Glitchy shadows - how to fix? : V

» Wed May 30, 2012 5:17 am

When i walk up to some rocks i can clearly see the close-up shadow coming while i approach. Also you can see that the shadow has some stripes. Doesn't look realistic at all.
Anyone know of some settings/mods to fix this?

Here's a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVytB_3SnHwof the shadows in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVytB_3SnHw

and heres my prefs.ini:

[Imagespace]
bDoDepthOfField=1
iRadialBlurLevel=1
[Display]
fShadowBiasScale=0.3000
fInteriorShadowDistance=3000.0000
fShadowDistance=2500.0000
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=2
bFloatPointRenderTarget=1
iShadowMaskQuarter=3
iShadowMapResolution=1024
bFXAAEnabled=0
iMaxAnisotropy=16
fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=4600.0000
fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=3600.0000
fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=3600.0000
fGamma=1.0000
iShadowFilter=3
fDecalLOD2=1500.0000
fDecalLOD1=1000.0000
fSpecularLODStartFade=1010.0000
fShadowLODStartFade=200.0000
fLightLODStartFade=2510.0000
iTexMipMapMinimum=0
iTexMipMapSkip=0
bTransparencyMultisampling=0
iWaterMultiSamples=0
iMultiSample=1
iShadowMode=3
bTreesReceiveShadows=1
bDrawLandShadows=1
bDrawShadows=1
bFull Screen=1
iSize H=1080
iSize W=1920
fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000
fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=9216.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=12288.0000
iScreenShotIndex=0
bShadowMaskZPrepass=0
bMainZPrepass=0
iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=10
iMaxDecalsPerFrame=30
sD3DDevice="ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series"
iAdapter=0
iPresentInterval=1
[Grass]
b30GrassVS=1
fGrassStartFadeDistance=21000.0000
fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=21000.0000
fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=400.0000
[Water]
iWaterReflectHeight=512
iWaterReflectWidth=512
bUseWaterDisplacements=1
bUseWaterRefractions=1
bUseWaterReflections=1
bUseWaterDepth=1
[MAIN]
fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=150000.0000
bGamepadEnable=0
bCrosshairEnabled=1
fHUDOpacity=1.0000
bSaveOnPause=1
bSaveOnTravel=1
bSaveOnWait=1
bSaveOnRest=1
[Interface]
fMouseCursorSpeed=1.0000
bDialogueSubtitles=1
bGeneralSubtitles=1
bShowCompass=1
[GamePlay]
bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1
bShowQuestMarkers=1
iDifficulty=4
[Controls]
fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0125
fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.9000
bAlwaysRunByDefault=1
bInvertYValues=0
bGamePadRumble=1
[Particles]
iMaxDesired=750
[SaveGame]
fAutosaveEveryXMins=15.0000
[AudioMenu]
fAudioMasterVolume=1.0000
fVal7=1.0000
uID7=0
fVal6=1.0000
uID6=0
fVal5=1.0000
uID5=0
fVal4=1.0000
uID4=0
fVal3=0.3000
uID3=466532
fVal2=0.8000
uID2=554685
fVal1=0.8000
uID1=1007612
fVal0=1.0000
uID0=94881
[Clouds]
fCloudLevel2Distance=262144.0000
fCloudLevel1Distance=32768.0000
fCloudLevel0Distance=16384.0000
fCloudNearFadeDistance=9000.0000
[General]
iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1
bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0
[TerrainManager]
fTreeLoadDistance=225000.0000
fBlockMaximumDistance=150000.0000
fBlockLevel1Distance=40000.0000
fBlockLevel0Distance=25000.0000
fSplitDistanceMult=1.1000
bShowLODInEditor=0
[Trees]
bRenderSkinnedTrees=1
uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=80
[Decals]
uMaxDecals=250
bDecals=1
bSkinnedDecals=1
uMaxSkinDecals=50
uMaxSkinDecalsPerActor=40
[LOD]
fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell=1.0000
fLODFadeOutMultObjects=12.0000
fLODFadeOutMultItems=8.6000
fLODFadeOutMultActors=9.0000
[BlurShaderHDR]
bDoHighDynamicRange=1
[BlurShader]
bUseBlurShader=0
[Launcher]
bShowAllResolutions=1
uLastAspectRatio=3

» Tue May 29, 2012 9:29 pm

I'm pretty sure that's just how the shadows look by default. At least that's how they look in my game: like the south end of a northbound horse.

