Are these shadows normal? Also, why is post processing the opposit when turned off?

[starstreams 0]

I've tried a few different nVidia drivers. I'm getting what looks like a mesh-screen dithering kind of effect on most of the shadows with a setting of normal Example1.

If I set the shadow to ultra, then I get this kind of effect. It's not as noticeable in most ArmA 3 islands, but it really looks bad in some of the ported Islands, such as the A3MP Pack. I'm noticing this screen effect covering a large portion of the ground during a sunny day and is really makes the ground look too busy, and artificial. I'm even setting it on the grass blades. I know dithering is usually a good thing when done right, but what ever dithering algorithm they're using is not doing the trick. Unless it's a video driver issue I don't know. Note: It's not an issue on a gray days where you have almost no shadows.

And with regard to Post processing:

In ArmA 2, when you turned if off, everything got sharp. I never used PP because it made things blurry. However, In ArmA 3, I have to set it all the way up (the opposite) to get the same sharpness effect as turning it off had in ArmA 2.

Edited January 14, 2014 by starstreams

[Heinrich Kramer 172]

using the A3MP pack and shadows on ultra myself, and mine behave quite normally (soft edges, except the stencil shadows, no jittering and such)

as for your other question: no clue, sorry.

[warlord554 2065]

Both sound like your video card settings. I'd double check your card settings outside of A3, something may be conflicting with your game settings

[starstreams 0]

Firstly here are the original images, not shrunk down.

Make sure you click the image in your browser (View it in it's full size to see the effect)

Some browsers shrink the image automatically and you'll miss what I'm talking about.

Example1

Example2

Example2

Both sound like your video card settings. I'd double check your card settings outside of A3, something may be conflicting with your game settings

How would I go about that without being a driver developer? I've tried every different setting possible in game. If it's an nVidia driver design, there's not much I can do. Also, the shadows look fine when loading the actual ArmA 2 game with this video card. I have no issues in any other applications, 3dsMax, Blender, ArmA2, Conquest Frontier Wars, Unreal, UT2013, photoshop CS5.. ect. No issues at all.

Secondly,. the softness is not the issue. It's the screen effect that becomes more apparent in certain landscape colors such as Chernarus on plant meshes as a result of the dithering on certain types of grasses and trees. The shadow edges I'm referring to on the tree trucks in the ported Chernarus island remind me of the kind of screen you'd see in a cooking strainer. I'll get a screenshot of Chernarus next time I'm in the game. It's difficult to explain if you're just looking at ArmA 3. But when you compare it next to ArmA 2, you can see it.

Although ArmA 2 didn't have as advanced shadows, at least they didn't intrude at the contrasting edges of light spots. Load up the ported Chernarus island in ArmA 3. Look at the pine trees on a pure sunny day and you'll most likely see the dithering effect I'm seeing. I suppose BIS used dithering as an alternative to the traditional soft edges. It works well in ArmA 3's landscapes because of the colors of the ground textures. So I can't say much there because this is after all a different game. But it doesn't seem to work well in greener northern landscapes like you'd find in arma 2.

1. Test it yourself. Load up Chernarus in the original ArmA 2 game and walk up to a pine tree with shadow and light projecting on it during a sunny day.
   
2. Then load that same ported island in ArmA 3, you'll see what I mean. The old shadows still worked better in ArmA2 on certain objects such as trees.
   

Edited January 14, 2014 by starstreams

[starstreams 0]

EDIT.

Ok, Don't think there's an issue.

I see what's going on now. I only see the ugly screen mesh type shadows with a shadow setting of normal. If I bump it up just one to (High) then you don't see the screen mesh any more.

These screens were taken on Chernarus under ArmA 3 with a shadow setting of normal by the way:

Ex1

Ex2

You can see the screen mesh effect. Note: The issue is more noticeable in the game when things are moving, (When you are moving) and harder to see from a still screenshot.

In any case, I think a happy medium is with a setting of High. That is it's not too taxing on speed but good enough to hide the screen-mesh effect I'm seeing with a setting of normal.

Edited January 15, 2014 by starstreams

[NeMeSiS 11]

Are the settings in your driver settings set to quality or higher? I suspect that this may happen when set to performance, but since i do not have an nVidia GPU i cannot check it myself.

[clarionhorn 10]

the plants have dithered shadows but the houses and vehicles do not.

[starstreams 0]

Are the settings in your driver settings set to quality or higher? I suspect that this may happen when set to performance, but since i do not have an nVidia GPU i cannot check it myself.

no, they're at default, which is controlled by the application/Game.

I've never had to modify settings at the driver level other then vertical Sync.

the plants have dithered shadows but the houses and vehicles do not.

Yep, I'm noticing this also.

I think the conclusion is that a shadow setting of Normal in game will show a little dithering. It looks like ArmA2 must have used shadow maps on everything.

This ugly dithering changes when you bump the setting up from Normal to.. High, Very High and Ultra. Normal shadows were acceptable in ArmA2, but I don't like how that setting looks in ArmA3. So I'm using High now.

High is not a bad hit on performance, but high enough to shift from the low dithering quality I'm seeing at Normal. You still have dithering going on at a setting of High and up, but it's a better quality dithering. A different algorithm I think.

Edited January 15, 2014 by starstreams

[kklownboy 43]

Normal shadows suck. to me. And your using the cpu to render the shadows when under High.

Also to get worked up over A2 content being rendered in A3 world is not a trouble shooting issue. Should post in the A2 to A3 island threads. And running "Ultra" settings with a good VidCard, actually gives better fps~ and IQ. Because they are made to. As opposed to a CPU having to do the work.

Then to say you dont need to or havent been in your nV cards control panel much. Alot of nV cards are set to med quality by default. Mip-maps etc...Not max Quality.

Edited January 15, 2014 by kklownboy