Ice Asteroid Graphic / Shadow Workaround Fix - Beta 1.5 (Wasn't a Nerf - It's a bug!)

Obsidian Ant

Obsidian Ant
Arkantes said:
The game must start using a different shader when you press 3, as the whole image is darker and a different effect seems to appear (I'm going to trust the OP that's not photoshopped).
One doesn't simply remove those effects from a shader by mistake and keep it rendering stuff (unless there's basically no QA at all, or even bug checking during development), so the bug (or oversight) is probably that this also wasn't removed from the 3 case. There's no indication to me it's not a nerf, because you see no performance drop doesn't mean it will be the same for everyone.
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I just added a video a few posts up.
 

Nagual

Nagual
*Checks date. nope. Not the first of April* hmmmm. Got to be one of the oddest things I've read for graphical issues.
 

fyo

F
This was reported fairly quickly after the 1.5 beta launched, but have there been any comments from FDev on the subject? That's what I want to know.

I assume it's a debugging / testing thing left in, but I'm surprised at a few things. Why no performance hit? (Maybe someone on a low-end system could try). And why wasn't it publicized? (Oh, wait, FDev never tell anyone what they want tested in betas).

EDIT: I found the source where I read it originally, a beta 1.5 bug report from a couple of weeks ago: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=203399
 
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Deleted member 38366

D
What the... ???!
*heads to the nearest Asteroid belt*

No way the "Sensors Panel" view hotkey does this ("2" Key in my config), but I'll find out *scratches head*

@Granite

You're 100% sure this isn't some SweetFX-related effect you have AFAIK installed ?
 
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Obsidian Ant

Obsidian Ant
Probably totally unrelated, but it reminds me of this:

dxoAtgD.jpg
 

Insomnia

Insomnia
Does this only happen in icy ring systems? Checked stations as well? To me it looks like the environment mapping or IBL is being disabled.

Anyhow, it looks soo much better and adds depth and realism, which in turn adds to the immersion.
I don't remember who found it but it's in one of the 1.5 beta graphics thread.
 

BEKTOP 3APEMOB

BEKTOP 3APEMOB
Granite said:
http://i.imgur.com/36vh3ni.jpg

Someone told me about this a while ago, but I've only just got around to checking it out.

If you go to a Ice Ring system and hold down the 3 key - the game will draw in the shadows. When you are in the cockpit, pressing 3 focuses on the radar. Simply press it again to return to normal focus, except this time hold it down. I wedged the key in place.


It's actually interesting to see this. Remember all those comparison screenshots that players kept posting, and some people simply said "...but the lighting conditions are different as you aren't in precisly the same location." It would seem that is nothing to do with it, and that it is indeed a bug. A bug report of this has been made, however we will have to wait and see if Frontier fix the problem by removing the workaround (therefore removing the shadows altogether), or if they put the shadows back in place. I really hope we get things fixed correctly.

I am also convinced this is why the interior of the stations look so different to what they did a year or so ago.

Unfortunately this 'fix' only seems to work in the Ice Asteroid rings. It also only seems to work on the beta server.



EDIT: This clip shows how the entire scene is lit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnpuHUXjP8U
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Haaa! All this time we simply needed to hold down button '3' for graphics :D :D :D :D :D

I'm going to borrow 4 bricks from nearest construction site to hold down all my keyboard buttons - then bask in majestic graphics no one have ever seen before
 

Obsidian Ant

Obsidian Ant
Insomnia said:
Does this only happen in icy ring systems? Checked stations as well? To me it looks like the environment mapping or IBL is being disabled.

Anyhow, it looks soo much better and adds depth and realism, which in turn adds to the immersion.
I don't remember who found it but it's in one of the 1.5 beta graphics thread.
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So your thoughts are that the presence of what appears to be "shadows" is a glitch, or the absence of them is the glitch? (i.e. pressing 3 causes the glitch, or removes it?)
 
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Insomnia

Insomnia
Granite said:
So your thoughts are that the presence of what appears to be "shadows" is a glitch, or the absence of them is the glitch? (i.e. pressing 3 causes the glitch, or removes it?)
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I don't know mate tbh... I'm not entirely convinced that this is shadow related at all. But I'm on my phone looking at the pics and vid so it might come out wrong for me.
But.... Remember when starting the game docked inside a station. It's dark. But a few seconds later things gets illuminated. Probably by the IBL, image based lighting. My thoughts that it is the IBL that's doing that. I can still see shadows, though they are not as pronounced.

Ofc I can be wrong and it would be great to hear from the devs about this. :)
 

J'Zargo

J'Zargo
Insomnia said:
I don't know mate tbh... I'm not entirely convinced that this is shadow related at all.
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I see it the same way, but my guess is that it migth not be IBL but more a simluation of ambient/indirect lighting.

If you look at the shots, the one with the 'shadows' has completely black shadows at the part were the star is not directly lighting it. Especially in ice fields where the asteroids have a vey high albedo the secondary lighting/reflections will contribute hugely to the ambient light. Just imagine that you change the camera angle from pointing towrads the sun by 180° looking at the brightl lit asteroids. This is a huge light source. And this light source is affecting the dark areas to be much brighter.

The 3-hold image is more contrasty and thus more interesting but the normal image might be nearer to 'reality', although the ambient lighting it might be a bit too high.

This might also explain why you only see this in ice rings, which are much brighter than rocky or even metallic rings.
 
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