Bullshot - Definition

What exactly defines a bullshot? I've seen a lot of nice images posted only to be dismissed as bullshots. Most of the time, it's images from console games although I'm sure there are PC ones as well. Can someone define bullshot and in bullet format show what do's and don't's should be done in order for an image not to be labeled as one.

a pic thats been enhanced using photoshop to remove jaggies.

a pic thats been enhanced using photoshop to remove jaggies.

dog_dirt

Hmmmm. I guess that's one. I've also seen some images dismissed because they were resized. I've read through a lot of these graphic comparison threads and pretty much lost track of what a bullshot really is.

resolution, AA, blur, etc. are all far beyond the actual capabilities of the hardware

re: all GT5 screenshots ever posted

Basically, any image that is not a direct capture of a frame while the game is running. There are a few major offenders here:

- Rendering a frame at much higher resolution than what is possible when it runs in real time, and then scaling that image down. This has the effect of SSAA (Super Sampling Anti Aliasing) and is one of the best, if not the best method for removing jaggies;

- Artificially boosting image quality settings for a screen capture (this I have seen in PC games, but theoretically it is possible on consoles too). When you press Print Screen, the game may improve some visuals for the single frame it has to export. Since it's only one frame, the game may take much longer to render it.

However, minor adjustments like brightness, contrast, gamma, saturation, sharpness do not classify an image as bullshot IMO, because they are also available from your display settings.

Last time I heard bullshot get called was for a Crysis pic lol.

A pic posted by a PS3 fan.

anshul89

A pic posted by a 360 fan.

Forza 3 - most bullshots I've seen.

Metro 2033 (360) - hailed as next console graphix beast.

PS3 fans are from from alone in this regard. Lems do it well and in most cases better too considering the games they hype don't usually look near as good as the bullshots they post.

A lot of console shots abuse supersampling to make the game look jaggie free, the texture filtering is also perfect in some shots.

I also suspect there are developers who try to pass off PC footage as console, the real time interactive bullshot.

Artificially boosting image quality settings for a screen capture (this I have seen in PC games, but theoretically it is possible on consoles too). When you press Print Screen, the game may improve some visuals for the single frame it has to export. Since it's only one frame, the game may take much longer to render it.

KiZZo1

That's the first time I've heard of that one. I've made screengrabs using both PrtScn and FRAPS. If anything FRAPS images tended to be a lot darker than what's onscreen. PrtScn seems the most accurate, capturing any deficiencies that may show up with fast-moving action including lapses in AA, blurries, jaggies.

- Artificially boosting image quality settings for a screen capture (this I have seen in PC games, but theoretically it is possible on consoles too). When you press Print Screen, the game may improve some visuals for the single frame it has to export. Since it's only one frame, the game may take much longer to render it.

KiZZo1

I'm pretty sure the PrintScreen button just dumps the monitor image to the clipboard.

Anything other than what would be playable on a target hardware platform.

Lets add cutscene images in aswell shall we?

considering most cutscenes is in no way linked to the actural game, but are often used to hype a game, cutscenes can make any game look good since it is prerecorded, and often upped quite a bit compared to actural gameplay fotage.

A pic thats been touched up and doesn't represent what the game will look like on the system it's meant for or.....

According to SP'edia...

:P

It's usually people who have'nt played the game that screams out bullshots whenever a game looks too good to be true. Like X360 fans whenever someone posts pics of a PS3 exclusive. There is alot of factors to consider when comparing images and games. One guy can have a rubbish TV, and think most games looks terrible, and every image posted on forums is bullshots.

I have a pretty crappy LCD screen with 1650x1050 resolution for my PC, and most games including Crysis does not look as good as most of the pictures posted of the games, even on the highest settings.

The size of the image posted can be a factor also, it can make it look better and less jaggier compared to playing the game on a 52 inch tv.

Lets add cutscene images in aswell shall we?

considering most cutscenes is in no way linked to the actural game, but are often used to hype a game, cutscenes can make any game look good since it is prerecorded, and often upped quite a bit compared to actural gameplay fotage.

Maddie_Larkin

Some games have actual in-game cutscenes, though.

