I want my Very Low Graphics settings back!!

[Shayddow]

Quote

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.

This. Bio, you need to brighten up these areas so we can see. I went thru the whole quest only to not get the datacron because I could not see the scenary.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Shayddow

[Jozandra]

On 3/28/2023 at 2:37 PM, PLeahC said:

I'm just curious what specs these low end machines are because it seems you need 12gb ram to run SWTOR now which is a big jump from 4gb. 

I've got 16 gb ram. That is not the issue. Game runs on my pc. Just slow to load. The issue is graphics. Mine is the integrated Radeon R4. The issue is that the game does not allow us to increase the game's brightness nor adjust the contrast to help us see better.

[Jozandra]

On 3/28/2023 at 8:40 PM, TrixxieTriss said:

In the mean time, can you adjust the gamma, brightness & contrast on your monitor(s) to see better? I had to do that with my old graphics card cause it made the game really dark.

You can also try adjusting your individual graphics card settings for the game. You can do this for both AMD & nVidia cards. 

 

If all I used my laptop for was this game, I would be onboard with this suggestion. Just not going to go through the labor of that every time I want to switch activities. Quitting this game would be less painful.

Going into the graphics program may seem a simple idea to you, but for me on this sluggish machine that takes a couple minutes to adjust to changes just to the in-game graphics settings... I just don't know enough about these programs to try tweaking the settings, and with my poor eyesight...?  Again, quitting the game would be far less painful.

[Jozandra]

15 hours ago, Ozpiume said:

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?

Anyone that tries to convince you that that is the reason we cannot have lower graphics settings is a moron. When EQ2 went to 64 bit, they did not have this problem of being too dark to play on my laptop. However, players are able to individually tweak contrast, brightness and gamma in game.

[Jozandra]

After going into my laptop's graphic's app, I found where I can adjust just swtor graphics. Increasing brightness only made it harder on my cataract afflicted eyes. Maxing out the Contrast setting, however, caused an improvement on seeing some of the interior details (often REQUIRED to find objects in the game like the relics in Secrets of the Enclave FP). Unfortunately, that amounts to only about a 5-10% improvement, which is not enough to see the details when trying to find tiny quest/achievement related objects I've never seen before, and that's while viewing on a fairly new large HD monitor.

[TrixxieTriss]

1 hour ago, Jozandra said:

If all I used my laptop for was this game, I would be onboard with this suggestion. Just not going to go through the labor of that every time I want to switch activities. Quitting this game would be less painful.

Going into the graphics program may seem a simple idea to you, but for me on this sluggish machine that takes a couple minutes to adjust to changes just to the in-game graphics settings... I just don't know enough about these programs to try tweaking the settings, and with my poor eyesight...?  Again, quitting the game would be far less painful.

Most driver software for AMD or nVidia allows you to setup profiles for individual games, software or uses. So when the game.exe or program.exe is launched, it automatically switches setting for that use. After you initially set it up, you shouldn’t have to do it again unless you do a driver update & remove the predetermined settings.

Edited March 31, 2023 by TrixxieTriss

[TrixxieTriss]

1 hour ago, Jozandra said:

After going into my laptop's graphic's app, I found where I can adjust just swtor graphics. Increasing brightness only made it harder on my cataract afflicted eyes. Maxing out the Contrast setting, however, caused an improvement on seeing some of the interior details (often REQUIRED to find objects in the game like the relics in Secrets of the Enclave FP). Unfortunately, that amounts to only about a 5-10% improvement, which is not enough to see the details when trying to find tiny quest/achievement related objects I've never seen before, and that's while viewing on a fairly new large HD monitor.

Seems you found what I was talking about all on your own 👍

But there is more. Lots of monitors have predetermine quick one button picks too. For instance, my ASUS has Gaming, scenery, theatre, standard & RPG as options. Just a a quick push cycles through them.

So if I’m playing swtor I usually have it on scenery, but if it’s dark, I can switch to gaming which usually increases lots of gamma, contrast & back lighting to see better. But if I want to watch a movie I’ll put it on theatre or if I’m doing graphics work, I’ll use predetermined RGB custom settings. 

Have a look & see if you have similar options for your monitor. 

Edited March 31, 2023 by TrixxieTriss

[LD_Little_Dragon]

I'm disappointed there has been zero dev response to this issue.  I get that they're very busy right now, but even an basic acknowledgement that it is an issue would be nice.

I'm not surprised, just disappointed.

There's only so much fiddling with the game and other software I'm willing to do before giving up.

I'll just have to limit my Swtor time same as back when 7.0 launched with those horrible bright blue inventory borders. Tried doing my old seasons multi-server routine, but too long in the game and I noticed the eyestrain. 

I'll stop GTN'ing, doing GS, should still be able to do operations with the guild until my sub runs out, but that's about it.

Not going to test the new server either.  No point.

[Camraug]

Here's a trick from the old playbook that can help with the too dark issue.

In client settings under the renderer section there is a variable called GammaRamp.  Its default is 1 and it's not always listed (and is then assumed to be 1) so you might need to dropdown a line and add it.

