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[EatChildren]

What I was trying to say is that most of the far away 'detail' shimmering is actually aliasing, similar to what poor texture filtering (instead of anisotropic filtering) achieves for textures.
To avoid this, most lod-tweaks rather edit the distance at which a certain quality model is drawn ('draw distance' .ini fixes), but I don't now how that would be possible with RedKit.

I know the aliasing introduces shimmering. I think TW2's native anti-aliasing is FXAA. That or you use ubersampling, tanking the framerate. In the case of this mod I'm mostly aiming to eradicate the flora LOD. The grass does pop in very aggressively, and has been one of the biggest graphical complaints against the game since launch. Same goes for shrubs and what not. It's necessary to keep performance stable, but for those who'd rather see the flora rendered with zero LOD drop...I guess this is for them.

FoliageDistanceScale does work, but only to maximise how far the stock foliage is rendered. Same goes for MeshDistanceScale. It might increase the potential for rendering distance, but won't fix the LOD pop-in. Grass still jumps out in front of you.

They fucked up the LOD system very badly with one of the patches and sadly never fixed it.

Seemed to be less of an LOD fuck-up, and instead a colour fuck-up. The high detail grass outside Hensalt's camp turned fluoro yellow, making it all the more obvious when it jumps up in front of you. Easy texture mods fix that.

Speaking of, those mods were working just before, and now they're not :/. Fluro grass returneth.

 

[Stitch]

Seemed to be less of an LOD fuck-up, and instead a colour fuck-up. The high detail grass outside Hensalt's camp turned fluoro yellow, making it all the more obvious when it jumps up in front of you. Easy texture mods fix that.

But I'm not just talking about the grass. After one of the patches the draw distance for many objects was fucked up. Like bottles in stores just vanished if I was 3 feet away, which never happened before. I even complained about it on GAF after the patch and some others GAFers too.

 

[EatChildren]

Goddamn fluoro grass.

But I'm not just talking about the grass. After one of the patches the draw distance for many objects was fucked up. Like bottles in stores just vanished if I was 3 feet away, which never happened before. I even complained about it on GAF after the patch and some others GAFers too.

Yeah, you're right, sorry. The rendering did go a bit goofy after the Enhanced Edition patch.

 

[loganclaws]

But I'm not just talking about the grass. After one of the patches the draw distance for many objects was fucked up. Like bottles in stores just vanished if I was 3 feet away, which never happened before. I even complained about it on GAF after the patch and some others GAFers too.

Yes I noticed this too. When the game was released it did not have these issues.

 

[Messofanego]

I love that this is a thread. Thank you, EatChildren, you are one of the funniest gaming-side mods!

 

[Felix Lighter]

It looks beautiful but that performance hit sounds brutal.

 

[EatChildren]

Alright, here's the first release. Going against my previous comments, this release is an infinte draw distance render exclusively for grass and some weeds. This is the most basic version, one that does not increase the quality of shrubs, bushes, vines, ferns, and so on. This is just grass. So if you want to see the bare minimum in action, this is for you.

The Witcher 2 - Infinite grass render distance.rar (8.6 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!Z0YnSLgZ!M4AU5g1LlzRmzcEfoy-31QakXPg9252zSmAJT9evg0k

Hosted by mega because I'm tired and didn't know where else to put it.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I expect results and release today.

MAKE ME LIFE EASIER!

Well then, I guess it's out lol

Will try this out later.

 

[Demon Ice]

Apologies if this has already been asked but is there a way to just increase the LOD distance without fully maxing it out? The full maxed out LOD removal is what kills performance, there should be a middle ground between that and the default close range LOD that performs well and still looks better than default.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Think pushing the distance to where it switches from a plane to model to like 3 to 4 times the original distance would be a better compromise to get it to run decently. I'm not seeing much movement in those gifs past that point but maybe that is just the smaller res of the gifs.

edit: demon ice beat me

 

[Alric]

Nice, i'll have to install this when I get home. I just started a 3rd play through with the "Enhanced Combat" mod. So why not a visual boost too.

 

[EatChildren]

Yep, optimisation is key but I haven't got to that point yet. Finding a happy medium will increase performance significantly. But that will take time and tweaking and a little bit of tedium, even though it's easy. I'll get there .

On the plus side, it will prevent scenes like this running at 10fps. 10fps because the grass all the way to Henselt's camp is rendered and swaying in the breeze.

