Importance of Shadows

[EZ1]

The biggest drag on my rig in CoD is SHADOWS. They not only drop my FPS by about 10-15 on average, but they also cause FPS hicks where they will drop by 20-30 for a half second or so. I have my video settings at the highest except SASO is off and grass (a real waste of processor power) is off. In many cases I think shadows are a waste of processor power. I don’t think they add much to the ground scenery and don’t miss them at all there. I don’t think shadows on other airplanes make much difference either. Where I think shadows are really important is in the cockpit. The constantly changing shadows add a great deal of realism to combat situations. Real pilots had to deal with it whenever the sun was out. So, if there is one thing that I think should be optimized it is in-cockpit shadows.

[David198502]

well i have to play without them for performance reasons as well...they drop my average fps from 60 down to 20...
but in my view they add a lot to the landscape.particular at dusk and dawn the landscape looks much more lifelike with shadows enabled.the cockpits too look way more real with them.besides shadows can in certain situations save your life!for example when an enemy approaches on your six and you dont notice him, but suddenly can see his shadow on the ground by coicidence...happened to me a few times when i was playing with shadows enabled.

[Flanker35M]

S!

Shadows, SSAO, Grass and Forest equal to the biggest problems with performance of CoD. With them you get stuttering, freezes and dips in FPS. Last night tried online and it was nice until I got close to another plane and there was shadows + smoke + trees = FPS went to low single digits at times :( Without them a solid 60FPS..

[JG52Uther]

If you turn off the shadows you might as well be playing il2 46 IMO.

[Flanker35M]

S!

Well, rather no shadows and a solid performance than hair ripping stuttering and low FPS with them on ;) Well, the sound bug was not there though even I had trees at Low :D

[Kankkis]

What this sim need is new graphics engine :grin:

[Vengeanze]

If you turn off the shadows you might as well be playing il2 46 IMO.

Agree. No minimum quality reqs with women but won't play clod without shadows.

[EZ1]

Ah yes, I agree to the point about aircraft shadows on the ground. They are present in IL-2 Classic and I have used them to detect the position of enemy aircraft.

[CWMV]

It's all about your hardware.
I've got everything on and on high, even original textures and I average better than 50fps.

[EZ1]

And your hardware specs are.......

[SEE]

The shadows are great but unfortunately I too have them disabled most of the time for performance reasons. SP I can enable them but Clouds, which I have no control over in MP, also cause performance issues. CloD runs well enough on my PC that I don't feel the need to upgrade my hardware for the sake of having shadows enabled.

[Flanker35M]

S!

Clouds are another FPS hog, unfortunately. But positively thinking the future patches should cure this as Luthier stated they are working on the GFX engine. At the moment CoD has it's moments where you can see a glimpse of what could be, but it is fast thrashed by the FPS killers..unfortunately.

[Mad G]

It's all about your hardware.
I've got everything on and on high, even original textures and I average better than 50fps.


And your min fps are?

[adonys]

I am playing online just fine, with everything maxed out, same as in singleplayer, without any kind of stutters (beside the server caused ones, when a new player enters the server, or actors from a new mission are loaded)

[41Sqn_Stormcrow]

I for my part think that shadows are for visual immersion very important. I don't have an issue with shadows.

It is the shadows on the landscape that bring it to life.

If your rig cannot support shadows just turn it off or buy a new rig.

[CWMV]

And your min fps are?

During normal gameplay about 40-45fps off the top of my head.

[Mad G]

Thanks. Which is your min in BD?

[LoBiSoMeM]

I am playing online just fine, with everything maxed out, same as in singleplayer, without any kind of stutters (beside the server caused ones, when a new player enters the server, or actors from a new mission are loaded)

+1

[CWMV]

Thanks. Which is your min in BD?
Dont recall, Ill have a look when I get a chance.

[CWMV]

And your hardware specs are.......

Guess I should probably add it it my sig...
ASUS P8P67 Pro
i7 2600K @4.4
GTX 580sc
8 gigs ram
SSD.

[capt vertigo]

Guess I should probably add it it my sig...
ASUS P8P67 Pro
i7 2600K @4.4
GTX 580sc
8 gigs ram
SSD.

How much does a rig like that cost a fella..?

I'm thinking about a total new upgrade, and maybe use my current rig for work..

Miguel, of the clan Miguel

[NedLynch]

S!

Clouds are another FPS hog, unfortunately. But positively thinking the future patches should cure this as Luthier stated they are working on the GFX engine. At the moment CoD has it's moments where you can see a glimpse of what could be, but it is fast thrashed by the FPS killers..unfortunately.

I have to say shadows for me are not a hughe fps killer, for me it's clouds, but they are not final yet.
Shadows give a great sense of immersion and make the scenery look a lot more life like, clouds I want on as well, not so much for the eye candy but it's a realism option for a reason.
Without clouds with medium to high settings, textures original, I rarely drop below 50 fps, clouds on (heavy clouding, I think the highest setting is medium clouds) and I am at 30, 35 fps with drops into the 20s when following a bomber formation through the clouds.

[NedLynch]

Oh, and vertigo, if you think about upgrading maybe it's good to wait a little, Ivybridge is on the horizon, though bulldozer seems to be a dud, there will be another generation of pcus from amd with new sockets (FM2), maybe new video cards (for pcie x16 3.0).

I for my part will at least sit tight until January.

[BigC208]

How much does a rig like that cost a fella..?

I'm thinking about a total new upgrade, and maybe use my current rig for work..

Miguel, of the clan Miguel

I have about the same performance on my just upgraded computer.
i2500k, gtx570, 80gb SSD for a grand total of $708. Next year after a few months of Ivey Bridge and the new generation GPU's I'll get a whole new setup. I run 1680*1050 so a 580 with 3gb would've been overkill. Even at stockspeeds this gives me between 35 and 45fps in the QMB over London intercept with everything at the highest settings, mirrors off. Everywhere else it's pretty much 50 to 60fps where my vsync limits me. Right now getting the latest and the greatest is not going to give you much more performance over one or two tiers below the best. Once the SLI issues are sorted out and the code has ben optimized it's time to get some serious hardware.