Flickering Shadows

PhenakistPhenakist Join Date: 2012-08-07 Member: 154948Members
in Technical Support
<div class="IPBDescription">Shadows that flicker</div>CPU :- 955 BE
GPU :- sapphire 7970
mobo :- msi 870a-g54
Ram :- 4GB mushkin

As the title says, I have been having issues with shadows flickering. It is not ALL shadows, generally most noticable near a light source (i.e the power node at 30% light or the fans inside air vents where the light is occluded by the fan). It is not a constant problem and appears to be fixed if I go out and back into NS2 (rebooting the game entirely) and by a new map // server change.

Not sure if this is an isolated problem or others have had this too either due to drivers or a game issue, feedback either way would be much appreciated.
(Drivers are up to date) ;)
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Comments

  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited August 2012
    <!--sizeo:1--><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro-->:Phased to NS2 Technical Support:<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->

    Is there a possibility to get some video footage of it?
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  • PhenakistPhenakist Join Date: 2012-08-07 Member: 154948Members
    When it next occurs I will take some footage -- It also happens on occasion in the load up screen (with online play, training, options etc) where some parts of the background arnt fully loaded and just flicker. However I have never had an issue of anything not loading in real play, so it may be related to the shadows.
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  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited August 2012
    It sound very odd indeed :P SO whenever this happens could you also show the contents of the log.txt file? It's located in %appdata%\Natural Selection 2

    You can use the following BBCode for it to keep it's formatting

    [code] [/ code]
                ^ without the space here
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  • Soul_RiderSoul_Rider Mod Bean Join Date: 2004-06-19 Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    edited August 2012
    Doubt you'd find this in the console log as it's almost like artifacts, but not.

    Easily noticable on some of the moveable alien structures like the whip for example. I have been experiencing it in a lot of maps and just blamed the mappers for overlapping textures and Occlusion Geometry, never thought it might actually be a problem...

    Will record some footage for you, but it definitely does not show in the log.

    I have a nVidia GTS250 512mb with an i3-530@3.6Ghz

    EDIT---

    Give it a couple of minutes to finish processing, but look at all light sources. My set-up includes shadows on, but not shadow fading, if that helps... I chose docking because the problem is highlighted all over the map!!!

    <center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/k9xIYjtxizc"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/k9xIYjtxizc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>

    Issue disappears when you get up close to the object. I am almost certain it relates to the luminescent textures. Watch this FULL screen on youtube, this stupid embed doesn't really allow you to see the issue :P
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  • DghelneshiDghelneshi Aims to surpass Fana in post edits. Join Date: 2011-11-01 Member: 130634Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited August 2012
    That's not shadow flickering, but rather Z-fighting. It's still an issue in many places, especially on docking, but probably not what is being reported here.

    Here's what I get: <center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SMPZif8aXic"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SMPZif8aXic" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>
    These bugs only appear after a map change.

    The last bug on tram doesn't always appear, it is present only after multiple map changes and seems to disappear once I go near the "Join Aliens/Marines" section of the ready room.

    System Info:
    Intel Core i5-3570K
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 (Driver Version 301.42)
    Windows 7 64bit
    16GB RAM
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  • Soul_RiderSoul_Rider Mod Bean Join Date: 2004-06-19 Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    I get that too, but have you got shadow fading enabled? When I disable it it turns from what you see, to what I video'd. If you look it occurs in the same locations and is based arounds the light sources. I am fairly sure it's the same issue with different settings.
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  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited August 2012
    These issues are known and are indeed quite odd things.


    Also a quick FYI, "Shadow Fade: off" is the higher setting ;)
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  • DghelneshiDghelneshi Aims to surpass Fana in post edits. Join Date: 2011-11-01 Member: 130634Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited August 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=1966212:date=Aug 23 2012, 08:49 PM:name=Soul_Rider)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Soul_Rider @ Aug 23 2012, 08:49 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1966212"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I get that too, but have you got shadow fading enabled? When I disable it it turns from what you see, to what I video'd. If you look it occurs in the same locations and is based arounds the light sources. I am fairly sure it's the same issue with different settings.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    It doesn't matter for me. Disabling shadow fading makes the issue worse, but this video was recorded with it on.
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  • Soul_RiderSoul_Rider Mod Bean Join Date: 2004-06-19 Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    <!--quoteo(post=1966229:date=Aug 23 2012, 08:49 PM:name=Kouji_San)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kouji_San @ Aug 23 2012, 08:49 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1966229"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->These issues are known and are indeed quite odd things.


    Also a quick FYI, "Shadow Fade: off" is the higher setting ;)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Could perhaps it be made clearer in the options which option you select for eye-candy and which for performance. I mean what is shadow fade anyway? I've never seen that listed before in a game... too many fancy words and options, lol :)
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  • DghelneshiDghelneshi Aims to surpass Fana in post edits. Join Date: 2011-11-01 Member: 130634Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
    <!--quoteo(post=1966284:date=Aug 24 2012, 02:10 AM:name=Soul_Rider)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Soul_Rider @ Aug 24 2012, 02:10 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1966284"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Could perhaps it be made clearer in the options which option you select for eye-candy and which for performance. I mean what is shadow fade anyway? I've never seen that listed before in a game... too many fancy words and options, lol :)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Just look at a random shadow move away from it. The shadow will eventually fade away at a distance set by the mapper. It's extremely obvious on all maps, as most shadows fade after about 5m distance. Disabling this obviously prevents the shadows from disappearing.
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  • Soul_RiderSoul_Rider Mod Bean Join Date: 2004-06-19 Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    And of course, when I buy/play a game, I stand around looking at shadows :P

    I was thinking more for Joe public than myself. Some people may not even know what bloom etc are, so a little indication could go a long way. It could be as simple as a column header above each other the options, one says Quality, the other performance, or something, maybe even clicking the header selects and deselects the options as appropriate?

    I'd rather the menu told players which options would be best to select, rather than them having to be told in game, or on the forums.
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  • DghelneshiDghelneshi Aims to surpass Fana in post edits. Join Date: 2011-11-01 Member: 130634Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited August 2012
    Sure, that would be great.

    And yes, I do stand around and look at shadows when I just bought a game. :P
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  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    The shadow fade will probably be changed into a "Low <-> High" setting. And Max talked about geting better shadows into the game for both ATI/AMD users and NVIDIA. When or how I don't know, my guess is performance improvements and optimisations are more important than eye candy.

    However, without breaking the NDA, there is going to be new eye candy stuff in the game and probably for 217 if it can be optimised before its release :P
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