Why do people like texture filtering in Doom?

[ClashmanTheThird]

It looks terrible.

Edit: Actually mean Texture Filtering, sorry, thought Antialiasing and Texture Filtering were the same thing.

[Coraline]

You mean antialiasing? Like texture filtering?

Care to explain why it looks so bad? You know, to fill this discussion with a valid argument..? ^_^

[HavoX]

It doesn't look good on sprites. 3D models, on the other hand...

[Linguica]

Do you mean texture filtering? Because I agree.

[june gloom]

Yeah I turn it off. Looks like mud otherwise.

I always felt like the lower-res a given art asset is, the uglier it looks with filtering.

I wonder if it's possible to turn it off in Half-Life? I haven't tried that in ages.

[eta] Looks like gl_texturemode GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST is the solution, but haha jesus it looks even worse without!

[Coraline]

Linguica said:

Do you mean texture filtering? Because I agree.

Yep!

Unless it's a fully 3D project (cough ;)), it will make sprites (especially DOOM and kin) look like dogshit.

[RUSH]

Texture filtering makes everything look like Doom without glasses on. All blurry and muddy and shitty and boring. Yuck! Never liked it.

[Avoozl]

Well the texture art wasn't made with it in mind so it's no wonder it looks like crap with it on.

[AD_79]

I'm not a fan of texture filtering, personally. I prefer my chunky pixels :)

[raymoohawk]

graf zahl is the only non-brutal doomer that likes it

[Li'l devil]

I don't play with texture filtering, however I play with HQ resize mode on textures (bit not sprites), because it makes textures look smoother. But I prefer pixelated sprites. While I'm on it, also got a couple of questions:

1) What the hell antialiasing does?

2) And what the hell anisotrophic filtering does?

[Doomkid]

I found it pretty strange in the IGN video where they play doom with Romero that all the sprites and textures were intensely blurry and that the player's walking animation didn't play right. I think I read somewhere that he was the one who picked the source port and settings for that video, actually. It would be funny if John himself preferred a setting that the majority of players dislike!

[june gloom]

Anti-aliasing smooths out the "jaggies" in an image. This is particularly noticable in any line that isn't a straight horizontal or vertical line.

It was a lot more important back in the old days.

Anisotropic filtering helps textures in video games to be viewed in more detail when they are viewed from an extreme angle (for example floors when you're looking straight ahead.)

[Li'l devil]

Well, I just don't notice any difference between anisotropic filtering off and maximum anisotropic filtering in GZDoom.. I don't even know why Doom needs it in the first place.

[VGA]

ChekaAgent said:

Well, I just don't notice any difference between anisotropic filtering off and maximum anisotropic filtering in GZDoom.. I don't even know why Doom needs it in the first place.

In MAP01 go in the room with the pillars where the zombiemen are on top of. Turn to look at the entrance to the room while being near the pillars, there is a roof flat texture with white lights at the top of the entrance. Go to the menu and change the anisotropic filtering settings while looking at that texture.

[Magnusblitz]

Count me in the "hates texture filtering" camp. Just makes everything look blurry. I want to enjoy my good eyesight while it lasts, damnit!

[SFoZ911]

dethtoll said:

Anti-aliasing smooths out the "jaggies" in an image. This is particularly noticable in any line that isn't a straight horizontal or vertical line.

It was a lot more important back in the old days.

Anisotropic filtering helps textures in video games to be viewed in more detail when they are viewed from an extreme angle (for example floors when you're looking straight ahead.)

Thanks for the explanation and the provided screenshots.

[gemini09]

My preference is the OpenGL-look.

[CreamCheese]

dethtoll said:

Yeah I turn it off. Looks like mud otherwise.

I always felt like the lower-res a given art asset is, the uglier it looks with filtering.

I wonder if it's possible to turn it off in Half-Life? I haven't tried that in ages.

[eta] Looks like gl_texturemode GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_NEAREST is the solution, but haha jesus it looks even worse without!

99% sure in software mode in HL its off

[jazzmaster9]

I always set GZDoom to filter only the sprites and textures that are in the distance.
I also turn of monster movement interpolation.

[fraggle]

gemini09 said:

My preference is the OpenGL-look.

You mean GL_LINEAR or GL_NEAREST?

[Linguica]

Here's an example of why anisotropic filtering is good to have in hardware Doom ports:



Look at how the lights in the ceiling of the hallway have totally vanished into a blur.

[vadrig4r]

Texture filtering is the most repugnant evil of our time.

[t3hPoundcake]

Everyone in here seems confused. Antialiasing is what makes rough edges of geometry look smoother and less "stair-steppy". Has nothing to do with texture filtering - that's anisotropy.

[fraggle]

t3hPoundcake said:

Everyone in here seems confused.

Literally nobody here except the original poster here is confused. Read the thread.

[roadworx]

god, i hate the texture filters. they look atrocious in DOOM.

[gemini09]

fraggle said:

You mean GL_LINEAR or GL_NEAREST?

No idea.

[wheresthebeef]

For Doom, I want every single pixel to have a hard edge, whether its a sprite or a texture.
When they are smoothed out, it becomes blurry and less crisp, making everything a bit more muddy, and things pop less.

[Urthar]

At high resolutions I tend to use Ansiotropic X4 and Nearest Mipmap, otherwise I don't use any, though I am now tempted to try antialiasing at a low resolution for giggles.

[Shadow Hog]

GL_NEAREST_MIPMAP_LINEAR, max anti-aliasing and anisotropy, no upscaling filters.

Settled on that for several years, now.