Grass Draw-Distance

[Sahee]

Simple question... my grass level is on maximum (100%) and I can basically see the grass grow in front of me, which looks ridiculous. I'm asking if there is any way to improve the draw distance in this game... the problem is most apparent with grass, but it happens to all other objects as well. If I look at a tree which is far away, the tree will look a lot less detailed and at times makes me think it is just a paintjob on the horizon. There has to be a way to additionally increase the overall detailed draw distance and the grass level... the 100% settings are not enough.

 

Here is a video which is showing the problem pretty clearly:

It seems like it has been like this in the game since 2011... I cannot see even a marginal improvement.

I'm not trolling, I like the game overall... but this is defiantly a problem which has to be discussed. Maybe if enough people moan about it, bioware will try to improve.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Sahee

[Rankyn]

It's annoying, but there's really nothing you can do.

I suppose you could turn the grass all the way down so you didn't see it at all.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Rankyn

[Maeloda]

Yeah... its stupid.

 

I want to have it at 100% but not with this mess.

 

So I turn it off.

 

That's a common pattern in Bioware games.

[Zorvan]

..... Edited January 28, 2015 by Zorvan

[DarkDajin]

And the other side of the spectrum, even at 0% there is so much shrubbery/junk in the newly designed area's (ex. Makeb onwards) that doesn't go away that my poor old PC is having too much FPS issues.

[Sahee]

Does anybody know the reasons for this behavior? It looks like engine limitation to me...

[Klarick]

Simple question... my grass level is on maximum (100%) and I can basically see the grass grow in front of me, which looks ridiculous. I'm asking if there is any way to improve the draw distance in this game... the problem is most apparent with grass, but it happens to all other objects as well. If I look at a tree which is far away, the tree will look a lot less detailed and at times makes me think it is just a paintjob on the horizon. There has to be a way to additionally increase the overall detailed draw distance and the grass level... the 100% settings are not enough.

 

You must be tired Sahee. This troll- complaint is fairly weak IMO. The draw distance of grass? lol, seriously?

 

As for the tree comment, yeah, kind of works like that in real life...unless you have Superman-like vision.

 

I give your post a 2/10 on the troll-guage.

[Sahee]

The draw distance of grass? lol, seriously?

 

It is not a troll complaint and yes I am serious. Grass-Draw Distance is far to small even on 100%.

This is most apparent on planets with much grass, like Tython or Alderaan.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Sahee

[Klarick]

It is not a troll complaint and yes I am serious. Grass-Draw Distance is far to small even on 100%.

This is most apparent on planets which much grass, like Tython or Alderaan.

 

But what does this have to do with bacon flavored ice-cream? I will trying some later today -- can not wait!

 

Draw distances are typically reduced in order to improve game play in areas that have a lot of objects to draw -- like grass. Not everyone has a monster gaming rig. Games with low textured graphics, or cartoonish graphics like WoW and the new Wildstar can get away with a higher draw rate with little degradation of quality of play. SWTOR, however can't as it would significantly impact your gaming.

 

But this all pales in comparison to the goodness of Bacon flavored ice cream!

[Sahee]

But what does this have to do with bacon flavored ice-cream? I will trying some later today -- can not wait!

 

Draw distances are typically reduced in order to improve game play in areas that have a lot of objects to draw -- like grass. Not everyone has a monster gaming rig. Games with low textured graphics, or cartoonish graphics like WoW and the new Wildstar can get away with a higher draw rate with little degradation of quality of play. SWTOR, however can't as it would significantly impact your gaming.

 

But this all pales in comparison to the goodness of Bacon flavored ice cream!

 

I don't see the problem, why should the graphic option limit my freedom to assure that other players who might have bad rigs can play this game, with draw distance set to 100%. Those options are there to toggle/adjust them, not to set them all to the maximum. I personally need at least double the draw distance of what I can currently achieve and it is simply not possible because the slider is already maxxed out. Bioware should increase the slider density (25% = current 100%). This way people who have capable systems can assure that their immersion is not hurt while people with bad systems can leave it on 0%-25%.

 

Example:

The draw distance slider in SWG was impressively big, there was no system after release which could go past ~30% and after 4-5 years people where able to raise it to the maximum which meant that they could see mos eisley from 10000m away. This is how it should work! Players should decide which draw distance they are able to sustain... not bioware.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Sahee

[Rankyn]

Example:

The draw distance slider in SWG was impressively big, there was no system after release which could go past ~30% and after 4-5 years people where able to raise it to the maximum which meant that they could see mos eisley from 10000m away. This is how it should work! Players should decide which draw distance they would like to have... not bioware.

