14 replies to this topic

[xeromynd]

In this video I capture how my textures and environment behaves on every map, 100% of the time. Textures load and unload based upon how close I get to them (we're talking CLOSE, like 100-500m, not stuff thats far away).

It's really terrible to look at, and I feel like other people whose gameplay I watch (Twitch/Youtube) don't have this problem.

Basically, if someone could just look and go "yeah thats normal, MWO sux" or "no wtf" (and hopefully provide a fix) that would be super helpful.

It's most apparent at 1:41 on the right side of the screen, if you look at the ground. Apologies if I don't use the right terminology, I'm knowledgeable about computers and hardware to an extent, but game design & modding aren't something I know a lot about.



I'm running a GTX 980 SC. Stock, no overclock. 4GB of VRAM should be plenty to handle MWO, then again MWO is full of surprises.... any suggestions?

**Note, this isn't posted in the patch feedback section because this is something that's persisted across all recent patches**

Edited by xeromynd, 08 February 2017 - 11:35 PM.

[Ex Atlas Overlord]

Yep,this is normal.

Welcome to what happens when you throw quality out the window so that people that dont' want to buy a computer for games can play games.

Edited by Ex Atlas Overlord, 08 February 2017 - 11:39 PM.

[G4LV4TR0N]

Is there any way of setting them permanently to lowest so they won't reload?

[Shiroi Tsuki]

Pretty normal for me
I play on the very lowest and whenever I approach a building it goes from CnC Generals graphics to Supreme Commander graphics

[PhoenixFire55]

Ex Atlas Overlord, on 08 February 2017 - 11:38 PM, said:

Welcome to what happens when you throw quality out the window so that people that dont' want to buy a computer for games can play games.

Thing is ... this game uses a 4 year old engine but a 4 year old PC can't run this game. So how about NOPE. I used to run MWO perfectly fine with stable FPS on a potatoe PC a couple years back, now I can't because FPS keeps dropping and dropping more or less after every major patch. This isn't about "quality" because there is none to begin with.

Objects, be it terrain or mechs, should be drawn at any distance, not suddenly appear out of nowhere when you are close enough. They don't have sufficient understanding of their own game engine tho, thus all such "features". But as someone has said in a different thread, this seems to be the trend with all games and all developers nowadays. Well excuse me, but I'm not gonna bother buying a new PC in order to be barely able to play half-azzed-effort non-optimized games like these.

[Ghogiel]

This is because MWO has badly done discrete LODs.

The only thing you can do to minimise this is set object detail to high. That increases the distance you will see transitions ro LOD0>LOD1>LOD2 etc.

PGI can also set draw distances on a per object basis if they wanted, but really just making better LODs is the best option imo.

I could fix them to a large extent on a per map basis in a couple hours with either no or fractional tri increase. (CE handles extra geo like a boss and so it's nothing to worry about at all)

Edited by Ghogiel, 09 February 2017 - 03:16 AM.

[G4LV4TR0N]

Quote

The only thing you can do to minimise this is set object detail to high. That increases the distance you will see transitions ro LOD0>LOD1>LOD2 etc.

And there is no way of actually keeping them at LOD0 so they won't reload? Also would setting LOD Bias to high value work it up?

[PhoenixFire55]

Ghogiel, on 09 February 2017 - 03:13 AM, said:

The only thing you can do to minimise this is set object detail to high. That increases the distance you will see transitions ro LOD0>LOD1>LOD2 etc.

LOD's control the level of detail, but there should be no LOD that makes objects invisible. Let alone invisible at ranges far less than effective ranges of some weapons we have.

[Ghogiel]

PhoenixFire55, on 09 February 2017 - 05:02 AM, said:

LOD's control the level of detail, but there should be no LOD that makes objects invisible. Let alone invisible at ranges far less than effective ranges of some weapons we have.

Tell that to PGI...

[Ghogiel]

G4LV4TR0N, on 09 February 2017 - 04:00 AM, said:

And there is no way of actually keeping them at LOD0 so they won't reload? Also would setting LOD Bias to high value work it up?

