Force shadows on client

[King Raptor 191]

You should not be able to turn off shadows entirely. The lowest setting should be "very low".

 

It really is easy-mode when you turn 'm off. I used to have 'm turned off to get an FPS boost but I'm keeping them turned off with my new videocard to A) get an FPS boost and B) not shoot myself in the foot when I encounter people who also have it turned off.

[Evil Minion 943]

So you basically want people who do not have a high end PC to suffer low FPS?

[Lithium1056 45]

How is it "easy" mode when you turn off shadows? I mean the obvious boost in FPS makes sense, but you turning off shadows doesn't help you as now you can't see shadows. Shadows give me an advantage over you cause I will see your shadow but you wont see mine. I guess I'm missing your point somewhere

[guilau 28]

The parameter in configuration is on your pc rendering. To put off shadows do not make yourself immaterial ; you just don't render shadows on your client so YOU can't see them.

I will still see your shadow if m y configuration has shadows on...

[Koala :3 116]

I only play with 20-30 frames no shadows.. putting them on destroys my laptop, no thanks man.

[rybec 339]

How is it "easy" mode when you turn off shadows? I mean the obvious boost in FPS makes sense, but you turning off shadows doesn't help you as now you can't see shadows. Shadows give me an advantage over you cause I will see your shadow but you wont see mine. I guess I'm missing your point somewhere

Shadows are cast from the trees and buildings, making the ground (grass, dirt, concrete) darker. People tend to wear the dark coloured clothing in the game. I don't have the time to post screenshots comparing it, but imagine grass without a shadow on it as a bright almost lime green with a dark clothed guy laying in it. Now think of how much harder it is to see a guy in that darker coloured grass that has shadows on it when he's wearing that dark clothing.

 

What he's saying is for you to be that MLGpro DayZ player, you have to crank your settings down to get every little advantage you can.

Sacrifice enjoying how the game looks so you can be a little bit more aware than that other guy.

[Mos1ey 6301]

I've never really found playing with shadows enabled to be a disadvantage TBH.

[King Raptor 191]

Shadows are cast from the trees and buildings, making the ground (grass, dirt, concrete) darker. People tend to wear the dark coloured clothing in the game. I don't have the time to post screenshots comparing it, but imagine grass without a shadow on it as a bright almost lime green with a dark clothed guy laying in it. Now think of how much harder it is to see a guy in that darker coloured grass that has shadows on it when he's wearing that dark clothing.

 

What he's saying is for you to be that MLGpro DayZ player, you have to crank your settings down to get every little advantage you can.

Sacrifice enjoying how the game looks so you can be a little bit more aware than that other guy.

 

Exactly.

 

It is about turning off shadows and how it makes up every room light up like a christmas tree and not to mention forests bright as day because there are no shadows. That means that other players can not hide in shadows (and neither can zombies!)

Try turning on shadows, observe the difference in forests and buildings and then tell me it is FAIR to be able to turn off shadows. Not being able to see shadows projected by players is a small pay-off for the ultra-brightness you get in return.

[King Raptor 191]

I've never really found playing with shadows enabled to be a disadvantage TBH.

 

If you want to see for yourself what a huge advantage it can be:

 

Go up to Novodmitrovsk with shadows enabled and look from the hill-town (Cernaya Polana) into the huge industrial tower's staircases with shadows enabled and have someone hide in one of them.

Then turn shadows off and do the same.

Edit - I'll try to remember to post some screenshots for comparison.

Edited July 20, 2014 by King Raptor

[Lithium1056 45]

You have a slight point, however at that close of quarters shadows being on provides the advantage not off.

At range it's my fault for hiding in such an exposed area.

Without sounding like a broken record this is Alpha this things will be addressed, but forcing shadows on limits the audience. Some people can run the game just not at max!

Also to be the MLGPro player what you really need to do is not play DayZ cause it's never going to make the competitive cut for that kind of gaming to begin with. Also let me say again! If we are close enough to kill each other shadows on will always have the advantage over shadows off.

Let me give you an example: we are in Elektro the sun is in front of me and to your back that extra 2-4 seconds I have from seeing your shadow to you coming around the corner is your life not mine.

[Wili 156]

I agree, shadows should be always on, putting the shadows off is like cheating in some way imo. But before doing it they should optimize the game because the performance right now is really bad.

[slippery gypsy 107]

its the warz turn grass off argument all over again

[King Raptor 191]

its the warz turn grass off argument all over again

 

You actually played WarZ? Seriously?

