Massive graphical downgrade... Why? :: The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut General Discussions

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Snake

Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:12pm

Massive graphical downgrade... Why?

I am truly sorry, Inxile, but I don't think what you've done with the Director's Cut is acceptable.

I actually think it's appalling and insulting.

Here is what the game looked like in its original release:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1517279787

Here is what the same area looks like in the director's cut:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1847161515
===
ALBUM WITH COMPARISON SCREENSHOTS FROM ORIGINAL GAME AND DIRECTOR'S CUT:

https://imgur.com/a/AtbtTts
===

Boosting performance at the cost of THIS sort of graphics downgrade is not acceptable.

The same amount of dumbing down of graphics, fx, shaders, shading and lighting are present in all areas I've seen so far.

Last edited by Snake; Aug 27, 2019 @ 4:11pm

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Originally posted by whippleshuffle:

Thanks everyone for your continued feedback, and the conversation here. We are reading it. Before the weekend we wanted to provide an update of where we’re at, and what kinds of changes we’re currently working on.

We’re working on our first patch, which we’re targeting to release next week or shortly thereafter. This is a larger patch intended to address a number of the most commonly reported issues (including some stability fixes), and that includes our first fixes and changes related to graphics options. First and foremost this update will include the fix for dynamic character shadows, allowing both High and Ultra to function properly. If you haven’t seen it already[forums.inxile-entertainment.com], we recommend setting your shadows to Medium as a temporary fix. In addition, the patch is going to include visual adjustments to the areas of the game we’ve received feedback on, namely Skara Brae Above and Below. We’re happy overall with how our changes to these areas have created a more stylistically consistent look to the game, but we hear you, and agree that we can bring things back a bit and still meet our objectives. The changes are directed at adjusting those areas without reverting what we feel are still the correct artistic changes driven by feedback received from the original launch of Barrows Deep.

These shots are in-editor, but are close to what we're working toward for the next update.

Skara Brae Above[i.imgur.com]
Skara Brae Below Tunnel[i.imgur.com]

Beyond that we’ll be continuing to look into reported issues, and what else may be possible to continue to improve and enhance the game. Again, thank you for continuing to engage and discuss.

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Showing 1-15 of 347 comments

Blackened Halo has The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut

Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:13pm

WOW :O :O so that is not nice INXILE!

Francis_Mallman has The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut

Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:14pm

How about some more screenshots? (I agree though - that's a major downgrade).

Last edited by Francis_Mallman; Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:15pm

Snake

Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:18pm

I didn't keep the ones I myself had taken from the original game. I thought I will re-shoot everything in the DC so I deleted the old ones. If anyone has the original game installed, stand near the door of the guild in Skara Brae Below, looking towards the dead end and take a screen, it's where my last save is.

Skara Brae Below virtually has no real shadows, the lighting is flat and dull, like a Quake 3 map.

Tatakai Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:25pm

That would be a silly thing to waste time doing. Is it for performance? Couldn't bother making the engine better? Or is there something those pics miss?

Kozzy

Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:26pm

The game is improved in so many ways

Snake

Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:28pm

Originally posted by Tatakai:
That would be a silly thing to waste time doing. Is it for performance? Couldn't bother making the engine better? Or is there something those pics miss?

All lighting, glossiness, wetness, etc fx / shaders are simply gone.

The difference is not something you can argue about or try to justify. The game was completely castrated visually.

Images someone else posted:

original release: https://i.imgur.com/Ik1r68w.png

director's cut: https://i.imgur.com/4srCcqP.png

Welcome to 2005! Enjoy your graphics!

My guess is, this was done to boost performance. I was barely pushing 40 fps in the opening area, I've done a small GPU upgrade since but now I'm doing 75 in the same area and the 75 is probably just because of vsync.

TZODnmr2K5 Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:41pm

Originally posted by Snake:
Originally posted by Tatakai:
That would be a silly thing to waste time doing. Is it for performance? Couldn't bother making the engine better? Or is there something those pics miss?

All lighting, glossiness, wetness, etc fx / shaders are simply gone.

The difference is not something you can argue about or try to justify. The game was completely castrated visually.

Images someone else posted:

original release: https://i.imgur.com/Ik1r68w.png

director's cut: https://i.imgur.com/4srCcqP.png

Welcome to 2005! Enjoy your graphics!

