*sigh* I switched back to my PS4 account to knock out some of the Guardian grind on there and now all I can notice is shimmering shadows when I'm driving around. Thanks Duck.

I was on the Gnosis when it was attacked (that's a "sigh" in itself), but I then found out there was a Thargoid base in the system. I thought this would at least make the trip worthwhile from an explorer's perspective, but when I visited it, it looked horrible thanks to the terrible shadows and shaders. I also thought someone else might be able to let me inside, since I didn't have the "key" to unlock the door, but then I remembered the SRV bug...

I wonder if the artists who spend weeks making these things realize that the experience is totally ruined because someone else on the team can't write a decent shader.

The sad thing is that I swear I'm often hitting 60 FPS on my PS4 Slim. I'm willing to bet that standard PS4 gets the exact same settings as the Pro's Performance mode, which has probably been nerfed graphically to guarantee 60 FPS. That's just lazy programming, because the Slim can definitely handle a higher quality at a locked 30 FPS, which I think most of us would choose. Heck, if you're going to be lazy Frontier, then just leave the "Performance / Quality" setting visible on ALL PS4s.
 
At this point it's not just Slim. I'm sure the Pro is giving me a considerably better experience than the Slim but having just done the Guardian grind on the XB1X and now doing it on the Pro, all I can think of is that the PS4 version is just more ugly.

I used to think that the XB1X wasn't that much of an improvement but now that I'm doing direct comparisons between the two I'm really noticing the difference. On the Pro at points it's like driving on a shimmering lake because the texture edges / shadows just seem to shift all over the place.

It's tempting to just give up on the PS4 version but unfortunately that's where all my cosmetics are and that's the platform that the people who got me into Elite use. They no longer play due to the grind but it's nice to think that if they ever did come back then I would have an up to date account that's ready to help them. Really I should just sack off Elite altogether but then people like Yamiks make a video that make me thing "maybe, just maybe, something interesting could happen in game".
 
At this point it's not just Slim. I'm sure the Pro is giving me a considerably better experience than the Slim but having just done the Guardian grind on the XB1X and now doing it on the Pro, all I can think of is that the PS4 version is just more ugly.

I used to think that the XB1X wasn't that much of an improvement but now that I'm doing direct comparisons between the two I'm really noticing the difference. On the Pro at points it's like driving on a shimmering lake because the texture edges / shadows just seem to shift all over the place.

It's tempting to just give up on the PS4 version but unfortunately that's where all my cosmetics are and that's the platform that the people who got me into Elite use. They no longer play due to the grind but it's nice to think that if they ever did come back then I would have an up to date account that's ready to help them. Really I should just sack off Elite altogether but then people like Yamiks make a video that make me thing "maybe, just maybe, something interesting could happen in game".

The shaders are definitely broken, and I am "highly confident" that it's not a hardware limitation. Look at this:

[video=youtube_share;lDczlgIJJ9c]https://youtu.be/lDczlgIJJ9c[/video]

Rubbish. That's broken code, just like the SRV bug and the $#SystemName bug and dozens of other bugs that go unpatched for months and months. I don't understand how David Braben as CEO can be proud of this. He's the guy who made Elite for 8 bit computers with 64K of memory, using amazing techniques like XOR screen clearing. Sloppy, broken code should disgust him way more than it disgusts me...
 
I took my Anaconda out tonight, and holy crap it looks bad thanks to these terrible shaders. It seems the latest update has made things even worse. It's so sad, so pathetic. This game used to look amazing. And at least when the 2.4 update brought some of us Minecraft textures, Frontier actually cared. Now it looks worse than ever, and nobody cares. Q4 had better fix this, or I don't care how great the new exploration content is, I'm trading in my Conda for a horse (you know what I'm talking about).
 
I took my Anaconda out tonight, and holy crap it looks bad thanks to these terrible shaders. It seems the latest update has made things even worse. It's so sad, so pathetic. This game used to look amazing. And at least when the 2.4 update brought some of us Minecraft textures, Frontier actually cared. Now it looks worse than ever, and nobody cares. Q4 had better fix this, or I don't care how great the new exploration content is, I'm trading in my Conda for a horse (you know what I'm talking about).

Indeed something must have changed in a recent patch...

I haven't had much playtime recently after starting a new job a few weeks ago so i don't know if it's been the same for a while, but when flying towards the "mailslot" of a station a few days ago i was thinking "Damn that looks rough - Old Duck would have a few things to say about this view!" :) .

(I also recently started flying an Anaconda, while i doubt the type of ship we're in at any one time has any effect on the games' visuals, though you do sit further back and have more of the ship animated in front of you than in many other ships in which you mostly sit at the front of, but again it PROBABLY doesn't matter... :) .)
 
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stormyuk

Volunteer Moderator
I haven't had much playtime recently after starting a new job a few weeks ago so i don't know if it's been the same for a while, but when flying towards the "mailslot" of a station a few days ago i was thinking "Damn that looks rough - Old Duck would have a few things to say about this view!" :) .

I had similar after taking a break and playing a bit this and last week, thinking, I am sure the graphics used to be better than this, but, the biggest thing which struck me wasn't the shadows but the terrible anti-aliasing, in stations its like the whole screen is flickering, I think there needs to be a warning on start-up about flashing images. It was made worse for me by playing other games on the PS4 which don't exhibit this kind of thing.
 