Path is C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\SWTOR\swtor\settings and file is client_settings.  Double click to open, edit, then save.

I'd start with GammaRamp = 1.1

You can adjust it up or down from there.  On a dozen computer/monitor combos over the years, it usually is between 1.1 and 1.3 for me.  Think of it as having a Gamma slider that goes to 110 or 130%.

I had this set to 1.15 on my current system, then when the last patch came out, it rewrote my client_settings file and changed it back to 1.  I noticed as soon as I logged in, and changed it back to 1.15.  The game would be too dark for me to play without doing that, I would have quit years ago.

Hope this helps someone?

Edited March 31, 2023 by Camraug

[olagatonjedi]

Give this a try in your .ini, and you'll feel like you are playing in very low settings with good brightness.

 

[Renderer]
AntiAliasingLevel = 0
AtlasQuality = 1
Buckets = 5
DYDDrawDistancePreset = 0
EnableSSAO = false
GraphicsDeviceId = 7200
GraphicsQuality = 0
Height = 1080
MeshLODQuality = 0
NativeHeight = 1080
NativeWidth = 1920
ShadowMapNumCascades = 4
ShadowMapResolution = 1024
SpeedTreeDistanceScale = 1.25
TextureAnisotropy = 1
Width = 1920
AllowColorRemapping = false
AllowDepthOfField = false
doBlobShadows = false
doShadows = false
EnableBloom = false
FxLightsLimit = 0
PlantDensity = 0
RefreshRate = 95
ShaderSet = 1
StaticLightsLimit = 1
TextureQuality = 4
WindowX = 0
WindowY = 0
CodeVersionChanged = false
LastCodeVersionRun = 2
NewBucket = 5
AmbientNPCCount = 15
DebugAdvEnviroLighting = false
DynamicLightsLimit = 0
EnableAdvEnviroLighting = false
EnableDistortion = false
FarClipScale = 0.1371195
LightEnvironmentShadows = false
UseMinSpecShaders = true
VerticalSyncState = false
doOmniShadows = false
HighShadowResolution = false
EnableHighShadowResolution = false
shadowQuality = 0
EnableDynamicShadowFiltering = false
DynamicShadowFiltering = false
EnableZPrepass = false
EnableAccumTrails = false

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by olagatonjedi

[Camraug]

I would offer up, that if the only reason you're running the Very Low settings is to fix the brightness, I would try the GammaRamp first?  By adjusting the GammaRamp value I can still run regular graphic quality modes, including Ultra on my 3080.  For me the game looks fine, but is over saturated and too dark out of the box.  So for me it fixes the primary concern of game contrast without degrading all the other graphic quality features.

[LD_Little_Dragon]

4 hours ago, olagatonjedi said:

Give this a try in your .ini, and you'll feel like you are playing in very low settings with good brightness.

[snipped]

Wow, that's a lot of tinkering.

I gave it a try, it seems better.  (If anyone else tries this set the client ini folders to 'read only' or the game tries to rewrite it).  It is better lighting, but it doesn't mess with the inventory brightness the way my monitor/reshade tinkering did.

It's still not quite the pre update look, pre update running around everywhere was sort of like being in midday light, the update made the interiors and caves into nighttime, and your setting makes them more like early evening light.

As a bonus the shiny/plastic is gone from the char faces, so it looks more like 'my' swtor.

Thanks. 

[Estelindis]

I fiddled with my monitor settings a bit and it's looking far better now, thankfully.

[Jozandra]

On 3/31/2023 at 11:46 AM, Camraug said:

Here's a trick from the old playbook that can help with the too dark issue. .. .. Path is C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\SWTOR\swtor\settings and file is client_settings.  Double click to open, edit, then save.

I'd start with GammaRamp = 1.1

You can adjust it up or down from there.  On a dozen computer/monitor combos over the years, it usually is between 1.1 and 1.3 for me.  Think of it as having a Gamma slider that goes to 110 or 130%. .. .. Hope this helps someone?

Very helpful. Thank you.

Caused me to go back into the Radeon app to put the Contrast back to its default. Which makes me wonder what the difference is between Gamma and Contrast. I understand Contrast allows me to set the level of distinction between features such as walls and furniture.

But what the heck is Gamma, and why doesn't the SWtOR graphics interface have the option to adjust contrast?

[xordevoreaux]

52 minutes ago, Jozandra said:

But what the heck is Gamma,

This may help, just blow past the blast when the page loads.

[samlavelle]

I left the game over this. What Bioware is doing is just the next step in the ongoing process of alienating players - so there we go, I am alienated now. Kudos to the developers 🤮

SWTOR has always been way too dark, but Very Low Graphics was a way to get around the problem. Now, this last resort has been taken away from us. I went to the Republic Fleet the other day, I literally lost my way - I'm guessing on my two billionth or so visit. On Nar Shaddaa I couldn't find my way ouf of the hangar it was so dark 🥶 What's the point of this?

