General The Draw distance and The LOD behavior

[RetroPaladin]

Unfortunately, the draw distance and the LOD behavior are quite bad in game.

I have several suggestions to improve this part:

1. Greatly increase the maximum drawing distance of models and effects.
If people will have performance problems, they can reduce it in Settings.

2. Make LODs and original models to fade in/out. This should affect the visual effects on distance too, like light sources.
LOD models are popping out of nowhere and the moment of transition between the original model and LOD is very visible.
Same for lights, Fleet Carrier with popping lights looks disgusting.

3. Exobiological entities have awful LODs - simple billboards (2D sprites) without lightning. For example, Aleoidas.
I suggest to place them on the last, farthest LOD level and use the optimized 3D models which will be affected by lightning for closer LOD models.
Billboards and popping out LOD behavior make Exobiology as the visually worst part.

4. LOD placeholder for the inner part of the stations - please remove it or disable it on much farther distance!
It disappears only if we are near the airlock and it looks disgusting, especially in combination with popping out behavior.

5. Some entities completely don't have LODs - Meteorites, Brozites etc. Probably something else, CMDRs can mention them in the comments.

6. The Titan's graveyard (in the last stage, no caustic cloud) has no LOD in supercruise. Not even a glowing point like stations have.

Thank you!

 

[Shurimal]

I second to that. LOD popping is quite jarring in E: D.

Also, for the love of Galaxy, can we have a fix for the flickering shadows—pretty please?

And a QC check pass on all ships—there are mesh gaps, missing polygons, clipping and other errors on many, and it's quite noticable ever since Odyssey allowed us to admire the commander's best friends from much closer distances

 

[Fizzatron]

I agree with these suggestions in general, even if I don't agree with the harshness of the tone of OP. The main ones would be the fleet carrier lights and station interior for me. The shadow drawing distances also could be more configurable as well if possible.

 

[Cosmo]

Seconded, the draw distance and LOD should be increased a lot, because popups and low detail makes the game experience worse. This would be optional for high end PCs in the graphics settings. Players with low PC specs could put this setting lower.

If ED is to thrive for another decade then it needs much higher graphics settings via the menu.

 

[Fnord Velkor]

I find it quite insulting that in this day and age we have the nonsense on planet surfaces of meteorites and outcrops suddenly popping into visible existence at 99 metres - why? None of that nonsense in Legacy, shame we can't surface prospect in Legacy for our Live commander any more.

P.S. I also notice the popping effect on outpost landing pads as well nowadays, that didn't happen before - now you approach an outpost you see a black rectangle where the pad is supposed to be and then magically it pops into view (not moving into position, but being drawn).

 

[RetroPaladin]

I don't agree with the harshness of the tone of OP

Please ignore it. My English is not the best.
My only intention was to declare some game issues and to suggest some solutions.

 

[RetroPaladin]

nonsense on planet surfaces of meteorites and outcrops suddenly popping into visible existence at 99 metres

Yes, I forgot to mention this. Meteorites and so on don't have LODs at all, lol.

 

[Fizzatron]

I find it quite insulting that in this day and age we have the nonsense on planet surfaces of meteorites and outcrops suddenly popping into visible existence at 99 metres - why? None of that nonsense in Legacy, shame we can't surface prospect in Legacy for our Live commander any more.

P.S. I also notice the popping effect on outpost landing pads as well nowadays, that didn't happen before - now you approach an outpost you see a black rectangle where the pad is supposed to be and then magically it pops into view (not moving into position, but being drawn).

I've seen it in other games so it's not necessarily a Frontier/Cobra fault. It's one of the reasons why I hope for the Cobra version of Nanite, that should help quite a bit. Obviously I'm not holding my breath, even if Frontier are actively pursuing the implementation of it, I would imagine it will quite an undertaking.

 

[Shurimal]

If ED is to thrive for another decade then it needs much higher graphics settings via the menu.

True. It doesn't need to look like Unreal Engine 5's "almost-indistinguishable-from-reality" tech demos, but it needs to look ageless, without things that scream "this was made in 2010-s". Just like games like Breath of the Wild will probably still look good in 2034.

 

[Cosmo]

True. It doesn't need to look like Unreal Engine 5's "almost-indistinguishable-from-reality" tech demos, but it needs to look ageless, without things that scream "this was made in 2010-s".

A better comparison is Eve Online and No Man's Sky which received big graphics upgrades over the years. NMS as recent as July 2024, and EVE in March 2023. ED also needs that to draw in new players and inactive players who want a more immersive and current-gen experience.

For example better anti-aliasing and ray-tracing is possible by upgrading ED to DirectX 12. Ray tracing doesn't work with DirectX 11. Better draw distance doesn't need DX12 though. ED had ultra graphics settings that went further than the current max in-game graphics such as better shadows, more detailed terrain and dust effects.

Now, ED is PC-only so the last-gen console specs don't limit ED anymore.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Now, ED is PC-only so the last-gen console specs don't limit ED anymore.

True, the only thing that linits the development of this game is funding, and I seriously doubt FD will be throwing more millions down the pan - although perhaps Shaun would sell FD some assets from NMS, as it gets so many updates and stuff...

 

[RetroPaladin]

Also, the Titan's graveyard (in the last stage, no caustic cloud) has no LOD or a glowing point (like stations) in supercruise