Xpume Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) Hi, as everyone here id like to my Xcom game looks at its best and sometime ago i downloaded the graphics mod by Philstat http://xcom.nexusmods.com/mods/25 When i turned it on i barely noticed any changes but the horrible shadows on the character screen, i read the forum and no one bothered to make comparision screens (even author) so i made it today to really check if its working or not. What i found out is: that mod adds ugly charachter shadows, blurry shadows under soldiers and more shadow overall and.. thats kinda it :O Maybe its my system spec or something, but check it out here's the package with screens : http://www41.zippyshare.com/v/88551862/file.html -weights 65MB Its so large becouse i wanted see the best detail for comparition so 1 screen weights about 5MBSome screens are named "modded" and some "nomod" couse of 2 sessions i did. example pictures for those, who dont want to download "unknown files" ;) http://postimage.org/image/z99oqh7mh/ - modded http://postimage.org/image/6pzckfjat/ - not modded http://postimage.org/image/h9jeze4j5/ - modded http://postimage.org/image/4bc0ppni3/ - not modded My purpose was to see if its making the graphics better or not, not to discredit the author. I did this by replacing over the original BaseEngine.ini and the modified. Cheers. Edited October 22, 2012 by Xpume Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaerar Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Yeah there's 2 settings causing that: bAllowHardwareShadowFiltering bEnableBranchingPCFShadows Set those two to False and shadows are fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xpume Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) I was comparing the ini files also, step by step and theres a lot of changes, mostly the numbers at "coolGraphicOption" are higher, but how come i cannot tell the difference on texture sharpness, colors or anything just THE shadow? Is there something im doing wrong? im replacing the inin file in game dir right? Or maybe ini changes are not working above shadows ?? edit: spelling Edited October 22, 2012 by Xpume Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaerar Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 The shadows are default set to XBOX level of detail and sharpness. You'll see an improvement if you use the above mod mostly on the shadows but a few textures are improved too. The two variables I linked in my previous post fix the grainy and heavy shadows you see in the barracks with the above mod as it turns on features of the Engine that are not used/disabled for XCOM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xpume Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 well the problem is that i dont see improvement, it makes shadows look worse (!) ,did u check the screenies i attached? And yea i looked trough both ini files, played with the option myself too, im not such a newbie in this. But what i see turning on all the sparkles, rising fxaa ,anizo ,lettning game use higher res textures etc. seems to not give a result ingame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaerar Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) Yes I had the same problem hence I mentioned the two variables causing the shadows to screw up. The other settings have minor changes for the most part (except for increased texture detail on certain textures) and would be more apparent in an FPS than a 3rd person Tactical Strategy game. Find in the files: bAllowHardwareShadowFiltering=TruebEnableBranchingPCFShadows=True and change =True to =False to fix the shadows if you have the mod enabled. I don't know how else I can say this ;) P.S. It's not my mod, I just had the same issue with shadows becoming broken with those two variables set to True. P.P.S. Use Imgur or something similar to upload pics as I don't want to download unknown files ;) Edited October 22, 2012 by Kaerar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xpume Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) Ok, i guess you think i just dont know how to change the rough shadows ,but i do yes i understand that u can put this thing off and it will dissapear-fine. I'm just wondering why anything doesnt change besides that (which by turning off, we make game like it has no mod) the other parts looks excactly the same. theres no sharper textures or better lightning at all. i watched it in tpp view and all other views its possible. You would know that if u just look on the screenies. I mean "why put something that does nothing" Screens are in couple folders containing 2 images modded and unmodded so u can easily see theres no change (apart these shadows that u think i cannot turn off) Well thats it, if somebody know why that's happening or should i say "not happening" i'd be happy to let me know. If anybody have doubts just look at screenies i gave. Peace and love. edit: ps. ill try put 2 screens on some image site like u suggested i hope it will handle 5MB image ok here: http://postimage.org/image/z99oqh7mh/ - modded http://postimage.org/image/6pzckfjat/ - not modded http://postimage.org/image/h9jeze4j5/ - modded http://postimage.org/image/4bc0ppni3/ - not modded ill add more later Edited October 22, 2012 by Xpume Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daemonjax Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) It just tweaks some ini settings. Don't get your hopes so high up. ;) Someone should just make an ini tweak guide, explaining each and everyone ini setting. Edited October 22, 2012 by Daemonjax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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