I don't normally get migraines, but after playing for ~3 hours straight I got one from this game. After recovering from it, I turned down the contrast on my monitor to 0 (from 50, where I normally have it), and I could just get by without having problems. I spent some time trying to figure what exactly what triggering it, and I think the problem is the bright backgrounds in various screens. I like the backgrounds, they're very pretty, but could I suggest either making them darker, or having a option in the video tab to change their brightness (and setting the default to darker than it is now)?

ron_post wrote:
I don't normally get migraines, but after playing for ~3 hours straight I got one from this game. After recovering from it, I turned down the contrast on my monitor to 0 (from 50, where I normally have it), and I could just get by without having problems. I spent some time trying to figure what exactly what triggering it, and I think the problem is the bright backgrounds in various screens. I like the backgrounds, they're very pretty, but could I suggest either making them darker, or having a option in the video tab to change their brightness (and setting the default to darker than it is now)?

Are you playing full screen? What resolution are you playing at?

I suffer from migraines and what your describing is not a migraine. What you have got is eye strain headache.



It's a common mistake for people to think a migraine is brought on in a matter of hours from eating chocolate, or using a monitor etc. Real migraines are a chemical imbalance in the brain that can be treated with some crazy pain killers. Or like myself with a preventive medication that rebalance the chemicals that cause the headache. The migraine itself takes days if not longer to surface after its triggered. Only in very extreme cases are the migraines triggered by light. Usually the people it affects in that fashion wear tinted glasses even at night.



Suppose what I'm saying is ask yourself a few questions before you blame the game.



Do you wear glasses? When was the last time you had an eye test? Were you in a dark room where he only real source of light was the monitor?



Because I would suggest he issue is with either yourself or the environment you are playing in. As I have what can be considered the worst possible type of migraine a person can get. I have to take 2 tablets a day for the rest of my life. Yet I've just played 6 hours with no break and not even a twinge. But I used to suffer daily at work till I got them to set their monitors right. But that was just bad eye strain headaches, not a migraine. Easiest way to tell the difference between the 2, one makes you vomit, the other doesn't.

Gungy wrote:
I suffer from migraines and what your describing is not a migraine. What you have got is eye strain headache.



It's a common mistake for people to think a migraine is brought on in a matter of hours from eating chocolate, or using a monitor etc. Real migraines are a chemical imbalance in the brain that can be treated with some crazy pain killers. Or like myself with a preventive medication that rebalance the chemicals that cause the headache. The migraine itself takes days if not longer to surface after its triggered. Only in very extreme cases are the migraines triggered by light. Usually the people it affects in that fashion wear tinted glasses even at night.



Suppose what I'm saying is ask yourself a few questions before you blame the game.



Do you wear glasses? When was the last time you had an eye test? Were you in a dark room where he only real source of light was the monitor?



Because I would suggest he issue is with either yourself or the environment you are playing in.

People often mislabel these sorts of things, but either way there is an issue although I agree it is most likely on the users end.

Sounds like a user issue to me.

Asterisk wrote:
Sounds like a user issue to me.

That doesn't me we can't try to help him.

My apologies for the mislabel - as I said, I don't get migraines, and, as it happens, don't usually suffer from eye strain, so it's difficult for me to distinguish between them. I brought it up because it *is* unusual for me (as in, never happens) when playing similar games in exactly the same environment. I believe I was able to track down the cause to a fairly specific element of the game interface (bright background elements, often covering large patches of the screen), as I mentioned. I'm certainly not saying it's a universal problem, but it's possible it will effect people besides myself.



I've been playing in full screen mode, at 1600x1200 resolution on a 22" lcd monitor. The environmental light varies by time of day, but is usually well lit by indirect lighting (and was in this case). I don't have glare on the screen, nor is it backlit (the only window is off to the side, and not in line of sight when looking at the screen). I don't wear glasses.



The exact symptom I had was phantom bright light in the visual field.