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- General - Tutorial: Forcing ambient occlusion ingame.
Mad Poster
#101
26th Dec 2015 at 6:45 AM
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I would probably keep on experimenting with the ENB series. There must be one setting that works.
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#103
19th Feb 2016 at 5:41 PM
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Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
Back to using Inspector's 007 Flag, it seems to be much more noticeable in TS2: TS2 Ambient Occlusion EDIT: Use Flag 006 instead. It works much better. If you are getting the AO to work, but flickers off when you stop moving the camera, try increasing the in-game AA. For some reason, the AO will only stabilize if the AA is at a certain level. On mine, I had to move it at least 3 levels. If you use the Nvidia AA, you'll have to experiment on what level will it stay. 8x will definitely work, I tested that. |
Looks nice!
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Lab Assistant
#105
10th Mar 2016 at 9:54 PM
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Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
Back to using Inspector's 007 Flag, it seems to be much more noticeable in TS2: TS2 Ambient Occlusion EDIT: Use Flag 006 instead. It works much better. If you are getting the AO to work, but flickers off when you stop moving the camera, try increasing the in-game AA. For some reason, the AO will only stabilize if the AA is at a certain level. On mine, I had to move it at least 3 levels. If you use the Nvidia AA, you'll have to experiment on what level will it stay. 8x will definitely work, I tested that. ---- Edit: Geez wiz, those people in TS2 forum are redonkulous. Mere mentioning of TS3 and they get all defensive and testie, though this has absolutely nothing to do with TS2/TS3 comparison. |
I was wishing AO for sims 2 by a long time, it definitively makes the game look nicer.
#106
11th Mar 2016 at 9:44 AM
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Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
I wish the HBAO+ looks this strong in TS3. When I have time, I'm going to test every flag for TS3. Unless someone else already done so, save me some time. |
I tried doing that too, but gave up after about 3 flags. I think I'm still on SSAO because of my GPU. My other PC has a pretty beefy GPU and TS3 seems to somehow look much nicer on it.
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#108
13th Mar 2016 at 1:26 PM
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Those are some really good screenshots! But you're saying the Capture Tool doesn't always capture AO? Welp, I might just have thousands of flawed screenshots here...
Another thing is that the same AO doesn't always show in TS4. The effect is very good-looking, I find it makes the game look much nicer than with the default AO, but it fades in and out all the time based on zoom level, camera angle and the distance to objects.
Another thing is that the same AO doesn't always show in TS4. The effect is very good-looking, I find it makes the game look much nicer than with the default AO, but it fades in and out all the time based on zoom level, camera angle and the distance to objects.
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Mad Poster
#110
13th Mar 2016 at 6:34 PM
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Ambient occlusion really seems to work best in low-light conditions + naturally lit conditions. Thin objects like plants also work well since the effect is more visible & can be amplified with lots of thin objects.
Bright lights wash out the effects, which is kind of unfortunate. For now, light accordingly (fewer overhead lights, more lights set to dim), but I think if the effect were doubled, it would look much nicer.
Check these images:
Day
Night
Notice how much more apparent the occlusion is during the night, and how the wall-ceiling edge loses its occlusion during the day.
Bright lights wash out the effects, which is kind of unfortunate. For now, light accordingly (fewer overhead lights, more lights set to dim), but I think if the effect were doubled, it would look much nicer.
Check these images:
Day
Night
Notice how much more apparent the occlusion is during the night, and how the wall-ceiling edge loses its occlusion during the day.
#111
13th Mar 2016 at 10:05 PM
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Quote: Originally posted by jje1000
Ambient occlusion really seems to work best in low-light conditions + naturally lit conditions. Thin objects like plants also work well since the effect is more visible & can be amplified with lots of thin objects. Bright lights wash out the effects, which is kind of unfortunate. For now, light accordingly (fewer overhead lights, more lights set to dim), but I think if the effect were doubled, it would look much nicer. Check these images: Day Night Notice how much more apparent the occlusion is during the night, and how the wall-ceiling edge loses its occlusion during the day. |
That is one very nicely lit room and yes, the AO is definitely looking very good there. I wish the effect were stronger though. The lot I usually play on is already pretty shady, but that's just due to poor architectural choices. I might wanna start a thread on that to get some advice since it's bothering me more by the day.
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#113
14th Mar 2016 at 1:04 PM
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Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
Here are some screenshots taken with Nvidia HBAO+ set to "quality" while I reduced the ingame TS3 lighting to the lowest. Basically since it is an overlay, we don't really need TS3 to render high lighting. This will restore much of the FPS loss with Nvidia AO on "quality." It actually won't look "exactly" the same as the screenshots before since those are really double rendered. Theoretically this one is also double rendered, but the 1st render by TS3 is on low and so less FPS taxing. setting $High prop $ConfigGroup ShadowMapSize 2048 prop $ConfigGroup RenderShadowsEnabled true prop $ConfigGroup InteriorLightProbeCount 1 prop $ConfigGroup LowDetailLightmaps true prop $ConfigGroup ShadowColorFormatWorkaround $intelShadowColorFix prop $ConfigGroup HighRezTranslucency false |
...What? You can set the lighting on Low and still have nice graphics?
I wish there were a way to bump up the pixel count of indoor shadows. I've set the InteriorLightProbeCount to 32 (I think) but it doesn't seem like that's doing anything.