As for Gamma, I tried that and everything looked like the whole game had been drawn and animated by a 5-year-old child. Meh ...

So I decided to leave. The game that could otherwise have a very loveable and enjoyable atmosphere has now darkness descended upon it all over the galaxy. It's very oppressive. I certainly want to be light years away from it and not be a part of it.

[LD_Little_Dragon]

1 hour ago, samlavelle said:

 

SWTOR has always been way too dark, but Very Low Graphics was a way to get around the problem. Now, this last resort has been taken away from us.

 

Agreed, I've ended up fiddling with my client settings a lot to make the game tolerable, but nothing fixed the horrible darkness that's spread everywhere.  My bright and cheerful swtor universe just got dark and grim.  Aside from the aesthetics my eyes have to work harder to adjust to all the variable types of light now.

I should not HAVE to mess with the client settings so much just because bioware is being petty and taking away our very low shader settings.

If they can do the work to add colourblind settings (which was a good thing, don't take me wrong) then let us have our comfortable 'outside daytime' type lighting EVERYWHERE.

[Camraug]

17 hours ago, Jozandra said:

Very helpful. Thank you.

Caused me to go back into the Radeon app to put the Contrast back to its default. Which makes me wonder what the difference is between Gamma and Contrast. I understand Contrast allows me to set the level of distinction between features such as walls and furniture.

But what the heck is Gamma, and why doesn't the SWtOR graphics interface have the option to adjust contrast?

Basically Contrast is the absolute light and dark range, Gamma is the shape of the ramp the gets you there.  Gamma makes the most difference in the midtones or in this case midshadows.  It used to be more of a thing, Mac’s and PC’s used (maybe still do?) different gamma points so cross platform on screen viewing of color sensitive files was a pain.  I did a lot of therapy with our in house design staff back in the day.  Interrupted my Diablo 2 time on my fancy new 3dfx Voodoo card. 

[olagatonjedi]

I think I found the fix for this.  It appears that the ONLY setting that needs to be changed within your old INI file is the following:

LastCodeVersionRun = 1

to

LastCodeVersionRun = 2

If it is anything other than 2, it will automatically implement the new 64-bit changes.

Hope this helps.

[LD_Little_Dragon]

1 hour ago, olagatonjedi said:

I think I found the fix for this.  It appears that the ONLY setting that needs to be changed within your old INI file is the following:

LastCodeVersionRun = 1

to

LastCodeVersionRun = 2

If it is anything other than 2, it will automatically implement the new 64-bit changes.

Hope this helps.

It's just the same as changing the ShaderSet = 0 to ShaderSet = 1.

It's not the old very low setting.

It's like there's no shaders at all, and the colours are off.  It's probably better for my eyes then the low setting they forced us to use, but it's a huge graphics downgrade from what we had pre-64 bit with the very low shader setting.

 

[Jozandra]

3 hours ago, olagatonjedi said:

I think I found the fix for this.  It appears that the ONLY setting that needs to be changed within your old INI file is the following:

LastCodeVersionRun = 1

to

LastCodeVersionRun = 2

If it is anything other than 2, it will automatically implement the new 64-bit changes.

Hope this helps.

 

1 hour ago, LD_Little_Dragon said:

It's just the same as changing the ShaderSet = 0 to ShaderSet = 1.

It's not the old very low setting.

It's like there's no shaders at all, and the colours are off.  It's probably better for my eyes then the low setting they forced us to use, but it's a huge graphics downgrade from what we had pre-64 bit with the very low shader setting.

 

In both cases, my file was already set to your suggsted number even though the only thing I adjusted in the .ini file was the gammaramp. This has made indoors and dark caves to be slightly easier on my eyes, but the outdoor/daytime settings is worse.

[Christie_Swift]

Who the heck turned off the lights in this game? Did  BIOWARE forget to pay the electric bill? 😆

[slyfoxmartin]

1 hour ago, Christie_Swift said:

Who the heck turned off the lights in this game? Did  BIOWARE forget to pay the electric bill? 😆

I said this in my guild chat as soon as I logged on lol

[LD_Little_Dragon]

https://forums.swtor.com/topic/928581-ultra-low-settings-aka-turn-the-lights-on/

I started a new topic.  That's the end of my tweaking.

I still want the old 'very low shader' setting back somehow, but this will do for now.

I tested the 'no shaders' in a cadmimu run, since that's one of the fp that's been bugging me with the dark zones, and it felt better to me, even with the kinda crummy graphics.  I could see everything clearly including the smoke that comes before the fire with the final boss.

 

[raikme]

A few years ago Bioware made a re-color and changed the in-game contrast, it made colors more vivid and the increased contrast made the game a bit darker. You can turn it off. 

In the client_settings.ini look for AllowColorRemapping. Change it to AllowColorRemapping = false

Save the .ini

Bioware is constantly making horrible decisions. One thing we know is that they don't play their own game. They don't. I think the only one who knows how to press a button in-game is Eric, all the rest couldn't even turn the camera when playing on Live streams, specially the pvp guy Alex Modny, he has zero idea on how to play the game.