Object drawing distance tweak

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Testing grunts, this is the first one for you. :D

=========
= Preface =
=========

ArmA supports up to 50.000m (50km) viewdistance (http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/setViewDistance).
Yet objects, means vegetation and objects of a world, as well as units or
mission placed objects are drawn in general way less (~45% and
max ~2000-2500m...).

This also results in objects popping into view - very ugly.
Especially with low viewdistance.

There are more issues related to it, yet not that important for the start.


=========
= Solution =
=========

There is always the chance of BI improving the visual impression and object
drawing distance in a future patch.

There is a new config value called featureSize introduced by ArmA II.
It does make the TV tower, the castle or other special buildings drawn at
longer distance..

So the design concept is to (ab)use this value for our needs.

You find a set of small addons to set this value for static objects (houses,
and other type of building) as well as infantry and vehicles.


=========
= Change =
=========

Focus on the houses and units. And ignore the SAT issues and vegetation
for now. Also take note that always max zoom in of AH1Y or F35b was used.

ArmA II default (50k VD):

http://www3.picfront.org/picture/DagFH2KrJ1/thb/0001.jpg (http://www.picfront.org/d/DagFH2KrJ1/0001.jpg) http://www3.picfront.org/picture/GtgCqo7sBR/thb/0002.jpg (http://www.picfront.org/d/GtgCqo7sBR/0002.jpg)

ArmA II tweaked (50k VD):

http://www15.picfront.org/picture/xXCzZmJSBO/thb/0012.jpg (http://www.picfront.org/d/xXCzZmJSBO/0012.jpg) http://www15.picfront.org/picture/5t8oDN7nL/thb/0013.jpg (http://www.picfront.org/d/5t8oDN7nL/0013.jpg)


Mi-8 is normally drawn 2200m (http://www5.picfront.org/picture/c8V00FtQeN/img/0002.jpg).

Mi-8 is drawn 3000m (http://www13.picfront.org/picture/TjF6SDg0l/img/0001.jpg) with featureSize = 100.

T72 is drawn 3000m (http://www6.picfront.org/picture/alMrWtzlLFm/img/0003.jpg).
It seems that 3000m is the max unit drawing distance not matter the
featureSize value (tried 1000).
The static object like houses seem to be drawn even way further away.

Ingame it is quite hard to see the units. The compression makes it even harder.


More examples screenshots:

Sample 1 (http://www15.picfront.org/picture/qKCBMTGn/img/0009.jpg)
Sample 2 (http://www15.picfront.org/picture/YT1abw5u/img/0002.jpg)
Sample 3 (http://www15.picfront.org/picture/eiUv6aprDA/img/0003.jpg)
Sample 4 (http://www15.picfront.org/picture/l2eQz5AD8u/img/0007.jpg)
Sample 5 (http://www15.picfront.org/picture/jrjlPaPbZGA/img/0011.jpg)


Comparison videos - again focus on the houses and units:
standard_popup_objects_at_drawing_distance (http://oac.arma-creations.com/download/misc/standard_popup_objects_at_drawing_distance.avi) (9 MB)
vs
featureSizeTweak_active (http://oac.arma-creations.com/download/misc/featureSizeTweak_active.avi) (8 MB)


=========
= Your job =
=========

Test this set of addons. See if it works for you. Share your impressions and
possible other ingame changes made by it.
Can you experience any performance impact?
Test with very low view distance (500-1500m) and focus on object popping in.
Test very high (5000-50000) and look at distance objects and units are drawn.



==========
= Download =
==========

Object drawing distance tweak (http://dev-heaven.net/wiki/proper-projects/PROPER_projects#Object-drawing-distance-tweak)

[Shadow NX]

Intresting, i give it a try :)

Now if someone makes something that solves object poppin then even better, maybe by forbidding to swithc to lowest lod or something... but i guess that will not be very performance friendly.

Yet nothing more immersion killing than paper cut trees and soldiers.

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Thats number two. ;)

(powered by T_D)

[Defunkt]

Wow, that's massive, especially as the next thing I want to work on is a fixed-wing air-combat mission, well done!

[mcbane]

How's the performance?

[Jingle]

AMD 5000
2 GB DDR 2 - 800Mhz
9500GT


Tested Very high on all settings flying around cherny with a av8b - vd 8000, (resolution 1024 x 768 @<hidden> percent fillrate)

FPS hit 30 mark while flying - all I can say is Kju you are a god amongst men.

Also tested on a very busy map - chernogorsk with about 500 units fighting went from normal to very high settings and adjusted view distance between 1600 and 10k.

Found my FPS didnt drop much to be honest about 3 - 4 fps from low to high end - (granted my system was crawling at 4 fps at max settings due to all the activity). In conclusion this mod has very little negative impact at all - in fact it improves my options so much that i am able to test on very high settings at 10k vd.

Will test further and post in this spot.

[Thunderbird]

Funny thing that I just finished tweaking this here and that you release the same thing in the same hour.
Will give yours a go, cheers.

Regards,
TB

[Kremator]

VERY nice indeed kju !

Was flying around at 10km VD with everything looking smooth (well with the normal microstutters !)

What impressed me a LOT was that Chernogorsk looked LOVELY in the distance.

Will test some more and get back to you, but great work so far !

[DMarkwick]

I think a special version just for aircraft would be a major hit (in fact there's a thread about this subject in the suggestions forum I believe). Then a separate version for everything? As a grunt who likes to creep from cover to cover, being able to see aircraft further out is a nice feature :) but as a low end user, I'm not too fussed about all the other stuff.

Just IMO ;)

[Defunkt]

Agreed, vanishing aircraft is the most obvious failing where draw distance is concerned.

[randir14]

There is a small FPS hit but it's worth it for the big visual improvement especially from the air. I have the game running at 1280x1024 with low AA, very high AF, normal textures, low terrain detail, normal object detail, post processing off, view distance 2015. Average FPS was about 50-60 in the air if I wasn't near a huge town like Cherno, on the ground in Cherno FPS was around 25-30.

