Graphical Rendering Error on Certain Tracks

[CraigHyphenO]

Hi all,

I have noticed over the past few days and weeks that I have been encountering graphical glitches at certain tracks at certain times of the day (in game terms).

The main one is at the Daytona Road Course, where at roughly 11am, the infield part of the track doesn't load properly, and I have to guess where the tarmac is. Part of it is there, but part of it is not. The paint on the oval is also missing. This has occurred every time that I have loaded up GT6 over the past couple of weeks.

I have also noticed some minor graphical errors at Fuji Speedway. I am yet to encounter this issue at any other circuit.

I was wondering whether this is a saved data, a hard drive or a disk issue, or none of the above. Cheers.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

Hi all,

I have noticed over the past few days and weeks that I have been encountering graphical glitches at certain tracks at certain times of the day (in game terms).

The main one is at the Daytona Road Course, where at roughly 11am, the infield part of the track doesn't load properly, and I have to guess where the tarmac is. Part of it is there, but part of it is not. The paint on the oval is also missing. This has occurred every time that I have loaded up GT6 over the past couple of weeks.

I have also noticed some minor graphical errors at Fuji Speedway. I am yet to encounter this issue at any other circuit.

I was wondering whether this is a saved data, a hard drive or a disk issue, or none of the above. Cheers.

Only a guess, but I think that the PS3 struggles to cope with the graphical requirements of certain tracks. The option to change time probably makes it worse. I have encountered the biggest problems with Daytona Road when transitioning from night to day - problems with the lights around the track and also invisible track - like driving on glass. Sometimes problems with Red Bull Ring track. I don't think the problem is your PS3.

When running a championship race I now select the track option without time or weather change if possible.

 

[CraigHyphenO]

Thanks, I race as part of various clubs though so I don't get the final say on that. It was something which I encountered during the 24hr seasonal too.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

I have noticed the problem more when racing with a full room of 16 cars, which makes me think that the console can't keep up with the graphical requirements of certain tracks especially if the room is full.

 

[PJTierney]

I have had a similar issue only once, and it was at Daytona Road at around 11.30am just like yourself (in a different event). 1 lap later and it was back to normal.

It could simply be the scale of the circuit and how quickly you go form one end of it to the other.

When a racing game loads up a circuit, it loads up the skybox and wireframe first (which contains all the collision points, such as the road, walls etc.) and then overlays the textures (what you actually see) on top.

The skybox and wireframe are constant and always present in normal conditions, whereas the textures are loaded up based on your position on the circuit.

While it may appear that you can see the entire circuit all the time, what is actually happening is that the game unloads and reloads different textures based on where you are located on-track.

To use Suzuka as an example:

• You are currently driving through the Esses in Sector 1.
• All of the textures and visual data for the Esses and the sections of track directly ahead of and behind you are loaded to maximum quality.
• The textures further away from you at Degner 1, the Hairpin and 130R are displayed at a reduced quality.
  You will only notice this if you play about with the Photo Mode camera and zoom in; while you are driving they are just far enough away (or blocked by nearby objects) for you to not notice.
• The textures at Spoon (the furthest point away from you) have not loaded at all.
  
  As you drive around the circuit, the textures will load and unload based on your current position, so by the time you get to Spoon the Esses will have no textures loaded etc.

This is all done in order to maintain a high quality performance while you are driving at high speed.
If the game loaded up the best textures all the time for the entire circuit, the framerate would drop significantly as the game/console has to process and display all of that information in real time.

Getting back to Daytona however, the reason you're losing texture quality is because you're essentially travelling from one side of the environment to the other at such a high speed (because you're on the Oval) that the texture rendering can't keep up all the time. It won't happen all the time, but when it does, you are essentially "driving on air" as your car goes over the unloaded textures.

 

[CraigHyphenO]

That makes sense. Game issue, so not my end. Cheers PJ!

 

[PJTierney]

I recommend clearing your in-game cache anyways, you can find that within the Options menu.

 

[Connoissuer]

This is the most helpful and informative forum I have ever seen in my life.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

Getting back to Daytona however, the reason you're losing texture quality is because you're essentially travelling from one side of the environment to the other at such a high speed (because you're on the Oval) that the texture rendering can't keep up all the time. It won't happen all the time, but when it does, you are essentially "driving on air" as your car goes over the unloaded textures

Thanks PJ for the detailed explanation - that describes exactly what I have seen when racing at Daytona - not every time, but with a full room and when transitioning from night to day.

 

[DUC748inMD]

Bathurst has been an issue as of recent (last update or two?) On top of the mountain course the shadows, cast by the trees, seem to flicker on and off quite a lot. It takes away from an otherwise excellent driving experience there.

 

[CraigHyphenO]

Bathurst has been an issue as of recent (last update or two?) On top of the mountain course the shadows, cast by the trees, seem to flicker on and off quite a lot. It takes away from an otherwise excellent driving experience there.

The Bathurst one has been known for a while. It (and the fact that it is just generally unstable) is why many people avoid it online, although in the championship which I am part of, we had no issues there.

 

[JKgo]

.............I remember seeing Silverstone International track surface disappear during a race. It happened frequently for a while, but then after 1.14, it mended itself. Besides that, no shadows in Willows during certain in-game hours and Bathurst shadow flickers/frame rate drops are the only ones I seem to recollect off top of my head...

 

[FoRiZon]

I have had a similar issue only once, and it was at Daytona Road at around 11.30am just like yourself (in a different event). 1 lap later and it was back to normal.

It could simply be the scale of the circuit and how quickly you go form one end of it to the other.

When a racing game loads up a circuit, it loads up the skybox and wireframe first (which contains all the collision points, such as the road, walls etc.) and then overlays the textures (what you actually see) on top.

The skybox and wireframe are constant and always present in normal conditions, whereas the textures are loaded up based on your position on the circuit.

While it may appear that you can see the entire circuit all the time, what is actually happening is that the game unloads and reloads different textures based on where you are located on-track.

To use Suzuka as an example:

• You are currently driving through the Esses in Sector 1.
• All of the textures and visual data for the Esses and the sections of track directly ahead of and behind you are loaded to maximum quality.
• The textures further away from you at Degner 1, the Hairpin and 130R are displayed at a reduced quality.
  You will only notice this if you play about with the Photo Mode camera and zoom in; while you are driving they are just far enough away (or blocked by nearby objects) for you to not notice.
• The textures at Spoon (the furthest point away from you) have not loaded at all.
  
  As you drive around the circuit, the textures will load and unload based on your current position, so by the time you get to Spoon the Esses will have no textures loaded etc.

This is all done in order to maintain a high quality performance while you are driving at high speed.
If the game loaded up the best textures all the time for the entire circuit, the framerate would drop significantly as the game/console has to process and display all of that information in real time.

Getting back to Daytona however, the reason you're losing texture quality is because you're essentially travelling from one side of the environment to the other at such a high speed (because you're on the Oval) that the texture rendering can't keep up all the time. It won't happen all the time, but when it does, you are essentially "driving on air" as your car goes over the unloaded textures.

The nurb is a blantant example. Just look at the textures when you fast forwards/backwards