it doesn't seem to help that much. I think it has to do with the low contrast between the items. Is there any tile set available that can be used? Thanks

EDIT: It seems that this is a sequelae of COVID, which results in eye muscle weakness and strain to focus my sight. It should correct itself.

[TropicalBubble]

I recommend going to an ophthalmologist. That would be a first priority in your case. Take care of your eyes man.

[Sebine]

You tried wearing glasses?

[jagholin]

might be because of the game being significantly darker during night cycle. I installed "afraid of the dark" mod just so I don't have trouble seeing whats happening in the game when its sunny outside.

[Salchi]

Yes, I wear glasses, never had problems with other games but this one (I'm a long time dwarf fortress player). I'll try the suggested mod, thanks.

[ShutEye_DK]

"blood injected". Uhm. Are you exaggerating or is this for real?
If for real: See a doctor. Now.

If not: I've seen a lot of LOUSY PC gaming setups;
People sitting in the dark, staring at a bright screen.

That is a sure way to bother your eyes.

Get some light set up behind your monitor. Something that lights up the walls, some indirect lightsources that wont shed light directly on your screen, but will make the room a little brighter. You need to "fool" your eyes to think that you are in a bright(-ish) environment.

Edit: You might have getting away with this in the past, but we all get older.

[brian_va]

Seem to remember there were settings for colorblindness, maybe that can help with the contrast problems.

[Salchi]

Originally posted by ShutEye_DK:

"blood injected". Uhm. Are you exaggerating or is this for real?
If for real: See a doctor. Now.

If not: I've seen a lot of LOUSY PC gaming setups;
People sitting in the dark, staring at a bright screen.

That is a sure way to bother your eyes.

Get some light set up behind your monitor. Something that lights up the walls, some indirect lightsources that wont shed light directly on your screen, but will make the room a little brighter. You need to "fool" your eyes to think that you are in a bright(-ish) environment.

Edit: You might have getting away with this in the past, but we all get older.

Regarding the "blood injected eyes", it's just my left eye, which is my dominant eye (I see better with that eye). After an hour or so of resting it gets back to normal. I've been to the ophthalmologist not a month ago and it's all good. Regarding the ligthning I learnt my lesson long ago and I play in a well ligth room at all times. I have four 60W lamps on the ceiling (yellow light, maybe white would be better though). Moreover, this is the room where I was working all day with zero problems during all 2020 and most of 2021, using the computer and reading.

In my last attempt I increased the saturation to the max setting, and with everything more colorful it seems it's not so bad. I'm also trying not to squint and focus too much on every small thing, which I think is what's straining my eyes. Thanks for the suggestions!

[Doom Sayer]

Originally posted by Salchi:

Originally posted by ShutEye_DK:

"blood injected". Uhm. Are you exaggerating or is this for real?
If for real: See a doctor. Now.

If not: I've seen a lot of LOUSY PC gaming setups;
People sitting in the dark, staring at a bright screen.

That is a sure way to bother your eyes.

Get some light set up behind your monitor. Something that lights up the walls, some indirect lightsources that wont shed light directly on your screen, but will make the room a little brighter. You need to "fool" your eyes to think that you are in a bright(-ish) environment.

Edit: You might have getting away with this in the past, but we all get older.

Regarding the "blood injected eyes", it's just my left eye, which is my dominant eye (I see better with that eye). After an hour or so of resting it gets back to normal. I've been to the ophthalmologist not a month ago and it's all good. Regarding the ligthning I learnt my lesson long ago and I play in a well ligth room at all times. I have four 60W lamps on the ceiling (yellow light, maybe white would be better though). Moreover, this is the room where I was working all day with zero problems during all 2020 and most of 2021, using the computer and reading.

In my last attempt I increased the saturation to the max setting, and with everything more colorful it seems it's not so bad. I'm also trying not to squint and focus too much on every small thing, which I think is what's straining my eyes. Thanks for the suggestions!

Thats some weird stuff most I get is slight what i would call tunnel vision from playing games too long.

[lethminite]

I find I seem to get a bit more eye strain from pixelated graphics (though i'm still a fan), and can end up with blood shot eyes if i've played all day, but I also think it might actually be from it's time vacuuming property rather than visual.
My guess is since you end up in 'the zone' for so long, you aren't blinking enough, or looking around from time to like, like you might when playing other games that don't have a habit of changing all the clocks to 3:00am without warning.
Maybe including the day/night cycle it's a bit of all 3.

[RiO]

Originally posted by lethminite:

My guess is since you end up in 'the zone' for so long, you aren't blinking enough, or looking around from time to like, like you might when playing other games that don't have a habit of changing all the clocks to 3:00am without warning.

👆 More than likely, it's this.
After every 40-50 minutes spent looking at a monitor, you should spend 5 minutes looking at a distance across the room or outside. The strain from constantly maximally accommodating the eye lenses for near vision is what leads to strain, which leads to irritation and minor inflammation. That's what those blood shot eyes are.

Factorio is one of those games to trigger this, because - as you mention: it tends to take you into 'the zone' for a good few hours in one go.

[Salchi]

I'm currently playing with a 40min alarm to take 5min of rest, we'll see how it goes.

[ShutEye_DK]

Originally posted by Salchi:

...
I've been to the ophthalmologist not a month ago and it's all good.
...

That's the most important part. Glad you did and all's good :)

[guts2501]

I would also recommended some blue light filter glasses, my glasses have a clip on filter for my prescription. I only use them when I plan to play for a good chunk of time and notice a difference when I do. Although straining to see small objects can still stress your eyes so breaks are always the best option.

[Biometrix]

By "blood injected" do you mean "Bloodshot?" because your eyes have blood in them already, they don't need injections.

[ShutEye_DK]

Originally posted by Biometrix:

By "blood injected" do you mean "Bloodshot?" because your eyes have blood in them already, they don't need injections.

When blood shows up in parts of your eyes, where it should not be. You'll know.