Ichibu: Optimised Shadows

[Ichibu]

Newest version

TDU2 Shadow Fix 3.rar

my own personal settings, properly scaled for performance from Low to Very High

some changes in resolutions and distances, should make for smoother gameplay without noticeable decrease of quality. and as always, shadow distance is increased that u cannot see them draw

 

TDU2 Framerate fix ONLY

 

This one is for Ghost and anyone else, who wants ONLY DECREASE IN SHADOW QUALITY (better performance) and no increase of distance

So JUST worse shadows, but it should give u smoother play

 

:)

 

===

 

!!!YOU USE THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

 

TDU2 Shadow Fix 2.rar

 

Release Info: TDU2 Shadows + Framerate Fix by Ichibu

 

Use this if you:

A) See shadows appearing as you drive and dont want to

and/or

B) Want better framerates

 

This should make your shadows draw in a lot further away now, thus improving immersion, while lowering the quality of the shadows to improve performance.

They now draw a fair bit further than on Environment quality "Very High", on all Env quality settings

 

This probably wont work online as i think i read the TDU2 launcher checks your files and downloads original copies of any modded files so it seems this works for offline players only

To be sure this works its probably best to block UpLauncher.exe from accessing the internet at all!

(Apparently u can move the files after the launcher check to make this work online)

 

Installation:

Put the included files in your main Test Drive Unlimited 2\ directory.

Make backups of your original Shadows.cpr, Quality_Settings.cpr and your savegame - just incase!

 

IMPORTANT: You may have to change Env Quality to activate the new config

 

WARNING: Theres always a chance youll get banned for using this online for some reason so dont blame me if u do

 

WARNING: backup your savegame and all related files before using this as a user claims to have experienced savegame corruption

 

 

i havent seen a shadow draw once now and i now am never lagging on 1680x1050 @4xAA all settings on High where before on 1360x768 0xAA w Very high Env and all else on Low i was lagging more and even still seeing shadows draw in :)

 

 

 

No Shadows mod

For those who wants no shadows at all for some reason, here u go

 

TDU2 No Shadows.rar

 

it actually doesnt look much worse at all and probably give huge frames boost ( i didnt check that)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(this a repost w more appropriate title)

[GhostPL]

I didn't expect it, but I think it actually helped! Now I can run at AAx4, everything else still on low or else it slowly starts to lag, but it seems like there's less frame skipping, so feels like it runs smoother. Thanks!

[Ichibu]

here is pictures to show the draw distance differences

both are with 1680x1050, 4xAA, vsync off

env quality high

car detail very high

filtering high

fx quality very high

 

mod removed:

-- OLD IMAGE REMOVED (imageshack) --

 

mod enabled:

-- OLD IMAGE REMOVED (imageshack) --

 

*if u look near the top u can see a very far shadow which is the furthest they will draw with mod enabled (if i reversed a little its gone)

 

surprisingly the framerates were the same, but before id have needed to use Very High env quality which would put my frames from 38 fps down to like 26 fps so its a practical increase of 10+

think i might hav messed up also cuz the quality of shadows doesnt look worse with mod on but it should and is, think i didnt disabled it properly or so i duno :p

but there u go is proof it does SOME THING lol

 

ow also with no mod, on High Env the shadows wont consistently draw as far as they did in this pic. often id see them draw at like half or a third of that distance. but not with mod for some reason ^^

[Ichibu]

I didn't expect it, but I think it actually helped! Now I can run at AAx4, everything else still on low or else it slowly starts to lag, but it seems like there's less frame skipping, so feels like it runs smoother. Thanks!

 

did u change ur env quality? i am quite sure u have to to enable this (i think it saves ur settings elsewhere and only reads from these modded files when u change the settings)

 

if someone wants ( u?) i can make a version that doesnt increase shadow distance, only decrease quality. u SHUD then just get large frame boost!

the way ive done it here it prety much equals out i think :p

[GhostPL]

Yeah, that would be awesome, I'd love to finally get rid of this bad lightning on low enviroment setting.

[Ichibu]

added to first post, let me know if u notice a marked increase of performance ( u definitely should!)

 

remember to change env quality (just flick it 1 left and then back or 1 right and then back to what u want it)

to load in the modded file :)

[iLLGT3]

rage quit TDUCk? :confused:

[GhostPL]

I'd lock this...

[Beurky]

This is the game of 7 differences ? I do not see the pictures sorry.

 

edit: I would have changed my mind, i did not see differences, thank you for the mod !

[Unreal]

Seems nice.

[Brazzucca]

Or I need new glasses or there's no difference in those pictures, he just moved the camera slight down...

 

"/rage quit" ? lolwut!

 

I just give him a cookie because he owns a Spyker Aileron...

