Photo Documentation of marked, graphical downgrades following Odyssey Update.

Elite Odyssey has removed graphical fidelity from several aspects of the game. This sounds absurd, but it is true. I have seen it in outer space everyhwere, so I was motivated to find a controlled test where I could document this. I have gone back and forth between Horizons (before update) and Odyssey (After update) to document the loss of fogging, smoke and special effects. Here I am in a burning Orbis station, one that has not yet been repaired. I log in and out between Horizons (before) and Odyssey (After). This is the same mission, and instance, all with max (Ultra) graphics settings. Look at these before and afters.

BEFORE ODYSSEY UPDATE: NOTE EXTERIOR OF BASE BURNING AND WITH THARGOID GOO. NOTE FIRE AND SMOKE AS WELL. ALSO NOTE GLARE ON WINDSHIELD
BEFORE1.jpg




AFTER ODYSSEY UPDATE: NOTE LOSS OF EVERYTHING. THIS IS THE SAME MISSION. LOGGED OUT AND RE-ENTERED IN OSDYSSEY MODE
AFTER 6.jpg


BEFORE UPDATE LINE UP ON MAIL SLOT:

BEFORE 2.jpg


AFTER UPDATE LINED UP ON MAIL SLOT:

20210520125847_1.jpg


BEFORE UPDATE ENTERING MAILSLOT INTO BURNING HELLSCAPE E. NOT AMBIENT SMOKE, FOG AND FIRE INSIDE:

BEFORE 3.jpg


AFTER UPDATE ENTERING MAILSLOT: LOSS OF MOST EVERYTHING
AFTER 2B.jpg


BEFORE UPDATE: TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE BASE. NOTE MY POSITION AND ALL THE AMBIENT CHAOS
BEFORE 5.jpg


AFTER UPDATE. ITS STERILE. MOST EVERYTHING REMOVED. WHY?

AFTER 4B.jpg



All this and more is easily reproducible by anyone. There is much, much more than just the base fires. The entire outer space environment is degraded. You cannot see the comet trails of other ships in supercruise any more. You can barely make out the ships and their contrails in normal space. Glass glare on cockpit gone. The colors, nebula and general graphical ambience of the entire space-flight side of the game has been downgraded. Not just darker, but outright missing colors and special effects. I would never have expected and upgrade to reduce the graphical quality of the experience, and reduce frame rates.

I get the excitement over Space Legs. But this is currently not worth the trade off.
 
Elite Odyssey has removed graphical fidelity from several aspects of the game. This sounds absurd, but it is true. I have seen it in outer space everyhwere, so I was motivated to find a controlled test where I could document this. I have gone back and forth between Horizons (before update) and Odyssey (After update) to document the loss of fogging, smoke and special effects. Here I am in a burning Orbis station, one that has not yet been repaired. I log in and out between Horizons (before) and Odyssey (After). This is the same mission, and instance, all with max (Ultra) graphics settings. Look at these before and afters.

BEFORE ODYSSEY UPDATE: NOTE EXTERIOR OF BASE BURNING AND WITH THARGOID GOO. NOTE FIRE AND SMOKE AS WELL. ALSO NOTE GLARE ON WINDSHIELD
View attachment 227897



AFTER ODYSSEY UPDATE: NOTE LOSS OF EVERYTHING. THIS IS THE SAME MISSION. LOGGED OUT AND RE-ENTERED IN OSDYSSEY MODE
View attachment 227901

BEFORE UPDATE LINE UP ON MAIL SLOT:

View attachment 227903

AFTER UPDATE LINED UP ON MAIL SLOT:

View attachment 227905

BEFORE UPDATE ENTERING MAILSLOT INTO BURNING HELLSCAPE E. NOT AMBIENT SMOKE, FOG AND FIRE INSIDE:

View attachment 227909

AFTER UPDATE ENTERING MAILSLOT: LOSS OF MOST EVERYTHING
View attachment 227911

BEFORE UPDATE: TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE BASE. NOTE MY POSITION AND ALL THE AMBIENT CHAOS
View attachment 227913

AFTER UPDATE. ITS STERILE. MOST EVERYTHING REMOVED. WHY?

View attachment 227916


All this and more is easily reproducible by anyone. There is much, much more than just the base fires. The entire outer space environment is degraded. You cannot see the comet trails of other ships in supercruise any more. You can barely make out the ships and their contrails in normal space. Glass glare on cockpit gone. The colors, nebula and general graphical ambience of the entire space-flight side of the game has been downgraded. Not just darker, but outright missing colors and special effects. I would never have expected and upgrade to reduce the graphical quality of the experience, and reduce frame rates.

I get the excitement over Space Legs. But this is currently not worth the trade off.
Not worth the tradeoff AT ALL.
 
I'm betting it has something to do with the load when in FPS mode and the visuals having to be visible from the Concourse.
 
I'm betting it has something to do with the load when in FPS mode and the visuals having to be visible from the Concourse.
But the degradation of graphics is also occurring on the exterior of the station (1st few pictures). The loss of the glowing Thargoid Goo, the lack of fire, far less smoke.
 
But the degradation of graphics is also occurring on the exterior of the station (1st few pictures). The loss of the glowing Thargoid Goo, the lack of fire, far less smoke.
Good point. I figured it would've been because of fire rendering in FPS, but, guess not. Man... what a mess. :D
 
Seems like they didn't optimize. They render everything in FOV until the end of the Galaxy. Major room for improvement. Guess that could explain why it seems that different layers of rendering is missing.

I don't care about legs, so my expectations weren't much higher than zero but at least I expected to see an increase in the graphics quality.
 
Like i wrote it in the other comparsion thread. Odyssey is a downgrade but with shiny surfaces, compared to the matt surfaces in horizons (which I like better)
 
Seems like Frontier pretty much destroyed the graphical awesomeness that was Elite Dangerous with this expansion. I hope it's a bug which is quickly fixed, but my fear is its an intentional downgrade and here to stay.
They can’t win. Either those who want fantastic graphics will be upset or those with older hardware will be upset. My preference is to go all in on upgraded graphics and keep horizons in its current form for the foreseeable future for people who want or need a legacy experience.
 
Every time I change key bindings in the Odyssey my key bindings in the Horizons stop working... FDevs fix it, it's annoying.
 
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Is anyone still seeing the sparks/smoke in your cockpit when overheating? The frost effect on the canopy after using a heatsink or idling under 10% heat? They're both missing for me, even after bumping up to Ultra, but I haven't seen anyone else mention them in the forums yet.
Yes, earlier this evening after accidentally turning off shields flying round a hot planet and not being able to work out how to turn them back on using a controller that I'm still a tad unfamiliar with. Sparks and smoke just the same as in Horizons.

Months of exploration data and credits gone up in flames. What an idiot.
 
Yes, earlier this evening after accidentally turning off shields flying round a hot planet and not being able to work out how to turn them back on using a controller that I'm still a tad unfamiliar with. Sparks and smoke just the same as in Horizons.

Months of exploration data and credits gone up in flames. What an idiot.
I'm so sorry. The most I've lost is a couple weeks. I can't begin to fathom losing months. :(

Have you tried contacting support? It might be a long shot, but even if they can't help, you'd be no worse off than now.
 
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