 

[Nibel]

Sequel to this outrageously popular thread

Am I the only person who laughed pretty hard at this :lol

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Those suggestions sound reasonable. The max LOD is a good start but probably goes without saying that it's not only not worth the performance cost but isn't as noticeable. Maybe a certain radius like 4-5x the default might be good.

Did EC mention his rig anywhere?

Running a 3930k and SLI 670's.

 

[Demon Ice]

Yep, optimisation is key but I haven't got to that point yet. Finding a happy medium will increase performance significantly. But that will take time and tweaking and a little bit of tedium, even though it's easy. I'll get there .

On the plus side, it will prevent scenes like this running at 10fps. 10fps because the grass all the way to Henselt's camp is rendered and swaying in the breeze.

Is that also with Uber on? Geralt looks hella smooth in that pic.

 

[EatChildren]

Did EC mention his rig anywhere?

Running a 3930k and SLI 670's.

i5 2500K @ 4.3GHz and a single 670. I am a little bit curious if there's some goofy engine quirk on how it syncs up grass sway animation, and if that's dragging the framerate down. I noticed in one scene my framerate dropped to the exact same variable irrespective of resolution, almost as if it was trying to vsync.

Could be just seeing things though. But yeah, optimisation will be necessary, it will just take more time than FORCE EVERYTHING AT MAXIMUM WOO.

Is that also with Uber on? Geralt looks hella smooth in that pic.

Every image so far has be ubersampled, for the sake of pretty screenshots. And to clean up the engine's terrible shadow dithering.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

i5 2500K @ 4.3GHz and a single 670. I am a little bit curious if there's some goofy engine quirk on how it syncs up grass sway animation, and if that's dragging the framerate down. I noticed in one scene my framerate dropped to the exact same variable irrespective of resolution, almost as if it was trying to vsync.

Could be just seeing things though. But yeah, optimisation will be necessary, it will just take more time than FORCE EVERYTHING AT MAXIMUM WOO.



Every image so far has be ubersampled, for the sake of pretty screenshots. And to clean up the engine's terrible shadow dithering.

You may need 4 Titans to get something out of max LOD on everything.

Ok, good to know that I should at least be running this as good as you at least. My CPU is a 4.5ghz but I don't know if you pushing your CPU a little more would help fps in any way.

Best to try this without udersampling but it's so poorly optimized in this game (in my opinion).

 

[Demon Ice]

Every image so far has be ubersampled, for the sake of pretty screenshots. And to clean up the engine's terrible shadow dithering.

Gotcha. So without Uber that scene would run at about...20 FPS

 

[Dennis]

So, extreme performance cost for something that is barely noticeable.

I like it.

 

[Alo81]

Two stupid short and kinda shitty gifs to show how "busier" flora scenes are with rendering limitations removed.

Normal:

Mod:

Wow that makes the difference much more apparent and it's incredible.

I was wondering why you had so much aliasing in those GIFs and I just realized it's probably because you're actually rendering at the exact (or near) resolution of those GIFs so you can hold a solid frame rate =p

 

[hlhbk]

So, extreme performance cost for something that is barely noticeable.

I like it.

The pop in on the Witcher 2 is terrible and very noticeable. I am not sure what game you are playing. All I ever heard was how great the game was technically and when I played it couldn't be farther from the truth. Looking forward to the full mod OP!

 

[professor_t]

Am I the only person who laughed pretty hard at this :lol

Nope. I just did.

 

[Dennis]

Are there any other mods that significantly upgrades the graphics?

 

[EatChildren]

Alright, uploaded a quick 20 second video of the earlier gif. Watch it here.

1920x1080, no ubersampling.
First 10 seconds: TW2's standard "ultra" settings for asset quality and render distance.
Last 10 seconds: Draw distance ini tweaks, and my mod.

 

[ScepticMatt]

Alright, uploaded a quick 20 second video of the earlier gif. Watch it here.

Well, that's a huge improvement. I didn't know that the default distant foliage looked this bad.
Too bad my current PC is too weak.

 

[EatChildren]

Easy framerate fix.

Don't use my stupid settings. In your User.ini (Document/Witcher 2/Config/), under [Rendering], have:

FoliageDistanceScale=2
MeshDistanceScale=2

Also try putting them up to 3 to 5. This sets the general rendering distance, and can be easily used as global limitation on otherwise infinite draw distances.