This game =/= SWG.

I'm sure that if SWTOR had been built on the same engine that SWG used, you'd have been able to do the same.

You'd also be running a game with graphics that are a decade behind the times.

You also wouldn't be able to jump or drive over small rocks on the ground.

 

They aren't restricting it to penalize people with better PC's, it's most likely an engine limitation and is unlikely to change any time soon.

So you can either deal with it and be amused by it or turn the grass setting down and avoid it altogether.

[Klarick]

I don't see the problem, why should the graphic option limit my freedom to assure that other players who might have bad rigs can play this game, with draw distance set to 100%. Those options are there to toggle/adjust them, not to set them all to the maximum. I personally need at least double the draw distance of what I can currently achieve and it is simply not possible because the slider is already maxxed out. Bioware should increase the slider density (25% = current 100%). This way people who have capable systems can assure that their immersion is not hurt while people with bad systems can leave it on 0%-25%.

 

Example:

The draw distance slider in SWG was impressively big, there was no system after release which could go past ~30% and after 4-5 years people where able to raise it to the maximum which meant that they could see mos eisley from 10000m away. This is how it should work! Players should decide which draw distance they are able to sustain... not bioware.

 

SWG proves my point. It has gone down, in the lexicons of history, as one of the worst graphical MMO's of all time. It had an extremely low polygon count. The graphics were darn near pixIlated. In SWG the drawing distance could have been 10 miles and a 486DX could have probably handled it. Not true with SWTOR. This game is on the other side of the polygon count.

[Sahee]

This game =/= SWG.

I'm sure that if SWTOR had been built on the same engine that SWG used, you'd have been able to do the same.

You'd also be running a game with graphics that are a decade behind the times.

You also wouldn't be able to jump or drive over small rocks on the ground.

 

They aren't restricting it to penalize people with better PC's, it's most likely an engine limitation and is unlikely to change any time soon.

So you can either deal with it and be amused by it or turn the grass setting down and avoid it altogether.

 

You fail to see what I wanted to explain with this example... I did not intend to compare SWTOR with SWG. I rather wanted to show that the player should decide which graphic options can be sustained by his system, not the developer (bioware). This rule can be applied to any game and any engine. I'm pretty sure that an i7 @4GHZ and a R9 290x (6GB VRAM) +16GB DDR3 low-CL 2333MHZ would have no problem to display at least triple the draw distance of the current 100% slider setting.

 

SWG proves my point. It has gone down, in the lexicons of history, as one of the worst graphical MMO's of all time. It had an extremely low polygon count. The graphics were darn near pixIlated. In SWG the drawing distance could have been 10 miles and a 486DX could have probably handled it. Not true with SWTOR. This game is on the other side of the polygon count.

 

It seems you have no idea what you are talking about, by the time SWG came out its graphics where absolutely marvelous especially in context to its massive open world planets. Comparing its poly count with a nearly 10 year later released SWTOR is an unfair comparison and that's an understatement.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Sahee

[Rankyn]

SWG proves my point. It has gone down, in the lexicons of history, as one of the worst graphical MMO's of all time. It had an extremely low polygon count. The graphics were darn near pixIlated. In SWG the drawing distance could have been 10 miles and a 486DX could have probably handled it. Not true with SWTOR. This game is on the other side of the polygon count.

Actually, SWG was gorgeous *IF* you cranked the graphics all the way up and turned the ugly shadows off, but it would bring all but the highest end machines to a crawl.

However, aside from the character models, the architecture and landscape looked like they were taken from the original EverQuest and given a sci-fi look because that low-poly count was very noticeable in the structures.

[Rankyn]

You fail to see what I wanted to explain with this example... I did not intend to compare SWTOR with SWG. I rather wanted to show that the player should decide which graphic options can be sustained by his system, not the developer (bioware). This rule can be applied to any game and any engine. I'm pretty sure that an i7 @4GHZ and a R9 290x (6GB VRAM) +16GB DDR3 low-CL 2333MHZ would have no problem to display at least triple the draw distance of the current 100% slider setting.

And you seem to have missed my point that it's likely an engine limitation rather than a restriction being made by the developers.

It doesn't matter how many pixels your machine can push if the game engine itself can't generate them efficiently.

And even if it is an intentional restriction, it's probably done for the sake of server stability.

[Sahee]

And you seem to have missed my point that it's likely an engine limitation rather than a restriction being made by the developers..

