Dynamic Flashlight Shadow Frame Rate/Update Rate

[piss]

So i've been having a problem with the flashlight shadows in the game, in that they seem to be rendering at 30fps or lower despite everything else in the game being 60fps. It also doesn't seem to be attached to my viewpoint, where the flashlight will lag a little behind where I point my head, which I assume it intentional. Are there any console commands to make them update faster? It's very jarring for me.

I looked around the discussions and while I saw several mentions of this problem, no one had a solution to it that I could find. Any help would be appreciated!

[LU-C4]

There used to be, but I think the command no longer exists after the Xen Update.

[piss]

Oh, well that's very disappointing

[dinosauriac]

Originally posted by sourcegamer101:

I don't know the exact command but it is something like: nr_shadow_max_passes_perframe

Thanks for this, console predictive text says you just missed out an underscore... nr_shadow_max_passes_per_frame

And yeah... it's kinda weird that the flashlight seems to emenate from Gordon's crotch.

[LU-C4]

Okay... I remembered there being a seperate command "nr_shadow_max_dynamic_passes_per_frame" Guess I'm just an idiot, then...

[piss]

gb_flashlight_shadow_biasdepth 0.0003 seems to cause shadow flickering unfortunately. It's trading one problem for another. I imagine that's why they just kept it as is instead of making shadows cast at longer distances

Changing nr_shadow_max_passes_per_frame doesn't seem to be making any difference for me

[o'night]

try gb_flashlight_shadow_nearZ for increasing flashlight shadow distance (default value is 2)

[Migz - DH]

Originally posted by O'Nightmare!:

try gb_flashlight_shadow_nearZ for increasing flashlight shadow distance (default value is 2)

Thanks for this. Setting that to 12 makes a huge difference for me.

Now, if someone will tell me how to raise Gordon's flashlight source by 6-8 inches....

[dinosauriac]

Originally posted by Migz - DH:

Now, if someone will tell me how to raise Gordon's flashlight source by 6-8 inches....

gb_flashlight_posY adjusts the vertical positioning it seems, set mine to -28.

After testing it, really doesn't seem like the max passes is changing anything. I'm wondering if that value is hard locked somehow. Setting it to wild numbers in the console still sees shadows jittering as they slowly change position.

[Migz - DH]

Originally posted by dinosauriac:

Originally posted by Migz - DH:

Now, if someone will tell me how to raise Gordon's flashlight source by 6-8 inches....

gb_flashlight_posY adjusts the vertical positioning it seems, set mine to -28.

Thanks.

I see now that the flashlight cone isn't parallel with the ground. When CC moved the flashlight source down, it also angled the light up. So, when I move the flashlight source up, the light cone highlights an area too far up to be useful... although the shadows look better.

Got a command to change the flashlight angle?

[dinosauriac]

they all start with gb_flashlight, so if you use the console the predictive text should show for the others and you can just scroll through them. editing the values of gb_flashlight_dir 0,0,0 or gb_flashlight_angles might yield some results. gb_flashlight_posZ feels like it controls forward and back positioning which can help a little if moving the light upward.

gb_flashlight_intensity 3 makes such a difference in Questionable Ethics btw, (the default is 0.8?!) couple that with gb_flashlight_angular 4 to narrow the cone angle and it feels like playing Doom 3!

[Migz - DH]

Ya, I found those other commands after I began messing with the console. Unfortunately, the gb_flashlight_angles command didn't seem to change anything. :-(

Interestingly though, I think that rather than moving the light source up, moving it farther to the left (gb_flashlight_posx -20) works really well for me. With this setting, it's like Gordon has a flashlight in his left hand or attached to the left glove/wrist. (Or, maybe moving the light source up a little bit in addition to moving it left. Trying -20 and -20 vs. the default -5 and -28 for X and Y, respectively)

[2metragluposti]

nr_shadow_max_passes_per_frame doesn't do anything, I also dislike stuttering shadows from flashlight...

[SirDuck]

There was a hearted comment on the digital foundry analysis of this game from a dev, supposedly this issue is being fixed in the next patch.

[Oak Sorcerer]

Dunno about fps of the shadows, but their draw distance is horrible! Thx to a kind person in this thread for the command: gb_flashlight_shadow_nearZ
I set it to 50 and now everything looks sweet!

[PsyWarVeteran]

They need to get rid of the blob shadows, they removed a bunch of neat stuff like blood on viewmodels or picking up dead enemies.