You can only try that cvar and related cvars and see if it does anything in MWO. LOD bias in GPU progs only will affect DX openGL functions > in the case I am thinking of it affect mip level of textures (as thats has functions in the DX sdk itself) not any specif engines LOD solution.

EDIT as for the terrain LOD popping as seen in OPs later half of the vid that's CEs dynamic LOD subD, which would be terrain detail not object detail. same deal, but you can't really fix it like discrete LODs for object.

Edited by Ghogiel, 09 February 2017 - 05:14 AM.

[G4LV4TR0N]

With super high LOD Bias set for video card driver game still reloads objects like in the video above. Which exactly cvar you are talking about?

What I mean, setting "Object Detail" setting to max will make those objects use only highest quality images at cost of performance. But using lowest setting does not force game to use only lowest quality images, it just uses them at distance but when you are closer, they get reloaded by their higher quality versions. I am wondering how to completely disable this reloading and use only lowest quality objects instead.

Edited by G4LV4TR0N, 09 February 2017 - 05:28 AM.

[PhoenixFire55]

Ghogiel, on 09 February 2017 - 05:05 AM, said:

Tell that to PGI...

Already did like 3 years ago, now I'm just randomly telling it to people I meet.

[Ghogiel]

G4LV4TR0N, on 09 February 2017 - 05:22 AM, said:

With super high LOD Bias set for video card driver game still reloads objects like in the video above. Which exactly cvar you are talking about?

What I mean, setting "Object Detail" setting to max will make those objects use only highest quality images at cost of performance. But using lowest setting does not force game to use only lowest quality images, it just uses them at distance but when you are closer, they get reloaded by their higher quality versions. I am wondering how to completely disable this reloading and use only lowest quality objects instead.

Well if you wanted to only use the lowest quality LODs only, I dunno if you can. But there are some things to try that MAY not be locked in MWO

But even if you did succeed in forcing an ugly LOD, you'll be shooting a lot of invisible walls because of how poorly some of the LODs match the collision proxy.

If you wanted to make it look nicer with less LOD pop on objects try these


First just try just turning off object LODS>
e_Lods=0


If that doesn't do anything try tweaking the LODs with these>

e_LodMax=1

e_LodMin=0

(^I think 0 should be the highest quality LOD, and not be setting it to off, try with 1 and 2 and see if buildings look like ****, also could be an option to set higher 2-3 for people who want to see a low LODs all the time)


e_LodRatio=1000

^Hopefully makes the distance when a LOD swaps to be super GPU sploding far away

e_LodsForceUse=0

(^something about forcing LODs even if the tri count is crappy)

e_CoverageBufferTerrainLodShift=

(^That one is for terrain not objects. Not sure if that is a bool or meters, you could try variables 0, 1, 100 1000 to see if it does anything,)

e_LodCompMaxSize=100

(or some other high number perhaps 1000)

Edited by Ghogiel, 09 February 2017 - 09:31 AM.

[G4LV4TR0N]

I am using this config now, in the lower part called LOD SETTINGS you can find my setting for those. But when you load it those textures still keep reloading/shimmering occasionally and I don't know how to disable those. All I want is to have my LOD detail level set to lowest possible and locked there permanently.

If you could try loading the config to see the effect, for example load Testing Grounds and walk around buildings to see that is keeps reloading textures randomly.

Quote

//============================ ENABLE CONSOLE ===================================
con_restricted = 0

//============================ CPU THREADS ======================================
sys_main_CPU = 0
sys_TaskThread4_CPU = 0
sys_TaskThread2_CPU = 0
sys_physics_CPU = 1
sys_streaming_CPU = 1
sys_TaskThread5_CPU = 1
ca_thread1Affinity = 1
sys_TaskThread0_CPU = 1
sys_TaskThread3_CPU = 1
ca_thread0Affinity = 1
sys_TaskThread1_CPU = 1
r_WaterUpdateThread = 1

//============================ IN GAME SETTINGS =================================
sys_spec_Environment = 1
sys_spec_GameEffects = 1
sys_spec_ObjectDetail = 1
sys_spec_Particles = 1
sys_spec_PostProcessing = 1
sys_spec_Shading = 1
sys_spec_Shadows = 1
sys_spec_Texture = 1
sys_spec_Physics = 1
sys_spec_Sound = 1