 

No, I did not "miss your point":

Does anybody know the reasons for this behavior? It looks like engine limitation to me...

 

If it in fact an Engine limitation, which was my first assumption, than I would like to know the exact reason why, as it makes the engine very weak in my eyes. 30-40m maximal Draw Distance for the sake of server stability and/or engine limitations... if that's true than it is very sad. It looks like the only workaround is to set the grass level setting to 0%...

Edited December 22, 2013 by Sahee

[Klarick]

If it in fact an Engine limitation, which was my first assumption, than I would like to know the exact reason why as it makes the engine very weak in my eyes.

 

Just stop Sahee. Just stop. Quit trolling. What difference would ANY answer be to you. Lets say the answer is The HERO engine is so bad, horrible, a travesty to modern society, and it is the reason cats hate dogs. Would that be enough of an answer for you?

 

In the end, it just doesnt matter. It is a red herring that you are using to troll the forum.

 

Why WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW? What difference would it make for you to know the exact reason of why a blade of grass isnt being drawn to your specifications?

 

Who cares that, IN YOUR EYES, the engine is very weak? Who are you? Who in your "special snowflake" brain are you? If you dont like it then dont play it. If you dont like the hero engine stop playing games that use it. It really is simple.

 

Bottomline: You dont need to know the exact reason that a blade of grass doesnt behave the way you think it should, as it would change absolutly nothing.

[Sahee]

Just stop Sahee. Just stop. Quit trolling. What difference would ANY answer be to you. Lets say the answer is The HERO engine is so bad, horrible, a travesty to modern society, and it is the reason cats hate dogs. Would that be enough of an answer for you?

 

If that is the case it would be an answer, yes.

I want to know the reason why my system is heavily underutilized in SWTOR while I'm unable to do something against it... if it is because of a weak engine and/or server stability issues, than I would like to know that yes. I'm a new SWTOR player so I'm not into the whole subject.

 

...and don't call me a troll, I'm as far away from a troll as it can get.

Just because I'm bluffed by the weak grass draw distance in this game, does not mean that I am not enjoying it.

 

Bottomline: You dont need to know the exact reason that a blade of grass doesnt behave the way you think it should, as it would change absolutly nothing.

 

It's amazing that you are able to decide on my feelings... how high is your midichlorian count?

That quoted post reminds me of : "Those are not the droids you are looking for".

Edited December 22, 2013 by Sahee

[mecher]

SWG proves my point. It has gone down, in the lexicons of history, as one of the worst graphical MMO's of all time. It had an extremely low polygon count. The graphics were darn near pixIlated. In SWG the drawing distance could have been 10 miles and a 486DX could have probably handled it. Not true with SWTOR. This game is on the other side of the polygon count.

 

Yea, either WoWdrone, or just outright clueless.

[Sahee]

Is there an official posts on the engine limitations of the hero engine? I can't find one...

Such a low grass drawing distance mean that bioware should come up with reasons, simple as that.

I mean there are many other problems which may are engine related... like the slight microstutters even on 60 fps (vsync) while the server is under heavily load... or the sometimes weird shadows which look like triangles... and please guys don't tell me its because of my system... google is full of complaints regarding those issues.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Sahee

[mecher]

???? My post was directed towards Klarick....

[Klarick]

If that is the case it would be an answer, yes.

I want to know the reason why my system is heavily underutilized in SWTOR while I'm unable to do something against it... if it is because of a weak engine and/or server stability issues, than I would like to know that yes. I'm a new SWTOR player so I'm not into the whole subject.

 

...and don't call me a troll, I'm as far away from a troll as it can get.

Just because I'm bluffed by the weak grass draw distance in this game, does not mean that I am not enjoying it.

 

Here is the answer Sahee:

It is because of a weak engine and/or server stability issues.

Thats it. There you go.

 

Now what? You have a decison. Play the game or leave the game. It really is your decison.

 

You knowing impacts nothing concerning SWTOR.

[Sahee]

???? My post was directed towards Klarick....

 

I've edited the post... sorry.

[Klarick]

???? My post was directed towards Klarick....

 

Im flattered.

 

What is your stance on bacon flavored ice cream? Im thinking it must be awesome? Im having some later today -- cant wait!

[Rasen]

Im flattered.

 

What is your stance on bacon flavored ice cream? Im thinking it must be awesome? Im having some later today -- cant wait!

 

Ignore this guy everyone! He's clearly a troll! Only a troll says they are having bacon later and doesn't offer it to everyone else. He's taunting me... Feed the hungry man!