Not a Bug, but a question - Cockpit Shadows.

[Hiob]

Question to ED.

The Shadows that are cast buy knobs and buttons and such in the cockpit are not solid and sharp (as they should be realisticly) but blurry and flickering - it looks a little bit like shadows that are cast through heatblur.

For me that is a massive immersion-breaker. It just doesn't look "right". Most prominent example would be the DDI in the F-16.

I know, that is how the engine is at the moment and not a bug, but I wonder, if it's intended design or a compromise due to performance conciderations?

It's nothing but a humble wish, but I'd love that to be adressed!

(*same goes for ground shadows in the closest LoD. Real shadows just don't flicker(**))

**unless, it's really really hot and you look from a shallow angle....

Edited August 22, 2022 by Hiob

[SMH]

Do you have Shadows set to High?

Edited August 15, 2022 by SMH

[Hiob]

Yes.

[Droning_On]

same here....i thought this was linked to the 'secondary shadows' menu item........

 

Edit:  second shadows is to do with the Supercarrier and multiple light sources......  either way I still get that shimmer on the ICP

Edited August 22, 2022 by Droning_On

[Bucic]

Is there a way to separate cockpit shadows from the rest of the shadows? I would like to have cockpit shadows at med or even high and on FLAT for everything else.

[Rapierarch]

It's another DCS quirk. Shadow quality is not only adjusted by shadows quality setting in game:

Viewing distance: Adjusts shadow bitmap resolution per cascade. Low being 1024 and extreme being 8K. For small object shadows you need to reduce the first cascade distance or increase the resolution there to get more shadow density which can be done in shadows.lua file which will immediately break the integrity check for multiplayer.

Or you increase viewing distance which also adjust the shadow map resolution. So put it at least ultra. 

If your fps cannot handle this viewing distances. you can copy your preferred viewing distance settings in graphics lua file under extreme. Then in game you choose extreme. You will get your normal previous viewing distance settings but shadows will be highest quality. 

Or you can only fly in nevada because map also dictates shadow qualities. Nevada has 2x shadow quality per setting compared to all other maps (yes also for the cockpit)

After MT and DLSS gets released and all big issues are solved I'm planning to start nagging about ED making clear shadow settings in game UI just like any other games. Current state of shadows are just a cacophony. I could not believe my eyes when I figured out how it worked.  

Cheers,

Edit: When you copy your preferred settings under extreme do not forget the viewing distance multiplier setting which is separate in the same graphics lua. Otherwise you will still have performance degradation. 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Rapierarch

[Rapierarch]

On 7/4/2022 at 10:30 AM, Hiob said:

shadows in the closest LoD.

It is not LOD. DCS has cascaded shadows. So from 2cm in front of your face to 7km the distance is logarithmically divided in 5 zones. And there is a shadow map for each zone. Resolution of this shadow map decides the fine detail level of the shadow. Low resolution causes the situation you see.