Default is 1.0 for both of those settings. Cranking it up to 1000 like I do kills performance with my mod whenever there's a vista. However, lowering it to either 2 or even 3 gives a larger than normal rendering distance that comfortably fits in more or less every single scene of the game. So every area looks full, but not excessively rendering beyond.

So yeah, if my mod is killing your performance, make sure those variables read 2 or 3 in your User.ini.

 

[professor_t]

Easy framerate fix.

Don't use my stupid settings. In your User.ini (Document/Witcher 2/Config/), under [Rendering], have:

FoliageDistanceScale=2
MeshDistanceScale=2

Also try putting them up to 3 to 5. This sets the general rendering distance, and can be easily used as global limitation on otherwise infinite draw distances.

Default is 1.0 for both of those settings. Cranking it up to 1000 like I do kills performance with my mod whenever there's a vista. However, lowering it to either 2 or even 3 gives a larger than normal rendering distance that comfortably fits in more or less every single scene of the game. So every area looks full, but not excessively rendering beyond.

So yeah, if my mod is killing your performance, make sure those variables read 2 or 3 in your User.ini.

I have the same card as you. What framerate are you getting with this adjustment?

 

[EatChildren]

I have the same card as you. What framerate are you getting with this adjustment?

With:

FoliageDistanceScale=3
MeshDistanceScale=3

@1920x1080, maxed out, no ubersampling, grass mod in the op

No drops below 30, averaging probably 45, but really dependant on where I am and what I'm looking at. Can get an easy 50 - 60fps in the right scene, even one that seems to be rendering a lot. Changing them to:

FoliageDistanceScale=2
MeshDistanceScale=2

Get you an additional ~5 - 10 average fps, at the expense of seeing the grass pop-in the distance during some scenes. Still considerably further rendering than normal ultra settings, and I balance the LOD system it wouldn't look too bad.

So yeah, for anybody wanting to play it now, change those variables to 2 or 3.

 

[professor_t]

So yeah, for anybody wanting to play it now, change those variables to 2 or 3.

Cool. I'll check it out when I get a chance.

I never understood people who claimed not to notice the foliage pop-in. I loved the game, but the pop-in marred the visual presentation considerably.

 

[EatChildren]

*opens up The Witcher 2 editor*
*loads up Act 2, to have a snoop*
*folder: common_battlefield_dickforest*
*giant chicken in a forest of giant wooden dildos*

I do not remember this quest.

 

[Perkel]

*opens up The Witcher 2 editor*
*loads up Act 2, to have a snoop*
*folder: common_battlefield_dickforest*
*giant chicken in a forest of giant wooden dildos*

I do not remember this quest.

That is superb cock there.

 

[EatChildren]

Quick gif showing the standard grass pop-in and how this mod fixes it.

 

[TheD]

So I loaded up the game (first time in ages) to check the mod out (it works fine BTW) and I notice that NPCs also do not have a good draw distance, does the editor allow you to change that to?

 

[Alo81]

Quick gif showing the standard grass pop-in and how this mod fixes it.

The way you resize your GIFs make it look really, really jaggy and incredibly hard to notice the effects.

What program are you using for the GIFs?

 

[squidyj]

*opens up The Witcher 2 editor*
*loads up Act 2, to have a snoop*
*folder: common_battlefield_dickforest*
*giant chicken in a forest of giant wooden dildos*

I do not remember this quest.

are you sure that's a chicken? it might be a cock.

 

[EatChildren]

The way you resize your GIFs make it look really, really jaggy and incredibly hard to notice the effects.

What program are you using for the GIFs?

Adobe Premiere. I know they look like shit, but it's pretty easy to spot the difference between the two scenes in the gif you quoted.

 

[dino1980]

EatChildren: Thanks for this great mod, it great to not have these damn pop-ins with the grass anymore.

 

[Moaradin]

Now we need to somehow magically fix the shadows.

 

[Dictator93]

Now we need to somehow magically fix the shadows.

If somone did a DX9 dump like Durante did... they could probably find the culprit and just gaussian blur the shit out of em.

 

[EatChildren]

If somone did a DX9 dump like Durante did... they could probably find the culprit and just gaussian blur the shit out of em.

Yeah, this might be possible. Otherwise I don't think they can be fixed.

"Fixing" the grass is so easy a monkey could do it. I just happened to be that monkey, and the only reason it's being fixed now instead of two years ago is because REDkit is available. It really is as simple as changing the render distance for a particular asset, baking that asset into a mod, and then using that mod. Game uses the mod asset's variables instead of the standard, and tada; grass over the hillsides.