» Wed May 30, 2012 10:57 am

See the following thread for a possible solution to your problem: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1342549-weird-texture-lines-issue-please-help/

This is definitely not how shadows should look...at least they never looked like that in my game.

» Wed May 30, 2012 5:12 am

Try to increase this to fShadowBiasScale=0.6000.
That can help a lot with these stripy shadows on steep surfaces.

You can also try and increase iBlurDeferredShadowMask to a value of 6-10.

» Tue May 29, 2012 8:30 pm

Try this:

bFloatPointRenderTarget=0
iShadowMapResolution=2048
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=5

» Tue May 29, 2012 8:35 pm

Giving us the Specs for your computer would help...

But i noticed this....."ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series"........with that low of a card you probably have shadows on medium?

Also the setting in the launcher would help......

» Wed May 30, 2012 2:27 am

Depends on what 4800 Series card he's got, since the 4850/4870 are still powerful cards.

» Wed May 30, 2012 10:06 am

Try to increase this to fShadowBiasScale=0.6000.

Yeah, but those higher BiasScale values make things dull and flat. There's no "pop" to anything.

» Wed May 30, 2012 8:38 am

See the following thread for a possible solution to your problem: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1342549-weird-texture-lines-issue-please-help/

This is definitely not how shadows should look...at least they never looked like that in my game.

It is like that on every default copy. It's just only noticeable on steep meshes.

» Wed May 30, 2012 1:46 am

Yeah, but those higher BiasScale values make things dull and flat. There's no "pop" to anything.

Can you elaborate on this? I don't remember what it even does. I think my BiasScale is 1.000. It's been that way for a while, to fix some shadow glitch, it seemed to help.

» Wed May 30, 2012 2:31 am

Giving us the Specs for your computer would help...

But i noticed this....."ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series"........with that low of a card you probably have shadows on medium?

Also the setting in the launcher would help......

Thanks for the replies ill try it later.

I got the 4870 512MB, AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2Ghz, 4GB ram

So yes my shadows are on medium (1024mb)

» Wed May 30, 2012 8:22 am

Yeah, but those higher BiasScale values make things dull and flat. There's no "pop" to anything.

No it doesn't. It changes the angle of the shadows. It completely fixed and shadow stripes on steep areas for me, sharp "shadow render lines".
The only downside is that a higher biasscale slightly misalignes the shadows during sunset/sunrise, but it's a very minor downside compared to having stripes all of the environment.

» Wed May 30, 2012 4:43 am

Can you elaborate on this? I don't remember what it even does. I think my BiasScale is 1.000. It's been that way for a while, to fix some shadow glitch, it seemed to help.

Like how light reflects off surfaces and casts shadows. At 0.1500 I thought I noticed it in ice cave hallways and other such dungeoun interiors. Stuff gave off more highlights, or shadow depth or something compared to 0.500~1.000.
But I did seem to see that striped shadow crap in a lot more places at 0.1500. Right now I'm using 0.2500.

But I think it's what the nvidia guide is describing:

"This variable in SkyrimPrefs.ini determines the degree to which a surface is shadowed, possibly by altering the angle an object needs to be relative to a light source to cast a shadow. In practice, higher values will reduce the amount of shadowing, while lower values will increase the shadowing on various surfaces."

