Hello and Welcome back to my blog!
I took many pictures in theHunter: Call of the Wild in 2024 and shared them with you in this community. I want to share some of the shots I took the previous year but couldn't share them with you for one reason. More specifically, I want to discuss this game's beautiful sky and clouds.
Half of your screen in these maps is just the sky and it becomes so crucial to do it well to maintain the overall realism of the game. One of the most difficult tasks is to get the lighting correct in a photorealistic game. Our brain is too smart to ignore such mistakes.
Look at the above shot. If you ignore the grass blades, it would be really hard to say that this is from a game. The more impressive half is the upper half of the picture where the sky makes it so realistic. It is a bit too saturated but hasn't social media made us love these saturated pictures? Heck, our phones are internally processing pictures to add some saturation and sharpness without telling us. I have taken worse pictures with my phone than this virtual one.
Not just the realistic-looking sky and clouds but also the vegetation and landscape is not an easy task to pull off. Every time I log in to this game, I get lost in its beauty. Sometimes, it feels more like a nature simulation game than a hunting game.
I love this odd picture of white clouds slowly trying to catch up with the sun. They are not alone, a pair of trees are trying to hide the sun behind them as well. But all of them fail against the mighty sun. This shot breaks the basic principle of compositions yet it is one of my favorites. The picture tells a good story for me.
Sometimes, the sky is calm and peaceful. Birds are hovering over lakes in search of their prey, winds are whistling and everything seems relaxing and not in a hurry.
On the other hand, heavy winds bring clouds which are ready to explode at any point.
Vurhongha Savannah has the most dramatic clouds in the game. It rarely rains here but when it does, you can feel some kind of evil presence. The dark orange clouds are such a rare sight here. I was lucky to capture a few of these storms at sunrises and sunsets.
In the Layton Lake district, these effects are mild. These beautiful orange and yellow hues in the sky are such a treat to watch during sunsets. The yellows slowly turn to oranges and reds.
I didn't hunt at night even though I purchased the night hunting pack in the game. One of the reasons for not playing at night is not being able to see the beautiful world this game created. However, there are some nice things at the same time. You can get to see a big full moon. (I wished the moon had more phases just like the real one but nope.
In foggy conditions, the night sky looks so serene. I mean, look at the following picture and tell me you didn't like to go into this kind of forest and have a walk. I would love to trek in these woods.
How about going to a high railway bridge built over a river? The only light in the scene is the moonlight. Now, I understand why they didn't implement the phases of the moon. On New Moon night, you would see nothing in the game lol.
An iconic location in the game is on top of the mountain in Silver Ridge Peaks. You can experience the clouds going through you. You are in the clouds and sometimes over the cloud cover. This location truly makes you feel closer to the sky.
If the sky and clouds were not complimenting these beautiful landscapes then it would not have worked this well. Video games have come a long way in the last few decades and I can't wait to see how good these graphics get. Let me know what are your thoughts about this post and do you think I should share more night shots in this community?
Thanks for reading...
Until next shot...
