Dawntrail Graphics Update - Feedback on changes to the world's aesthetic and feel

[Turnintino]

Bumping to share that I recently reported a scene from ShB (beware post-ShB spoilers) for its poor lighting. And I've got some great news! This is what "working as intended" looks like:



You're not meant to be able to see literally anything in a scene where literally nothing else is going on! :3

At first, this was moved to 'Accepted Bugs', but upon further review, I guess they decided it was fine after all lol. Despite the fact that, as you can see in this YouTube video, the scene had much better visibility before DT -- even considering that the sun is just setting in my screenshots, while it's full nighttime in the video.

[CidHeiral]

At first, this was moved to 'Accepted Bugs', but upon further review, I guess they decided it was fine after all lol.

Just FYI for how the process works, "Accepted Bugs" is basically just saying "you filled out the form correctly." Then they review the bug report to determine if it's working as intended, a verified bug that needs fixing, etc and sort it appropriately.

[Turnintino]

Just FYI for how the process works, "Accepted Bugs" is basically just saying "you filled out the form correctly." Then they review the bug report to determine if it's working as intended, a verified bug that needs fixing, etc and sort it appropriately.

That makes sense, thank you! But I remain baffled by their reasoning nonetheless, especially after they asked us to continue reporting scenes that were affected by the graphics update lol.

[Halivel]

Bumping to share that I recently reported a scene from ShB (beware post-ShB spoilers) for its poor lighting. And I've got some great news! This is what "working as intended" looks like:



You're not meant to be able to see literally anything in a scene where literally nothing else is going on! :3

At first, this was moved to 'Accepted Bugs', but upon further review, I guess they decided it was fine after all lol. Despite the fact that, as you can see in this YouTube video, the scene had much better visibility before DT -- even considering that the sun is just setting in my screenshots, while it's full nighttime in the video.

I've checked the cut-scene, and it does seem to work properly for me.
I wonder what could cause the discrepancy between two PCs. From what I can see in your original post, my specs are worse than yours, at least for the video card.

Screenshots:

[Turnintino]

I've checked the cut-scene, and it does seem to work properly for me.
I wonder what could cause the discrepancy between two PCs. From what I can see in your original post, my specs are worse than yours, at least for the video card.

Screenshots:

It must be predicated by time of day then. But interestingly, when I rewatched the scene with the Unending Journey while it was daytime in-game just now, the scene defaulted to nighttime as in the video I linked (and in your screenshots), suggesting the weather/time of day is scripted. But as you can see in the initial screenshots I took while running the MSQ...

... That wasn't the case. Instead, the sun was setting when I experienced this scene on my alt. So something's certainly off.

[Shialan]

Wouldn't it be funny that your issue is because of some kind of shader usage

[Turnintino]

Wouldn't it be funny that your issue is because of some kind of shader usage

I play vanilla (except that I force DLAA through the Nvidia app, which has nothing to do with shaders), so yes, it would be pretty funny.

[Halivel]

It must be predicated by time of day then. But interestingly, when I rewatched the scene with the Unending Journey while it was daytime in-game just now, the scene defaulted to nighttime as in the video I linked (and in your screenshots), suggesting the weather/time of day is scripted. But as you can see in the initial screenshots I took while running the MSQ...

... That wasn't the case. Instead, the sun was setting when I experienced this scene on my alt. So something's certainly off.

Now this got me genuinely curious, so I want to see if I'll be able to recreate it in the open world, instead of Endless Journey. None of my alts are close to that MSQ point yet tho (and some are past it), so I'll go with New Game+, which is the closest thing.

I only use shaders for screenshots and otherwise play full vanilla, so in theory the cut-scene should be borked for me as well if I enter it through NG+ during the sunset. I'll report back once I'm there.

[Shialan]

I play vanilla (except that I force DLAA through the Nvidia app, which has nothing to do with shaders), so yes, it would be pretty funny.

Wouldn't be the first time something like this caused an issue.

Also, that they put your report into "working as intended" does not mean that how your screenshots looked as intended, but that the quest / the cutscenes were working as intended with no issues on the PC of the support team member that checked it.

[Halivel]

It must be predicated by time of day then. But interestingly, when I rewatched the scene with the Unending Journey while it was daytime in-game just now, the scene defaulted to nighttime as in the video I linked (and in your screenshots), suggesting the weather/time of day is scripted. But as you can see in the initial screenshots I took while running the MSQ...

... That wasn't the case. Instead, the sun was setting when I experienced this scene on my alt. So something's certainly off.

Now this got me genuinely curious, so I want to see if I'll be able to recreate it in the open world, instead of Endless Journey. None of my alts are close to that MSQ point yet tho (and some are past it), so I'll go with New Game+, which is the closest thing.

I only use shaders for screenshots and otherwise play full vanilla, so in theory the cut-scene should be borked for me as well if I enter it through NG+ during the sunset. I'll report back once I'm there.

Took a bit longer than it should have because I accidentally skipped the very cutscene I was interested in, so I had to redo it again. Oh well.

I entered the cutscene at around 16.00 Eorzean Time, Fair Sky weather. Not really a sunset yet, but I figured that we'll at least find out if the cutscene has scripted time or not. And as it started, it was dark night, so it does look like the time along with the weather for this cut-scene are locked in. This checks out with the video from YT you've linked, which also has the cutscene happen during dark night with clear skies.

This explains why it looked so dark for you - devs most likely only adjust lightning for specific time and weather when cut scenes have a scripted environment, as there's realistically no need to do the adjustments for an environment that normally shouldn't be seen.

What it doesn't explain is why exactly the script bugged out on you, and why it didn't on me - NG+, by all means, is identical to MSQ in all things but rewards, so theoretically we should be as close to the same entering point as possible.