Textures/Objects Change/flicker when zooming in and out

[Flanker15 0]

Thanks for the infos Whisky!

I had a feeling it had a name that was Z-something. I did some more reading on it and it does appear that the longer the render distance the harder it is to fix. Probably un-fixable with current technoligy, you can't properly model an infinite space into a finite Z-buffer.

Edited June 25, 2009 by Flanker15

[Balgorg 10]

I just ported Shrani into arma 2, i dont get any LOD pop up in Sahrani, but i do still get Z fighting.

The LOD pop up is very much a Chernarus problem. I think they just over cluttered Chernarus, and cos it takes so much effort to load it all up they had to mess about with how the engine streams the information.

If the trees, the ugly red ones were removed, then I think most of us wouldnt see this problem. In Sahrani and in other old maps, the trees are simpler,and i dont get the problem any more. Also runs so fast I can turn everything up to v high. And the view distance maxed so i can see all of Sahrani.

Try it for yourself.......

[jonneymendoza 10]

im having this same issue also. it does look strange

[S!fkaIaC 10]

Well, do not mix up the LOD pop-up while moving with the unnecessary texture flickering while observer does not move related to the flickering texture.

what?

I mean if you moving inside ArmA, object pop-up and sudden LOD-change is very often described as "flickering".

This UAV viedo you pointed at is only about that phenomenon.

But even with the best CPU + GPU you come to the point that the new textures can not shuffled fast enough from disk to VRAM which means "streaming" can not work efficiently. So it is NORMAL for all games but it depends on your HW and the "heaviness" of the virtual environment at which point you experience this.

But if NOTHING moves and you look to distant objects and you see texture flickering you can consider this as NORMAL FOR ArmA, but not normal for every game in general.

[charliereddog 9]

Is the LOD pop-up also the reason why I have a band of object unpopulated terrain at the edge of my view distance no matter what settings and VD I have?

[S!fkaIaC 10]

Maybe, even the terrain textures needs to be loaded. Sitting in a jet flying over very detailed terrain at low altitude is the ultimate stress for "streaming". Even high-end rigs showing strange effects if you are on highest video settings.

[charliereddog 9]

Sorry, don't think I was clear there, the terrain is ok, just no objects (trees etc)

[Motivator 10]

Maybe, even the terrain textures needs to be loaded. Sitting in a jet flying over very detailed terrain at low altitude is the ultimate stress for "streaming". Even high-end rigs showing strange effects if you are on highest video settings.

happens at all settings

[Basil Brush 10]

Well it would be nice if we got a comment (even not one we want to hear!) from BIS team member cos right now it looks like this issue is being ignored..

[Motivator 10]

Well it would be nice if we got a comment (even not one we want to hear!) from BIS team member cos right now it looks like this issue is being ignored..

they must be able to fix it.

[MWNF 10]

I have something similiar to this.. With the LOD pop in/texture thing except it's at VERY close distance. I'll walk right up to a big box.. Completely untextured.. Have no idea what it is.. Wait a few seconds and then it turns to a crappy texture of a garage/shed.. Then a nicer texture that shows me I can actually enter said shed.

Also get the problem with character models and various buildings/objects.. Lowering my graphics didn't seem to help the problem in the slightest, nor did reinstalling my second graphics card or updating my drivers again. Looks quite ugly going through a village or city.. :\

Any ideas?

Running:

2x 9600 GT's in SLI

QX9650 Quad Core @ 3GHZ

4GB RAM

[Dogtags 0]

thanks for the info but as I have said there is no way the game should be like that, they must be able to fix it somehow.

---------- Post added at 11:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:46 PM ----------

thanks for the info but does everyone have this problem? there is no way because more people would be complaining about it.

i think you'll find that many people on these forums are used to the quirks and issues surrounding this series of games and have long ago gotten over it and have learned to just enjoy the game regardless of flickering textures, I know this is how I feel.

Although now you have brought it up it's going to bother me again for a while, thanks for that :(

[Flanker15 0]

I have something similiar to this.. With the LOD pop in/texture thing except it's at VERY close distance. I'll walk right up to a big box.. Completely untextured.. Have no idea what it is.. Wait a few seconds and then it turns to a crappy texture of a garage/shed.. Then a nicer texture that shows me I can actually enter said shed.

