If You Want to Own Faces, Turn off Lighting and Shadow Detail

2006-02-22 22:53:43

#1

cheese: Member; +0|6661

From my personal experience, getting rid of lighting and shadow really helps accentuate outlines of soldiers if theyre on the ground and such. Anybody else agree? My details specs

Lighting: low
dynamic shadows: off
dynamic lighting: off
Terrain: low
effects: high
geometry: high
texture: high
anti-aliasing: 4x
texture filtering: high
distance scale: 100%

from my experience, having a constant fps of 60-100, even during high combat, allows me to respond quickly and go without any nuisance from fps slowdowns.

oh and these are my specs

1GB ram
x800 pro 256mb
AMD 64 2800+ (oc'd to 2.12 ghz from 1.8 ghz)

Last edited by cheese (2006-02-22 22:54:52)

2006-02-22 22:55:23

#2

CTD-CaptainBuck: BLEEDING BLUE; +71|6784|Tenn

i dont agree with the terrain... but yes not having the dark ass shadows in alleys works

2006-02-22 22:58:37

#3

Maj.Do: Member; +85|6768|good old CA

i actually enjoy having shadows . : \

2006-02-22 23:02:05

#4

r0ffle: Member; +0|6795

having everything in high is what the game is meant to be played on, where the shadows and lighting adds a different feel than jsut like having a spotlight over the whole map and seeing every corner
rather than messing with the game just so that you can see better and perhaps kill more??
i for one like to shit my pants some times when i get surprised by unexpected things in the shadows/dark etc

2006-02-22 23:03:09

#5

Flecco: iPod is broken.; +1,048|6681|NT, like Mick Dundee

Arseholes with good computers... Send me money or some sticks of RAM....

Whoa... Can't believe these forums are still kicking.

2006-02-22 23:06:30

#6

cheese: Member; +0|6661

in the end, you want to be the best player on your side, so in my opinion, doing what you need to make yourself the best player is whats most important. im not playing the game to get scared out of my wits, im playing to rape faces :p

2006-02-22 23:17:45

#7

CTD-CaptainBuck: BLEEDING BLUE; +71|6784|Tenn

cheese wrote:
im playing to rape faces :p

i LOVE the way u put that

2006-02-23 00:28:42

#8

[QXJZ]Capt_Kefra: Alright, you're good to go!; +124|6744|Honolulu, HI

So for some reason when I first installed BF2, it auto-detected my hardware and decided that my computer could handle Medium graphic detail. (Since I have a P4 2.4 GHz, 1 GB of RAM and a Radeon 9550, the programmers must have been smoking crack.) Anyway, needless to say, my performance absolutely sucked so I turned some of my graphics settings to Low or Off...and noticed it was a lot easier to see enemies in spots that used to be dark and shadowed!

2006-02-23 00:38:11

#9

TigrisJK: Member; +3|6742

Yep. But I don't do it. Mainly cause I have this nifty Ultrabrite setting on my monitor that lets me adjust brightness in a flash. So if I'm in the dark, up the bright, and I'm set. Turn it back down when I leave so my eyes don't kill me.

I like looking around and seeing everything in its sexy detail. And the dark doesn't scare me none, I've played too much CS over the years (what, since Beta?) to be scared of people hiding in dark corners.

2006-02-23 00:43:38

#10

Gulf_War_Syndrome: OMG ERYX HAX!; +62|6695|Adelaide, Australia

Agree with you on the lighting and dynamic shadows but I turn up dynamic light to medium, this way you'll still see the muzzle flashes of those around you.

I prefer high frame rates and high resoulution to eye candy. 1600x1200, low everything except geometry and dynamic light.

2006-02-23 03:52:41

#11

theDude5B: Cool member; +804|6766

yeah it makes a big difference.

i used to play with all the graphics on low with my old GPU, and i didnt really notice much of a difference when entering a room or going into a dark place because there were not shadows. this made it easier to spot players trying to hid in the dark.

now with my new card, i have all the details up high or medium, and because of the shadows it is harder to spot the bad guys. but i find this more of a challange so have just left it on this. I also get a good feeling when i see the shadow of a Heli above me.

2006-02-23 04:54:10

#12

ashleyhall: Member; +15|6698|Somerset

I personally think this should be classed as cheating, or you should be penalised by losing some of your accuracy - those with high spec computers like the game to look and feel as real as it can and shoving everything up to full achieves that - surely by removing lighting and shadow effects you're removing ANY kind of stealth and spoiling the game for yourself too!?

2006-02-23 04:58:45

#13

aardfrith: Δ > x > ¥; +145|6808

People with high-spec computers can choose what level to put their graphics at. You're saying they should be penalised for removing some of the nice graphic effects like shadows?

IMO it's crazy for you to expect other people to be nerfed just so you can admire the graphics.

2006-02-23 04:59:07

#14

RonSeal: Member; +1|6736

If your PC specs are crap, you have no choice, i have to have mine on low to achieve decent FPS.

I don't consider it cheating, don't be so ridiculous.

