Yep, seen that as well. Shadows however creep along nice and steady.
Asteroids and Ring Systems. Is there any hope?
- Thread starter Obsidian Ant
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Yeah, that's an issue I've also noticed since horizons.
Thanks Ziggy, had not seen this before, the quote I saw was on these forums.......but yes, that phrase "Visual Consistency" seems to be the "spin" on this subject.......they mentioned in that article how they hoped to re-introduce graphics sliders and re-introduce the higher end graphics......so...why have they not done this? That article is 6 months old......
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But, even now people are complaining about FPS in Horizons, so a new influx of ring graphics around tessellated planet meshes....hmmm......that just might kill things dead.............even those with pretty high specs.......so, well, as say, I think the Devs are doing the best they can and maybe the Xbox money gets them to the Xbox two and then things can jump again......Mac? forget it, done.......
Thanks for bringing this topic up again, Obsidian. If I see old screenshots from the betas I almost have to cry :/
Why can't we just have a 'pre-xbox settings'-button in our graphic settings? Maybe a Slider for the LOD, a toggle for asteroid shadow casting etc.?
Why did they just dump it down all together?
Why can't we just have a 'pre-xbox settings'-button in our graphic settings? Maybe a Slider for the LOD, a toggle for asteroid shadow casting etc.?
Why did they just dump it down all together?
Here's my big post about LOD popping issues, which is related to asteroid problems: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=197805
And another two about blurry ship shadows on asteroids:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=200048&p=3096384&viewfull=1#post3096384
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=199567&p=3098047&viewfull=1#post3098047
And here is a quote from small interview with Joanne Taylor Senior Environment Artist:
Keeping in mind the way they gradually decreased graphics quality over a year - this quote is a very honest official answer and a clue on how graphics will change future. This is very unfortunate.
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Without any doubts, asteroid rings are now better optimized and LODing seems to be also better than it was before. But the general look'n'feel and the visual quality is noticeably worse. I always admired the views in rings in the early game versions, but now I will hardly stop there just for a view (but there are still some places/camera angles/ship positions that looks great same as before. But it's rather an exception than a rule).
Remind me why does the Ultra settings have to suffer for lower spec PC users?
Low end users will complain due to performance. High end users are the ones complaining about downgrades; those of us that can run Ultra...which isn't so ultra anymore.
Can anyone explain why developers do this? it must be in their interest to make the game look as good as possible due o steaming and all the You Tubers right?
Yes, BUT... There is the xbox. I don't know the reasons, but there are two plausible reasons.
1. They want to make development easier and only have one development branch for PC and xbox. And because the xbox is crap, they tuned down the graphics overall
2. Microsoft doesnt want the game to look awful at the xbox compared to the pc, so they had to lower the graphics.
It's all speculation, but I can't think of other reasons. Sure they want to optimize the performance etc. But for that you don't kill the ultra settings. The game had almost no problem on high end systems after all.
Here's a screenshot that I meant to add to the first post:
Great OP, +1.
What's also annoying is that the variety in rings is now so low. You basically only have two types: the grey rocky and rusty metallic asteroids. There do exist ice asteroids, but there is no gameplay whatsoever there so you don't even get to see them unless you go out of your way to visit them. Even if the current overall quality is not to change, I want to see more asteroid types and maybe different types mixed up within the same location.
What's also annoying is that the variety in rings is now so low. You basically only have two types: the grey rocky and rusty metallic asteroids. There do exist ice asteroids, but there is no gameplay whatsoever there so you don't even get to see them unless you go out of your way to visit them. Even if the current overall quality is not to change, I want to see more asteroid types and maybe different types mixed up within the same location.
Totally agree on the VERY sad situation with the progressing decline in the beauty of the asteroid belts. I remember with awe the sights seen in the early versions; they were some of the most wondrous sights to be had in ANY PC space game. A great loss which I feel (what with FD's ominous silence on it) are never to be regained!
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I had never even noticed the downgrade in graphics until it was mentioned in this thread. I had heard rumblings as early as 1.3, but never bothered to pay attention.
Now... it's all I see. Thanks, guys
I love the game. I defend it tirelessly against the usual refuse that filters through here, screaming their pretty little heads off about the price, supposedly "broken" background sim, etc. (basically, anyone laying blame for their personal problems on FD). This, however, is a clear and drastic change in quality.
I run Ultra settings, with 1.5x super sampling, and always appreciated how good the game looked. Now that it's been pointed out, however, the "popping" of asteroids and other objects is so apparent I'm embarrassed I never paid any attention to it before. I still think the game is beautiful, for the simple fact that it captures the scale and natural beauty of space very well. Frontier did a very good job of quietly lowering the quality because it slipped right under my nose.