AMD 7850 @<hidden> 3.0 ghz
ATI 4850 512 mb
4 gigs ddr2 1066 ram
windows 7 64 bit

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Sounds good lads. :)

How about posting some screens from your testing - to see the gameplay situation
effected or created by the change or just the view is interesting. :bounce3:

[Cole]

Awesome, just awesome, gonna test it right now!

btw, kju - I see that you have modded hud text color in the screens.. is that released too? :)

[Lee_H._Oswald]

...maybe by forbidding to switch to lowest lod or something... but i guess that will not be very performance friendly



In OFP changing the LOD values helped for a stable FPS because of less lod changes and less hdd activity.


Tweaks/Addons like this, is what I'm waiting for!

Fixing the game before the dev's can...

Flashpoint style!


MfG Lee ;)

[Thunderbird]

In OFP changing the LOD values helped for a stable FPS because of less lod changes and less hdd activity.


Tweaks/Addons like this, is what I'm waiting for!

Fixing the game before the dev's can...

Indeed.
Regarding the LOD issue, I wonder whether there will be a major FPS impact if we keep only the highest LODs and get ride of the lowest ones, just to make the "LOD Auto-Switching" less visible in-game.

Regards,
TB

[Alex72]

Wow awesome work Kju and crew! :)

Tested and Cherna certainly looks amazing now. Seeing all the cities/villages in the distance is superb. Getting little extra strain on my PC wich is natural, but its not bad at all.

Superb work guys. Thanks!

Alex

[Tankbuster]

I reckon in the coming months, this mod is going to be one of the essentials that everyone has.
I'm assuming it's client side only?

[Kremator]

Indeed.
Regarding the LOD issue, I wonder whether there will be a major FPS impact if we keep only the highest LODs and get ride of the lowest ones, just to make the "LOD Auto-Switching" less visible in-game.

Regards,
TB

Interesting idea Thunderbird. How could this be done? Is there a script that needs to be written or is this a hardcoded issue ?

[topeira]

what i think is more important than tweaking distance of pop ups is tweaking the way they appear. i dont think its possible via simple mods but BIS should have incorporated a fade in effect instead of the ugly pop in.

if making trees FADE in instead of pop-in is possible than ppl wouldnt mind so much about the pop ins.

[.kju [PvPscene]]

@<hidden> Tankbuster

Yes it is client side only. It could be enforced, yet not sure if thats a good idea.


@<hidden> topeira

Did you watch the vid or tried it ingame yet?
This is to improve this aspect and it does so very very well IMHO.

[Kremator]

kju,

Do you think Thunderbirds idea of ONLY showing the highest LOD would be scriptable ?

[.kju [PvPscene]]

See post #3 (http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost.php?p=1403302&postcount=3).

[Kremator]

LOL mate. Sorry.

You get my FULL support !

[NoRailgunner]

Good idea!
Quick test with Kamov vs M1A1:
Tank appeared at 3000m with 10.000m viewdistance - gunners sight with full zoom. With vanilla Arma2 the tank appeared at 2100m.
Still the AI wasnt able to take advantage and keep on flying towards the enemy. This AI behaviour is wrong/bugged since a very long time. Bit strange that missiles/bombs arent fired from safe/standoff distance by AI.

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Well AI is a different topic. You can see this even yourself.
You need to identify units before you know if its hostile or not.
AI is simulated doing that as well. Of course the values aren't too well tweaked for large
distances.

accuracy should be the most important here, as is irScanRanges.

camouflage = 2;
audible = 1;
accuracy = 0;
spotableNightLightsOff = 0.05;
spotableNightLightsOn = 4;
visibleNightLightsOff = 0.1;
visibleNightLightsOn = 0.2;
sensitivity = 1;
sensitivityEar = 0.0075;
crewVulnerable = 1;
damageResistance = 0.004;
irScanRangeMin = 0;
irScanRangeMax = 0;
irScanToEyeFactor = 1;
irScanGround = 1;

as well as engagement ranges for weapons/ammo.

[KeyCat]

Kju you rock! Will try it out as soon as possible...

/KC

[Fincuan]

After an afternoon of mixed MP with this one I'm highly pleased. I didn't conduct any scientific tests yet or take any screenies(too busy playing!), but the intial impression is that the mod really makes a difference. I mainly concentrated on watching how buildings behave, so I won't comment on units yet.

The most obvious difference was this: With sub-3000 viewdistances the "before" situation was that you'd have buildings suddenly pop out of the ground, ground which had already been visible for a long time. Using the mod you have the ground and the buildings fade out of the fog at the same time. This might not sound like much explained like this, but it looks very good ingame. I'll try to grab some video or screenies later on.

On my crappy rig the effect on performance wasn't really noticeable most of the time, maybe a few fps here and there, but there was slight stuttering that wasn't there before when flying at high speeds with the viewdistance over 4000-5000.

[Tankbuster]

Tried it ingame, really like it. I haven't tried it with a fast jet but it makes even helo flying better.

[Alex72]

Oh yes it is amazing to see villages and other ehum objects all around you at far distances. The game just feels more juicy/present with this tweak.

Awesome work. Hope BIS implements it into the core.

Alex

[Kremator]

OK have done some testing with vehicles as well. Not sure if its sorted for that yet, but at least it will give us a benchmark.

For information using ION_Viewdistance to get VD up to 50km.

T72 tanks appear (as a tiny dot - so you can acquire them without TAB :) ) at 3103m at any VD ABOVE 6000m. It is also around this distance that the trees start to pop into existence with the fog.

So I have my system now set up with a constant VD of 6000m and I haven't seen that drastic an FPS hit at all (I'm still getting my microstutters with Win7 + 1.04 but hey :) )

[oktane]

This is awesome work.
I didn't notice an appreciable FPS drop and my old 8800GTS is running at the borderline so if it had, I would have noticed.

