Why do shadow quality settings make such a HUGE difference

[Viktor]

So now we're able to change the settings in-game and wow. Shadow quality makes the game unfair for people who want it to look nice once more...

https://prnt.sc/t68ta0

Why does playing with High shadows make the forest look like it's having a hemorrhage gamma-wise? Some bushes blend and others contrast against the blended ones so weirdly it screws with my eyes. The forest overall is super dark and really hard to see in. There are shadows under all foliage-- quite dark ones, too.

But low quality has all shadows under foliage nuked out of existence, making it REALLY easy to see anything trying to hide in bush clusters, and makes it a million times more pleasant to see in the forest. It doesn't look like my gamma (which is calibrated accurately) is having a heart attack anymore.

The issue extends to anti-aliasing, too. Anti-aliasing on every quality but Low makes things in the distance really fuzzy and makes grass blend together in a fuzzy blob, but Low quality means you can see EVERY jagged individual grass strand-- and by extension, everything hiding among it.

So once again players get to make the decision between "do I want the game to look nice and be visually gimped or do I want to play on a game with missing visuals but be able to actually see my surroundings"...

Is anyone else just as discouraged by this as I am? I'm currently settling on playing with Med shadow quality because it's kind of a mix of both, but it's frustrating to feel like I HAVE to play on Low if I want to cover all of my bases.

[KlarVyvern]

Yeah, it's a big bother for me as well. I hate it whenever the best way to survive in a game is reliant on abusing graphic settings like that.

[Soggy Bread]

I have a naturally dark monitor, it's an older model but it does make dark things even HARDER to see.

I personally really liked the shadows, as a juvenile or wounded adult you can sit in there and hardly get caught. Yes, it is very dark to see and it's hard to get through the forest- so I'm at a loss.

Very annoyed about the low shadow/render settings though, I'm aware that it helps frame wise and visual wise but it will definately be abused. Juveniles no longer have those legacy branch trees to hide in, so relying on those shadows to stay hidden was a big deal and important.

I'm at a draw, I do have tons of trouble seeing in the shadow areas, but at the same time is that neccicarily a bad thing? Low shadow settings will definately be abused as well.

[Democracy Manifest]

Whenever i buy new pc i crank all ♥♥♥♥ to the max,after some years my pc is starting to handle newer games little harder so i sacrifice beatuy for gameplay. I played with settings and realise that low is probably the best option beacuse as you said,i cant see anything in the forest unless everything is on low. I will def be playing this game on ultra low settings

[Viktor]

Originally posted by Spoon:

I personally really liked the shadows, as a juvenile or wounded adult you can sit in there and hardly get caught. Yes, it is very dark to see and it's hard to get through the forest- so I'm at a loss.

There's nothing wrong with the shadows themselves, I'm all for some nice dark shadows-- maybe not SO dark, though, or maybe with a different lighting engine-- I'm not sure what it is about the current lighting system but it gives certain things a weird "glossy" look and causes shaded things to blend together with a weird muddy, almost blue-tinted looking filter up close.

The issue is that you can choose to just OBLITERATE all shadows on low which is a massive middle finger to anyone who wants their game to look good, or who doesn't know that those shadows aren't hiding them nearly as well as they think.

Can we just get some normal shadow quality settings for once??? In most other games with quality settings where shadows are necessary, "low" shadow settings still keeps shadows the same general strength/density but just lessens the "soft" look around the edges. Seriously, can we just kill the antialiasing and blurring around the edges of shadows and use pixelly sharp shadows for low instead? At least then they'd be present no matter what and just look... You know... Low quality.

Medium shadows is just low shadows with shadows under bushes, but still so light and soft they might as well not exist. It's really awkward and awful.

[Khanivore]

You can limit the type of PC's that can run the game and have settings on high for everyone, or have as many PC's run the game as possible by allowing flexibility in settings for everyone, it's the nature of games in the PC market, console games do have that advantage of a unified platform over PC games

The vegetation seems to be kept regardless of setting which is nice, as mentioned by Vipera maybe keep shadows but pixelated on lower settings

[Viktor]

Originally posted by blackcactus:

The vegetation seems to be kept regardless of setting which is nice, as mentioned by Vipera maybe keep shadows but pixelated on lower settings

They don't even have to be super graphically taxing as long as they're a low quality texture. Just make low quality shadows have two "layers", a dark "inner layer" and an outer "ring" that's not as dark, or just make it all dark and pixelate it to hell and back because someone on low quality settings should be the ones taking a hit graphically rather than someone on high quality.

