discussion Pixelated shadows from the 90's

[NightlySteel]

Hi folks,

Did anybody notice that shadows produced from the light that the character is holding got way worse than it was before? At least on Xbox one and now PS4 that is... It's really crappy and destroys the hole graphics when lighting up a dark room/space. When I played the early access it was fine, but now it's awful.

Anybody noticed this?

[NightlySteel]

Anyone?

[Lrrr Ruler of OP8]

I'll check on my PS4.

[Fuarian]

Maybe it's because the PS4 sucks... (jk). Could be an issue with graphics settings but console doesn't have those. Idk

[NightlySteel]

1 hour ago, Fuarian said:

Maybe it's because the PS4 sucks... (jk). Could be an issue with graphics settings but console doesn't have those. Idk

This is how it used to look on a console (Xbox one) that sucks event 50% more than PS4:

This is how it is now:

The point is that it was fine, but now the shadows are broken, would be better off without them.

[LongDarkHermit]

I don't get what your point really is here but i checked the videos of that person and im sure he plays on pc. Of course shadows look worse on consoles i personally never bother myself with such details

[Fuarian]

41 minutes ago, NightlySteel said:

This is how it used to look on a console (Xbox one) that sucks event 50% more than PS4:

This is how it is now:

The point is that it was fine, but now the shadows are broken, would be better off without them.

I see what you mean. On PC shadows appear like that if you set the shadow quality to medium or below. On my Xbox I never had this issue but it almost seems as if it's doing this automatically because the hardware can't take it. I'm not hating on console quality. I love consoles. But this seems possible. Maybe it's doing this to save on memory. Is your console packed full of storage or did you add/remove memory. (is that even possible on consoles?)

[NightlySteel]

26 minutes ago, LongDarkHermit said:

I don't get what your point really is here but i checked the videos of that person and im sure he plays on pc. Of course shadows look worse on consoles i personally never bother myself with such details

It's my videos and I play on Xbox One. My point is simple; Shadows where good, now they are bad. And you say why bother...? Well it bothers me because of the fact that it was fine before and I'm used to it being fine.

Maby it's just me, but it's anoying, because I used to like the graphics when lighting up a dark room, but now I avoid it because the pixelated shadows just ruins the experience in my opinion.

And yes I know that these consoles sucks, but It was fine. Why break something that's works?

[NightlySteel]

1 hour ago, Fuarian said:

I see what you mean. On PC shadows appear like that if you set the shadow quality to medium or below. On my Xbox I never had this issue but it almost seems as if it's doing this automatically because the hardware can't take it. I'm not hating on console quality. I love consoles. But this seems possible. Maybe it's doing this to save on memory. Is your console packed full of storage or did you add/remove memory. (is that even possible on consoles?)

Ok... It's possible to add storage for storing games and apps but the RAM is fixed and cannon be changed. I do have an external HD that is 80% full... So what you are saying, is that this could be the issue? If so I could try to move the game to the internal HD witch is faster...

[LongDarkHermit]

I hear you friends. Good points. Maybe they had to ' sacrifice ' shadow quality for somethings but they probably fix them later on, priorities you see, other stuff comes first. I did not know this game has been out for Xbox so long, your videos are 7 month old already.

[Fuarian]

1 hour ago, NightlySteel said:

Ok... It's possible to add storage for storing games and apps but the RAM is fixed and cannon be changed. I do have an external HD that is 80% full... So what you are saying, is that this could be the issue? If so I could try to move the game to the internal HD witch is faster...

Perhaps, I haven't seen anyone else with this issue. Yet again, it's hard to notice.

[NightlySteel]

30 minutes ago, LongDarkHermit said:

I hear you friends. Good points. Maybe they had to ' sacrifice ' shadow quality for somethings but they probably fix them later on, priorities you see, other stuff comes first. I did not know this game has been out for Xbox so long, your videos are 7 month old already.

TLD has been out on Xbox early access alpha game. Think it has been available for Xbox for a few years already, can't say exactly when it was released though...

[NightlySteel]

32 minutes ago, Fuarian said:

Perhaps, I haven't seen anyone else with this issue. Yet again, it's hard to notice.