To think that this might all be because the console port needs the crutch is infuriating. I've always loved PC gaming, and only ever use a console because Nintendo would never release a PC port of Legend of Zelda (literally, I will drop the 300+ just to play Zelda). While I'm no acolyte of the "PC Master Race" movement, I wholeheartedly despise how console gaming affects PC games. To me, it's a lot like the peons that litter our forums with their petty, contrived complaints: if they can't have it, no one should. If a game needs to run optimally on PC and console, it's usually the PC version that suffers because consoles have only ever been dumbed-down computers in the first place. That's truly unfair to those of us who drop over 1,000 units of whatever currency our countries recognize to play games that are both visually and structurally more complex than lowly console ports.
If it ever comes to light that Frontier downgraded Elite to be more console-friendly, and they don't have plans to rectify it posthaste, that might actually turn me into a detractor. I can live with some bugs, and I'm willing to wait for content to fill their virtual galaxy. I don't even gripe about the cost, because I feel it's really a great value. I've had so much fun playing this game, but now all I can think about is the fact that asteroids seemingly appear out of nowhere when I super-cruise into a planetary ring.
This is a sad day.
Now... it's all I see. Thanks, guys
I love the game. I defend it tirelessly against the usual refuse that filters through here, screaming their pretty little heads off about the price, supposedly "broken" background sim, etc. (basically, anyone laying blame for their personal problems on FD). This, however, is a clear and drastic change in quality.
I run Ultra settings, with 1.5x super sampling, and always appreciated how good the game looked. Now that it's been pointed out, however, the "popping" of asteroids and other objects is so apparent I'm embarrassed I never paid any attention to it before. I still think the game is beautiful, for the simple fact that it captures the scale and natural beauty of space very well. Frontier did a very good job of quietly lowering the quality because it slipped right under my nose.
To think that this might all be because the console port needs the crutch is infuriating. I've always loved PC gaming, and only ever use a console because Nintendo would never release a PC port of Legend of Zelda (literally, I will drop the 300+ just to play Zelda). While I'm no acolyte of the "PC Master Race" movement, I wholeheartedly despise how console gaming affects PC games. To me, it's a lot like the peons that litter our forums with their petty, contrived complaints: if they can't have it, no one should. If a game needs to run optimally on PC and console, it's usually the PC version that suffers because consoles have only ever been dumbed-down computers in the first place. That's truly unfair to those of us who drop over 1,000 units of whatever currency our countries recognize to play games that are both visually and structurally more complex than lowly console ports.
If it ever comes to light that Frontier downgraded Elite to be more console-friendly, and they don't have plans to rectify it posthaste, that might actually turn me into a detractor. I can live with some bugs, and I'm willing to wait for content to fill their virtual galaxy. I don't even gripe about the cost, because I feel it's really a great value. I've had so much fun playing this game, but now all I can think about is the fact that asteroids seemingly appear out of nowhere when I super-cruise into a planetary ring.
This is a sad day.
+1
I agree...asteroid rings used to be so pretty...at that time my complain was that there were kind of immersion breaking since all these pirates NPCs are actually just here for suicidal reasons... Don't believe me? then try to pirate one of these miner NPCs and tell me it makes sense!
Now they are still immersion breaking...but also ugly. I have not been at any rings since 1.3 for these reasons.
I agree...asteroid rings used to be so pretty...at that time my complain was that there were kind of immersion breaking since all these pirates NPCs are actually just here for suicidal reasons... Don't believe me? then try to pirate one of these miner NPCs and tell me it makes sense!
Now they are still immersion breaking...but also ugly. I have not been at any rings since 1.3 for these reasons.
Of course if/when they do start upgrading the graphics again those of us currently running Ultra will start complaining that 'the upgrade must have broken something ... I used to get X FPS and now I only get Y FPS with the same settings! Waahh!'
Unfortunately, once devs start downgrading graphics to improve performance for the low-end, its very difficult to go back. Easy to make changes that let people run on higher-than-before settings. Difficult to make changes that mean that people have to be seen to tweak their settings down
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Asteroids actually casting shadows on each other?
THAT'S CRAZY TALK!
I've reported such issues in the bug section a good number of times now...
Asteroid shadows are badly messed up (ULTRA)
Graphics "Shadow Quality" settings are broken (no effect changing between Off/Low/Medium/High/Ultra)
On a semi-related note, I am seriously wondering whether we will see any decent antialiasing in ED at all. I know lots of console games don't have it at all or only very badly done, and often this carries over when the game is ported to PC, but ED had horrible antialiasing even when it was only on the PC (and it was not a console->PC port but the other way round eventually). Jagged lines, especially when shimmering and flickering jagged edges under movement, are just so horrible. I've got the feeling they just want to sit this issue out until 4k resolution has become the norm for all of gaming in a few years, and AA becomes superfluous because we cannot distinguish individual pixels with the naked eye any more.
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