//============================ SYSTEM RAM THROUGHPUT ============================
sys_budget_streamingthroughput = 6661120
sys_LocalMemoryGeometryStreamingSpeedLimit = 6505
sys_LocalMemoryTextureStreamingSpeedLimit = 6505
sys_streaming_max_bandwidth = 6505

//============================ KNOWN AND CHECKED ================================
r_MultiGPU = 0
r_MultiThreaded = 1
r_ImpostersUpdatePerFrame = 1000
q_Renderer = 0
e_Clouds = 0
r_WaterUpdateFactor = 20
r_WaterUpdateDistance = 20
r_Beams = 0
r_BeamsMaxSlices = 16
r_BeamsDistFactor = 1
r_TexSkyResolution = 2
r_ImposterRatio = 4
r_EnvTexResolution = 0
r_EnvCMResolution = 0
r_DynTexMaxSize = 24
r_DynTexAtlasCloudsMaxSize = 8
r_DynTexAtlasSpritesMaxSize = 8
r_TexAtlasSize = 256
r_VegetationSpritesTexRes = 8
e_VegetationMinSize = 2048

//============================ UNKNOWN AND UNCHECKED ============================
r_GeomInstancing = 1
r_stereodevice = 0
r_WaterTessellationHW = 1
//^test?
//q_Quality = 0 //sets whole set of quality Shaders to 1 or higher
q_ShaderGeneral = 0
q_ShaderGlass = 0
q_ShaderVegetation = 0
q_ShaderIce = 0
q_ShaderTerrain = 0
q_ShaderShadow = 0
q_ShaderWater = 0
q_ShaderFX = 0
q_ShaderPostProcess = 0
q_ShaderHDR = 0
q_ShaderSky = 0
q_ShaderMetal = 0
e_Recursion = 0
e_HwOcclusionCullingObjects = 0
e_ObjQuality = 0
e_MaxViewDistSpecLerp = 0
e_ViewDistMin = 0.1 //****10
e_ViewDistRatio = 0.1 //****19
e_ViewDistRatioCustom = 0.1 //****19
e_ViewDistRatioDetail = 0.1
e_ViewDistRatioLights = 5
r_DrawNearZRange = 0.08
e_TerrainNormalMap = 1
e_TerrainTextureStreamingPoolItemsNum = 16
e_TerrainOcclusionCullingMaxDist = 10
e_TerrainOcclusionCullingStepSize = 4
e_TerrainOcclusionCullingStepSizeDelta = 1.05
e_VegetationSprites = 1
e_VegetationSpritesMinDistance = 1
e_DissolveSpriteMinDist = 2
e_DissolveSpriteDistRatio = 0.1
e_VegetationSpritesBatching = 1
r_VegetationSpritesTexRes = 8
e_VegetationBending = 0
e_VegetationSpritesDistanceCustomRatioMin = 1
e_VegetationSpritesDistanceRatio = 1
e_ProcVegetation = 0
e_VegetationUseTerrainColor = 1
e_OcclusionCullingViewDistRatio = 0.5
ca_AttachmentCullingRation = 50
es_DebrisLifetimeScale = 0
r_TexBumpResolution = 2
r_DisplacementFactor = 0.4
r_UseMaterialLayers = 2
r_EnvTexUpdateInterval = 1.0
r_TexMinAnisotropy = 0
r_TexMaxAnisotropy = 0
r_DetailTextures = 0
r_DetailDistance = 1
