I miss the high contrast HDR

I really am a sucker for aesthetics and it was right in my ball park.
the nights being very dark didn't bother me at all because ....that's how stuff really is. and it didn't remove any playability (at least for me, I mean I play with the icons I admire units zoomed in)(but really units aren't as pretty as the planets in any way, what I look at is only ever the planet in all it's splendorous glory).
I left a poll but you don't need to vote, it's only in case people want one later down the line (you cannot add them in).
debate!

I think the former HDR was over the top with the highlights - often parts of the planet would be totally blown out to white. I agree the night side could be a bit darker, but it is not such a huge concern for me anymore.

i think this is dependant on video card.
before hand for me it was pure white and the pitchest of blacks.
now it seems fine.
But maybe an adjustment slider to adjust the HDR effect ratio/brightness values would be awesome.

I have attached a HDR shader with a much stronger HDR effect.
Unzip shader and replace the one in the shader folder
Tell me what you think, if it's not bright enough i will ramp up the brightness some more

I had no problem at night, I play with icons most of the time anyway, but the day was WAY too bright.

What I would like is a darker night but leave day as is. You'd get higher contrast without burning your eyes out in the daylight.

If there are people out there with mad shader skills that would be nice

Try the shader i posted above and tell me what you think.
If you try it please tell me,
What GPU you have?
Does it make much difference and which way brighter/darker.

Let me know if you need to know where the unzipped shader file goes

anyone here also disable the hdr because its annoying and distracting?

I'll give it a shot as soon as i get home

could you give me a screenshot?
I get this it's not realy that much darker, I don't think there's much of a difference :

What GPU are you using?
I will try make the effect more stornger, i may need to edit multiple shaders to get the overall end effect.
On my intel chipset it doesn't darken the overall picture, it just makes the HDR effect more visual, more difference when moving and zooming.

yea then I have no changes. I'm on GTX 560 ti, what graphic settings are you on?

I'm using Intel HD 4000 ivy bridge
Ok i made something happen, not what we were after but DAMN ITS COOL.. lol
Try these shaders for a WOW effect .. lol

Look at the planet, i made it GLOW :O

that looks sooooo.... O^O can I eats it?

It almost looks like the sun is setting the horizon on fire

I think some more blur in background areas and in general would make the game much more pretty looking. (Thinking of those edged trees)

Pretty much like this, but without the glow in the background

I was once watching a video of PA, and kept thinking to myself: "Why the heck does the background look so damn good?", until I noticed that I had the video on 360p low quality.

Bloom OVERKILL or Bloom of Death.
Do you think im maybe over doing it a lil with the bloom??

Just a little

MEGA BLOOM MOD

Ok i have found a sweet spot between overkill and AWESOME.
Just one shader, it max's out the Bloom effect without too much overkill.
Absolutly AWESOME in game for me,
Try my final revision of WOW BLOOM.

Attached zip with the boosted bloom HDR shader.
--EDITED--
ADDING SCREENSHOTS

I'd rather see a screenshot first, before downloading it

one sec i'll go back in game an add some screen shots to the above post