My guess is, this was done to boost performance. I was barely pushing 40 fps in the opening area, I've done a small GPU upgrade since but now I'm doing 75 in the same area and the 75 is probably just because of vsync.

Yep, this is the thread where I posted it...[www.gog.com] I knew I would get some push-back it IS steam's forum after all, thanks again for backing me up!

Seems to me they took a shortcut to the performance upgrade by disabling cast shadows and volumetric sunlight! I would love it if they patched in the vol light/cast shadows as an option!

EDIT: The thread I linked to was truncated, so I posted my gog thread...

Last edited by TZODnmr2K5; Aug 28, 2019 @ 12:56pm

El Zoido Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:47pm

I can confirm this issue as well (GOG version, AMD RX 480 8GB) - no shadows from NPCs, flat lighting, very noticeable downgrade.
Performance is good though, I just hope they didn't "fix" it by turning off all that eyecandy - actually I assume/hope this is just a bug...

Last edited by El Zoido; Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:48pm

Snake

Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:49pm

Originally posted by El Zoido:
I can confirm this issue as well (GOG version, AMD RX 480 8GB) - no shadows from NPCs, flat lighting, very noticeable downgrade.
Performance good though, I just hope they didn't "fix" it by turning off all that eyecandy - actually I assume/hope this is just a bug...

Seems an awful lot like "fixing" the performance to me... You can't accidentally disable all your surface fx shaders, your global illumination and your SSAO by mistake... I think... I hope...

Blackened Halo has The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut

Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:52pm

for christ's sake, so this is true!! :O my god....this is ...I am speechless...

#10

TZODnmr2K5 Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:57pm

Originally posted by El Zoido:
I can confirm this issue as well (GOG version, AMD RX 480 8GB) - no shadows from NPCs, flat lighting, very noticeable downgrade.
Performance is good though, I just hope they didn't "fix" it by turning off all that eyecandy - actually I assume/hope this is just a bug...

Ahh, a fellow gog user! *Virtual high five!* Yeah, this issue has also been posted on the official forums as well...

#11

svdp

Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:58pm

Look, it's also a fact that the standard settings (visually) aren't the same as with the old game - and even back then, you didn't always have the best result when maxing everything out (especially the hair became *worse* in effect)... so it's just a question of tinkering a bit. For the rest I think they made the colors a bit more vibrant, but I would like to point out the pictures of the flames there seem to indicate a different choice settings altogether. And is it even the exact same place? Where are the beams/wood in the second picture? Don't tell me they're gone, because they aren't. Also... I see no pool of water AT ALL on the other picture, which isn't possible if you're settings are correct. I went back myself, and you can see the pool of water (the same as in the first pic) clearly, IF you have waterreflections and some additional settings on.

So except for some mild accentuation on vibrant colors - which one likes or not; it's a matter of taste - the whole thing of the "downgrade" seems like a large exaggeration, as long as you fiddle with the graphical settings a bit until one likes it.

Last edited by svdp; Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:59pm

#12

Snake

Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:59pm

Originally posted by svdp:
Look, it's also a fact that the standard settings (visually) aren't the same as with the old game - and back then, you didn't always have the best result when maxing everything out (especially the hair bacame *worse* in effect)... so it's just a question of tinkering a bit. For the rest I think they made the colors a bit more vibrant, but I would like to point out the pictures of the flames there seem to indicate a different choice settings altogether. And is it even the exact same place? Where are the beams/wood in the second picture? Don't tell me they're gone, because they aren't. Also... I see no pool of water AT ALL on the other picture, which isn't possible if you're settings are correct. I went back myself, and you can see the pool of water (the same as in the first pic) clearly, IF you have waterreflections and some additional settings on.

So except for some mild accentuation on vibrant colors - which one likes or not; it's a matter of taste - the whole thing of the "downgrade" seems like a large exaggeration, as long as you fiddle with the graphical settings a bit until one likes it.

I'm on a mix of High and Ultra settings. Don't tell me it's impossible that the water is gone, because it IS gone.

The beams / boards are not there because I took my shot 2 steps further down the tunnel so they're just below camera level.

Last edited by Snake; Aug 27, 2019 @ 2:59pm

#13