e_Decals = 0
e_DecalsAllowGameDecals = 0
e_DecalsLifeTimeScale = 0
e_DecalsOverlapping = 0
e_DecalsForceDeferred = 0
e_DecalsMerge = 1
e_DecalsScissor = 1
e_DecalsPreCreate = 1
ca_useDecals = 0
r_ColorGrading = 0
r_GlowAnamorphicFlares = 0
r_DepthOfField = 0
r_dofMinZScale = 0
r_dofMinZ = 1
r_DepthOfFieldBokeh = 0
r_DepthOfFieldBokehQuality = 1
r_MotionBlurMaxViewDist = 0
r_RainMaxViewDist_Deferred = 0
r_sunshafts = 0
r_pointslightshafts = 0
r_Coronashafts = 0
r_Coronas = 0
r_Flares = 0
r_MotionBlur = 0
r_MotionBlurMaxViewDist = 0
r_MotionBlurShutterSpeed = 0.001
ca_MotionBlurMovementThreshold = 0.001
r_Reflections = 0
r_ReflectionsQuality = 0
r_HDRRendering = 0
r_HDRTexFormat = 0
r_HDRLevel = 1
r_HDROffset = 10
r_HDRSaturation = 1
r_HDRBrightLevel = 0.0
r_HDRBrightOffset = 8
r_HDRBrightThreshold = 5
r_HDRBloomMul = 0.5
r_HDRGrainAmount = 0
r_HDRBlueShift = 0
r_HDREyeAdaptionCache = 30
r_MSAA = 0
r_MSAA_quality = 0
r_MSAA_samples = 4
r_PostAA = 0
r_PostAAEdgeFilter = 0
r_PostAAInEditingMode = 0
r_PostAAMode = 0
r_SSAO = 0
r_SSAOQuality = 0
r_SSAODownscale = 0
r_SSAOAmount = 1
r_SSAORadius = 1.5
r_SSAOTemporalConvergence = 0.7
r_SSAOContrast = 1
e_TerrainAo = 0
r_TerrainAO_FadeDist = 8
r_ssdo = 0
r_ssdoAmount = 0
r_ssdoAmbientAmount = 0
r_refraction = 0
r_ssreflections = 0
e_GI = 0
e_GIRSMSize = 64
e_GIAmount = 0.25
e_GIMaxDistance = 150
e_GINumCascades = 1
e_GICascadesRatio = 2
e_GIIterations = 2
e_GIOffset = 0.2
e_GIPropagationAmp = 3.3
e_GICache = 0
e_SkyType = 0
e_SkyQuality = 2
e_SkyUpdateRate = 0
e_Shadows = 0
r_ShadowGen = 0
r_ShadowGenMode = 0
e_ShadowsOnAlphaBlend = 0
e_ShadowsMaxTexRes = 4
e_GsmCastFromTerrain = 1
e_ShadowsOnWater = 0
e_ShadowsClouds = 0
e_ShadowsMasksLimit = 1
e_ShadowsLodBiasFixed = 1
e_ShadowsLodBiasInvis = 1
r_ShadowBlur = 0
r_ShadowBluriness = 0.1
r_ShadowJittering = 1.5
e_ShadowsCastViewDistRatio = 0.6
e_ShadowsCastViewDistRatioLights = 0.8
e_ShadowsTessellateCascades = 0
r_ShadowsMaskResolution = 2
r_ShadowsMaskDownScale = 1
e_ShadowsAdaptScale = 2.0
e_ShadowsConstBias = 1.0
e_ShadowsSlopeBias = 1
e_GsmRange = 1
e_GsmRangeStep = 1
e_GsmRangeStepExtended = 6
e_GsmCache = 1
e_GsmCacheLodOffset = 1
e_GsmCacheLodOffsetExtended = 6
e_GsmExtendLastLod = 1
e_GsmExtendLastLodIncludeObjects = 0
e_GsmScatterLodDist = 24
r_CloudsUpdateAlways = 0
r_ImpostersDraw = 0