Really makes flying cool, much less pop-in noticed.

[CSJ]

This addon has improved my A2 gaming experience, nice work.
I do not have a fast rig and my best playable vd setting is 3km,
so the more I can see at that range the better.
FPS is same - I would say atm it is even more stable staying at 20 to 28
instead of 8 to 28.
:ok:
with
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v431/colkim/vd-1.jpg
without
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v431/colkim/vd-2.jpg

[Rogue_Trooper]

I would assume its installed using the normal method?

[Kremator]

Yup.... stick it in a modfolder and add to commandline and enjoy the scenery !

[Nazul]

kju, everything you do seems to be a major advancement, well done!

[breacherman]

can someone tell me where to extract these pbo files too? theres no read me, I d0nt get how everyone else appears to know where to extract the files...i feel stupid :(

[rowdied]

can someone tell me where to extract these pbo files too? theres no read me, I d0nt get how everyone else appears to know where to extract the files...i feel stupid :(

You have to create a folder in the arma2 folder and put the files into a folder called addons in the mod folder.

C:\Program Files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\Objectdrawingdistancetweak\addons

Then add this mod folder to the arma shortcut on your desktop.

"C:\Program Files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\arma2.exe" -mod=@<hidden>;@<hidden>;demo;pmc;Objectdrawingdistancetweak -nosplash

[nikita320106]

ingenious thing)
thanx alot
check later)

[[TO]Khaine]

Might just be me, or a lucky stroke, but after installing this mod, my performance increased quite alot. And the game experience is much better with the increased amount of objects as well.

Definitely a good addon.

[Tankbuster]

This is such a free lunch. I mean, pretty much everyone here is saying it improves the game without any real drawbacks, you have to wonder why BIS didn't have this in the day one release.
I think it needs to go even further, I'd like the objects to be drawn OUTSIDE the draw distance fog ring so that they never actually pop in, the simply fade in through the fog.

[SteveVCB]

The draw distance has been my only major issue with ArmA 2, so I was dead chuffed when I stumble across this. Works fairly well, no discernable performance hit either. Only thing I noticed was that trees don't seem to draw as far out as the buildings do.

[Tankbuster]

The draw distance has been my only major issue with ArmA 2, so I was dead chuffed when I stumble across this. Works fairly well, no discernable performance hit either. Only thing I noticed was that trees don't seem to draw as far out as the buildings do.

Ah yes. I meant to mention that too.

[ziiip]

Finally! I've been waiting for this since ArmA1.:D

[3_PARA_Telson]

It seems to work fine and no drop in framerates
Well chuffed Nice work Kju

[p75]

Another great one, Kju, will give it a go!

[Fortran]

Fantastic addon! Goes perfectly with my F-117A so I can see what the hell im dropping bombs on from 2000 up in the air. Is there any way to access or manipulate this value dynamically Kju ?

[Thunderbird]

Only thing I noticed was that trees don't seem to draw as far out as the buildings do.

Being not at home, I can't help you in details. But as far as I can recall:
If you unpbo the concerned Addons done by Kju, you can increase the values of the concerned "type" of unit (Vehicle or Statics... etc).
if it is "xxx=100" then put instead a higher value. you'd have to play with the values until you reach a "satisfying" result.

However, I think that BIS hardcoded the "command" in question by establishing a sort of "highest value", so putting very high numbers might not change the result in-game, but I still have to get deeper within this field to confirm my statement.

Regards,
TB

[Defunkt]

=========
= Your job =
=========

[...]

Tell us how to make it work for roads, stones and vegetation.
These are not defined in the ArmA II configs. Doing so myself didn't work so far.

I took this to mean the property appears to have no effect on trees et. al., certainly didn't seem to have for me.

EDIT: Hmmm... but that might just be because they're set to 100 rather than 1000 as is for vehicles and statics.

[.kju [PvPscene]]

To be precise. The tweak does NOT (YET) work on world placed roads and vegetation.

The reason most likely is that they are not correctly defined in the config OR
one needs to rebuild the world for it (unlikely) or a different reason.

The two addons for roads and vegetation allow you to place these objects in the editor.
For these manually placed, it does work again (only tested roads..).


> manipulate this value dynamically

The config can not be modified during runtime unfortunately. So no.



=======
= Plans =
=======


Make it work for vegetation and roads.
Sign the addon.
If people try different values for featureSize and find any positive change,
use those.

[rowdied]

I tried changing the values for roads and trees but met with no success.
Great addon, by the way, I have less lod pops and it does run smoother even when at 20fps with lots going on.

[Akuras]

If i change the values of the tree feature size to all 1000, it gives me a memory error but if i change them to 500 i get a missing line error on start up. I tried the maxmem line but to no sucess and i have 4gb available. Ive been using wordpad to open the pbo and change the values. ATM tree's featuresize can only be 100?

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Well featureSize for world placed trees does not yet have an effect - at least according
to my tests. The config definition is not correct or the vegetation p3d need to be rebuilt
or the world itself.

[OrdeaL]

Sorry im a bit confused kju, If the roads and trees dont work should we be using the PBOs for them then? or leave them out..and will it change the performance using them if they dont work etc?

[Alex72]

Think skip them unless you added own trees/roads via editor?

Not 100 myself on this - using all PBO's atm.

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Using the roads and trees probably won't hurt. Test it. :)
You can manually place either in the editor with those pbos.
Can you confirm to see the desired effect for these or not?

[OrdeaL]

Well i dont make my own missions or know how to place "trees"? in the editor so ill leave those two PBOs out i think :)

And thx for the quick reply!

p.s. Great mod kju!

[Baxalasse]

Good job, im loving it! No performance drop noticed.

[MattXR]

I wish BIS would put it back to the old way it was way more better gameplay wise and visually. Now it just looks horrendus.