Bullshot:

In-game shot:

Things to look out for:

- Perfect AA - no imperfections or jaggys

- Sharper than it should be

- No HUD

- False colours

[QUOTE="KiZZo1"] Artificially boosting image quality settings for a screen capture (this I have seen in PC games, but theoretically it is possible on consoles too). When you press Print Screen, the game may improve some visuals for the single frame it has to export. Since it's only one frame, the game may take much longer to render it.

jun_aka_pekto

That's the first time I've heard of that one. I've made screengrabs using both PrtScn and FRAPS. If anything FRAPS images tended to be a lot darker than what's onscreen. PrtScn seems the most accurate, capturing any deficiencies that may show up with fast-moving action including lapses in AA, blurries, jaggies.

I think that Guild Wars was doing some tricks when you press Print Screen. Of course, it depends on the game, maybe most of them record a copy of the frame without any modifications. What I'm talking about is not taking a copy from the clipboard, but the game itself recording an image in its directory.
Also I think, that it's most reliable to take frames with an external application or hardware (HDMI capture card or FRAPS). If you depend on the game itself, it can do all kinds of cheats.

[QUOTE="anshul89"]

A pic posted by a PS3 fan.

A pic posted by a 360 fan.

Forza 3 - most bullshots I've seen.

Metro 2033 (360) - hailed as next console graphix beast.

PS3 fans are from from alone in this regard. Lems do it well and in most cases better too considering the games they hype don't usually look near as good as the bullshots they post.

Any pic that has been edited in any manner or form.II_Seraphim_II

[QUOTE="Maddie_Larkin"]

Lets add cutscene images in aswell shall we?

considering most cutscenes is in no way linked to the actural game, but are often used to hype a game, cutscenes can make any game look good since it is prerecorded, and often upped quite a bit compared to actural gameplay fotage.

Esnedon

Some games have actual in-game cutscenes, though.

That is the fewest tho, most games who has cutscenes while still being from the ingame engine, are made before hand, and can be bumped up a whole lot in graphics, since it is in effect just a playable movie, so no processing power whatsoever is needed by any system to run them.

I think that Guild Wars was doing some tricks when you press Print Screen. Of course, it depends on the game, maybe most of them record a copy of the frame without any modifications. What I'm talking about is not taking a copy from the clipboard, but the game itself recording an image in its directory.
Also I think, that it's most reliable to take frames with an external application or hardware (HDMI capture card or FRAPS). If you depend on the game itself, it can do all kinds of cheats.

KiZZo1

Ah, okay. I get it.

I'll have to try that out since I rarely read the game manual. He He. I completely forgot some games have built-in screenshot keys.

It didn't really occur to me that people would actually edit their game images. I guess I'm guilty of resizing the images I post. But, that's because I wanted it to fit onscreen on my 19" monitor without having to scroll all the time.

I also have a laid-back approach to viewing posted images. If they look good, then they look good. I usually leave the arguments over the finer details to the regulars here.

picEsnedon

Definition of a bullshot:

resolution, AA, blur, etc. are all far beyond the actual capabilities of the hardware

re: all GT5 screenshots ever posted

88mphSlayer

And all Forza 3 screenshots before its release.

[QUOTE="88mphSlayer"]

resolution, AA, blur, etc. are all far beyond the actual capabilities of the hardware

re: all GT5 screenshots ever posted

Kashiwaba

And all Forza 3 screenshots before its release.

yep, and Turn 10 eventually owned up to it

Polyphony is still releasing bullshots that people spam

it doesn't help when they release what i like to call "bullvids"

[QUOTE="Maddie_Larkin"]

Lets add cutscene images in aswell shall we?

considering most cutscenes is in no way linked to the actural game, but are often used to hype a game, cutscenes can make any game look good since it is prerecorded, and often upped quite a bit compared to actural gameplay fotage.

Esnedon

Some games have actual in-game cutscenes, though.

Things to look out for:

- Perfect AA - no imperfections or jaggys

- Sharper than it should be

- No HUD

- False colours

This was a really bad example of bullshot.

You can easily play Crysis with the same quality of the first image by tweaking the engine settings and turning the multisampling on. Also, you can turn the HUD off via console command. And even on High Settings, DirectX 9, Crysis doesn't look as blurry as in the last screenshot.

