[BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal - WAI for now.

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[BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal - WAI for now.

Post by alt3rn1ty » Fri, 22. Mar 19, 19:51

I am currently running 2.21 beta (GOG, Windows 10), but the version is not important : Since the first public release I have never been able to select Shadows setting to Normal

The game is Not modified

The game start used = The Unworthy Entrepreneur : This does not matter either, the issue happens with all game starts

Language in use is English

In the games settings for Graphics, Shadows : I have choices = OFF / NORMAL / HIGH

I can only select OFF or HIGH

My aim is to downgrade settings a little to keep things smooth when it gets busy on my Geforce GTX 970

By default, the game sets Shadows to High

So questions :


1. Why cant I select Shadows = Normal ? (Versus High I would have thought this would be a less heavy option, but cant select it)

2. Is Normal Higher than High and needs a better machine ? (Medium = Normal? / High / Ultra = Normal?)

3. What are Soft Shadows in the other setting ?

4. Why is none of this explained in the online Manual ?


Screenshot - https://i.imgur.com/q75axiY.png

Edit : The game has selected my dedicated NVidia Graphics card correctly and is using it, as opposed to the Intel Integrated one. This is an Optimus Laptop by MSI

Edit 2 : I believe you will not need a DXDiag or Vulcan Info for this issue, as it is reproducible by anyone. However I can produce them if needed.
radcapricorn wrote:
Fri, 22. Mar 19, 20:04
Yeah, I'm seeing the same here (GTX980Ti, Linux). 'Normal' shadows setting is grayed out.
blin25 wrote:
Sat, 23. Mar 19, 03:31
Yes, the shadow switch can only be high and off is not normally selected.
Last edited by alt3rn1ty on Sat, 23. Mar 19, 19:11, edited 9 times in total.
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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by radcapricorn » Fri, 22. Mar 19, 19:54

Is there any tooltip when you hover mouse over 'normal'?

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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by alt3rn1ty » Fri, 22. Mar 19, 20:00

radcapricorn wrote:
Fri, 22. Mar 19, 19:54
Is there any tooltip when you hover mouse over 'normal'?
None of those selections has any tooltip. OFF and HIGH become highlighted when the mouse moves over them, but Normal is Ghosted and does not even become highlighted when the mouse moves over it. Which suggests to me it is not selectable, even without trying to click it. Clicking it does nothing.
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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by radcapricorn » Fri, 22. Mar 19, 20:04

Yeah, I'm seeing the same here (GTX980Ti, Linux). 'Normal' shadows setting is grayed out.

As for what 'Soft Shadows' do, just switch it on and observe the scene on the right. A ship should be landing, it will have a shadow, with 'Soft Shadows' off it will be very sharp and blocky.

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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by alt3rn1ty » Fri, 22. Mar 19, 20:22

I think you are seeing something I am not, "scene on the right", is that some kind of boxout scene on the Linux version of the game ?

I can also select any combination of ..

Shadows = High, with Soft Shadows on
Shadows = High, without Soft Shadows on
Shadows = Off, again with or without Soft Shadows

.. And I dont think I am seeing shadows at all to be honest. There seems to be no difference in game with any of those.

And obviously Shadows = Normal is just not a thing for me, because I cant select it.

The game by default sets Shadows to HIGH, so I was hoping to just step a few settings down instead of completely off.

My 970 has 3gb VRam (DDR5), but I also changed the default texture setting to Medium, the default the game sets for this is also High (Which seems kind of weird considering the 970 is minimum spec graphics card for this game).
Last edited by alt3rn1ty on Fri, 22. Mar 19, 20:47, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by radcapricorn » Fri, 22. Mar 19, 20:45

Sorry, what I mean is when you're in the main menu after just starting the game, without loading any save. There's a dock and the X4 logo on the right, and a ship coming in to land. It's a way to get visual feedback on what various settings do.

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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by alt3rn1ty » Fri, 22. Mar 19, 20:53

Ah right, yes I see the difference on the Main Menu Settings, when that Disco comes in to land and take off, now I can tell the difference.

In Game I am inside an enclosed Trade Station so the systems sun cant cast those shadows.
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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by alt3rn1ty » Fri, 22. Mar 19, 20:57

Anyway if any game devs would like to have a stab please feel free to join in anytime :D
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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by blin25 » Sat, 23. Mar 19, 03:31

Yes, the shadow switch can only be high and off is not normally selected. As well as the radar switch that has been broken so far without rebooting or updating the UI, it is not displayed correctly according to the set values.

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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by radcapricorn » Sat, 23. Mar 19, 03:34

blin25 wrote:
Sat, 23. Mar 19, 03:31
As well as the radar switch that has been broken so far without rebooting or updating the UI, it is not displayed correctly according to the set values.
Off-topic:
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Check the last (as of March 2019) entry in this thread.

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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by Misunderstood Wookie » Sat, 23. Mar 19, 12:48

I am unsure why anyone would bother, but I know it has bugged me aswell.

To be honest the only effects which effect frame rates I notice are these-
SSAO
GLOW
LOD DIstance Slider

the rest is CPU bound you will not get faster frames in stations by turning off shadows and soft shadows if your gfx card is relatively within the last 3 years I am running RX 480 G1 Gaming card atm along with an Xeon six core CPU.

