Imago-Quem wrote:

Darlock@Runnyeye wrote:

Imago-Quem wrote:

 

Some interesting shadow data on a 2.44Ghz CPU:

Nvidia 7900 GS                CPU: ~50 FPS           GPU: ~17 FPS

ATI x1800                         CPU: ~20 FPS           GPU: ~50 FPS

Nvidia 8800 640MB          CPU: ~50 FPS           GPU: ~50 FPS

Hmm I assume that you measured FPS while solo? Because I can hardly believe that its possible to get 50fps with CPU shadows while in crowded area (raid/city)

Yes, they were recorded in very isolated events.  This is to show an arbitrary comparison between the cards using
GPU and CPU shadows.  You stick trees or lots of objects in there and you'll see very different numbers.

That is about the same FPS jump I see with my ATI 3870 612mb in game when I just stand in one spot near shadows and take a measurement with the in game fps counter a 20 fps  area goes to 40 or 50 fps doing the same as the old cpu shadows.  If there are no tree shadows the tree shadows kills my framerate.

Im running the game at 1920x1200 too  low res or high res does not seem to matter any the gpu still waits for the cpu even with gpu shadows. same framerate at 800x600 as 1920x1200..

More realistic looking shadows too.  I just made a new guy on test and run around noob areas though and check in from time. Now they are gone might not be going back until they do... I would love to sit around on test all day and mess around but don't got time now. And I do not get why people think they need new hardware for this I got an older system  made with old parts I stopped using on my main PC's  That i tryed it on and even it got better performance with the GPu shadows you can even still find GPU's that are shader model 3.0 for AGP even and they do the job and I think they are cheeper than 2 Xbox 360 games.

GPU shadows back on test...

Nice looking Imago, but I have two things that Im not sure about, one is just meh, the other might stop me using them.

1: The fade out close to objects is wierdly abrupt.. in that often the shadow of the bottom of a post will be not present, then there will be a hard line where the shadow of the higher post begins.. instead of fading out it cuts the bottom out. This isnt a big one.

2: There really could do with  being a distance slider to allow the user to see shadows of objects that are further away if they have hardware to support it. The default maximum distance at which shadows start to fade in seems very very small and creates all kinds of wierd effects, areas that are in shadow often seeming to get darker as you approach them. this is very disconcerting and seems a huge shame.

shaunfletcher wrote:

GPU shadows back on test...

Nice looking Imago, but I have two things that Im not sure about, one is just meh, the other might stop me using them.

1: The fade out close to objects is wierdly abrupt.. in that often the shadow of the bottom of a post will be not present, then there will be a hard line where the shadow of the higher post begins.. instead of fading out it cuts the bottom out. This isnt a big one.

2: There really could do with  being a distance slider to allow the user to see shadows of objects that are further away if they have hardware to support it. The default maximum distance at which shadows start to fade in seems very very small and creates all kinds of wierd effects, areas that are in shadow often seeming to get darker as you approach them. this is very disconcerting and seems a huge shame.

1: First, could you post a screenshot?  I think I understand, but a visual would help immensely.  What's likely
happening is the blending of two qualities isn't matching.  The shadows require an offset from the object casting the
shadow or else they'll cast shadows on the top of the surface where it's lit.  The further the shadows are from your
character the greater the offset has to be due to precision issues in the GPU.  When you have two shadow ranges
blending together, a short range high resolution blending with a long range low resolution, you may see the
distinction between the lower offset and the higher offset.  This would likely show up as a dividing line.  We've
attempted to reduce this and hopefully eliminated it from the high quality setting.  If not, let us know.

2: Have you maxed out your Complex Shader distance?  This pulls the shadows in really tight if it's set to low. 
Actually, I never play with it below Max when GPU shadows are on because it pulls them in so far.  The highest
quality setting with Complex Shader Distance maxed should eliminate this issue for you.  Let me know if it's not and
send me another screenshot so I have a better picture of what you're talking about.

So... This is going live tomorrow right?

I hopped on tonight to test them an I am very impressed. I can actually play the game with all shadows on at a good framerate, which is thrilling! They could use a little polish however. I found that when fighting with my test newbie that the mob I was fighting had it's shade "cut off" so to speak. I have some screens. Otherwise, So far they look and perform fantastic. Kudos!

 http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/73...q2000000rea.jpg

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/81.../eq2000001x.jpg

Imago-Quem wrote:

1: First, could you post a screenshot?  I think I understand, but a visual would help immensely. 