A better example of bullshot is this pre-release GTA IV PC screenshot. The game doesn't support any kind of anti-aliasing, and it's extremally jaggied without the "Definition" setting turned on (it removes the console blurried post-processing).

It's a picture that has had the following enhanced/added:

Antialiasing
Anistropic texture filtering
Post processing effects
Resolution increased

These sort of effects are rendered still frame unlike the actual in game engine.

Keep in mind though, just because it is a "bullshot" doesn't mean you can't achieve that image in the final version of the game. All the "bullshots" of Uncharted 2 are straight from photomode. Same for Forza 3, and even the ridiculous 18mega pixel screenshots of GT5 are from photomode.

a pic thats been enhanced using photoshop to remove jaggies.

dog_dirt

This is why I take pre-release screens as a grain of salt until I actually see in-game footage. Unfortunately, many people insist pre-release screens before a game comes out are that of what the game looks like and end up posting them constantly in graphix king threads. >_< (i'm looking at you Crysis 2, Alan Wake, Metro 2033, Forza 3, Bad Company 2, GT5, etc.)

Here's what I was talking about. First image is from clipboard - i.e. a legitimate rendered frame. The second is a dump from the game to disk, but the game increases detail before saving the image (for just one frame). The difference is mainly in the distance - the sprites of trees are replaced with 3D models.

[QUOTE="anshul89"]

A pic posted by a PS3 fan.

KiZZo1

Do you have to troll in every topic?

People confuse trolling and truth way too much.

most bullshots I have seen are pc shots being passed off as 360 screens here

A pic posted by a PS3 fan.

anshul89

[QUOTE="Kashiwaba"]

[QUOTE="88mphSlayer"]

resolution, AA, blur, etc. are all far beyond the actual capabilities of the hardware

re: all GT5 screenshots ever posted

88mphSlayer

And all Forza 3 screenshots before its release.

yep, and Turn 10 eventually owned up to it

Polyphony is still releasing bullshots that people spam

it doesn't help when they release what i like to call "bullvids"

I'd like to see proof on how you came to that conclusion. The reason PD have been delaying this game for so long is exactly to focus on graphics. I think it's the wrong thing to focus on, but people couldn't believe games like UC2 and GoW3 could work on the PS3. Until the game is released, we can't say anything about the graphical capabilities. They could look worse than the screenshots, I'm not defending the game. I think graphical comparisons are pointless before the games themselves are released (and after they are released, but no matter), just wait for the final product before drawing judgement.

[QUOTE="Esnedon"]

[QUOTE="Maddie_Larkin"]

Lets add cutscene images in aswell shall we?

considering most cutscenes is in no way linked to the actural game, but are often used to hype a game, cutscenes can make any game look good since it is prerecorded, and often upped quite a bit compared to actural gameplay fotage.

RyuRanVII

Some games have actual in-game cutscenes, though.

Things to look out for:

- Perfect AA - no imperfections or jaggys

- Sharper than it should be

- No HUD

- False colours

This was a really bad example of bullshot.

You can easily play Crysis with the same quality of the first image by tweaking the engine settings and turning the multisampling on. Also, you can turn the HUD off via console command. And even on High Settings, DirectX 9, Crysis doesn't look as blurry as in the last screenshot.

Well, the last shot was an actual in-game shot taken by me. The first shot was an ultra high res shot sampled down and then sharpened up, also taken by me. I know Crysis can look MUCH better than that (I'm only running on Medium + HDR + SSAO), but the first image IS a bullshot compared to what it actually looks like on my computer.

GoWIII runs at 30+ bullshots per second.

Any pic that has been edited in any manner or form.II_Seraphim_II

I'd like to call pretty much any cutscene screenshot a bullshot. Pretty much every cutscene, even in-engine ones, look better than the actual gameplay by adding extra AA, texture filtering, and higher res textures while the cutscene is running due to the hardware not having to calculate all the extra stuff like AI. Uncharted 2 and Crysis or the biggest offenders here (Though Crysis completely maxed wont look much different during cutscenes, if its on a lower setting it recieves a bump though)General_X

Notice Nomad in both pictures. :P