e_ParticlesQuality = 0
e_ParticlesLights = 0
e_ParticlesGI = 0
e_ParticlesDiffCM = 0
e_ParticlesShadows = 0
r_ShadowsParticleNormalEffect = 0
r_ShadowsParticleKernelSize = 0
r_ShadowsAdaptionMin = 0
r_ShadowsAdaptionSize = 0
e_ParticlesMaxDrawScreen = 1
e_ParticlesMinDrawPixels = 1
e_ParticlesMotionBlur = 0
e_ParticlesObjectCollisions = 0
e_ParticlesPoolSize = 4096
e_ParticlesAnimBlend = 0
r_UseParticlesHalfRes = 2
r_UseParticlesHalfResForce = 1
r_UseSoftParticles = 0
r_UseParticlesRefraction = 0
r_UseParticlesGlow = 0
r_UseParticlesMerging = 0
r_Rain = 0
r_RainAmount = 0
r_RainMaxViewDist_Deferred = 20
e_ParticlesThread = 0
r_UseParticlesMerging = 0
g_breakage_particles_limit = 10
g_joint_breaking = 0
g_tree_cut_reuse_dist = 0
e_CullVegActivation = 20
e_FoliageWindActivationDist = 20
e_PhysFoliage = 0
e_PhysOceanCell = 0.5
p_gravity_z = -36.3
p_joint_damage_accum = 2
p_joint_damage_accum_threshold = 0.2
p_max_MC_iters = 10
p_max_object_splashes = 1
p_max_substeps_large_group = 1
p_num_bodies_large_group = 10
p_splash_dist0 = 7
p_splash_dist1 = 30
p_splash_force0 = 10
p_splash_force1 = 100
p_splash_vel0 = 4.5
p_splash_vel1 = 10
v_vehicle_quality = 1
es_MaxPhysDist = 25
es_MaxPhysDistInvisible = 25
sys_preload = 1
i_precache = 1
r_ShadersAsyncCompiling = 3
r_ShadersAsyncMaxThreads = 6
r_ShadersPreactivate = 1
r_ShadersPrecacheAllLights = 1
r_ShadersUseInstanceLookUpTable = 1
e_ParticlesPreload = 1
e_PreloadDecals = 1
e_AutoPrecacheCgfMaxTasks = 16
e_PreloadMaterials = 1
e_StatObjPreload = 1
e_AutoPrecacheCgf = 2
ca_PrecacheAnimationSets = 1
e_PrecacheLevel = 1
r_TexturesWarmup = 0
e_ShadowsResScale = 0.1
r_TessellationTriangleSize = 20
e_CoverageBufferReproj = 0
e_DynamicLightsMaxEntityLights = 2
ca_UsePhysics = 0
e_gsmlodsnum = 0
e_ParticlesLod = 0.1
r_FogShadows = 0
e_HwOcclusionCullingWater = 0
e_WaterOceanBottom = 1
e_WaterWaves = 0
e_WaterOceanFFT = 0
r_WaterReflectionsMGPU = 0
r_WaterReflectionsMinVisiblePixelsUpdate = 0
r_WaterReflectionsUseMinOffset = 0
e_WaterTessellationAmountX = 0
e_WaterTessellationAmountY = 0
r_WaterCaustics = 0
r_WaterGodRays = 0
r_WaterReflections = 0
r_WaterReflectionsQuality = 0
d3d9_TripleBuffering = 1
e_Tessellation = 0
e_TessellationMaxDistance = 0
r_PostProcessHUD3DCache = 0
e_TerrainTextureLodRatio = 300
d3d9_TextureFilter = bilinear
sys_MaxFPS = 32

