Everquest II Forum » The Tavern (General) » EQ2 looks fantastic! This may help.

Latest game update added and option for GPU shadows. This really adds a lot of realism and even a huge performance boost, compared to CPU shadows.

I recommend updating the original post.

Also, I find Alternate character models (added to game later, with asian release) more realistic and fitting the animations better.

Make sure to turn these settings on to see how well can EQ2 compete even with recent games in terms of graphics.

GPU shadows are here. In the options under shadows is a new alternative for shadow rendering. You can now choose between the original CPU shadow rendering and GPU rendering. If you stay with the original all the options are the same. If you pick GPU things are a bit different. The GPU shadows are a mixed bag.

Overall the GPU shadows are very nicely done. What is missing is that they do not react to ambient lighting like CPU do. The GPU shadows are only reacting to the sunlight in Norrath. You are give an option to switch between the two shadow options when you go in doors to get shadows from in door ambient lights like lamps. If you check this option the shadows change automatically when entering and exiting buildings. You are given 3 options for GPU shadows Low, Medium, High. The downside to this is that the distances that GPU shadows are rendered is based on your complex shader setting. You are also given a slider to adjust the darkness of shadows based on your tastes. I have set mine to medium and dark which for me actually look better then the high setting. The shadows look good and there is no impact on my framerate. The shadows are dynamic with GPU so move and react to the enviroment. This for the most part works well but you do get a few strange visual effects.

The result of all this is that GPU shadows look pretty good and have little impact on game performance, which is great. They do add a nice feel to the world. I do prefer them to CPU shadow rendering over CPU. However, they need work. I hope they fine tune them over time and figure a way to have them react to ambient lights. The use of GPU shadows does not change any of the advice I gave in the original post about graphic settings. GPU shadows are a great addition but they do need work.

Here is an example of both shadow renderings . The scene was taken at sunset in Qeynos South. The left picture is CPU rendering. Notice the shadows behind the door lights. You lose ambient light shadows with GPU. The scene on the right is GPU. The shadows are more rich but no ambient shadows. You also have no impact on your game performance. An equivalent look with CPU would have a big impact on game performance. So all in all GPU shadows are a great addition but they could use some polish.

If this has been mentioned I am sorry, I must have missed it.

If you own a ATI/AMD setup, AMD Dual or Quad Core, you need to get Fusion and the Overdrive software. Fusion shuts down non-essintial windows programs, giving you a big boost in frame rates. Overdrive is a over clocking software, it is very good and will increase your processor speed and improve frame rate, but can damage your CPU. Get educated on Over clocking before attempting.

I own a AMD Quad Core, 4 gig of ram, 4870 AMD/ATI video card. I get 62 FPS in Neriak on Antonia Bayle with extreme graphics. During a raid I put in on High Quality and get around the same.
 

GPU shadows makes shadows essentially a free graphics increase.  However flora is still an insane performance hog.  Visit GF with and without flora, it's not even funny the difference.  GPU shadows almost makes EQ2's engine balanced, but without real multi core usage, its still best core dependant.  Ie Single core 4GHz, better than Quad core 3GHz for now anyway.  But then that's why my MMO box is an AMD Phenom II 550 at 3.8GHz... with an 8800GTS 512.  Fingers crossed at some point character geometry goes to the GPU so I can justify an upgrade ;)

Hi Eccoton,

I just wanted to say thanks to you for taking your time to post this and help others to tweak their game. :)

Been reading it all :D

latest expansion is so boring its not worth playing even if it had crysis graphics

Originally posted by Raizeen

latest expansion is so boring its not worth playing even if it had crysis graphics

Sorry to say but again this has nothing to do with the Graphics of the game. If the game is boring then it's a content problem... 

I'm considering coming back and playing soon, what updates to the settings are there with the new shadow system?

Originally posted by BuzWeaver

I'm considering coming back and playing soon, what updates to the settings are there with the new shadow system?

