» Thu Jun 02, 2011 5:32 am
I think I might have found a solution to the shadow problem. I've been posting my findings in a thread at the SteamForums. Here's what I found:
I think I found a solution to at least the problem I've noticed. So, just to be clear, the problem that's been bothering me is that often shadows simply pop in and out of existence, even shadows that are near the player's view. The problem was most pronounced in the first night level of the game, Seat of Power. For me, setting sys_maxFPS to 30 solves the problem. With sys_maxFPS set to 30 I have yet to see the shadow problem I just described. I'm going to keep testing, but it looks like this is the solution I've been looking for.
I have no idea why this works. Here's how I discovered the solution. I was going to record some video of the problem just so it would be absolutely clear what I was talking about. I set FRAPS to record at 30fps. When I began recording, my fps dropped, as they should have, to 30 fps; and oddly, as I moved through areas where the shadow pop-in always occurs, I was unable to detect the problem. The shadows were rendered just as they should be, with no detectable unusual pop-in or pop-out. I stopped recording and my fps went back up to 60 (vsync is on, BTW), and as I moved through the same area, the shadow problem returned. That clued me in, and I subsequently set sys_maxFPS to 30 in my autoexec.cfg and so far it looks like this is it.
I can't say this will work for everybody, but I encourage everyone who has noticed shadow problems to try it out. Good luck! If you try it, please report what you find.
Edit: Just to be clear, I'm running the game at 1920x1080 with vanilla Extreme settings. Vsync is enabled. I'm on a GTX580, latest beta drivers, Windows 7 x64.
So, my hunch is that if your framerate is dipping below whatever sys_maxFPS is set to, then some of the game's shadows will pop in and out of view. If your framerate stays at whatever sys_maxFPS is set to, then the shadows don't pop (i.e. flicker, get weird, whatever you want to call it). So, my suggestion is that you check to see that your framerate is not dipping below your sys_maxFPS setting.
Ok, so check this out. With vsync off I set the graphics to Gamer setting. At Gamer, my framerate is consistently well above 60fps at 1920x1080. With sys_maxFPS set to 300 (yes you read that right, 300) I get shadow anomalies like the ones I've previously described. Now, when I set sys_maxFPS to 60 (not 30 this time, 60) the anomalies go away. With sys_maxFPS at 300 my framerate is, of course, below the sys_maxFPS setting, and, therefore (I believe), I get the anomalies I've described. With sys_maxFPS at 60 my framerate does not fall below the sys_maxFPS settings, and, thus, I don't get the anomalies I've described.
I think this supports my hunch. If your framerate is dipping below whatever sys_masFPS is set to, then you might get shadow anomalies. If your framerate does not dip below what sys_maxFPS is set to, then you won't get the sort of shadow anomalies I've been describing.
For me, at the Extreme graphics setting, and at 1920x1080, my framerate sometimes dips below 60fps. Thus, if I have sys_maxFPS set to 60 I will very likely get shadow anomalies. In my case, it's not just that they're very likely, I do in fact get the anomalies. But, at the Extreme graphics setting, and at 1920x1080, my framerate never dips below 30fps. So, setting sys_maxFPS at 30 resolves my shadow anomalies. Basically, you need to find a framerate that your system won't fall below, and then you need to set sys_maxFPS to that framerate. You might need to adjust the graphics settings, including the resolution, depending on your system's hardware.
Hopefully this works for other people. Please, if you have strange shadow anomalies (e.g. shadows popping in and out) try this and report your results. I'd really like to know if this just happens to only work for me.
I'd like to know if any of this is relevant for the shadow problems anyone else is experiencing. If you try this out, please report back. The Steam thread is at:
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1813881&page=2