Hmmm... Depends who you ask obviously, It's easy for me when Im sitting in front of my 55" TV

[Fuarian]

17 hours ago, NightlySteel said:

Hmmm... Depends who you ask obviously, It's easy for me when Im sitting in front of my 55" TV

To see it sure it's not that hard. But to actually awcknoledge it as a potential issue especially when you're involved in the game isn't easy.

[NightlySteel]

4 hours ago, Fuarian said:

To see it sure it's not that hard. But to actually awcknoledge it as a potential issue especially when you're involved in the game isn't easy.

People are different thats all I can say. Some people can't even acknowledge or simply don't care if they are playing on a PS2 or a PS4. I'm the type of guy that can tell the difference between 1080p BD and 4K BD. Ok, so maby I'm kind of a weirdo there. Let's just say I have an eye for details. Thats also one of the reasons why I brought it up, to see if I'm all alone feeling that this is annoying.  I enjoy graphics while I'm immerged in the game, that's part of my experience. So when these pixelated shadows appeare I see it right away. Especially since the shadows where fine before. Remember I have played the game alot before it was released as a complete game and there is often darkness in the game and the need to light up your environment, so when I suddenly one day was put back to PS2 graphics when lighting up a room I sertenly noticed it and did not like it. But hey, that's me.

[WanderingPalm]

For the most part, I haven't noticed the shadows on my PS4 at all, though there does seem to be quite a bit of difference between ambient shadows and shadows that are cast by your light. The one immersion-breaking shadow that I've seen was when I lit a flare and had a wolf chase me. Its shadow was SO pixelated that it was jarring. I mean, it looked like a blown-up 8-bit silhouette behind that wolf. I have yet to determine if this is normal in the PS4 version or I just ran into a bug, so I'm curious if anyone else has seen this happen.

[Thrasador]

They probably downgraded the shadows on console temporarily until they patch the memory leak with the game. Since consoles have a RAM amount that is typically lower than a gaming PC....they are probably trying to conserve as much RAM as possible so you are able to play longer on consoles without the game crashing....and you potentially corrupting your save as well.

I would try to backup my saves on a USB stick if possible.....regularly.

I backup my saves on PC for this game CONSTANTLY.....

[NightlySteel]

2 hours ago, WanderingPalm said:

For the most part, I haven't noticed the shadows on my PS4 at all, though there does seem to be quite a bit of difference between ambient shadows and shadows that are cast by your light. The one immersion-breaking shadow that I've seen was when I lit a flare and had a wolf chase me. Its shadow was SO pixelated that it was jarring. I mean, it looked like a blown-up 8-bit silhouette behind that wolf. I have yet to determine if this is normal in the PS4 version or I just ran into a bug, so I'm curious if anyone else has seen this happen.

Yes, exactly. Ambient shadows are fine (as they always where) but shadows cast by you (as in first person) are more pixelated (as they wasn't before). I have noticed the same as you and also as in my videos in certain buildings and cabins, but only worse.

I do not know for sure, but when I first notice these shadows I also noticed an improvement of the fps, it feels more steady now. You do probably not know, since you are playing on PS4 and probably didn't play it as an early access game, but the fps was a bit more unstable before. I'm just thinking, maby they sacrificed the shadows in order to get a more stable fps?

Personally I feel whatever reason they did it for, it was a pore choice of action... As I said before, I would like the shadows to be a as they where before.  If that's not possible, I would be better of whiteout them.

[Thrasador]

3 minutes ago, NightlySteel said:

Yes, exactly. Ambient shadows are fine (as they always where) but shadows cast by you (as in first person) are more pixelated (as they wasn't before). I have noticed the same as you and also as in my videos in certain buildings and cabins, but only worse.

I do not know for sure, but when I first notice these shadows I also noticed an improvement of the fps, it feels more steady now. You do probably not know, since you are playing on PS4 and probably didn't play it as an early access game, but the fps was a bit more unstable before. I'm just thinking, maby they sacrificed the shadows in order to get a more stable fps?

Personally I feel whatever reason they did it for, it was a pore choice of action... As I said before, I would like the shadows to be a as they where before.  If that's not possible, I would be better of whiteout them.

I can agree with your last statement. Instead of crappy shadows....just turn those ones off and go with no shadows. The performance would be even better still, and you won't have to look at crap shadows.....