Thekze Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 (edited) I have this going on both the live and pts version. The shadows in my game are rough and blocky, how come they're not round and smooth like the dev movies and the screenshots ??? This is taken from 1.1.1 PTS server: PICTURE 1 - BLOCKY SHADOWS PICTURE 2 - BLOCKY SHADOWS MY GRAPHIC SETTINGS taken from the live server, on my 20'' monitor. PICTURE - BLOCKY SHADOWS GRAPHIC SETTINGS My PC specs: Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.110622-1506) Language: English (Regional Setting: English) Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.4GHz Memory: 8192MB RAM Available OS Memory: 8192MB RAM Page File: 1804MB used, 14576MB available Windows Dir: C:\Windows DirectX Version: DirectX 11 DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Gigabyte Super Overclocked model) Display Memory: 4065 MB Dedicated Memory: 993 MB Shared Memory: 3071 MB Current Mode: 1280 x 720 (32 bit) (60Hz) Monitor Model: TSB-TV (Toshiba 42' hdtv) Native Mode: 1920 x 1080(p) (60.000Hz) Output Type: DVI Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um Driver Attributes: Final Retail Driver Date/Size: 10/15/2011 03:53:00, 15693120 bytes WHQL Logo'd: Yes Can I have feedback on this? Am I the only one, is it how the full game is supposed to look?? Edited January 21, 2012 by Thekze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thekze Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 (edited) From Wakantanka in the customer service forums: The reason for this is that shadows are rendered using shadow maps, which is essentially re rendering the object from the lights point of view at a certain resolution, then applying the second rendering as a texture to the ground etc. in monochrome. The lower the res this shadow map the faster it is to do but it looks pixelated, also how far away the light is causes it to be rendered at a greater distance then blown up more causing more pixelated. Outside the light is the planets sun(s) so it seems they are rendering the shadow map from a good distance to have trees and building etc cast shadows properly but it can end up looking pixelated as you see. Indoors however you will typically see smoother shadows because it is based on lights closer to you. They could do AA on the shadows to smooth them, but it slows things down more, so does higher res shadow maps. Maybe they can tweak the outdoor lights to be closer or something too. How about restoring a slider for shadow quality to let us adjust the resolution of shadow maps? Edited January 21, 2012 by Thekze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metharion Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I get the same issue. I just assumed everyone else was experiencing it to? I guess at least you as well. Specs: CPU: I7 2600K Video Card: Nvidia GTX 580 Memory: 16GB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
United_Strafes Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Those blocky shadows are part of the Hero engine, doubt they will go away ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azminday Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 It's not an issue, it's a feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thekze Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 I'm gonna bump this to first page, I'm pretty sure I saw smooth shadows coming from this game at some point in the beta! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Therrak Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 You want to really get steamed? Turn the shadow quality to low and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevoli Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Same issue in Skyrim. It's the way the engine renders the shadow map. It stretches the map over your visible shadow distance, which causes it to be totally pixelated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thekze Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 You want to really get steamed? Turn the shadow quality to low and see what happens. You lose half of what the game is supposed to look like, flat and plain graphics everywhere? That's also why I want to keep this post running! I really want to keep playing this game with shadows enabled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thekze Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 (edited) Same issue in Skyrim. It's the way the engine renders the shadow map. It stretches the map over your visible shadow distance, which causes it to be totally pixelated. I am aware that you can change the following in Skyrim in order to achieve smooth shadows: iShadowMapResolution=4096 iShadowMaskQuarter=5 iBlurDeferredShadowMask=4 fShadowDistance=2500 But let's keep this thread SWTOR related, bump! Edited January 21, 2012 by Thekze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thekze Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 (edited) we're doomed to have these shadows FOREVER. Edited January 22, 2012 by Thekze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deewe Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Yup the shadows are killing me too. /Sad_Panda_face Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apax Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 (edited) It's not you, it's just the way the game is. There are spots where the shadows look very nice and other spots where they're simply horrible. And they have a huge impact on performance either way. Very nice shadow pic. Crappy shadow pic. Only thing that changed between those two pictures was my location on the map. There's a 22 page thread on this topic (with lots of pictures) here: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=172767 Edited January 22, 2012 by Apax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordMantequillas Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 (edited) Fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it fix it. This game looks like it came out in 1999 sometimes and I am NOT happy with the way it is. Why not just spit in my face??? Really starting to grow impatient with this game and all its bugs. Edited January 22, 2012 by LordMantequillas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuno Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 The screen resolution you're using is too low and it comes out weird. Use a Higher res and maybe change settings to medium (except shadows) and it should look ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apax Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 The screen resolution you're using is too low and it comes out weird. Use a Higher res and maybe change settings to medium (except shadows) and it should look ok. That is not the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shampoo Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 (edited) What a pathetic response to what is obviously a genuine issue with the high quality shadow setting. The average user won't understand the technical reasons as to why the high shadows setting looks crappy. Fix the damn slider at least. Or make an option called Lego shadows and maybe start adding features like DK heads and 8-bit character models. Medium looks better. You spend the majority of the damn leveling game outside. I'm not on the Bioware hate wagon, but this is genuinely misleading and needs fixing. Edited March 24, 2012 by Shampoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claymaniac Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 I get very blocky shadows in cutscenes quite often, even with AA set to high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shampoo Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 This is the first time I've seen a Bioware comment that just seems genuinely out of line. It doesn't even acknowledge that there's an issue at all--much less attempt to remedy the situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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