True Ultra Shadow settings [Mod]

So, for the longest time I was sick of the shadow resolution in Arma, I know I'm not the only one.

I came across some juicy info whilst searching through some configs and discovered that the settings are on a config level, seriously 3 minutes of work and I was done.

Here's a video showing off what it does.

You can download the Pbo and config.cpp here https://www.dropbox.com/s/au331uq4t7hpmy8/Kio_videosettings.rar.

I added the config.cpp as there is a lot of settings you can change, but all I wanted was high res shadows and I achieved that and then some, feel free to make your own configs.

Anyway, enjoy!

Oh, and for the record, I have no idea of the performance issues or any other issues (there was very little for SP) for multiplayer, it's untested, I can't be held accountable for any botch ups, it's your choice to download this file.

Yoink! Grabbed that bad boy. Good find Kiory mate.

Dude, this is just fantastic, makes me wonder what else is under the hood that BI have dialed back. :bounce3:

nice one!

just so you know.. Anything that your NOT changing, DOES NOT need to be a part of your config... Im seeing a lot of stuff that is still default. you can remove all those and just leave the actuall config items your changing.

EDIT:wholy shit i forgot....

Sorry,

Thanks for the Ultra shadows Mang.

First nice job on exposing this.

Second there is a reason Bis didn't go higher. Too many artifacts. The mesh, the tin fences etc.

But for some shrubs and medium stick plants its nice, except for the mesh. If you use ATOC then you are all ready into the mesh. And if you use FXAA over 17, then your going down the path of accepting less IQ for more IQ on other stuff.

Default Ultra shadows is better over all IQ than the new modes. But the new modes have some nice sharper/defined shadows, just with artifacts/mesh.

Anyways this is neat.

just so you know.. Anything that your NOT changing, DOES NOT need to be a part of your config... Im seeing a lot of stuff that is still default. you can remove all those and just leave the actuall config items your changing.

Agree, here's the cleaned up config:

class CfgPatches {
class kio_supervideosettings {
	units[] = {};
	weapons[] = {};
	requiredVersion = 0.1;
	requiredAddons[] = {};
	magazines[] = {};
	ammo[] = {};
};
};

class CfgVideoOptions {
class CloudQuality {
	class UltraHigh {
		text = "UltraHigh";
		value = 512;
	};
};
class ShadowQuality {
	class SuperHigh {
		text = "Super High";
		shadowType = 2;
		textureSize = 4096;
		shaderQuality = 3;
	};
	class SuperUltraHigh {
		text = "Super Ultra High";
		shadowType = 2;
		textureSize = 16384;
		shaderQuality = 4;
	};
};
class DefaultSettings;
class OverallSettings {
	class Normal: DefaultSettings {
		ppSharpen = 1;
	};
	class High: DefaultSettings	{
		ppSharpen = 1;
	};
	class VeryHigh: DefaultSettings	{
		ppSharpen = 1;
	};
};
};

Release frontpaged on the Armaholic homepage.

True Ultra Shadow settings v1.0

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We have also "connected" these pages to your account on Armaholic.

This means in the future you will be able to maintain these pages yourself if you wish to do so. Once this new feature is ready we will contact you about it and explain how things work and what options you have.

When you have any questions already feel free to PM or email me!

Nice Work!

Will check it out!

This is one of the things why I love Arma so much, the possibilities are endless!

Are shadows mostly CPU reliant or GPU? I can't remember. If it's CPU then I'd guess it would have a more noticeable effect on most people but GPU..I've upgraded from a GTX 580-780 and haven't really noticed any difference in FPS so it wouldn't have that much of an effect? It seems i7's have pretty much become the norm in Arma 3.

Are shadows mostly CPU reliant or GPU? I can't remember. If it's CPU then I'd guess it would have a more noticeable effect on most people but GPU..I've upgraded from a GTX 580-780 and haven't really noticed any difference in FPS so it wouldn't have that much of an effect? It seems i7's have pretty much become the norm in Arma 3.

Shadow maps are rendered by the GPU.

Are shadows mostly CPU reliant or GPU? I can't remember. If it's CPU then I'd guess it would have a more noticeable effect on most people but GPU..I've upgraded from a GTX 580-780 and haven't really noticed any difference in FPS so it wouldn't have that much of an effect? It seems i7's have pretty much become the norm in Arma 3.

This is one awkward part of Arma 3. I think this only counts for the ultra and very high setting, but every shadow is calculated by the GPU (soft shadows), except those casted by players/entities and vehicles (stencil shadows). Why that so is? I don't have any clue.

Good work Kiory, nice to have something that uses the extra GPU power that was not used before due to the CPU bottleneck!

New mod v1.0 available at withSIX. Download now by clicking:

just so you know.. Anything that your NOT changing, DOES NOT need to be a part of your config... Im seeing a lot of stuff that is still default. you can remove all those and just leave the actuall config items your changing.

EDIT:wholy shit i forgot....

Sorry,

Thanks for the Ultra shadows Mang.

I left everything there for me, so I can make edits in future, the config.cpp is there for other people to edit.

@kklownboy Not sure what you're talking about then you say visual artifacts, everything just seemed a lot better and crisp for me, some peoples milage may vary however, that's the problem with these things, lower end graphics cards or just different graphics cards won't perform as well as others.

I noticed that the option "Clouds" has an "UltraHigh" setting, was this always available or cause using this config?

Another question: would a sort of settings like these possible to another things like grass? I dont like that there is no grass on the ground when i look 50 or 100meters straight forward ^^

@ Blackpixel: Geile Signatur, alter Schwede :o Und so Wahrheitsgerecht^^

Oh yea the clouds, I forgot to change that back when I was playing around with the config, it's fine though it doesn't seem to improve the clouds nor lower performance. Grass distance is controlled by the map itself I believe.

But i noticed an Issue with the clouds, when flying in helicopter and using freelook to look on the clouds they were disappear, and looking forward they were present again. Just to let you know :)

Thanks for this, the shadow quality in this game is just meh, also I don't understand why it's tied to shadow distance, it's like the horrible shadow mapping in Skyrim (the higher the shadow distance, the worse the shadows look).

Any chance of an update of this? its not longer working for the latest update.

Thanks :)

Could we get a signed version of this ? That would be really nice.

Thank you

Great mod! Simple concept, powerful results. However, my characters shadow is actually a circle the size of the shadow view radius. Any chance it's a simple fix?

Keep up the awesome mods!

Sorry to revive a dead post but the mod doesn't seem to be working anymore. I get an error when i launch the game and when i apply the settings the shadows glitch and when i move the shadows move with the screen and its really fucking weird XD