Also get the problem with character models and various buildings/objects.. Lowering my graphics didn't seem to help the problem in the slightest, nor did reinstalling my second graphics card or updating my drivers again. Looks quite ugly going through a village or city.. :\

Any ideas?

Running:

2x 9600 GT's in SLI

QX9650 Quad Core @ 3GHZ

4GB RAM

Trying some older/different driver versions would be a good idea.

[MGB 10]

As mentioned, these are artefacts from streaming, LOD, shadow maps and z buffer accuracy.

Such is the price for detailed scenery + far draw distance + moving through world quickly + small load times.

As a games developer having wrestled with some of these issues, I know something about the tradeoffs required, and IMO think BIS have done an amazingly balanced job, especially with the streaming. Compare the load times with BF2 for instance!

[Ed] also note the horrendous issues on games like GTA4, which most people accept unblinkingly.

Edited June 26, 2009 by MGB

[trickster1982 10]

Stop complaining is what i say, I've been playing games since the early 90's & used to dream of games one day being visually as good as this one and far cry 2 etc, but despite how far technology has come there is still a long way to go before we will get the perfection your expecting out of this,just accept the limitations of the hardware & technology & enjoy the game for what it is :)

[=wfl= sgt bilko 10]

Yeah I don't get it, no other game does this.

Sorry to pop in here but the flickering is very common on long distance maps for BF2 as well (Project Reality Mod maps). So it's not only in A2 engine. It's a common problem.

However, that is of course not an excuse to not try to limit it as much as possible.

Edited June 26, 2009 by =WFL= Sgt Bilko
Spelling fool :)

[Dwarden 1125]

Anyone gets the texture loading issues with whole ArmA 2 inside RAMDRIVE ? (12+GB RAM at min) ...

[S!fkaIaC 10]

What you describe usually happens when almost no required texture is stored in VRAM when you respawn. To show something it loads the 1st LOD which you see only far away, not at objects next to you. Once the right textures loaded they usually rendered correctly.

I have something similiar to this.. With the LOD pop in/texture thing except it's at VERY close distance. I'll walk right up to a big box.. Completely untextured.. Have no idea what it is.. Wait a few seconds and then it turns to a crappy texture of a garage/shed.. Then a nicer texture that shows me I can actually enter said shed.

Also get the problem with character models and various buildings/objects.. Lowering my graphics didn't seem to help the problem in the slightest, nor did reinstalling my second graphics card or updating my drivers again. Looks quite ugly going through a village or city.. :\

Any ideas?

Running:

2x 9600 GT's in SLI

QX9650 Quad Core @ 3GHZ

4GB RAM

[Rafael3D 0]

Anyone gets the texture loading issues with whole ArmA 2 inside RAMDRIVE ? (12+GB RAM at min) ...

LOL

I don't think any mortal has a rig like this: more than 12 GB RAM as RAMDRIVE plus some other gigs as standard RAM :)

[Basil Brush 10]

LOL

I don't think any mortal has a rig like this: more than 12 GB RAM as RAMDRIVE plus some other gigs as standard RAM :)

Surely if that would help it would also help using an SSD hd which I have tried and makes no difference?.

[Overwhelming 10]

What you describe usually happens when almost no required texture is stored in VRAM when you respawn. To show something it loads the 1st LOD which you see only far away, not at objects next to you. Once the right textures loaded they usually rendered correctly.

And how is that fixed?

[S!fkaIaC 10]

There is no fix. If you could have all textures in VRAM you would not need streaming. Since you could do instant respawn, preloading of all textures at respawnpoint would still take to long.

[Motivator 10]

There is no fix. If you could have all textures in VRAM you would not need streaming. Since you could do instant respawn, preloading of all textures at respawnpoint would still take to long.

are there that many textures within view on an ARMA2 map?

[HHawk 0]

You can fix the flickering by returning the game and ask a refund. That really stops the flickering!

[S!fkaIaC 10]

You can fix the flickering by returning the game and ask a refund. That really stops the flickering!

;) Of course. But I got used to it. Seeing normal real life environment always gives me the feeling something is wrong. After a while it comes to my mind - ohhhh, sure, it is not flickering :D :D :D