Weird texture and graphic effects in Starports

Wildeheart · Jun 22, 2022

This has probably been mentioned before but I couldn't find it on a quick search. When in a large dock with an exit to the side if you stand facing the wall with the station name and walk left or right the image shifts with you...

Notice the vertical line shift through the "U" in Rushworth.

To add to this when using any elevator the door bulges outward towards you when the door menu is accessed. I am not understanding the graphical perspective shifting these issues represent but I am sure they are affecting performance if they are occurring elsewhere as we move.

Agony_Aunt · Jun 22, 2022

That's bizarre.

Arioch · Jun 22, 2022

This is due to the decals “floating” just above their parent surface - it stops z-fighting from occurring (the flickering you sometimes see when two textures are on the same surface.

It’s easily visible in VR but you can see it with the camera suite as well.

Wildeheart · Jun 22, 2022

Arioch said:
This is due to the decals “floating” just above their parent surface - it stops z-fighting from occurring (the flickering you sometimes see when two textures are on the same surface.

It’s easily visible in VR but you can see it with the camera suite as well.

Hmm, makes sense. This was experienced and captured on foot in first person perspective not with free camera, just as a note.

What would your thoughts be on the lift doors bulging outward on menu access? My first thought was something VR related due to the menu to use the lift shifting your perspective to focus it. Still it is being experienced on a flat monitor as well and not sure it is a necessary thing for the background to deform as the menu is brought to focus.

Arioch · Jun 22, 2022

Wyldeheart said:
Hmm, makes sense. This was experienced and captured on foot in first person perspective not with free camera, just as a note.

What would your thoughts be on the lift doors bulging outward on menu access? My first thought was something VR related due to the menu to use the lift shifting your perspective to focus it. Still it is being experienced on a flat monitor as well and not sure it is a necessary thing for the background to deform as the menu is brought to focus.

I’m not sure what you’re describing here - is it a slight zoom-in to the lift door interaction box that is being seen?

It’s not something I can see in VR as the on-foot stuff is all virtual flatscreen and if the full-VR camera suite is used then interactions aren’t possible.

Wildeheart · Jun 22, 2022

Arioch said:
I’m not sure what you’re describing here - is it a slight zoom-in to the lift door interaction box that is being seen?

It’s not something I can see in VR as the on-foot stuff is all virtual flatscreen and if the full-VR camera suite is used then interactions aren’t possible.

Aye, the slight zoom-in to the lift door interaction box. To me it seems to deform the lift behind it. Could just be a 'how I'm experiencing it' thing not an actual deformation of the background. :shrugs:

CMDR Von Abrahart · Jun 22, 2022

Its a spooky ghost sign

wooooooooooo ooooooooo. Funky ghost sign of 1776 !!!!

CMDR Von Abrahart · Jun 22, 2022

CMDR Von Abrahart said:
Its a spooky ghost sign wooooooooooo ooooooooo. Funky ghost sign of 1776 !!!!

Just realised I referenced a TV Cartoon series of my youth

Sethioz · Jun 22, 2022

I have seen weirder things:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjUyzM_1YtE&list=PLCrG96EBohANtF49qhBuRYl1uFyESy5qt&index=32

unfortunetely after steam messed up, I lost all my steam screenshots, but I had some cases where boxes were blocking the elevator in carrier, when I came out of the elevator, I was inside the boxes. In another instance, near the elevator door, there were boxes that had no hitboxes, you was able to just walk thru them.

but don't worry, those are features! It's interactive texture that changes based on how you look at it, it's way of the future!
The ship marker running away from me, is designed to keep commanders in shape! You can get fat sitting in the command seat 24/7 without any exercise, so devs just help the commanders keep up the good shape .. nothing wrong with chasing the marker every now and then to keep that fat down.

Jack Schitt · Jun 24, 2022

Arioch said:
This is due to the decals “floating” just above their parent surface - it stops z-fighting from occurring (the flickering you sometimes see when two textures are on the same surface.

It’s easily visible in VR but you can see it with the camera suite as well.

Yep. Many of the game textures, especially text, have had this issue for years and in some cases it was extreme. The first reference I can find in my own bug reports/videos was from gamma (November 2014). Some of the station text was so far above its surface that you could almost get the nose of a small ship under it.

FD were generally on the ball when it came to fixing these things, or at least reducing the gap to an absolute minimum without introducing z-fighting. But the ability to get really close to things in Odyssey served to highlight it again. For instance on certain ships the nameplate text was so far above the hull plates that it was slicing through your character's ankles if you walked on the hull. But this too improved over time (although it's still not perfect) so it's still worth reporting examples.

I guess the only way to completely eliminate this would be to internally pre-generate a customised texture with the text baked in, and display that rather than using a default texture with a text layer above it. Only FD will know why it wasn't done this way, but I'm guessing simplicity. In most cases there was little reason for anyone to get a camera close enough to notice, at least until Odyssey.