[Steelhawk]

First off all thank you for this nice tweak. I have testet a bit around and put the static and vehicle pbo in the mod folder.
Here are the results:

Without the fix
http://www.bilder-space.de/thumb/18.08T87X6WtaQqRZtQt.JPG (http://www.bilder-space.de/show.php?file=18.08T87X6WtaQqRZtQt.JPG)

With the fix
http://www.bilder-space.de/thumb/18.08xuQztjg8KxfjMMe.JPG (http://www.bilder-space.de/show.php?file=18.08xuQztjg8KxfjMMe.JPG)

The view Distance is set to 2799. With the fix it is the minimum distance to view the Tank. You also see houses in the background with the Fix. So, if i put the tank more away i would not see it.

Is it possible to edit the fix in that way, that you see the vehicles in a distance of 2,5km?

[.kju [PvPscene]]

3000m / 3 km seems to be tha max of vehicle drawing distance even with the tweak
for some reason (~ 2 km without).

[MehMan]

This is such a free lunch. I mean, pretty much everyone here is saying it improves the game without any real drawbacks, you have to wonder why BIS didn't have this in the day one release.
I think it needs to go even further, I'd like the objects to be drawn OUTSIDE the draw distance fog ring so that they never actually pop in, the simply fade in through the fog.

This is exactly what I want too.

[ziiip]

Please increase the rendering of the vegetation as far as possible.

I was shooting at a tank from far away only to realize that it was completely covered by trees.

[oktane]

Please increase the rendering of the vegetation as far as possible.

I was shooting at a tank from far away only to realize that it was completely covered by trees.

Please read the thread before you post, he's said repeatedly that it doesn't work yet for vegetation. You're welcome to experiment yourself by editing the configs located inside of the PBO files in the first post.

[ziiip]

Please read the thread before you post, he's said repeatedly that it doesn't work yet for vegetation. You're welcome to experiment yourself by editing the configs located inside of the PBO files in the first post.

Ah all right, too bad.

Btw I posted that at at like midnight do I didnt feel like reading 5 pages. :)

[Vipera]

This mod cause video artefacts for me (triangles).

[Steelhawk]

3000m / 3 km seems to be tha max of vehicle drawing distance even with the tweak
for some reason (~ 2 km without).

OK, but the max drawing distance can only be achieved if i set the view distance to 10.000 right?

So it is not possible that the vehicle drawing distance is the same like the normal view distance? (View distance 2500, vehicle distance 2500)

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Not unfortunately not. The fog line already start before the max view distance (and locking
distance).

[metsapeikkoo]

Works fine for me. Excelent addon btw.

[JuggernautOfWar]

So if I have my view distance set to 3500 will this benefit me at all?

[Kremator]

Not unfortunately not. The fog line already start before the max view distance (and locking
distance).

Is there a tweak for the fog line kju ?

[Alex72]

So if I have my view distance set to 3500 will this benefit me at all?

Yes it will. I run with 2500 and it benefits me. I can see villages in the mist wich i didnt do before. When i look around flying i see much more houses etc. It also loads buildings "faster" as they are drawn further away. So when i fly to Chernogorsk it doesnt pop out buildings as much as without the addon.

Alex

[Moosed]

sorry to be a noob but how am i meant to install this mod ? it's like every other mod...

[.kju [PvPscene]]

put the files into .\arma2\@<hidden>\addons\
load by adding -mod=@<hidden>

[Kremator]

sorry to be a noob but how am i meant to install this mod ? it's like every other mod...

All mods are done like this ... or SHOULD be released like this.

[zGuba]

What about updating addon configs? It seems that it is spoiled in 2 places:

- class House should be base for land_dam_xxx - Roads Visibility
- Required addon: "CAWheeled_OffTrees" -> seems that something went wrong with Ctrl+H :) - Trees Visibility

Also if You set accuracy = 1000; for each "static" object, it will not show current "debug" display name ingame.

Overall I'm satisfied with the mod, as I can finally see aircrafts and other vehicles from large distances. Not enough sometimes, but much better than default. Plus there's additional "editor update" feature that renders most EU addons useless.

[Kremator]

So are you saying that we could get both trees AND roads zGuba at a distance ?

[zGuba]

Nope, just I like seeing vehicles with my low VD and having the editor access to all objects by default. Not sure if it does any better.

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Thanks zGbua :)

Fixed those first two some time ago. Thanks for the accuracy tip/reminder!
I was hoping to get the trees sorted.. that made the updated delayed so long.
Tomorrow the updating will be released anyway. :)

[zGuba]

Hmmm.... just tried accuracy 1000 and it seems that every unit knows everything about environment, so it doesn't work at all ;P

[Orakar]

This sounds like an awesome mod, and I'm very grateful for the time it took for you to make it :)
The problem is, I've never installed a mod on Arma II before. I know it's already been explained twice, but I couldn't follow the explanations of how to do it. Could someone explain? I'm good with computers, but I think the previous explanations assumed what they meant to explain :P

[Tankbuster]

The problem is, I've never installed a mod on Arma II before. I know it's already been explained twice, but I couldn't follow the explanations of how to do it. Could someone explain? I'm good with computers, but I think the previous explanations assumed what they meant to explain :P

Try this page, it runs through it in simple steps.
http://www.armaholic.com/plug.php?e=faq&q=18

[.kju [PvPscene]]

By the way. I got it working for roads and vegetation now - for editor place ones.
Yet not for the standard worlds objects.

[Kremator]

Shame .... I wonder if the devs could help us out here with the roads and vegetation ?

[Orakar]

Try this page, it runs through it in simple steps.
http://www.armaholic.com/plug.php?e=faq&q=18

Great! :D
Thanks a lot.

[KaBoNG]

By the way. I got it working for roads and vegetation now - for editor place ones.
Yet not for the standard worlds objects.



Great news. When will you be releasing an updated version?

[Mandrake5]

this mod is simply fantastic! big thanks :)

[zeep]

Just to be sure, will this still work for me when i have viewdistance set to 2000?