I've been grinding out all of the tech broker unlocks on the PS4 this week and it definitely seems to have gotten worse. Floors of the Guardian sites flicker, stations flicker, the nose of my Condo flickers. Even though the shadows are considerably better on the Pro compared to Duck's Slim, even I can see "dancing" shadows from time to time.

Now that I've unlocked everything I had hoped to build a Thargoid Scout killing on the PS4 next but it just doesn't seem worth it when the PS4 is providing such a substandard experience.
 
I had similar after taking a break and playing a bit this and last week, thinking, I am sure the graphics used to be better than this, but, the biggest thing which struck me wasn't the shadows but the terrible anti-aliasing, in stations its like the whole screen is flickering, I think there needs to be a warning on start-up about flashing images. It was made worse for me by playing other games on the PS4 which don't exhibit this kind of thing.

One of the many reasons I decided not to keep the PS4 Pro I bought this summer is that I swear the aliasing / flickering is worse on the Pro in quality mode than it is the Slim. I think I even commented on it back then.

I've been grinding out all of the tech broker unlocks on the PS4 this week and it definitely seems to have gotten worse. Floors of the Guardian sites flicker, stations flicker, the nose of my Condo flickers. Even though the shadows are considerably better on the Pro compared to Duck's Slim, even I can see "dancing" shadows from time to time.

Now that I've unlocked everything I had hoped to build a Thargoid Scout killing on the PS4 next but it just doesn't seem worth it when the PS4 is providing such a substandard experience.

I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice this. Sometimes there really is a wolf, LOL.
 

stormyuk

Volunteer Moderator
One of the many reasons I decided not to keep the PS4 Pro I bought this summer is that I swear the aliasing / flickering is worse on the Pro in quality mode than it is the Slim. I think I even commented on it back then.

I don't know if its gotten worse or if due to playing other games on the Pro (which don't do it, or are seriously not as bad) it just bothers me more now.
 
Here's a clip from my Anaconda in space:

[video=youtube_share;S_ThKgZQbgE]https://youtu.be/S_ThKgZQbgE[/video]

"Space" is emphasized because the original "elephant butt leather" problem used to only occur when flying over the surface of a planet. Cockpits generally looked good in space, but after the latest update, this is no longer the case. The cockpits of really posh ships like the Clipper or Orca are even worse. I don't own a PS3 game that looks this bad...

The only ships not adversely affected (probably because the shadows are almost the same color as the consoles) are the Lakon ships. So the only gameplay I have left that's not ruined by these horrible graphics is deep space exploration in a Lakon ship. I hate the Asp, so Jenny is exploring in a Type-7 and Duck in a Keelback.

Has any other company taken a decent game and made it progressively worse with each update?

Note - YouTube compression tends to "smooth over" the flickering, sharply gradated shadows compared to original content.
 

stormyuk

Volunteer Moderator
Interestingly I looked at your last video after this one, and the stations on your slim are a flickering mess too due to the anti-aliasing too.

I will check the Anaconda shaders next time I am on as I am in it somewhere.
 
All i can say is that the shadows for me on the pro are great(when in quality mode), but weirdly enough asteroids no longer have any textures. (or barely). It's like that old texture problem again, but ive only noticed it on asteroids.

Edit: I have however had the feeling for quite some time that the game looks worse in general, specifically planets. I used to always be amazed by the sights when flying planetside, but lately i've caught myself double checking if the game is on "quality mode" at all.
 
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...I hate the Asp, so Jenny is exploring in a Type-7 and Duck in a Keelback...[/SIZE]


What's to hate about the Asp?

I and many others would say the it's a great ship - i spent most of the pretty long time between my Cobra and Python in an Asp and i thought it was great and i'm still very fond of it, though the Keelback which you often praise i was very disappointed in and sold soon after getting it.

(I also flew a Type 6 for a while in between my Cobra and Asp and liked it, but the Keelback to me had nothing going for it but a fighter hanger and it was too compromised by it) :) .
 
What's to hate about the Asp? I and many others would say the it's a great ship...

Dude, you seriously want to argue about my opinion of a ship? I didn't say that the Asp is garbage, I said that I hate the Asp. Personal preference is not debatable. Though in hindsight I'll hone my statement by saying "I strongly dislike the Asp." There are very few things in this world I actively hate, though Elephant Butt Leather may be on that short list ;)

As for why I "dislike" the Asp and like my Keelback, I have my reasons - what it is it to you? The galaxy is more diverse if we don't all fly the same ship.

ps - I strongly dislike the Python as well :p
 
Dude, you seriously want to argue about my opinion of a ship? I didn't say that the Asp is garbage, I said that I hate the Asp. Personal preference is not debatable. Though in hindsight I'll hone my statement by saying "I strongly dislike the Asp." There are very few things in this world I actively hate, though Elephant Butt Leather may be on that short list ;)

As for why I "dislike" the Asp and like my Keelback, I have my reasons - what it is it to you? The galaxy is more diverse if we don't all fly the same ship.

ps - I strongly dislike the Python as well :p

Is it the farting sound?
 
Elephant Butt Leather!
Elephant Butt Leather!!
Elephant Butt Leather!!!

DohErb1XoAABf-q.jpg
 
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