I want my Very Low Graphics settings back!!

[xordevoreaux]

1 hour ago, LD_Little_Dragon said:

performance issue, it's an accessablity issue. 

Read my post, a little bit more carefully. I used the word appearance, not performance.  I didn't once talk about frame rate or anything of the like.

[MightyMessi]

So glad I found this thread, I thought it was just me. The low graphics setting is so dark, not great at all. Here's hoping Very Low Graphics gets re-instated soon. 

[ThanderSnB]

This is going to make that one datacron on Onderon a pain for new players (or anyone trying to get it on alt servers). Standard practice was turning graphics to the lowest to make everything bright enough to see (it's a super dark cave with traps).

[raikme]

20 hours ago, HavocNation said:

YOu must be playing on a computer from the 90s....everything is maxed for me i get a billion fps and my computer is like 5 years old at this point

They said multiple times, IT IS NOT a performance issue. Did you even read?

 

They should never remove options from the game, such a dumb decision again.

[slyfoxmartin]

13 hours ago, DeannaVoyager said:

 

I'm just happy I've done the datacron in Ossus? (I think), where we had to do the jumping puzzle in a dark cave. I would still be doing it without Very Low settings...

For the people who still need to do it, tough luck for you guys.

Only datacron I don't have yet, I'm in trouble! Knew I should have done it before lol  I'm hoping they fix this.  I love raiding and running through a raid by watching peoples name plates is gonna be interesting.  I have a raid tonight, VMDP, let's see how dark it's gonna be lol  Good thing I'm a healer and don't have to look around for the boss lol

[Ozpiume]

I play Yodoz on a guild I wont mention because I am not trying to advertise. I would like to point out three serious problems with them removing very low settings from games even if it does not affect me personally.

* People playing from different countries trying to play with their friends on the American servers already have a high ping, they do not need forced high graphics making this game possibly unplayable for them.

* This keeps everyone around the world that has cheaper computers from logging on and playing SWTOR. This game might take a HUGE hit finacially if they force people who dont have expensive computers into a graphics mode that makes it hard to play.

* The Very Low graphics setting is something a -LOT- of people who play GSF use because its much easier on the eyes. There might be less people playing GSF or Flashpoints/Warzones or heavy graphic expansions like Knights of the Fallen because it puts a really big strain on their system.

 

Again, this does not affect myself or my laptop. But it does affect the community as a whole and I do not want to see players leaving as we have many players from other countries using the US servers this is my main concern it really hurts their ability to play a stable game.

[xordevoreaux]

6 hours ago, Ozpiume said:

This keeps everyone around the world that has cheaper computers from logging on and playing SWTOR. This game might take a HUGE hit finacially if they force people who dont have expensive computers into a graphics mode that makes it hard to play.

Expecting software houses to maintain products intentionally and perpetually mired and married to the woefully decrepit DirectX9 API until the end of time is not logical.

If other games upgrading is any indication, such as Everquest 2 moving to 64 bit or Elder Scrolls Online upgrading to a more robust DirectX platform, indications are that such upgrades are becoming the industry norm, not the exception, and publishing houses are moving on. 

Think about all the fans of Sims 4 out there whose computers have 32-bit processors who'll never play the current version of The Sims 4 ever again because EA sunset the 32-bit version. 32-bit is finished. Done.  DirectX9, which is what SWTOR is based on, faces the same fate across the gaming industry.

 

Both of my computers are far too old to upgrade to Windows 11. Their time has come and gone. I will be forced eventually to upgrade if I expect to be using computers at home at all after October 14th, 2025 when support ends for Windows 10. That's just something I'm facing.

Yes, your feelings are completely valid about being caught in the chasm between a retiring technology and software houses adopting more modern APIs. I get that. I'm not discounting how you feel, not at all.

The day will come, who knows precisely, when no software publishing house maintains a 32-bit DirectX9 MMO because the software platforms they're based on are no longer supported  by their publishers. The last holdouts will eventually die. Everquest 1, which came out in 1999, and which I have a certain fond nostalgia for, no exception.

 

We're in a transitional period between old and new, and the industry is moving on, and like the examples I've cited, software houses are making that painful choice. They want their product offerings to remain competitive in the current market, and they're doing what they need to make that happen.

It's not out of callousness or greed that gaming houses are doing this.
It's about their survival.