Thanks

[franklin]

I havent done much specific testing, but i coupled your addon with the PROPER building and vegitation "LOW" addons, and instant view distance, and with the 4 of them working together, i actually love flying in Arma again!

The other 3 mods coupled up allow me to see far, and do so without stuttering or major drop in FPS. Your mod, makes the gameplay so much better, because i can see objects so much farther out now, its a dream to gun tanks down in an A-10 again!

Keep up the good work!

[JuggernautOfWar]

If I turn on the tree tweak I get massive FPS loss with no visible difference. I just turn that off and I'm jolly though. Great work man.

[xy20032004]

Tried the mod, Good Job indeed! Now I can really see and kill a tank at 3000 meters!

A Hellfire missle has to fly 15 seconds to hit the target. But the whole feeling is great!

[arma2mods]

I ve been waiting this kind of mod to series so long since the fading in dust in previous instalment over distance always made so hard to distinguish allie to enemy, finally someone delivered it so my big greeting to that.

[TankCommander]

Great mod and I only just tried it out last night briefly and have one question. Does it work with drawing infantry further as well?

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Here is a video showing the nice transition into view of mission placed roads
and vegetation:
NiceTransitionIntoViewForEditorPlacedVegetationRoads.avi (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/misc/NiceTransitionIntoViewForEditorPlacedVegetationRoads.avi)

No luck with world roads and vegetation so far. :(
Thankfully SgtAce did testing by rebuilding the worlds with those object.
Either an engine limitation or different way of config definition needed.
Anyone wanna bug BI devs to find out how to make it work? ;)


@<hidden> TankCommander

The tweak should work for infantry units yes.

[Defunkt]

Looking at it another way, it would probably be more productive (because I'm sure its a value that's easily tweaked) to ask BIS to make the fog render closer for any given view distance.

[cjsoques]

I am learning to appreciate the community for fixing small things that BIS should have done on their own and seems to have purposely relied on the community to take care of these issues..it's rather sad :( Thanks so much for this necessary add on.

I was making large battles using the desert (afghan) addon map but jets would just pop up at 2000m no matter what view distance...thanks so much for this addon, the battles look much better!

[cjsoques]

this really is a must have addon! I can't get over how much better that is!!

-Long range tank battles, you actually see the two tanks!
-Long range air combat...you actually see the two aircraft instead of it firing at an invisible target 6000m away

There are an infinite ways to see how this improves the feel and immersion of the game, hopefully these settings will become integrated into an official patch.

thanks once again for this.

[.kju [PvPscene]]

How about a feature request on the ArmA II Community Issue Tracker?
Maybe if it gets voted high enough, BI will consider it. :)

http://dev-heaven.net/wiki/cis

[DMarkwick]

How about a feature request on the ArmA II Community Issue Tracker?
Maybe if it gets voted high enough, BI will consider it. :)

http://dev-heaven.net/wiki/cis

Is there any precedence for a highly voted feature being implemented?

[zeep]

I've been using this mod for some time now but i'm not sure it's working.. Thing is, i have viewdistance set to 2km, does that matter? Should i set viewdistance further away?

Thanks!

Please don't ask me to read the thread ;), because i have. And i've asked this question before too :P

[Defunkt]

IIRC from reading this thread, maximum entity visible distance (with this mod running) is reached when VD is around 3000.

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Test with very low view distance (500-1500m) and focus on object popping in.

You can see it very well in the videos.

[RoME]

It is wondeful, thank you.

[WillaCHilla]

Well-i just want to thank you Kju!!!

-tested this addon yesterday with some mates @<hidden> Sahrani. For the others and me it was a whole new gaming-experience (especially for our jet pilot;) )to see the target buildings by a distance of 2000 meters.

We recognized a small lag, e.g. if you fly over the northern part of Sahrani (the map with the buildings have to load up for a moment i think). But after that it runs just perfect.

Many Thanks for this great work!!!
Keep it up!

[highfly]

might sound noob but who cares ? not me... ;)

what do I do with all these pbo files ? put in missions folder ?

[MEDICUS]

might sound noob but who cares ? not me... ;)

what do I do with all these pbo files ? put in missions folder ?
No, not in "missions". Create a Folder in your ArmA2 Main-dir, name it f.e. "@<hidden>", crate a subfolder called "Addons" and put the .pbo-files in this Addon-folder. Now add -mod=@<hidden> to your ArmA2.exe shortcut.

Also check out this: http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Modfolders

MfG, Medicus

[highfly]

roger that, thanks for quick reply

[Enforcer1975]

Nice, doesn't have much impact on my system. Looks far better beeing able to actually see an object far away than not having it drawn at all.

E8400
260GTX
4000m

Resolution_Bpp=32;
Resolution_W=1680;
Resolution_H=1050;
Render_W=1680;
Render_H=1050;
FSAA=2;
postFX=0;
HDRPrecision=8;
Vsync=0;

[Rapier]

It works great, thanks!

Now only if those trees would stop flicker around on/off.

[mikebart]

thanks kju, this is great!

[Starshina(RUS)]

Thanks for this mod so much. I can not fly in the game without this mod.

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Finally you can get the signed version. Read the page carefully.
PROPER projects (http://dev-heaven.net/wiki/proper-projects/PROPER_projects)

No improvement for non editor placed vegetation and roads so far.
Don't forget to create the CIT ticket and to vote it. ;)

[[DirTyDeeDs]-Ziggy-]

thanks.


for those without Dev Heaven registration...
Low_Visuals_R_Proper_bisign mirror :

http://rapidshare.com/files/285291228/Low_Visuals_R_Proper_bisign.7z.html
MD5: 230FEDB761EC7896B0EDAC808BAF01A8



Your file has been saved and can now be downloaded 10 times :confused:

[hollow point]

I installed this mos but it seems to do nothing... Does it work with 1.04? what am i doing wrong?

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Do you understand what it does?