2: Have you maxed out your Complex Shader distance?  This pulls the shadows in really tight if it's set to low. 

Thanks for the response.

1: See screenshot . its a peculiar looking effect once an item reaches the point where the fadein stops happening and it i just cut off.

2: Maxing it out does make it better yes. Still closer than I would like it  but much better. Might want to think about putting a default of maximum on this for the highest settings? The screenshot above shows the distance that shadows fade out at quite well at the top right corner by the way. This is with the complex slider at max.

NrthnStar5 wrote:

I hopped on tonight to test them an I am very impressed. I can actually play the game with all shadows on at a good framerate, which is thrilling! They could use a little polish however. I found that when fighting with my test newbie that the mob I was fighting had it's shade "cut off" so to speak. I have some screens. Otherwise, So far they look and perform fantastic. Kudos!

 http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/73...q2000000rea.jpg

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/81.../eq2000001x.jpg

Very peculiar. 

I'll look into it.

shaunfletcher wrote:

Imago-Quem wrote:

1: First, could you post a screenshot?  I think I understand, but a visual would help immensely. 

2: Have you maxed out your Complex Shader distance?  This pulls the shadows in really tight if it's set to low. 

Thanks for the response.

1: See screenshot . its a peculiar looking effect once an item reaches the point where the fadein stops happening and it i just cut off.

2: Maxing it out does make it better yes. Still closer than I would like it  but much better. Might want to think about putting a default of maximum on this for the highest settings? The screenshot above shows the distance that shadows fade out at quite well at the top right corner by the way. This is with the complex slider at max.

1. Thanks.  This is what I was describing.  I'll look into the situation and see if it can be touched up.

2. Glad this is working better for you.  We haven't decided when / if GPU shadows will automatically turn on.  We'll
consider forcing the Complex Shader Distance to max when it is though.

just got thru reading a article over at guru3d about the newest nvidia drivers 185 and up are going to include a new shadow option called ambiant oclusion...will the new shadows once they go live support this option....

from what i can see in there screenshots it looks awsome

Maybe I missed this, but any idea when these shadows will go live?

Can we get an update on the GPU Shadows? Are they being updated? Any timeframe for release to live?

I am really anxious to have these on live.

Albright wrote:

Daedalus Raistlin wrote:

Your argument about TS and CL is a bit odd, because those zones are pretty sparse. Try going into SoS with full shadows on and see how good your framerate is there.

 

I missed this bit but I am going to create a new post to annoy just your particularly.

I have already made a point about TS and CL and high performance, so quit the ignorance.

I have been into RoK - which is in my opinion, a real hog (in the past) - and I am getting 30fps minimum in there with my config (which is available on these forums in Look and Feel). This is with CPU shadows at Very High, but with Environment left off (notbecause it is underperforming, but because it is bugged, which may affect performance in some places). This is with a low powered A64 4000 with an 8800GT (2Gb DDR1).

SoS. Is that in RoK? Don't think I've tried there, but I know RoK can't be far behind in terms of geometry and model enmasse if it is one better for sticking in more NPC and objects than is necessary.

Anyone know if there is a similar config for ATI X800XL and ATI X850 Pro cards?

Cubey wrote:

Well i hope the Gpu shadows optimazations work out  since they do Look so much better and perform better, i want to use them bad.

 

 

 

I just want to be able to set my performance to Balanced and run at 30+ fps. If GPU Shadows will allow that then that would rock!!!

And yes, I do also appreciate the hard work on this change/update.. I hope more of the graphics stuff can be moved from the CPU to the GPU..

I also appreciate the frequent updates.. well haven't seen an update for a while but when he does, he seems to update much more that the "Normal" devs..

Thanks

Just tried to test the new GPU shadows on Test Copy server.. Just wont let me.. Game crashes with this message..

I run Vista 64 with a radeon 4870x2 and the latest Catalyst drivers and 4gb RAM.. I hope this gets fixed by the time it's  pushed to live..

EDIT: I fixed the problem by setting r_aa_blit 0 in eq2.ini.. I had antialiasing enabled through that option, (even though it has never worked on my radeon card anyway) so I didn't lose anything by turning it off.. Apparently the GPU shadows and antialiasing doesn't work so well together..