I couldn't help but notice that atmospheric shading is broken in all your examples.
See https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/broken-atmospheric-lighting.589717/
Side-by Side video of Horizons vs. Odyssey now: Which seems like the Upgrade?
- Thread starter PStewart
- Start date
See https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/broken-atmospheric-lighting.589717/
Yes - thick clouds in Notable Stellar Phenomenon still work and function just as they did in Horizons, with no noticeable impact on performance.
So volumetric lighting and clouds are definitely supported in the Odyssey game engine, but evidently not working in some circumstances.
So, I am pretty sure these missing bits have been absent or diminished in every released build of Odyssey, but do recall an ordering issue stabbing my eyes in a burning instance of one of the fancier stations, in one of the previous updates...
In that case, the canopied circular walkways crowning either end of the docking drum, as well as several holographic billboards (all with a blue tint), seemed to draw in a later pass than all the smoke sprites and other loose non-opaque stuff cavorting inside the drum (EDIT: I.e: Stuff in the background was drawing on top of stuff in the foreground).
Probably not the case, but it could be possible that the drawing of some transparent stuff has been temporarily suppressed, until the sorting gets sorted...
In that case, the canopied circular walkways crowning either end of the docking drum, as well as several holographic billboards (all with a blue tint), seemed to draw in a later pass than all the smoke sprites and other loose non-opaque stuff cavorting inside the drum (EDIT: I.e: Stuff in the background was drawing on top of stuff in the foreground).
Probably not the case, but it could be possible that the drawing of some transparent stuff has been temporarily suppressed, until the sorting gets sorted...
Oh right, shall I now disavow everything and become an "FDev Bad" chanting pedant too, then?I couldn't help but notice that atmospheric shading is broken in all your examples.
See https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/broken-atmospheric-lighting.589717/
It’s funny, your own screenshots show how broken the lighting is. None of that atmospheric colour has any effect on the surface, especially those deep reddish worlds.
Was OP posting about the lighting? Looked like dull landscapes to me. Anyway..
Looks like atmospheric lighting is broken in this image too...
That won't be necessary.
But you can acknowledge that people have a right to point out genuine issues because they have paid money for an expansion that both performs worse and (in some areas) looks worse than the game it was supposed to enhance.
In the case of the screenshots you posted, just because some things look nice doesn't mean the overall experience is good - and even your best examples highlight problems with the lighting system.
I’ve added my Confirmation to the report - looks like there’s ten independent Confirmations so it should click over to Confirmed status at some stage soon, though another few contributions by players wouldn’t hurt
If anyone fancies voting for the broken atmospheric lighting issue, the report is linked in the thread posted by nanite2000 and also here: https://issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/42691
It’s shocking how they were able to downgrade the graphics and make it run worse at the same time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an expansion do that in my 32 years of gaming.
If FDev have moved Elite over to a new rendering engine, it would explain a lot. You have to check nearly every in-game asset and event for unintended bugs.
Valve did something similar when they moved Half Life over to the Source engine, and gave up trying to fix all the bugs that resulted from it:
Half-Life: Source Bugs - Valve Developer Community
I'm on console, but I've seen a lot of gameplay vids and screenshots from Odyssey.
Both look good to me?
I'm sorry but I just don't see how anyone can say Odyssey graphics are "bad". There are differences from Horizons, but "bad"? What the hell is everyone playing that blows ED away?
I've played very few games that look objectively better on console. Red Dead 2, Ghost of Tsushima, maybe a couple more I can't think of right now. But if there's two things about ED I still get impressed by it's graphics and sound.
Idk. Maybe I'm blinded by hardware limitations but I don't see the problem.
Both look good to me?
I'm sorry but I just don't see how anyone can say Odyssey graphics are "bad". There are differences from Horizons, but "bad"? What the hell is everyone playing that blows ED away?
I've played very few games that look objectively better on console. Red Dead 2, Ghost of Tsushima, maybe a couple more I can't think of right now. But if there's two things about ED I still get impressed by it's graphics and sound.
Idk. Maybe I'm blinded by hardware limitations but I don't see the problem.
Wow I'm the only guy who thinks the one on the right is VASTLY better? After he came out of the station, the planet was super black except where light from that star showed a sliver of the edge of planet, I preferred the planet on the left video because you could see the surface more, which might be less realistic but I still liked it better. Other than that though, the left side was dog orange haze compared to the other side.
I dont know why the planet shows up nicer on the left, but thats the only thing I liked better on the left. The rest was clear upgrade.
I dont know why the planet shows up nicer on the left, but thats the only thing I liked better on the left. The rest was clear upgrade.
I would say you're not in a position to objectively judge Odyssey (or anything, for that matter) until you at least try it for yourself.
Did anyone in this thread say Odyssey graphics were objectively "bad"? I may have missed it.
Ummm...most FPS games (which Odyssey is competing with) made in the last few years have superior graphics. Doom was released in 2016 (2 years later than ED, but still 5 years old now) and has stunning graphics, and better performance.
I think hardware limitations really are the limiting factor on console, which is why Odyssey is not going to be released on console until it performs adequately.
In summary - people aren't saying Odyssey graphics are objectively bad. They're saying Odyssey graphics appear to be not as good as Horizons in some cases, while also performing worse overall.
Well, I mean, if we're just basing it on how it looks I don't see why I can't judge screenshots and video footage.
I'd say Odyssey's graphics look a bit better overall.
The issue report https://issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/42762 has clicked over to Confirmed status and can now be voted for 
Nice (Voted!), I hope they will be able to adress this in patch 8. I do not have issues with changes to lighting (in general), but for this case (damaged station) is obvious that things do not work correctly in Odyssey. I had my "wth is this" moment when I was yesterday for a first time in Cornsar system and even checked my graphic settings whether I have all on max.The issue report https://issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/42762 has clicked over to Confirmed status and can now be voted for
It is undeniably one of the best examples of programming art in existence. However, I don't know how many have read the story of the making of Doom 2016. It took many years longer than first expected. One may argue whether releasing anything before an equally convincing result is achieved is premature, but I also think that spoiling consumers to the extent that they take absolute perfection for granted and no longer know any appreciation for the effort it takes to get there makes things ever more difficult for any company in this business. Most will need to cut corners at some point and take their audience along the rest of the journey. If they lose a few of the snottiest brats that way, so there.
I did the burning station run in Odyssey last night. It's a mixed bag to be honest.
Yes, its missing the smoke effects and I had a little bit of a frame rate hit. Not a huge drop in frame rate. it's ok for most of the time and then just drop to 6-7 fps for a moment. (Seem to get that anywhere there's fire to be honest).
However, the explosions in the station were much nicer and the flame effects inside the docking bay really gave you the feeling you weren't safe, even through you'd docked. That felt better than Horizons.
Yes, its missing the smoke effects and I had a little bit of a frame rate hit. Not a huge drop in frame rate. it's ok for most of the time and then just drop to 6-7 fps for a moment. (Seem to get that anywhere there's fire to be honest).
However, the explosions in the station were much nicer and the flame effects inside the docking bay really gave you the feeling you weren't safe, even through you'd docked. That felt better than Horizons.
Your post was great up until that part.
I'm sure you didn't intend for it to come across the way it did, but to me it sounded like you were suggesting that those players who paid for Odyssey and requested a refund, or those who decided to leave the game, were being "snotty brats".
The reality is that most players love this game despite it's flaws, not because of them. But even the most supportive of players have a reasonable expectation that the product they paid money for to expand their current game would not result in a game that was worse than if they hadn't upgraded at all.