[hollow point]

Yeah. It makes distance buildings ect visable at longer ranges.. I couldnt see any difference.. Changing the distance slider has a huge effect on when objects are drawn but i couldnt see anything different with your mod. mabey i installed it wrong. how exactly do i get it running??

[OverDawg]

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/4585/33909641.jpg

Downloaded from Devheaven

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Can you please download it again.
Works fine here.

File is 28.5 KB.

CRC32: 5042DA47
MD5: 6D855031AACEEE91679CAC2B0549F297
SHA-1: CD84D139EA3C404F1E83E55947DE1835E0754672

[OverDawg]

Ah, solved it. Thx
I used the 'save target as' on the download links on the main page. It saves a .pbo file of around 6kb so I thought I had it. But if I left click on the links it takes you to a new page for download... odd :)

[c0mmanderKeen]

Hello all,

joined your community just a couple of days ago (hadnt heard of arma2 for some reason but loved OFP) and am already overwhelmed by the mass of support, addons, tweaks and most of all maturity and kindness of this community :D Its great.

[/brown nose]

Had the same issue as overdawg with the files but its working fine now and I love it.
Especially since A2 runs so smooth with kju's low plants/buildings... Sincerest THANK YOU man. Am advising all my friends who joined my A2 craze to get it as most of us play on older machines.

Cheers guys,
-keen




EDIT just patched to 1.04 to get into online gaming. first I tested other stuff and the view distance mod didnt work anymore ... thoughts ??
Objects detail is normal. View distance is 3600

[Alex72]

Is there a new version of the draw distance and low visuals?

[c0mmanderKeen]

I dl'ed both from dev haven. It appears the low visuals still work (got used to them and see no difference now)

Draw distance definately does NOT work and I dl'ed them again beforehand...

[Alex72]

Draw Distance i just tested. I can see a tank at 3000 meters. So that would make it work no? Or did i miss something?

[c0mmanderKeen]

Strange... I guess thats affirmative... hm. Modfolder is loaded... settings are as stated above.. maybe objects need to be on high? Tank pops up at apprx. 1000 meters :(

[Alex72]

No you are correct my friend. Sorry i was running the old version...

Just deleted my old one and replaced with the new and you are correct - i cant see the tanks even at 2800 meters, and my game lags a bit now. (only thing changed was to the latest object drawdistance - but another test and no lag. No idea what that was. But it seems it isnt this addon. Draw distance is shorter than previous version remains though).

EDIT: And no you are not needed to run Objects at HIGH. I ran this addon on NORMAL and could see tanks etc at 3KM.

EDIT2: Houses arent drawn either. Cant see houses etc in the mist as with the previous version.

EDIT3: Can anyone with the previous (first) version of this addon upload it somewhere? Would be greatly appreciated. (The old version was not signed) (Kju fixed new version).

One building seems to work: IMAGE (http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/ae20/phoboo/ObjDrawDist-1.jpg)

Kju?

[c0mmanderKeen]

Yes some buildings are always drawn at long distance, like the castle. This is what enabled kju to make the mod in the first place.

So you suggest the old version will still work ?

[oldy41]

I dl'ed both from dev haven. It appears the low visuals still work (got used to them and see no difference now)

Draw distance definately does NOT work and I dl'ed them again beforehand...

I just had a look inside the new view distance pbo's. I believe the 'real' mod content is simply missing. To me it definitely looks like the new version is doing nothing.
Small build accident made, I guess ;)

Regards
A.

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Thanks for the reports!

Fixed version available at the same place/link.
Mikero's rapify was the troublemaker. :)

[Alex72]

Thanks Kju! Your the greatest. :)

Damn it was annoying playing without this addon... Really does a lot.

EDIT: To be completely honest it seems i get better performance with this. I dont know if im correct in this, but it seems that when this addon is in effect it loads the objects out in the VD fog but not the textures (or the very lowest textures maybe), and that makes it smoother for me than without wich will load the objects plus higher textures at the same time wich will give me "stops/stutters" as villages comes into view. Superb.

Thanks.

[Yoma]

:o I haven't tested it yet, but if this last report is true then BIS should definately look into it.

Not being able to see tanks at set VD is also a big gamebreaker.

[c0mmanderKeen]

Yes, it works again :)

Thanks kju !

[zeep]

I'm trying to get the latest versions for _visible at distance files but i can't download anymore without a dev-heaven account. Is this correct?
*fixed*

Edit: needed an account to get to files.

[.kju [PvPscene]]

You can use the guest account as stated on the site. ;)

[Flash Thunder]

This addon is a must for all Arma players!! :D

It increased my performance and you don't see objects appear and disappear at short distances, everything at a distance suprisingly still has a High LOD value, meaning you can be looking at a person at 1000 meters away and they still have some detail and it doesnt take forever to transition from each lod like I did before I installed the mod. :dancehead:

Kju this is a Brilliant Mod, but I really hope BIS can do this also in an update or patch, Object Draw Distance Sliders FTW!

Thanks though Kju your mods really help the playability of the game. :yay:

[andersson]

I think BIS should have sliders in the settings where you could tweak your own draw distance for objects, vehicles, grass and trees. Just like in Oblivion.
They should atleast make it possible for us to tweak the tree draw distance.

Luckilly we have kju, this is a very good addon!

[Mandrake5]

This addon is a must for all Arma players!! :D

It increased my performance and you don't see objects appear and disappear at short distances, everything at a distance suprisingly still has a High LOD value, meaning you can be looking at a person at 1000 meters away and they still have some detail and it doesnt take forever to transition from each lod like I did before I installed the mod. :dancehead:

Kju this is a Brilliant Mod, but I really hope BIS can do this also in an update or patch, Object Draw Distance Sliders FTW!

Thanks though Kju your mods really help the playability of the game. :yay:

Agree... but SO depressing how many public servers still don't allow this mod, absolute insanity :eek:

[Alex72]

Yep. Many pub servers doesnt seem to have a clue about the progress of the game when it comes to addons or doesnt care.

