Shadow settings

[Rugerdog]

Never really seen much debate on this subject in a long time and thought it would be interesting as a poll. I personally have always used shadows in Bf2/2124 and think that the slight gameplay advantage isn't worth the cheezy looking graphics with no shadows.

[|D|-Max]

I use all high settings

[mafia_boy]

Ive got it all on high settings, everything maxed out and it looks amazing!! You gotta have the shadows on full, it just makes things look that more realistic.

[therealmat]

I have everything on max, looks great.

[Salad Snake]

How is not having shadows an advantage?

I wish I could turn shadows on so I could see people before they turn a corner or something, but my comp isn't good enough.

[AllFoamNoBeer]

I can't afford the equipment.

[mafia_boy]

Yup having the shadows on does help + it looks so awsome especially with AA on 4x, makes the shadows seem less jagged too.

[Rugerdog]

Just to clarify low lighting only takes away the static shadows, so a person can still easily be seen if they're hiding in the shadow of a building. The dynamic shadows setting is entirely different so it is possible to have settings where you can see an player and vehicle shadows, without having shadows in the rest of the game world. I introduced this poll because a large percentage of frag videos in bf2/2142 use this. Oh and I have the game on all high except medium dynamic lighting and shadows and 2x anti aliasing(use temporal for the same effect). I could go higher, but I like to stay in the 50-60 fps range.

[mafia_boy]

Yea i know what you mean, that is setting the lighting effects not the shadows, yes your correct, im just talking about the shadows.

[Rugerdog]

Lighting: This setting controls the lightmaps used for static objects in the game, such as buildings. The screenshot comparison above shows the difference - pay particular attention to the shadow of the building. The difference between High and Medium is negligible, while Medium to Low results in the complete removal of the fixed shadows for the building. This is far less realistic, but can also give a significant gameplay advantage in spotting enemies trying to hide near buildings.

Dynamic Light: This setting relates to lighting from muzzle flashes, fire, explosions, missiles etc. The available options are Off, Low, Medium and High. Quite obviously turning these lights Off reduces realism significantly, but improves performance noticeably. Dynamic lights interact with objects to cast shadows.

From the 2142 tweak guide http://www.tweakguides.com/BF2142_1.html. Hope this clarifies everything.

[ebevan_91]

I run on mostly medium but i have 2 or 3 things on high, my pc heats up waaaaaaaaaaaay to fast, and i have plenty of fans in there and it still heats up and reboots in like 20 minutes after i start playing.

[Wizrdwarts]

I run on medium-low, dynamic stuff off.
I like the gameplay advantage, but it's not much, and the rest of the game looks like crap.

[RYKUU]

i have all the settings on the highets they can go.

[ramirez.mirek]

with full details (shadows,lights,etc) is game very pretty..but for killing is better have shadows off as same lighting off.you can see everything earlier an better.

[mafia_boy]

with full details (shadows,lights,etc) is game very pretty..but for killing is better have shadows off as same lighting off.you can see everything earlier an better.

I disagree, yes the game looks out of this world and emerssive but harder for killing enemy, errmmmm no way, you see everything just the same if not better on highest settings, the dyn shadows help loads + looks kick *** real.

I have played it on a crappy rig and it looked totally different and felt it was more difficult to pick things out especially on distance!