Edited March 30, 2023 by xordevoreaux

[MortenJessen]

And here I was, thinking that the playerbase had cried out for 64bit mode since 2010 (yes, that's right). Not knowing the consequences, they got what they wanted. And look and behold, the playerbase is in uproar (yes I have seen the not so nice comments about BW employees and their various bodyparts and what people want to do to/with them on Reddit. I can understand why BW dont want to listen to the players after reading that) when the consequences of the upgrade sees the light. But simply put, the low settings are most likely not possible anymore, because 64 bit allows the engine to use/acces more ressources at the minimum range, than 32 bit even allows for (yes, I read that that is actually a thing), so it litterally did not make the cut. The ENGINE simply cant go any lower on 64 bit.

Edited March 30, 2023 by MortenJessen

[iamnotacrook]

Oh yes, this is needed for me as well. Just to brighten up some places. Might need it again when new datacrons comes, that one on Ruhnuk was a pain to get without low graphics, way to dark in that cave that you had to jump in.

Edited March 30, 2023 by iamnotacrook

[eabevella]

1 hour ago, MortenJessen said:

And here I was, thinking that the playerbase had cried out for 64bit mode since 2010 (yes, that's right). Not knowing the consequences, they got what they wanted. And look and behold, the playerbase is in uproar (yes I have seen the not so nice comments about BW employees and their various bodyparts and what people want to do to/with them on Reddit. I can understand why BW dont want to listen to the players after reading that) when the consequences of the upgrade sees the light. But simply put, the low settings are most likely not possible anymore, because 64 bit allows the engine to use/acces more ressources at the minimum range, than 32 bit even allows for (yes, I read that that is actually a thing), so it litterally did not make the cut. The ENGINE simply cant go any lower on 64 bit.

You know what, if one of the developers actually come out and say this is the reason of "removing" ultra low, I would be fine with it. It would suck for the people who have accessibility issue, but at least they'll know the reason of the decision and maybe BW can make a special mode for them (like the color blind mode).

The problem is, as always, the complete silent on the topic.

[Ozpiume]

So you guys are saying that because of this new 64-bit mode, we can no longer have the game run at very low graphics?

That does not address the fact that I know a lot of gamers, at least in my guild, used very low graphics so they could connect from other countries with a huge ping.

This game -will- take a hit from players playing from other countries. I have played people on this game on the Star Forge (American Server) from all over the world. I would like to continue to play with my friends from all over the world and being forced into a low-setting mode might keep some of them from doing so.( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[MortenJessen]

I am not saying it is the sole reason. I am saying it is the most likely, because going from 32 to 64 is quite an upgrade in graphics quality. And what pc ressources the game (engine) can now make use of.

[Toraak]

6 minutes ago, MortenJessen said:

I am not saying it is the sole reason. I am saying it is the most likely, because going from 32 to 64 is quite an upgrade in graphics quality. And what pc ressources the game (engine) can now make use of.

Here's the question then. Just because going from 32 bit to 64 bit is a graphics upgrad,e was it necessary for them to remove the Option for the very low setting? Personally I'm not asking them to remove ultra or some such nonsense. I'm asking for the same option that people that want Higher graphic settings get. A chance to play the game on the setting I find to be the best for me. For me that means the Very Low graphics setting.

[xordevoreaux]

14 minutes ago, Toraak said:

Just because going from 32 bit to 64 bit is a graphics upgrad,e

Migrating from 32-bit to 64-bit, in and of itself, does not beget a graphics upgrade.  It can facilitate one, but is not one.

[Ozpiume]

I just talked to a new friend I made in the game who likes using high graphics and they pointed out that this will take a toll on everyone who is forced from very low to low graphics on their FPS (Frames per second) For those who don't know, it makes the game seem to run sluggishly when they have less FPS. I have a decent laptop and I am already getting that.

As someone who -loves- Swotor AND Bioware I would appreciate it if they enable a very low graphics setting in their next update so people around the world can enjoy this fantastic game ( ͡• ͜ʖ ͡• )

[LD_Little_Dragon]

Everything about the 64 bit move is great for me.  Reduced loadtimes, better performance all around ... except things are harder to see.

Are their QA testers clueless about how to test for for accessability?  Running low or high with a 'better lighting' option would be fine.  The Very Low setting for shaders was essentially a 'turn on the lights' setting for me.