Not saying servers should allow all kinds of addons, but allowing the ones that make the game better in terms of performance, drawdistance, sounds etc. Would make the pub experience nicer for sure.

[Flash Thunder]

Yep. Many pub servers doesnt seem to have a clue about the progress of the game when it comes to addons or doesnt care.

Not saying servers should allow all kinds of addons, but allowing the ones that make the game better in terms of performance, drawdistance, sounds etc. Would make the pub experience nicer for sure.

Are these ran by indepedant admins/companies I don't know how servers really operate and all, but in any other PC game I've played like Wolfenstien the admins on there had their hands on alot of addons/mods, why would somebody not want to play with this tweak, are they not apart of this community? This boggles my mind.... No wonder why I still have no motivation to take my squad in PVP! :mad:

Madness!

[Alex72]

Independant mostly. Some really good guys out there. :) Some share the payment between friends and let people play, and some have teams/squads that chip in and let others join when they dont have serious teamplay nights etc. And some lucky ones got powerful enough server at home.

@<hidden>: This addon rocks as you know. Are you making any more work on it or is it done? just checking.

[Defunkt]

It's not madness at all, if you run a P-v-P server (or to an extent any server) the last thing you want is one group of players able to see enemies farther away than another group. I do not hold with the philosophy that it is the second group's own fault for not coming here and seeking out all of the modding options available. The other issue with this modification is that it causes units to render before the trees that they may be in cover behind and we all know how that pans out with the grass/clutter.

[Alex72]

Ok ok not the drawdistance then (wich everyone should play with. Unless you want the low drawdistance). Soundmods, nicer textures, better performance. Dont see the harm in that.

Just saying people should keep up more. When they dont - it gets divided. People wont go to some servers because they run vanilla, and think its boring (in many peoples mind after been playing with addons that enhance the game). So servers lose players.

Anyway - offtopic.

[Flash Thunder]

Ok ok not the drawdistance then (wich everyone should play with. Unless you want the low drawdistance). Soundmods, nicer textures, better performance. Dont see the harm in that.

Just saying people should keep up more. When they dont - it gets divided. People wont go to some servers because they run vanilla, and think its boring (in many peoples mind after been playing with addons that enhance the game). So servers lose players.

Anyway - offtopic.

RHM4's/M16's :D

Ya I know the Problems Defunkt care to tell me again?

Kju for some reason I forgot where you posted it but you mentioned your having a beta test for a caching tweak I guess, does what I want and caches tree textures and stuff so its easier on the HDD, where's a link to that? :)

[oktane]

Are these ran by indepedant admins/companies I don't know how servers really operate and all, but in any other PC game I've played like Wolfenstien the admins on there had their hands on alot of addons/mods, why would somebody not want to play with this tweak, are they not apart of this community? This boggles my mind.... No wonder why I still have no motivation to take my squad in PVP! :mad:

Madness!

In those games, addons are auto synced.. it would be a lot better that way.

You can vote on this suggestion here: http://dev-heaven.net/issues/show/5520

---------- Post added at 12:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:47 AM ----------



Kju for some reason I forgot where you posted it but you mentioned your having a beta test for a caching tweak I guess, does what I want and caches tree textures and stuff so its easier on the HDD, where's a link to that? :)

Here is the thread for kju's test addons http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=88899

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Anyone cares to test?


[60522] Improved: Longer view distance for objects when high view distance is used.

BI did not tweak the config, yet it seems an engine change.
So would be nice to see how it changed without the addon and with. :bounce3:

[JW Custom]

Anyone cares to test?



BI did not tweak the config, yet it seems an engine change.
So would be nice to see how it changed without the addon and with. :bounce3:

Heh i just downloaded your tweak like 20 min ago, but nice if BIS fixed :cool:

[Das Attorney]

I set up the view distance for 7500 m and noted that your tweak still draws objects further away than the standard BIS values.

I was using a couple of A-10's to attack an AA battery. (With me on the ground as an observer). Using BIS standards, the missiles appeared first, and then the A-10's, wheras with the object tweak, I could see the A-10's as they fired their missiles.

[Alex72]

Will test right away Kju. I posted over in the beta release thread that i thaught you would know. :D

Be back with report soon.

EDIT: Super fast test made me see tanks at over 4300m! (10,000VD used for that) :) Im sure i can see even further. Need longer island hahaha. Forgot to see if we see houses in the VD-Fog though. That i love with Kju's addon. Back to testing.

EDIT2: Hopefully this addon works together with the new so we can see it all in the VD-Fog. New beta is good for people that can have long VD, but it leaves the VD-fog empty and for me with 2500VD it doesnt bring anything. If it made us see objects INSIDE the fog it would have braught something for everone.

Oh well, back to Kju's addon. :)

Alex

[neokika]

Will test right away Kju. I posted over in the beta release thread that i thaught you would know. :D

Be back with report soon.

EDIT: Super fast test made me see tanks at over 4300m! (10,000VD used for that) :) Im sure i can see even further. Need longer island hahaha. Forgot to see if we see houses in the VD-Fog though. That i love with Kju's addon. Back to testing.

EDIT2: Hopefully this addon works together with the new so we can see it all in the VD-Fog. New beta is good for people that can have long VD, but it leaves the VD-fog empty and for me with 2500VD it doesnt bring anything. If it made us see objects INSIDE the fog it would have braught something for everone.

Oh well, back to Kju's addon. :)

Alex


Yes, you are right, BIS fix do not allow building and other show in fog.
Stiil this is an essencial addon.

[TheCrusader]

Yeah, the new beta seems to allow objects to be drawn up to the border of the fog.
Upon reaching that border, there is a hard cut, which works very well if you're playing as a ground unit, but could be improved for air units. Still its much better than before.

So Kju's fix is still a requirement IMO.

@<hidden>: Do you think it would make sense to give the trees another shot using this apparent engine change?

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Not it does not unfortunately.