The new shadow system is in.  I'm not sure what you are asking.  There is an option to do GPU or CPU shadows depending on your system.  So if you got a good cpu and not so go graphics card you can select cpu shadows if you have a good gpu you can do gpu shadows.  On my system switching from cpu to gpu got me like 15fps in qeynos.

There are also some shadow quality settings and an option for offscreen shadows.

The big news right now is the shader 3.0 stuff coming in the next update.  This updates all the textures and lighting stuff and makes the game look way better while at the same time reducing the hit on your computer!!  At least so the devs say and they did a video with before and after shots so it definitely looks much better.

Anyway it should be going up on test pretty soon so people will be able to check it out.

Originally posted by cataphracht

EQ2 graphic's are poor, Characters are the best thing going for it, but most backgrounds are terrible it's a shame a lot of things can look really nice and it just messes up with low detail tree's and bland grounds.

It's really aged lol, these characters in Vanguards background would probably be the best for them 2 games it is like they both have something the other don't.

The way this game looks it should perform the same as WOW on my cpu but it doesn't wow performs superbly, whereas this acts like it's crysis for performance lol still playable though, when I make it even more uglier with taking shadows off.

you have gotta be $h!tting me, you are comparing EQ2s graphics to WoW, and saying its a bunch of crap, sir you LOL never mind.

Originally posted by eccoton

Originally posted by Theocritus

         I was never really that thrilled with the graphics in EQ2.....I would try a few tweaks but could never get it to the point where I jsut went "ooooooooooo".......I also did not like most of the character moels and did not like the plastic feel my character had.......Too many of the areas felt "blocky" and pixelated to me...... Overall EQ2 was an OK game but wasnt one I felt like resubbing to after 4-5 months.......There was too much soloing and I also didnt like how almost every guild I was in demanded that we talk in ventrilo.... I started out as a typer in MMOs and that is just my preferred method......I didnt want to listen to some guy and his wife arguing or hear someones baby crying in the background while Im playing...... The game was also too solo friendly and I rarely ever found groups outside of guild (and those were only instances)....... It was hard for me to move from EQ1 to EQ2 and I always felt that EQ1 was just a better game.

Blocky, plastic and pixelated? The point of this thread was to help people with that problem. Now you may not like the graphics in EQ2 but it is hardly blocky or pixelated. I think a lot of people see it that way because they do not have the graphics setup right (Hence this thread) or they do not have a machine EQ2 likes. SOE has taken steps to get the game running better for more people but they still have a lot of work to do. EQ2 being a 4 year old game not sure how much more SOE will do to optimize the game. However if you setup the complex graphic options right the game still after 4 years looks great.

This thread was to get others to post info on getting EQ2 running and looking better. It was not a review of the game or ventilo, by the way EQ2 has voice chat built into game now so no need to TS or Vent.
 

Here are a couple game screens I just took. I simply do not see them as blocky, plastic, or pixelated. I guess we see things differently.

Thanks alot for this thread. I find these screenshots to be amazing. I just started playing this game and am very glad I did.

stop it, that almost makes me want to start up my station pass again....

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Originally posted by ethion

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Originally posted by BuzWeaver

I'm considering coming back and playing soon, what updates to the settings are there with the new shadow system?

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The new shadow system is in.  I'm not sure what you are asking.  There is an option to do GPU or CPU shadows depending on your system.  So if you got a good cpu and not so go graphics card you can select cpu shadows if you have a good gpu you can do gpu shadows.  On my system switching from cpu to gpu got me like 15fps in qeynos.
There are also some shadow quality settings and an option for offscreen shadows.
The big news right now is the shader 3.0 stuff coming in the next update.  This updates all the textures and lighting stuff and makes the game look way better while at the same time reducing the hit on your computer!!  At least so the devs say and they did a video with before and after shots so it definitely looks much better.
Anyway it should be going up on test pretty soon so people will be able to check it out.

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Thanks for the explanation Ethion. I'm planning on getting a new Rig the first part of next year, just prior to the release of Halas. The new rig and graphics card(s) should be able to run the game quite well.