It would have been very, very easy to CDPR to release their own mod that does the exact same thing, and they could have done it long ago. Shame they never did.

Unlike asset tweaks, shadow rendering is integrated deep within the engine. Unless there's some variable that tweaks the complexity of the rendering, allowing you to minimise the size of the dithering, I think the shadows will be forever gross.

 

[Perkel]

Yeah, this might be possible. Otherwise I don't think they can be fixed.

"Fixing" the grass is so easy a monkey could do it. I just happened to be that monkey, and the only reason it's being fixed now instead of two years ago is because REDkit is available. It really is as simple as changing the render distance for a particular asset, baking that asset into a mod, and then using that mod. Game uses the mod asset's variables instead of the standard, and tada; grass over the hillsides.

It would have been very, very easy to CDPR to release their own mod that does the exact same thing, and they could have done it long ago. Shame they never did.

Unlike asset tweaks, shadow rendering is integrated deep within the engine. Unless there's some variable that tweaks the complexity of the rendering, allowing you to minimise the size of the dithering, I think the shadows will be forever gross.

I get why people hate dithered shadow but isn't dithered shadow simply way to have bette performance if shadows are used on large scale ?

GTA4 for example thanks to that fugly dithered shadow had tons of actual shadows and performance wasn't all that bad. When they switched in later patch to normal shadows performance tanked and now most of people play on 1.0.4 not 1.0.7 patch.

Same thing could be said for The Witcher 2 and its purpose.

 

[EatChildren]

Yep, mostly likely. It's why anything in TW2 is the way it is, including the grass rendering, billboard system, and so on. Or any game for that matter.

But I think the general rule of thumb with anything PC is that people like to have an option to see what things look like at better than optimised variants. Kind of like the grass. The HQ grass pop-in is really atrociously close to the player, and a solution even a quarter of the intensity of my mod would have been a big improvement over standard at minimal performance cost. For the shadows, I think people just want to see what they'd look like with a higher sample, instead of having no option at all.

Plus I don't think dithered shadows was the only solution they could have gone for. Many other games with large areas don't use them. I figure at some point during development of RED Engine that was the shadow solution they decided on, and now we're stuck with it until The Witcher 3.

 

[Alo81]

Adobe Premiere. I know they look like shit, but it's pretty easy to spot the difference between the two scenes in the gif you quoted.

I'm just offering a suggestion for future GIF creation - if you've got it Photoshop is great.

If you want a free alternative then VirtualDub is fantastic for the price (price of nothing) as well.

If you want some help learning how to do it well I'd be glad to give some general guidelines.

 

[Blackthorn]

This is wonderful, flora LOD was one of my main qualms with the engine. Now someone needs to fix the disgusting SSAO and I'm ready to replay.

 

[dragonbane]

Sequel to this outrageously popular thread

Oh god, I almost died. Hopefully you don't spend too much time working on this

 

[EatChildren]

As good-a time as any to bump this. Compiling 2.0 now, which increases the quality of every fucking green thing in the game*.

*exceptions include green things I missed.

 

[John Caboose]

As good-a time as any to bump this. Compiling 2.0 now, which increases the quality of every fucking green thing in the game*.

*exceptions include green things I missed.

Just bought the game. Will use your grass fix.

 

[Dictator93]

Just bought the game. Will use your grass fix.

Make sure you turn off the sharpening in the .ini file.

Makes the game look hideous otherwise.

 

[EatChildren]

Alright, I guess I can consider this the first release of the full version, which I've dubbed Extreme Quality Flora. This does not just improve grass, but almost all flora in the game, rendering bushes, weeds, ferns, trees, and other greenery at maximum LOD over the longest distance.

Trailer (1080p): http://youtu.be/_9ukL814wVY
Download (17.6 MB): https://mega.co.nz/#!NoRVEK7Z!GXLjr1jPq1OyCV-R0GGlTT-lRx1JaRyB-deob_ipTcs

The op has been heavily updated to better explain the mod, and provide media as well as downloads.

Enjoy.

 

[Sanjay]

*opens up The Witcher 2 editor*
*loads up Act 2, to have a snoop*
*folder: common_battlefield_dickforest*
*giant chicken in a forest of giant wooden dildos*

I do not remember this quest.

This quest was amazing.