Case in point: the caves on Onderon and the SnV operation - previous to the update I could run through them and see everything clearly.  It was fun.  Now it's dark shadows everywhere.  It's not fun to be squinting all the time.  It's a cave, I get it, it's supposed to be dark and atmospheric. 

I DON'T CARE ABOUT ATMOSPHERE.  I want to see things clearly. I don't use a puny little candle to light one small part of a room in real life; I use a nice overhead light that makes the whole room bright.

Interiors in Swtor, including my strongholds, are terrible now, it's like the whole galaxy is trying to save money by turning off the lights.  So dark and gloomy looking.  When was the last time you walked into a public building and there was one light at the door and the rest of the room was in shadows?

If I adjust my monitor settings so the interiors are bright enough for me, then the outside sunny areas and the quickbar/inventories end up too bright.  It's a no-win situation. 

... rant over.

[StephMTV]

thank you for this thread seems that i'm not the only one who have problem ^^for me its more like a loading problem...very low setting 1-2 min top max moving place to an another but now travel on 3 planet take me 25 min its nuts,in low setting before the upgrade it was still fine the loading but now it just destroy and i cannot raid properly annymore..hope they fix this soon or i get my money somewere else who  still care about people who cant pay for a high computer  

Edited March 30, 2023 by StephMTV

[afwhoefuwov]

Why do you keep removing stuff that was working fine before? Very Low mode was working well for my eye sights (read: not performance but visual).  Not sure if I am more angry about this or the fact that Vicious Slash animation on Jugg is still broken (another feature that was working fine) - at least that one got acknowledged and hopefully a fix will be out soon. 

[Christie_Swift]

I thought it was just me. This  patch really sucks big time with all the crappy changes. I support this request and miss dearly my very low shader setting,  Please bring it BACK!

[Ozpiume]

I appreciate this thread getting some traction and hope we will see an official response from Bioware soon. I have stopped playing warzones right now and that was a lot of fun for the game for me and Yodoz.

[Demosthinez]

The game is just to dark to play. I will take the 64 bit whatever, I will not use whatever setting they don't want. Just make the dang thing lighter so we can see. Is that to difficult? I can't play a game I love, and have spent a lot of time and money on over the years, and supported loudly, and it ticks me off. 

Are we just numbers on a tally sheet, or is somebody listening?!?

 

Edit: I reinstalled directX and things seem to be working... for now.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Demosthinez
Update information

[raikme]

If you have an Nvidia card you can use Geforce Freestyle to control the game's brightness, gamma, you can also brighten shadows and many other things.

It's possible with AMD cards too but I don't know how the AMD software works.

[LD_Little_Dragon]

35 minutes ago, raikme said:

If you have an Nvidia card you can use Geforce Freestyle to control the game's brightness, gamma, you can also brighten shadows and many other things.

It's possible with AMD cards too but I don't know how the AMD software works.

Individual settings for shadows didn't seem possible with  my system, and basic 'brighten' options were as bad as fiddling with my monitor for targetting the wrong things.  I bit the bullet and installed ReShade, it has a shader  package with eye adaptation available.

It helps a lot, but things still aren't as good as they were with the 'very low shaders' setting.  There's some things that end up too bright or slight screen flickering no matter how much I fiddle with the settings.

[Skolops]

I know that the point here wasn't about performance, but I have found that my performance in populated areas has decrease significantly since the update. I do not have a low end computer. It's not the highest end these days, but it's well more than adequate - an i5 9600k, a 1660Ti, and 32GB of ram, running off of an SSD. 

After the update I can get around 60FPS in areas without many people, or well above 100 if I turn off Vsync. which is about the same as what I got before. Yet on the fleet it stutters constantly - every few seconds I get a brief "freeze." Warzones are extremely laggy and jumpy, almost to the point of being unplayable. 

On my laptop, which is not nearly as good and which I used to run on the very low setting, the game is almost unplayable now. Warzones are unplayable. 

[raikme]

4 hours ago, LD_Little_Dragon said:

Individual settings for shadows didn't seem possible with  my system, and basic 'brighten' options were as bad as fiddling with my monitor for targetting the wrong things.  I bit the bullet and installed ReShade, it has a shader  package with eye adaptation available.

It helps a lot, but things still aren't as good as they were with the 'very low shaders' setting.  There's some things that end up too bright or slight screen flickering no matter how much I fiddle with the settings.

Check this, hope it helps. https://streamable.com/e5k479