 

Anyhow, I hope they will address the shadow issue in some way to not make rooms ultra-bright.

[BeefBacon 1185]

I absolutely agree - but not before the game is optimised. I struggle to run the game as it is with shadows (though I keep them on all the same) and I have a mid-end pc. Lower end pcs won't stand a chance. Of course I don't think that the game should cater too much to low-end pcs. I see a lot of people complaining about low fps when they don't even meet the minimum requirements. 

[Lithium1056 45]

I absolutely agree - but not before the game is optimised. I struggle to run the game as it is with shadows (though I keep them on all the same) and I have a mid-end pc. Lower end pcs won't stand a chance. Of course I don't think that the game should cater too much to low-end pcs. I see a lot of people complaining about low fps when they don't even meet the minimum requirements.

Simple lower the requirements, no one should have to spend hundreds of dollars to bramble to play your game this is the cause of console gaming taking a huge chunk of the market. Many of yesteryears "hardcore" gamers like my self find we have these pesky adult responsibilities now.

I loved the gradual increase I got as I upgraded a GPU, or got tht hot new CPU! And then overclocked the piss out of it! That competitive edge I had cause I could Max out my settings! 400$ for a 7.1 Dolby capable sound card? Hell yeah! 200$ for a 7.1 head set? Bring it on! Yup miss the hell out of those days. Now it's 500$ for a console with a projected shelf life of 3-7 years not 7-9 months? Yeah I can live with that.

You should always reach as wide of a audience as possible while granting the edge to the highend but not cutting out the mid-lowend

[freethink 984]

I didn't get a decent fps boost from turning off shadows completely and imo everything looks weird with them on. I have them very low.

Edited July 23, 2014 by freethink

[BeefBacon 1185]

Simple lower the requirements

 

 

I don't think it's that simple, but I believe that is one of the aims of moving to the new engine. The Arma 2 engine apparently handles polygons weirdly, or something. Can't say I know the details. In any case, the game runs worse than it should probably down to bad coding somewhere down the line.

 

I daresay DayZ will eventually run on lower end systems, or will at least run better on mid-end systems. I get 15-25fps in large towns, which isn't acceptable given that my pc can run most other modern games on at least medium settings at 60fps. But as I say, I think a lot of it is down to kinks in the engine. 

[Lithium1056 45]

I don't think it's that simple, but I believe that is one of the aims of moving to the new engine. The Arma 2 engine apparently handles polygons weirdly, or something. Can't say I know the details. In any case, the game runs worse than it should probably down to bad coding somewhere down the line.

I daresay DayZ will eventually run on lower end systems, or will at least run better on mid-end systems. I get 15-25fps in large towns, which isn't acceptable given that my pc can run most other modern games on at least medium settings at 60fps. But as I say, I think a lot of it is down to kinks in the engine.

Yes, I think you're right, an I should have included that in my post

[harley001 315]

I have a high end pc.  I TURN OFF SHADOWS IN EVERY GAME I PLAY.  Those things eat up FPS because everything has to processed twice partly.  Seriously it boosted my fps from 30-38 to 60-70 when I turned shadows off.  

 

One easy fix I can think of though is the ability to have only environmental shadows on.  Things like tree's, buildings, hills.  They don't consume too much FPS because they are not moving.  I can still keep above 60 with those shadows enabled.  But zombie, cars (when they get added), and player shadows gotta stay off me.  Anything that moves around and has a shadow my PC doesn't like.    

Edited July 24, 2014 by harley001

[Mullraugh 1151]

In a perfect world in a perfectly fair situation, everyone would have the same computers with the same amount of FPS when they play and the same video settings.

 

Unfortunately this isn't true, because I would kill for better FPS in this game.

[Lady Kyrah 1110]

I have a high end pc.  I TURN OFF SHADOWS IN EVERY GAME I PLAY.  Those things eat up FPS because everything has to processed twice partly.  Seriously it boosted my fps from 30-38 to 60-70 when I turned shadows off.  

 

One easy fix I can think of though is the ability to have only environmental shadows on.  Things like tree's, buildings, hills.  They don't consume too much FPS because they are not moving.  I can still keep above 60 with those shadows enabled.  But zombie, cars (when they get added), and player shadows gotta stay off me.  Anything that moves around and has a shadow my PC doesn't like.    

All the more reasons to remove the setting.

[harley001 315]

All the more reasons to remove the setting.

Why is having the game run at just above 30 or less a reason to remove the setting?