Shadow Improvements

[Ramses]

Shadows, even on 'ultra', look like shit. No amount of tweaking has allowed me to find a good solution.

 

In the SkyrimPrefs.ini, there appear to be plenty of options, none of which seem to make much difference. Here's what I've tried:

 

iShadowMapResolution=4096

iShadowMapResolutionInt=4096

iShadowMaskQuarter=4

iShadowSplitCount=4

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=10

fShadowDistance=2048.0000

iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=4096

iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=4096

fShadowBiasScale=0.1500

iEquippedTorchesCastShadows=1

fInteriorShadowDistance=2500.0000

iShadowFilter=4

fShadowLODStartFade=1500.0000

iShadowMode=3

bTreesReceiveShadows=1

bDrawLandShadows=1

bDrawShadows=1

bActorSelfShadowing=1

 

Can anyone shed some light on this? The most significant option seems to be the fShadowDistance but that's such a huge trade-off between visibility range and close resolution. It sucks. Help, anyone?

[Firedoom]

My computer is so low end and my settings are so low that this is probably of no use to you... but just in case there is any reason worth trying them here is what I currently tolerate in my game.

 

[Display] -from SkyrimPrefs.ini

iShadowMapResolution=2048

iShadowMaskQuarter=4

iShadowSplitCount=2

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=3

fShadowDistance=3000.0000

iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=1024

iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=1024

fShadowBiasScale=0.6000

fInteriorShadowDistance=3000.0000

iShadowFilter=3

fShadowLODStartFade=200.0000

iShadowMode=3

bTreesReceiveShadows=0

bDrawLandShadows=0

bDrawShadows=1

 

[Display] -from Skyrim.ini

fShadowLODMaxStartFade=1000.0

iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048

fSunShadowUpdateTime=0.200

fSunUpdateThreshold=2.000

fShadowBiasScale=0.6000

 

As far as the sun settings go, I'm also using an adjusted timescale of 5. So these particular settings have to be taken in that context.

 

Also, I'm not sure this setting "bActorSelfShadowing=" actually does anything. I have tried setting to 0 because the self inflicted shadows in this game look irredeemably horrible. Do you know anything about turning them off? I mean, if I set fShadowBiasScale=10.0000 or something like that, they go away... but my character also has no shadow at all, even on the ground.

[thesapien]

It's been my experience that going from High to Ultra settings doesn't improve the visual quality of shadows much but kills framerates. For me, the biggest improvements in visual quality came from two things:

 

Softening shadows to get rid of jagged lines, from SkyrimPrefs.ini.

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=30

 

Two, well, this one I changed again after trying Firedoom's settings as shown above instead of mine, from Skyrim.ini.

fSunShadowUpdateTime=0.2

fSunUpdateThreshold=2.0

See explanation below in reply to Firedoom.

[thesapien]

As far as the sun settings go' date=' I'm also using an adjusted timescale of 5. So these particular settings have to be taken in that context.

 

Also, I'm not sure this setting "bActorSelfShadowing=" actually does anything. I have tried setting to 0 because the self inflicted shadows in this game look irredeemably horrible. Do you know anything about turning them off? I mean, if I set fShadowBiasScale=10.0000 or something like that, they go away... but my character also has no shadow at all, even on the ground.

[/quote']

 

Thanks for getting me to try something different. Before, I'd always tried to solve the flickering shadows problem while they update their positions to the sun by softening shadows and then dragging out the time it takes for them to update. My goal was to make them transition smoothly. However, even with the blurring/softening, their was still always a little flicker. Your settings go the other route, making shadows update once a minute and the transition to their updated position is a quick jump. I kind of like this better now because it's hard to notice the abrupt change in position unless you're not moving and watching for it. I keep yours for now and see if I notice it more later, like if ever standing still watching scenery.

 

I just experimented with the actorselfshadowing, and, no, it doesn't do anything. With or without it, if the lights source is set for self shadowing on objects, then self shadowing occurs. Not all lights will cause self shadowing, but the ones that do, like the sun, cannot be turned off by this line of code.

 

What's that about shadow bias and setting yours to 10? I thought it was a 0 to 1 setting, having to do with the angle of the cast shadow. Skyrim Ultra to Medium settings put it at 0.15 to 0.30. I actually prefer it around the 0.30 but see that yours is normally at 0.60 which to me means you are avoiding those really long shadows that are the most jagged, which totally seems reasonable. But 10? I can see why that breaks or just stops shadows from being cast at all.

 

Have you tried softening shadows by changing your 3 setting to a 30?

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=30

You might think self shadows then look much more pleasant without the blockiness.

[Firedoom]

I chose an extreme setting for the shadow bias just to see what it would do. As far as I can tell the only shadows that bias controls are self-shadows. However, unlike in Oblivion, the player's ground shadow is a self-shadow apparently. so it also disappears.

 

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=XX is kind of a quirky setting to me... On the one hand I like getting rid of those jagged edges. On the other hand I tend to like well defined shadows even if they are kind of jagged. On the gripping hand I absolutely hate that unnatural aura-like glow that setting iBlurDeferredShadowMask=30 gives you when your character comes between a shadow and the camera.

[thesapien]

I hear ya. I always just explain the aura as heat waves, lol. But, yeah, we're totally the opposite with shadow prefs. I can rarely ever find such hard shadows in real life, so prefer my game without. A setting of 30 still gives me distinct shadows for individuals leaves on plants, and that seems about right to me.