Either it is simply currently not possible or we just dont know how to make
a correct config for vegetation.

[Kristian]

man I want such a supercomp to run higher than my 1500, but comp wont allow it (FPS would drop..)

Seems like a nice addon, I shall test it when I get my computer upgraded ;)

[TheCrusader]

@<hidden>:

I think you should give it a shot anyway, for me the performance hit was surprisingly small, and with it flying gets a whole new dimension!

[Alex72]

Yep all true ^^

Doesnt do anything to my FPS. Just much much sweeter to play with this as you see so much more. I dont know why it doesnt drag the FPS down, but a guess is that the objects are so far away that only the lowest LODs and textures are loaded.

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Here are some videos using on of the recent betas to analyze fog behavior:

Object detail: normal

STANDART VD 500m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_1_01.avi) STANDART VD 1000m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_1_02.avi) STANDART VD 1500m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_1_03.avi) STANDART VD 5000m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_1_04.avi)
PROPER ODDT 500m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_2_01.avi) PROPER ODDT 1000m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_2_02.avi) PROPER ODDT 1500m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_2_03.avi) PROPER ODDT 5000m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_2_04.avi)

Object detail: very high

STANDART VD 500m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_3_01.avi) STANDART VD 1000m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_3_02.avi) STANDART VD 1500m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_3_03.avi) STANDART VD 5000m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_3_04.avi)
PROPER ODDT 500m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_4_01.avi) PROPER ODDT 1000m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_4_02.avi) PROPER ODDT 1500m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_4_03.avi) PROPER ODDT 5000m (http://proper.arma-creations.com/download/temp/VD/VD_4_04.avi)

(someone wants to upload to YT?)

Concentrate on the buildings - vegetation is the same.

You can see:

For 500m VD for all the transition is very nice and seamless.
Above that for non PROPER ODDT the buildings pop in.
With the PROPER ODDT even with high VD its nice.
The tweak does NOT work on vegetation.
You can see it pop it for single trees, or 'grow' for woods very clearly.


My say it would be huge, if BI could make objects come into view from
fog for 1500m viewdistance setting. Above is probably too extreme.

A slider to changing object drawing distance independent to viewdistance
would be best of course.

PS:


As well known object detail setting is key for number and therefore distance of objects drawn.
The recent beta patch change makes objects (vegetation most important) drawn further again.

[zeep]

It's very clearly visible in the video's yes.


...
A slider to changing object drawing distance independent to viewdistance
would be best of course.
...The recent beta patch change makes objects (vegetation most important) drawn further again.
Agreed on the slider.
If BIS does not implement such a feature, would it be possible (for you) to make the vegetation NOT draw further away by modding? In that case i would have my good performance back.

[jasonnoguchi]

I notice increased stuttering using proper. A small fps hit of about 3 to 5 fps average. The stuttering is an issue as it stutters way to frequently. any solutions?

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Which addon are you talking about jasonnoguchi?

If you do not know, first find out by removing one by one.
Or remove all first to make sure PROPER tweaks are the source at all.

[jasonnoguchi]

Kju, I did. It is the object distance tweak. Don't know why.

[.kju [PvPscene]]

Sorry to say, yet you are the first to make this claim among many many users.
You better do some extensive testing, and explain more in detail what you see.
More important use tools to verify your impression.

[jasonnoguchi]

kju, got it, will do more testing.

[rd2030]

Hello Kju,

I tried this tweak 4½ months ago, and it worked great. Then i updated it to a newer version about 3 months ago and it didnt work as good anymore. At extreme distances things (parts of walls and other things, not the complete walls) started disappearing.
After some searching i found the old version again on my pc today, and am using that again. I can clearly notice the difference, walls at very long ranges are fully rendered. It keeps things visible even at extreme distances.

I dont know if anyone else had this problem. Im not sure what version it is that im using now, the file was called drawingDistanceTweakTestAddon.7z and i downloaded it on sept16 2009.

[mrcash2009]

@<hidden> you posted in the clearhorizons thread drops in FPS ... are you sure its the mods and not something else setup wise?

[johanna]

Arrrgghhh, sorry for bumping an old thread, but i really would like to try this mod!
The download link is broken...
Does anyone still have it?

[ziiip]

I'd like it too.

[RobertHammer]

Find it here ;)
http://dev-heaven.net/projects/proper-projects/wiki

[Lee_H._Oswald]

You have to log in as guest to download the files.

-

Is this for ArmA II only or does it work with OA vehicles/trees/statics/roads too?


MfG Lee

[RobertHammer]

You have to log in as guest to download the files.

-

Is this for ArmA II only or does it work with OA vehicles/trees/statics/roads too?


MfG Lee

Only ArmA II i guess , it wasn't updated for OA sadly :(

I would use lower trees and bushes to gain more FPS

[Tankbuster]

Now that I have an uber PC that can draw Takistan at big draw distances, it'd be lovely if the map assets were draw at a greater distance.

[Munger]

In Kju's version of his Proper mods addon updated for OA you can get the Vehicles and Statics visible at distance mods which have been updated to work in OA. Unfortunately the other PBO's (roads, trees etc) don't seem to have been given the same update, so I am still using the previous A2 versions of those but I don't really know if they work properly. Having said that I have CO and not just OA on it's own, so it's hard to tell what I should be using. :confused:

Link to Proper mods for OA:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=102678

[RobertHammer]

In Kju's version of his Proper mods addon updated for OA you can get the Vehicles and Statics visible at distance mods which have been updated to work in OA. Unfortunately the other PBO's (roads, trees etc) don't seem to have been given the same update, so I am still using the previous A2 versions of those but I don't really know if they work properly. Having said that I have CO and not just OA on it's own, so it's hard to tell what I should be using. :confused:

Link to Proper mods for OA:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=102678

Yes - i forgot about those - btw working download http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=11204

[Tonci87]

I would also like to know if the Arma 2 Versions for Trees and Roads work in CO