Anyone else getting ugly terrain shadows since update?

[redrum]

Not sure if a bug, or they deliberately changed the lighting and shadows in the last update, but we have a problem.

Before the update, the black areas in these cliffs were not black, you could still see the rock texture. Now there are huge areas of jet black where the sun doesn't hit the rock directly, and it looks awful. It's almost like they lowered the threshold for how much terrain is needed to cause pitch black. Can someone else check their parks where you know for sure how it should look?

Even with the sun out in middle of day, the slightest depression or bumps in the rock causes a huge contrast difference in the shadow areas which looks horrible. All my settings are on maxium quality. I really hope this can be looked at. The lighting in this game was awesome, and really didn't need messing with.

 

[redrum]

If we look at a couple of famous parks from the workshop, those with screenshots taken before the update, we can do a direct comparison.

It would be great if someone can please check out one of the below parks and see if you get the same shadow problem areas happening. If you don't, that means the problem is on my end rather than the game.

First up is the amazing Jurassic Planet.

Notice the inside of the mouth is no longer visible since the update. The top of the eye is also black. Before the update the whole eyeball is visible, all the teeth and tongue.

Next is Digger. Another terrain masterpiece. Here's the original workshop image....

If we set our camera up the same as the image on the workshop, same time of day, we can spot the difference in the back leg. Look at the nasty shadows... are you seeing this when you load this park? Workshop link to Digger.

 

[gecaum]

Hi , 've got the same issue !........[sulk]
I 've 1 picture ; please can you report that to the Bug Forum !
Thanks

Edit :

 

[Clutch1]

Yes! I joined up just to say this!

I've been steadily working on a park for the last 13 months that has very extensive terrain work, and now quite a lot of the nuanced bits of my terrain are completely lost in shadow. There are now big ugly splotches of monochromatic shadows that dot my canyons and hills, where before there was fairly accurate and pleasant shading throughout the terrain. Frankly, I was pretty horrified to see all the months of subtle terrain work completely hidden. Quite horrified.

And that's not all. Certain fog effects, used especially in one section of my park, are now bugged at sunset and sunrise. They "show up" much too prominently and too darkly, especially at distance and during low light. This bug was completely absent until the last update.

The answer to these issues seems to me to be obvious: give us the option to revert back to the old lighting system in the settings menu! Please! Please, please, please. I've put a lot of time and effort into my park, as have many others, and for the shading to be changed in such a major and draconian manner is extremely disconcerting to me, and quite honestly makes me very turned off from the game in general at the moment.

 

[Kucewiczr]

This issue should be reported on the Bug Forum.

 

[Tricky1]

I noticed it as well and I thought it had to do something with my settings or something. Really hope they'll fix it because it looks pretty bad.

 

[RealWar]

I noticed it as well and I thought it had to do something with my settings or something. Really hope they'll fix it because it looks pretty bad.

I actually like it. You don't need as much terrain to get dark areas for dark rides.

 

[fruitloop]

i like it too, if you want to see inside black hole used "L" keyboard

 

[Tricky1]

I actually like it. You don't need as much terrain to get dark areas for dark rides.

You shouldn't have to use the terrain for darkrides anymore now there's a way to switch the time during the ride. I get that it could have a practical use but right now you don't see the difference between a shadow from a mountain or a cave because everything is just as black. The first 3 pictures in this post show you what I mean. If you would create a cave in that dark area you wouldn't be able to see it. There's no way it should be that dark because it looks way too unnatural.

 

[redrum]

This issue should be reported on the Bug Forum.

It has been reported on the bug forum. I started this thread to find out if it was a bug, or an unmentioned change, or a problem on my machine only.

If it was a deliberate change, the update notes should say "change to lighting system" or similar, so that we don't get a shock when our terrain suddenly looks bad. As there was no mention in the update notes, we must assume it's an unwanted bug.

Notice that reflections in the water don't reveal the black spots, the reflections actually show the terrain as it should look. Everything points to a bug.

 

[redrum]

i like it too, if you want to see inside black hole used "L" keyboard

This isn't about building parks, this is about how your park looks when completed. Ugly dark patches even when sun is shining on the terrain, is not in keeping with the game's high standards of rendering quality.