Invisible terrain.... :(

[galzohar 31]

I was wondering if that issue is generic to the engine or map-specific, as I did see the same problem in Utes but then again it doesn't mean it's not a map-specific problem as it does seem to only happen in certain places.

Basically you can see the "puff" of sand from me shooting at the invisible terrain (marked by red circle).

It can get quite annoying sometimes...

Also I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact AI occasionally seeing enemies through terrain - That is, if the "end" of the terrain is not well defined graphically, it might also not be well-defined for the AI.

This is with terrain details on "very high", not that it should make a difference in such a distance (AFAIK it's always the "very low" or similar terrain detail textures above ~40m).

[polecat.uk 11]

I've never seen that before on my system, what range is that at?

[Pulverizer 1]

It's a terrain LOD thing added in ArmA1 (or Elite), to help with performance on large view distances. I don't think it affects LOS or collision checks, only rendering.

Not as many polygons are used further out so some detail is lost and then you just might see a guy through a hill top/edge. Without it, the amount of polygons to render would grow exponentially with view distance and make large distances combined with small terrain grid impossible.

[instagoat 133]

This is probably due to the increased rendering distance for objects that was introduced with the 1.05 patch. Before that objects weren´t drawn far out enough to make this obvious.

I noticed this too, however, it only becomes really apparent on maps with really clutter-free, jagged hilltops. In Cherna, for example, you hardly notice it at all.

[walker 0]

Hi all

I have not seen this in ArmA II except in badly imported maps from ArmA I.

Contact the map importer/maker and ask them to check and fix it.

Kind Regards walker

[galzohar 31]

I remember seeing the exact same thing on Utes, but I can't recreate it now - one of the patches must have fixed it, which again points at it being a map issue.

Not as many polygons are used further out so some detail is lost and then you just might see a guy through a hill top/edge.

When comparing the short-range LOD to the one in the picture, I can confirm that this is indeed what is happening. So again probably map-related.

[kklownboy 43]

i have seen that on EVERY map, its rare on default maps, but its on every one. Ohwell...

[icebreakr 3143]

Trick is for mission maker to set terrain detail equal for each player. Otherwise PvP turns into a match called "guys with lowest terrain detail win" ;)

If you remember a big PvP mission "Tourists on Uhao" in A1 some guys played on high/normal didn't stand a chance. Setting terrain to lowest enables A1/A2 players to see more, even guys hiding behind a "skyline". Therefor I always put into my init.sqf following lines:

setviewDistance 2000;

setterrainGrid 12.5;

[galzohar 31]

Like I said, terrain was set to very high, and there was still invisible terrain. I don't think terrain settings do much if anything beyond ~40m where grass stops drawing.

[Alex72 1]

Terrain settings do a lot at long distances. The terrain detail flattens the ground the further away you look. Has been on my pc since all those years anyway. Looking at a hill 1000m away and change between low - vhigh terrain detail changes the height of the hill a lot. Units walk in the "air" when on low, and walk on ground as its elevated when i set it to vhigh.

[EDcase 87]

Certainly looks like terrain detail set low.

Was viewdistance very high? That can force terrain to low even if set high

[galzohar 31]

No, terrain detail was set to very high and view distance on 3500m (and terrain is only forced to "high" down from "Very high" if view distance is more than 4000 IIRC). So again probably a map issue.

[bushlurker 45]

I used to see this effect a lot in Arma1 on Sahrani... particularly during Domination sidemissions involving a radio tower on a hill or mountain top.... I haven't really noticed it on Chernarus, but then again I've hardly played on Chernarus to be honest - and, possibly more importantly - Cherno has less "hill and mountain tops".

I think it's something to do with the engine, the "grass layer" and long viewdistances... it was certainly present on Sahrani and in Arma1 so that sounds far more like some sort of game engine quirk than a specific island problem...

B

[galzohar 31]

It seems like the terrain has different quality models for different distances, and if the map maker (be it BIS or someone else) made the long-range model too-low-detail then you would see those things.

[bushlurker 45]

Islands don't work quite the same way as unit models - there aren't different LOD models depending on distance - the engine generates what you see to differing levels of detail depending on distance from a single terrain grid or heightmap... it then overlays that at distance with a section of satmap - basically a big bitmap where 1 pixel usually = 1m... at middle distance (I think) it suggests detail with MCO textures and up close - how close depends on "terrain detail" - it uses high detail ground texture tiles with associated lowpoly "clutter" models - how detailed and how many lowpoly models also dependant on "terrain detail"...

What you see terrainwise anyway, is built up in layers by the engine using different layers at different ranges... the "grass layer" to hide AI at distance idea is yet another layer.... the engine then coordinates all these layers and matches them up and thats what you see - only somewhere somehow what the models think of as "surface", and what we're seeing at distance as "surface" in certain situations aren't matching up...

B