Then, higher quality users get the benefit of fuzzier shadows/a smoother transition and light scattering through trees instead of one solid dark overlay for a shadow, aka a "benefit" that's graphical ONLY and not something that completely breaks gameplay. Meanwhile, low quality users still get to see shadows albeit very chunky/non detailed ones with no light scattering which doesn't negatively impact either type of user as they'd be essentially seeing the same thing-- one is just a less pretty and less detailed version.

[Soggy Bread]

Originally posted by Vipera:

Originally posted by blackcactus:

The vegetation seems to be kept regardless of setting which is nice, as mentioned by Vipera maybe keep shadows but pixelated on lower settings

They don't even have to be super graphically taxing as long as they're a low quality texture. Just make low quality shadows have two "layers", a dark "inner layer" and an outer "ring" that's not as dark, or just make it all dark and pixelate it to hell and back because someone on low quality settings should be the ones taking a hit graphically rather than someone on high quality.

Then, higher quality users get the benefit of fuzzier shadows/a smoother transition and light scattering through trees instead of one solid dark overlay for a shadow, aka a "benefit" that's graphical ONLY and not something that completely breaks gameplay. Meanwhile, low quality users still get to see shadows albeit very chunky/non detailed ones with no light scattering which doesn't negatively impact either type of user as they'd be essentially seeing the same thing-- one is just a less pretty and less detailed version.

Swear to god they need to hire you, you have actual brain cells

[uber.aegis]

It was for this reason I quit playing The Isle about two years ago. When I started back in Evrima I thought it looked fantastic but that feeling is now tempered by the fact that to successfully play this game I have to lose those great looks. I appreciate that we have to cater to a wide range of PC specs but surely in a game where hiding and concealment is such an important aspect of the game there must be a way to achieve both aims as the previous posters have stated.

[Why Watt]

Vipera please go on the official discord and lay some sense into them... DM QA members if you have to.

I wish you the best of luck because that's a top notch solution.

[Viktor]

Originally posted by Why Watt:

Vipera please go on the official discord and lay some sense into them... DM QA members if you have to.

I wish you the best of luck because that's a top notch solution.

I actually don't have the isle's discord at all! I would, though, if I could!

Don't the devs not like people DMing, though? I'm not sure exactly how "friendly" TI's discord is compared to other, similar games' discords. I wouldn't want to get booted out over something dumb aha. Anyone else is welcome to toss my thread in there if they think it'll do any good. ^^;

[Madkou]

I hope you have better luck than I did. Mine was the trike rules, mix-herd problems etc on officials lol. You're right, game settings shouldn't mess with functionality. Is it enough for them to see you're point? Maybe. It should be easier to tackle, at any rate.

[Why Watt]

Originally posted by Vipera:

Originally posted by Why Watt:

Vipera please go on the official discord and lay some sense into them... DM QA members if you have to.

I wish you the best of luck because that's a top notch solution.

I actually don't have the isle's discord at all! I would, though, if I could!

Don't the devs not like people DMing, though? I'm not sure exactly how "friendly" TI's discord is compared to other, similar games' discords. I wouldn't want to get booted out over something dumb aha. Anyone else is welcome to toss my thread in there if they think it'll do any good. ^^;

QA people arent devs and you can DM them and they are quite friendly, also posts in feedback are welcome.

You can also DM Punchpacket and Hypno so long as you are polite about it. They are the 'player feedback' members of the dev team and relay things to the programmers. Don't ping Hypno tho, just DM him and if he checks your message great, no harm done.

Dondi and Kissen are prickly so best not DM either lol.

[VadeR]

Originally posted by Vipera:

Is anyone else just as discouraged by this as I am? I'm currently settling on playing with Med shadow quality because it's kind of a mix of both, but it's frustrating to feel like I HAVE to play on Low if I want to cover all of my bases.

Gaming has been like this since like forever. Nothing can be done. You mentioned Gamma earlier in you post and that is another exploit people use. Increasing it to see in dark areas etc. I know it is ♥♥♥♥♥♥ but it's just the way it is.

[Viktor]

Originally posted by VadeR:

Gaming has been like this since like forever. Nothing can be done. You mentioned Gamma earlier in you post and that is another exploit people use. Increasing it to see in dark areas etc. I know it is ♥♥♥♥♥♥ but it's just the way it is.

What you're talking about regarding gamma is completely different to what I was talking about. The shadows on high quality, for some reason, cast such harsh shadows on the foliage that it makes it look like your gamma calibration is wrong even though it's fine. I think it's something to do with only some areas on leaves/only some pieces of foliage actually getting affected by the shadows, it gives it an uncanny look and a weird "tv static" effect on bigger palm leaves that messes with your eyes.

[BurnOtop]

The solution is simple, do not give the possibility to change the shadows.
Low pc ? turn off the other thing.