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#115
14th Mar 2016 at 1:54 PM
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Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
Well that's what I'm trying to find out, does the Nvidia HBAO+ completely replace the original TS3 lighting? Since it is an overlay, theoretically we don't need any lighting from TS3. So basically we're just replacing the TS3 lighting with the Nvidia HBAO. Theoretically that is. Since there is no way to completely turn off the TS3 lighting, next only option is to set it as low as possible to reduce the work on the GPU, then overlay it with the Nvidia HBAO+. This way we can get the AO with minimum FPS loss. |
As the GraphicsRules setting shows, the Lighting setting controls multiple values. Setting it to Low not only reduces shadow detail, but also disables high-detail transparency, along with additional shadows (I'll assume Render Shadows are roughly similiar to AO in this regard). Surely a simple AO toggle in an external program can't replace all of this? I'd rather have the best possible graphics than a slightly better framerate. My GPU isn't exactly the problem anyway.
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Mad Poster
#117
2nd May 2016 at 1:46 AM
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Interesting file I found:
In FullBuild0.package (in the base game folder), an INI file called "AO" exists- I think it controls the faked in-game ambient occlusion (the darkness you see under the roofs and near the ground).
Anyone interested in taking a look at this?
The FullBuild0 folder is full of interesting image files and inis used to control the effects in the game.
In FullBuild0.package (in the base game folder), an INI file called "AO" exists- I think it controls the faked in-game ambient occlusion (the darkness you see under the roofs and near the ground).
Anyone interested in taking a look at this?
The FullBuild0 folder is full of interesting image files and inis used to control the effects in the game.
Attached files:
Ambient Occlusion INI.rar (2.0 KB, 30 downloads) - View custom content | ||
----------- --------- -------- ----- -------- ----- -------- ---- ..A.... 4639 1942 41% 01-05-16 20:45 D127049A S3_1F886EAD_00000000_08326707B4EB37B5_AO%%+_INI.ini ----------- --------- -------- ----- -------- ----- -------- ---- 4639 1942 41% 1 |
#118
2nd May 2016 at 5:54 AM
Last edited by Grijze Pilion : 6th May 2016 at 8:32 AM.
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Quote: Originally posted by jje1000
Interesting file I found: In FullBuild0.package (in the base game folder), an INI file called "AO" exists- I think it controls the faked in-game ambient occlusion (the darkness you see under the roofs and near the ground). Anyone interested in taking a look at this? The FullBuild0 folder is full of interesting image files and inis used to control the effects in the game. |
INIs are my flippin' jam. I'm gonna have a dig in FullBuild0 when I get home next week. Though it does beg the question - how useful is the fake AO the game renders anyway?
I'm not sure AO is what this game needs more of but who knows what else I might find lying around? I like using Notepad++, it makes me feel more smarterer.
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#119
23rd Jun 2016 at 2:58 AM
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AO still appears to be subtle if I use the CS:S bit, so does anyone else know of any good compatibility bits that's a tad more noticeable? The HL2 ones work, but it still has this issue of having weird halo artifacts or something.
#120
23rd Jun 2016 at 7:17 AM
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I wish I knew. The one I use in TS4 looks really good...in TS4.
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#121
23rd Jun 2016 at 9:33 AM
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Quote: Originally posted by Grijze Pilion
I wish I knew. The one I use in TS4 looks really good...in TS4. |
True. At one time I managed to get AO to show up prominently to the point that objects close to the wall cast shadows, but I couldn't recall if it was done with a certain Nvidia driver revision.
Mad Poster
#122
4th Jul 2016 at 6:36 PM
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Do people have a list of tags that work?
I know that these work:
0x00000003
0x00000006
0x00000007
0x00000008
0x00000009
0x00000012
0x00000018
0x0000001F
0x0000002B
0x0000002C
0x0000002E
0x00120035
They produce near-identical results though.
0x0000000A
0x0000002D
0x00060019
Produces a slightly stronger effect.
I know that these work:
0x00000003
0x00000006
0x00000007
0x00000008
0x00000009
0x00000012
0x00000018
0x0000001F
0x0000002B
0x0000002C
0x0000002E
0x00120035
They produce near-identical results though.
0x0000000A
0x0000002D
0x00060019
Produces a slightly stronger effect.
#123
5th Jul 2016 at 7:12 AM
Last edited by blakegriplingph : 5th Jul 2016 at 8:20 AM.
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Quote: Originally posted by jje1000
Do people have a list of tags that work? I know that these work: 0x00000003 0x00000006 0x00000007 0x00000008 0x00000009 0x00000012 0x00000018 0x0000001F 0x0000002B 0x0000002C 0x0000002E 0x00120035 They produce near-identical results though. 0x0000000A 0x0000002D 0x00060019 Produces a slightly stronger effect. |
Yeah, I can confirm that the Call of Juarez bit (0x00060019) is a tad stronger especially on certain angles. The Half-Life 2 bit (0x0000000A) works just as much, though I get this weird square artifact whenever I bring up the interaction menu, not to mention that the AO bleeds through the UI.
Here's a shot of Molly and her dollhouse with the CoJ preset:
...compared to this using Counter-Strike Source:
#124
5th Jul 2016 at 11:56 AM
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Guess I'll try out 0x00060019 then. I have some other graphical tweaks to make so screenshots are coming...that is, if crashes aren't. So maybe no screenshots.
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Mad Poster
#125
5th Jul 2016 at 5:34 PM
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I actually don't mind it bleeding through the UI, I don't pay attention to that anyways.
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