Was new patch done by someone who just guessed at values? [Details inside. Also fix for shadow issues]

[skyxbomb]

[The settings discussed below only matter if you set the game to HIGH]
Unfortunately when people were posting custom solutions[No offense but random] to improving the game they used it looks like the dev's edit-copy-pasted it. There are many self-shadowing anomalies caused by new patch. They are very apparerent during cinematics/story scenes. I'm not trying to be harsh on dev since I really like this game but these values were not tested and lack common sense.

Incase you think I am making this up please go here -> http://segmentnext.com/2012/03/26/tribes-ascend-tweaks-guide-how-to-edit-config-file/
[Its good because it mentions literal max settings allowed by UE3 [non-premium version]]

My solution for anyone with these issues [Im pretty sure its everyone].
Go to.. C:\Users\...\Documents\my games\UnrealEngine3\MonkeyGame\Config\MonkeyEngine.ini
change
MaxShadowResolution=2056
to
MaxShadowResolution=512


change
MaxMultisamples=16
to
MaxMultisamples=1
[This is Multisampling AA. 16x is crazy high... it doesnt matter because this game doesn't even allow Multisampling to work]

ShadowFilterQualityBias=2147483647
to
ShadowFilterQualityBias=8

2056 is an insane value. Its not impossible, some UE3 games will work with that value. Though this is certainly not one of them. NO UE3 game will allow that as a default setting. You would have to modify it yourself if you wanted a value that high. Open any of the latest/oldest UE3 games. Highest value is 1024... Doubling it in an old game without testing will/does cause issues.
The multisamples value is downright INSANE. The highest without modification offered in UE3 is x 4! I actually think that was a miskey because of a Anisotropy [that value is usually 16]. x16 "would" make your game look just as sharp as a 4K display at 720p lol [If the game were to support it, which it doesnt].
ShadowFilterQualityBias=2147483647 Looks more like a phone number then a serious value.
I've looked at over 6 UE3 game's and these are definetly wrong/exceedingly high values.

THESE ARE JUST VALUES I NOTICED.... THERE ARE ALMOST CERTAINLY MORE! I stopped looking after I found my solution.

[amerika*]

I think you must have had some of those values in there modified from default because all of the ones you speak of were at the defaults you mentioned and weren't above what the game supports (according to your post). There is a post on here that changes a lot of the values that you mentioned to the exact values you were seeing. So I have a feeling you made those changes as per that guide and then forgot. I also looked at SahdowFilterQualityBias and it defaulted to 0 in my config. I just downloaded the game last week and got the 1.3gb patch recently.

[skyxbomb]

I deleted my config folder twice and restored it via starting game. I downloaded it yesterday. I also spoke to someone else with game and new patch had same shadow issues I mentioned.

---------------------------------
Did you change you graphic settings to : High?

[Morente]

I still have those ugly rippling stairlike shadows. Any further suggestions?

[Jedia Kyrol]

can verify that all of that is default from a fresh install...even the ShadowFilterQualityBias. It is also 2^31...meaning the largest number possible in a 32 bit signed ineger...so it's basically a [NULL]

[klompf]

this got it fixed, thanks
shadows still look a bit odd and jumpy at times, but way wayy better anyway
+1 for the phone number pun

[sochexum]

Yes this improved it for me

[76561198143183173]

OK .........

[Ducain]

I don't see anymore of those funky shadows in cutscenes, thanks Eqzitara! For reference, my graphics were set to high and then I made these adjustments which seemed to remove the funky shadows.

[mtsaccorsi]

Oh my.... THANK YOU!! Now it's perfect! :D This topic should be pinned!

[Solarstrike]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย skyxbomb:

ShadowFilterQualityBias=2147483647 Looks more like a phone number then a serious value.
I've looked at over 6 UE3 game's and these are definetly wrong/exceedingly high values.

THESE ARE JUST VALUES I NOTICED.... THERE ARE ALMOST CERTAINLY MORE! I stopped looking after I found my solution.

Just..wow. I mean, lmao how did that value get through quality control? This game needs a complete remaster to including all of the textures. Really wish some good modders would do it. Would be amazing

[Jedia Kyrol]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Solarstrike:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย skyxbomb:

ShadowFilterQualityBias=2147483647 Looks more like a phone number then a serious value.
I've looked at over 6 UE3 game's and these are definetly wrong/exceedingly high values.

THESE ARE JUST VALUES I NOTICED.... THERE ARE ALMOST CERTAINLY MORE! I stopped looking after I found my solution.

Just..wow. I mean, lmao how did that value get through quality control? This game needs a complete remaster to including all of the textures. Really wish some good modders would do it. Would be amazing

they literally set it to the highest possible positive value that could be taken as a intger capped at 32 bits. that's how they did everything in "HIGH" setting...if it was a 8bit int they set it to 128...if it was 10, set to 512...for 12, then 2048, ...16, 32768
The intern that did it probably just typed "999999999999999999999999999999999999999" and the machine self-corrected to the max value each field could take. ... ... ...that means it was also partially the fault of whoever coded UE3 for not setting reasonable caps for each field...unless they hoped the engine would still be viable when we got machines strong enough to process several billion shadow samples at once.