//============================ LOD DISSOLVE =====================================
e_Dissolve = 1
e_DissolveDistband = 3
e_DissolveDistMax = 8
e_DissolveDistMin = 2

//============================ TEXTURES STREAMING ===============================
r_TexturesStreaming = 2
//r_TexturesStreamPoolSize = 192 //disable if r_TexturesStreaming = 2
r_TexturesStreamingMipBias = 4

//============================ ADDITIONAL SETTINGS ==============================
gp_option_ShowCockpitGlass = 0
gp_default_cockpit_light = 1

//============================ FLASH SCALEFORM SETTINGS ========================
sys_flash_edgeaa = 0
sys_flash_static_pool_size = 0
sys_flash_address_space = 98304
sys_flash_allow_reset_mesh_cache = 1
sys_flash_check_filemodtime = 1
sys_flash_curve_tess_error = 24 //[0...8...24...32...] <- interesting values
sys_flash_allow_reset_mesh_cache = 1
sys_flash_newstencilclear = 1

//============================ TESTING ==========================================
r_VSync = 0
e_VegetationBending = 0
//p_num_threads = 2
//p_num_jobs = 2

r_Batching = 2
r_BatchType = 0
r_UseHWSkinning = 1
r_UseGSParticles = 0

r_ShadersAsyncCompiling = 0

sys_budget_soundCPU = 0
s_MemoryPoolSoundPrimary = 0
s_MemoryPoolSystem = 0

//============================ LOD SETTINGS =====================================

e_Lods = 1
e_LodsForceUse = 1
e_LodRatio = 0 //Lower values force LODs to load sooner
e_LodMin = 6 //[0...3...6]
e_CharLodMin = 1024
e_LodCompMaxSize = 0.1 //Lower values force the LODs to load sooner //[0.1...1...20](20?)
e_CoverageBufferTerrainLodShift = 0 //[0...100...1024]
e_TerrainLodRatio = 0

r_TextureLodDistanceRatio = -1

//============================ MODIFIED BY MWO ==================================
e_Wind = 0
r_RainDropsEffect = 0
r_HUDHitEffect = 0
e_LodMax = 3
e_SkyBox = 0
e_ViewDistRatioVegetation = 0
e_TerrainOcclusionCullingVersion = 0
e_TerrainOcclusionCulling = 0
e_TerrainOcclusionCullingPrecision = 0.1
e_TerrainOcclusionCullingPrecisionDistRatio = 1
e_VegetationAlphaBlend = 0
r_TexMinSize = 0
r_TexMaxSize = 4
r_TexResolution = 0.1
e_DecalsHitCache = 0
r_PostProcessEffects = 0
r_PostProcessFilters = 0
r_PostProcessGameFx = 0
r_Glow = 0
r_EyeAdaptationBase = 0.5
r_EyeAdaptationFactor = 0
r_EyeAdaptationSpeed = 0.5
e_Fog = 0
e_FogVolumes = 0
e_ParticlesCullAgainstViewFrustum = 1
e_ParticlesMaxScreenFill = 16
e_ParticlesEmitterPoolSize = 2048
e_AutoPrecacheTerrainAndProcVeget = 1
e_AutoPrecacheTexturesAndShaders = 1
e_Particles = 0
e_WaterOcean = 2
e_WaterVolumes = 0
e_WaterWavesTessellationAmount = 0.5

//============================ DISABLED BY MWO===================================
r_UsePOM = 0
e_LodMinTris = 1
gpu_particle_physics = 1
e_view_dist_ratio_vegetation = 1 //?
e_vegetation_min_size = 2048 //higher = faster
e_vegetation_sprites_distance_ratio = 1 //?
r_TexturesFilteringQuality = 2
r_DetailNumLayers = 1
g_radialBlur = 0
r_silhouettePOM = 0
r_ChromaticAberration = 0
i_particleeffects = 0
r_FogShadowsWater = 0
r_Sharpening = 0
e_ShadowsPoolSize = 256
e_MergedMeshesInstanceDist = 0
r_HDRBloomRatio = 0.000
e_MergedMeshesViewDistRatio = 0
e_particles_thread = 1
e_dynamic_light = 0
e_gsm_lods_num = 0
e_particles_max_emitter_draw_screen = 1
e_particlesmaxemitterdrawscreen = 1
e_particles_lod = 0.1
r_VolumetricFog = 0
e_vegetation_sprites_distance_ratio = 0.9
e_proc_vegetation = 0
e_ParticlesForceSoftParticles = 0
e_detailmaterialsviewdistz = 1
e_detail_materials_view_dist_z = 1
sys_LowSpecPak = 1
sys_budget_fps = 32
d3d11_TripleBuffering = 1
r_ParticlesHalfRes = 2
e_hw_occlusion_culling_water = 0
r_WaterUpdateChange = 1
g_showFPS = 1
d3d9_ClipPlanes = 1
r_TexturesStreamingSkipMips = 2

[G4LV4TR0N]

Just try the config with e_LodCompMaxSize = 0.1 and then e_LodCompMaxSize = 64(or any high number) to see. For some reason this first value keeps reloading LOD values over and over. Also for some reason very distant LOD is of low quality(one I want) then closer it's of higher quality(don't like it) then again it's low and finally closest LOD is again of higher quality. I don't get that middle one that is of higher LOD, how it's even possible that there's a gap there?