I Hope BOS Graphics Are Better Than ROF.

[bolox]

nice discussion.
I may have somethings to add to this, coming from a slightly different perspective.

First off, in R/L i'm a lighting designer, mainly in a 'rock 'n roll' context, tho have done quite a bit in theatre also.
I did a degree in Biophysics (a long time ago). 3rd yr project was on frog eyeballs.
I've repainted the 'odd cockpit' in IL2.

My first point would be that the human eye works in a different way to a camera, then the 'image' is translated by that most adaptive computer, the human brain.
This is not to disparage photography, just that there are differences in how they 'see' the world.
TV cameras in particular. are somewhat restricted in the variation of light level, colour temperature and also require 'backlight' to bring the subject out from the background.
The eye/brain combination is much better at this with even very dim scattered light as long as the visual 'clues' remain consistent. If something inconsistent is seen though, alarm bells go off in the brain- is that a sabre toothed tiger looking for a snack?! It is this ability to spot something wrong that any game designer has to avoid triggering as it destroys the illusion of 'being there'- things like black shadows.

Anyway, enough waffle from me