No it doesn't. It changes the angle of the shadows. It completely fixed and shadow stripes on steep areas for me, sharp "shadow render lines".
The only downside is that a higher biasscale slightly misalignes the shadows during sunset/sunrise, but it's a very minor downside compared to having stripes all of the environment.

The way the tweak guide describes it sounds like it would have more of an affect than what you are saying. Oh, and I didn't read that tweak guide explanation until after I had supposedly noticed a visual difference with changing the setting. That's not to say my imaging this effect isn't a possiblity. Maybe I'll try to get some comparision shots tonight of what I'm talking about (that is, if I'm not imagining it).

» Wed May 30, 2012 7:11 am

Setting fShadowBiasScale to 0.6000 didn't help,
Setting iShadowMapResolution from 1024 to 2048 kills my FPS which makes the game unplayable, and it doesn't remove the stripes
Setting iBlurDeferredShadowMask to 6 helped for most of the stripes but not all of them, i suppose i can live with this partial fix. Setting it to 8 or 10 is not better than 6.

» Wed May 30, 2012 9:17 am

iBlurDeferredShadowMask to 6 helped for most of the stripes but not all of them, i suppose i can live with this partial fix. Setting it to 8 or 10 is not better than 6.

I usually see this as an odd number. Probably doesn't matter.

Some sources say the max is 7?

» Tue May 29, 2012 9:40 pm

I usually see this as an odd number. Probably doesn't matter.

Some sources say the max is 7?

I lost the saving where i can check the stripes but 7 seems to work best

» Tue May 29, 2012 9:30 pm

I don't remember what it is, but one of the settings makes the shadow edges soft. But uses a lot of performance. I use extremely low res shadows (severe pixelation), lowered shadow distance, and I use pretty good softening (to smooth the pixelation quite a bit), which seems to work well for my system and for the performance freak that I am. That's how I rolled, pre 1.4. There is much more tweaking to do, now that the game has been optimized.

» Wed May 30, 2012 9:20 am

I don't remember what it is, but one of the settings makes the shadow edges soft. But uses a lot of performance.

iBlurDeferredShadowMask softens the edges, but I don't think it really costs much performance.

» Wed May 30, 2012 5:16 am

OK, from what I read, it uses significantly more resources, the higher value/more softening you use -- like values from 1 to 7, or something. I'd be glad to find out that was bull! :biggrin:

What you are saying makes more sense, the more I think about it. Softening is either on or off, that's the performance difference. ... maybe.

» Wed May 30, 2012 10:49 am

Well the Bethesda endorsed nvidia tweak guide says "The performance impact is typically minimal." Which isn't a definite answer.

http://www.geforce.com/Optimize/Guides/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-tweak-guide

» Wed May 30, 2012 5:11 am

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=7
fShadowBiasScale=0.4

» Tue May 29, 2012 8:43 pm

I've been having this issue ever since the last patch and it's incredibly distracting. I've tried everything in here listed to fix it (also a couple other places), and no luck. Anyone have a permanent solution to this or a mod that can fix it? It's SO horrible looking that I almost want to not play Skyrim because of it. Lydia's face should not look like this sitting by the fire in my Breezehome.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a128/Alexial_MS/ScreenShot56.jpg

Specs are:
Intel Quad Core i5 3.30 Ghz
8 GB RAM
Windows 7 Pro 64Bit
Nvidia GForce GTX 550Ti w/Latest Divers

This mod seems to have fixed it in doors in regards to firepits and such, but it's still occurring outdoors, which is where I am dragon hunting mostly.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=8043#

» Wed May 30, 2012 9:55 am

Just a small bump as this is an incredibly annoying issue.

» Wed May 30, 2012 8:58 am

Yeah the indoor fix mod works for most places, but not all of them. And, yeah outside is the worst, which I haven't found a real fix for yet.

» Wed May 30, 2012 7:11 am

Turning back to bDrawLandShadows=0 solved this problem completely to me.