You will benefit more from the faster CPU with more cores.
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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by alt3rn1ty » Sat, 23. Mar 19, 15:17

@ledhead900 I dont get any lag apart from if I have the map open for any extended period of time, while sat at a station - But even that I think is now fixed in the latest beta (it used to feel like a memory leak or similar building up over time, especially if you fall asleep on the map in a station, you wake up the next morning to seeing the occasional freeze). So lag seems to be history now ..

.. And now the game is getting to a good state, I have a nice 4 Core I7, which is the main resource used with the X Series of games. And knowing that is the case again (though they have ramped up the graphics card needs a bit more than usual with this iteration of the game series, the CPU is still the main workhorse), I am just applying my usual treatment of the game settings for X and adjusting one notch down for everything which could possibly affect frame rate, when later in the game you can get in some pretty hectic furballs when you get involved in a big war with a lot of varied firepower and effects being thrown around.

I like my battles smooth, Xenon Archer not screen Archer, so I pre-emptively kill settings which are not really necessary to be set on max.

The game by default for my machine sets pretty much everything at High.

So here I am experimenting with what can be dropped, and confounded by settings which dont work or make sense. I mean if Normal is Normal, then why by default does the game set the setting to High?, in that case High is Normal, and Normal is not normal. Ambiguous wordage on ghosted settings is not conducive to getting things right and potentially preventing meltdown for some peoples machines :P.
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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by Misunderstood Wookie » Sat, 23. Mar 19, 17:57

I understand I wanted to set mine to normal too just because I like shadows does not mean I think they need to be ramped up tho I believe it to be possible the settings only control the resolution of the shadow in which case it probably will not give you many benefits even if set to normal.

Like I said I turned them both off and I noticed nothing usable, the frame rate inside stations did not increase more than 1-2frames.
the LOD slider does help if you have a weak cpu and the SSAO and AA settings will help a lot.

GLOW setting seems to require 5 frames.
SSAO a good 5-8

For some reason at least in my game on 2.20 and it has been like this since launch whenever I am docked on ANY station I get frame dips into the low 20s
while flying around it is 70 or higher, until a small battle happens and then sometimes it dips into the 40s and 50s seesm to be random spikes because leaving sector and coming back in fixes that.


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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by Alan Phipps » Sat, 23. Mar 19, 18:09

You are turning this specific setting issue report into a general fps discussion now. That is not how issues get dev attention and get fixed here.
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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by user1679 » Sat, 20. Apr 19, 02:29

Another user here with "shadows Normal" being disabled. This doesn't appear to be a driver issue unless nVidia simply doesn't
support X4 at all (I'm looking at you, vsync off)...

OS: Windows 7 Professional x64
GPU: GTX 1050 TI
GPU Driver: 425.30 (Developer Beta) from: https://developer.nvidia.com/vulkan-driver

Also tried the following release (aka "Game Ready") drivers:

388.71-desktop-win8-win7-64bit-international-whql
391.01-desktop-win8-win7-64bit-international-whql
418.91-desktop-win8-win7-64bit-international-whql
419.17-desktop-win8-win7-64bit-international-whql
419.35-desktop-win8-win7-64bit-international-whql
419.67-desktop-win8-win7-64bit-international-whql

until I got tired of installing drivers. I stopped at the beta because from the download page if you select the "release" version,
it redirects you to the standard download page whereas the developer version actually redirects you to a "Vulkan" download
page.

The text on the vulkan-driver page does say the release drivers support Vulkan 1.1 however the driver details page doesn't say
anything abuout Vulkan.

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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by Misunderstood Wookie » Sat, 20. Apr 19, 06:33

There is no known normal or low setting in the game, I do not know why it is even a selection.
High or nothing and It has been this way since launch I am an AMD user btw and have installed a couple of cards since I last bothered to check.
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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by alt3rn1ty » Sun, 21. Jul 19, 21:50

Update :

Now running X4 2.50 Hotfix 1 on This machine

8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-8750H Processor (6-Core, 9MB Cache, up to 4.1GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
16gb DDR4 (2666MHZ) - Originally the machine came with 8gb which has been upgraded
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti - 4GB GDDR5 VRAM
128GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive - OS System drive, Clean install of Win 10 x64 1903
1TB WD Blue 3D NAND 2.5" SATA SSD - Originally the machine came with a HD which has been upgraded

Game installation drive is the WD Blue SSD

Same issue still happens
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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by Misunderstood Wookie » Wed, 17. Mar 21, 14:12

Yeah it is just kind of there.
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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by Alan Phipps » Wed, 17. Mar 21, 14:25

The devs confirmed the case and that there are reasons for its selection not being enabled in game. Whether this situation will change in the future is not known.
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Re: [BUG] Any version - Shadow Settings - Can not select Normal

Post by alt3rn1ty » Fri, 19. Mar 21, 16:19

Alan Phipps wrote:
Wed, 17. Mar 21, 14:25
The devs confirmed the case and that there are reasons for its selection not being enabled in game. Whether this situation will change in the future is not known.
Sorry missed you posting this .. Thank you for the info.
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