Feel free to donate to my new PC fund, then perhaps i can have everything turned up high

2006-02-23 05:05:48

#15

Eboreus: Member of Foamy's Card Cult; +46|6663

cheese wrote:
Lighting: low - good one for visbility
dynamic shadows: off - nu-uh - I love my dynamic shaodws- saved my ass more than once
dynamic lighting: off
Terrain: low - high = good
effects: high - only high if you are flying jets imo.. otherwise medium should do
geometry: high - necessary
texture: high - hmmm who cares?
anti-aliasing: 4x - put the power into stuff like terrain
texture filtering: - hmm rubbish imo... medium is way more than enough
distance scale: 100% - vital

Sure lighting adds hell of a lot of atmosphere but I prefer to spot my enemies, over being shot for nice graphics - however dynamic shadows are great. seeing the apc coming around the corner before it can shoot you is priceless

2006-02-24 04:31:19

#16

ashleyhall: Member; +15|6698|Somerset

"You're saying they should be penalised for removing some of the nice graphic effects like shadows?"

Well, yes if it gives other players an advantage over others - being able to see a good player thats using shadow as cover on the field, yes those with low spec PC's can see them clearly.

2006-02-24 04:40:06

#17

Skruples: Mod Incarnate; +234|6717

Personally I think disabling shadows should make your character in game glow in the dark. Just to even the scales.

2006-02-24 05:46:01

#18

BF2Craglyeye: Member; +72|6689|Australia

I can run in reasonably medium to high srttings. However i would like it to load before christmas.

I like shadows, its weird but i like them, helps to know where enemies could be lurking.

2006-02-24 06:08:41

#19

<b|k> lukie: Member; +7|6738|Germany

Sadly, a player who wants to be successful has to have shadowmaps turned off.
Why? You can see almost everything then, there are no black places where enemies could hide. On the other side you won't hide in bright spots any more, perfect hiding spaces with shadowmaps on, but bright here-i-am-plz-shoot-me-areas with shadowmaps off.
Without shadowmaps BF2 looks worse than CS1.6, but you see everything.

To my mind DICE made a mistake allowing shadowmaps being turned off. There should be almost no performance lack because of them. The roblem is: DICE coupled both settings shadowmaps and specularmaps in one setting. I think specularmaps cause the performance loss.

I dont turn off dynamic shadows, because then i can see the shadows of enemies through walls in some cases.

2006-02-24 06:33:35

#20

-=|BW|=-Hollow_Moon: Member; +5|6771

If you want a slight performance & quality boost on your anti aliasing, disable in agme AA & turn it on in your nvidia performance & quality settings. I think ATI users should have a similar option... It makes the game look more criso & gives you a slightly higher fps. Or at least it does in my experience... Happy Hunting

2006-02-24 08:45:13

#21

bowdenball: Member; +11|6662|Greenville, SC

i'll have to try setting the options with ati card instead of in game.... just upgraded to new computer :

p4 3.4ghz
x1800xl
dell fp2001 19inch ....
2 gb memory

nice to run everything on high at 1600x1200

2006-02-24 08:57:54

#22

monkeyboy: Member; +8|6681

I've gotten everything turned up to max.

Sure you use your settings to let you see into the shadows.... but it also means you won't have a lot of the shadows to use yourself. Over time, you'd forget where all the great dark areas are, and you'd stop using them to get kills yourself.

As well has helping you see everything, in many ways, you're creating your own disadvantage. There are tons of players who DO get fooled by shadows, and you're depriving yourself easy kills by not being able to see the best hiding places to kill them from.

2006-02-24 09:05:30

#23

mpsmith: Member; +5|6688

This is basically cheating. I realize that a computer may not be able to handle it, but it really should count. There are supposed to be shadows.

To say that you should do anything to play better is definitely a slippery slope. Does this mean you should use exploits? Cheats? Personally I hope that you people are few and far between- not that I'm afraid you can see me (because I'd probably kill you anyway) but because I hope the community isn't full of whiney kids who just want to win.

2006-02-24 09:07:11

#24

pauli: Member; +0|6663

personally, i prefer a playable game without shadows to a slideshow of pretty pictures. i'm not in karkand as a tourist.

i keep everything but geometry and draw distance turned all the way down. lets me run at 16x12 on a 9700pro, which is... all i ask.

2006-02-24 09:08:33

#25

atlvolunteer: PKMMMMMMMMMM; +27|6787|Atlanta, GA USA

ashleyhall wrote:
"You're saying they should be penalised for removing some of the nice graphic effects like shadows?"

Well, yes if it gives other players an advantage over others - being able to see a good player thats using shadow as cover on the field, yes those with low spec PC's can see them clearly.

That's ridiculous. You can't penalize someone because they have an older or low-end system that can't handle all of the graphic tweaks that make the game look good.
EDIT: and it doesn't give them an advantage. You don't have to have dynamic lighting on. You choose to.

Last edited by atlvolunteer (2006-02-24 09:09:17)

BF2S Forums If You Want to Own Faces, Turn off Lighting and Shadow Detail

cheese wrote:

cheese wrote:

ashleyhall wrote:

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