[CLR-GTR]

The difference needs a close look yes but he described them. He made a mod that lets you see more shadows in a larger distance ahead of you, instead of only showing shadows until xx meters in front of you. Look at the trees near the narrow dirtroad.

[Brazzucca]

Wow, then i say sorry, i was focusing in the two trees in the middle... i try i later... a pack of cookies to him, but even so a didn't understand his anger...

[Ichibu]

Wow, then i say sorry, i was focusing in the two trees in the middle... i try i later... a pack of cookies to him, but even so a didn't understand his anger...

 

ahaha if u look above the dirtpath trees that now has shadows there is another 1 also even further

 

and now added only performance not distance mod, for if ur happy with draw distance but want smoother play

:)

[Brazzucca]

That is what CLR-GTR made me notice, but for far objects is not the problem, but when u're in a dark road with many trees, you notice the end of the shadow few meters ahead, nice mod, dude.

[SzFeri82]

Wow I really like the concept of this mod. I'll try it shortly.

The game runs smooth only when I have env details on HIGH.

Only a few distant objects missing that's not a problem, but I was always annoyed by shadows appearing so close.

 

By the way. A little technical question:

 

Have you realized that the normalmaps are only working in sunlight and not with the headlights of your car:?

It's really annoying that the headlights of your car don't generate "shadows" on the ground, so normalmaps of the textures are not affected by the headlight. The textures simply get lighter only.

 

In NFS Hot pursuit it looks really fine when your headlight beams hit the road and you can see the surface's shadows on asphalt and ground.

 

I hope you understand me and know what a normalmap is... Just wondering if this can be ever fixed or modded.

[Ichibu]

anythings possible but with the way tdu2 is id expect adding a feature like that to require a loader or something (like hacks) so i doubt anyone will do it at least for a while :<

[Cyber_Punk]

This is one thing I did not understand about TDU2 or other games that try and simplify the graphics options on pc games.... DON'T!!!! There is a reason why games on pc have sliders for shadows, geometry, lighting, etc.... NOT EVERY PC IS THE SAME THIS ISN'T CONSOLES and in order to find an enjoyable experience players need options like Shadow Detail or Shadow View Distance. Sometimes someone might have the same exact systems except on has 2 gigs of ram and the other 4 gigs... obviously the guy with 2 gigs of ram would need less shadow detail and draw distance..

 

 

Are you listening GM_Destra?

 

 

To the guy who posted this mod nice, I will wait however as I have no desire to play this game offline and will not go and get myself banned simply because this game lags

 

[mod edit:] Please do not swear or use asterisk's to mimic swearing, thanks.

[Ichibu]

well said man, i completely agree

[SzFeri82]

Hey do you have a version in which you increase shadow distance but don't decrease close shadow's resolution?

I would like to try if it gets much slower.

 

I'm not sure if the game uses cascaded shadow maps. (In some games you can see a kind of "shadow clipping". When distant shadows seem to change sharper from blurry as you approach. )

If TDU works like this, It shouldn't be a problem. But I'm really curious how it would work. If it gets too slow I can still turn off antialiasing.

 

By the way I can confirm: This mod doesn't corrupt your savegames.

I always keep a backup anyway, but I've tried it and it just works fine.

 

I would have liked to edit this file myself but as I see you can only work with a HEX editor on this file, it's not just a simple text format.

Too bad.

[Ichibu]

Hey do you have a version in which you increase shadow distance but don't decrease close shadow's resolution?

I would like to try if it gets much slower.

 

I'm not sure if the game uses cascaded shadow maps. (In some games you can see a kind of "shadow clipping". When distant shadows seem to change sharper from blurry as you approach. )

If TDU works like this, It shouldn't be a problem. But I'm really curious how it would work. If it gets too slow I can still turn off antialiasing.

 

By the way I can confirm: This mod doesn't corrupt your savegames.

I always keep a backup anyway, but I've tried it and it just works fine.

 

I would have liked to edit this file myself but as I see you can only work with a HEX editor on this file, it's not just a simple text format.

Too bad.

 

thx for confirming it dont corrupt saves man

i can make one for u that only increase distances, to wasted atm but i will def get around to it m8

[zuckbin]

hi,

 

just want to know how did you edit theses files ?

 

I try with a hex editor, and found nothing to be readable by human ;)

 

Thanks

Bye

[SzFeri82]

thx for confirming it dont corrupt saves man

i can make one for u that only increase distances, to wasted atm but i will def get around to it m8

 

That would be nice, thanks however this mod doesn't seem to work since exploration DLC. :(

[wagnerpsc]

any screen with the no shadows mod?

want to test it but afraid to mess my game up :p

 

Edit: installed it and works perfectly,the visual is barely modified and got a huge frame boos,thanks a lot :D

[FreshAlbert]

Big thanx! With mod i have 60 fps on all max settings, whereas before i have 45. There is a slight deterioration in near shade, but not so much.