Will the shadows ever be fixed?

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Barso

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Barso
Bought a GT5 and PS3 bundle on Friday and so glad I did. I have been playing forza 3 constantly before this and I can't see myself going back to it.
Absolutely loving this game despite its faults but the main thing that worries me is the rubbish shadows.
As I see a car come out of a tunnel on replay, it looks fantastic and then the shadows ruin it totally.
I sometimes feel it would look better if the car shadows were not there at all.
Do you think PD will eventually try to fix them or are we stuck with the way they are at the moment.
 
I've only started noticing the pixelated shadows, and yes, they are disappointing.
Will PD fix this?
I have no idea, but with constant patches, chances are good.
 
No it doesn't seem like PD is focused on shadows but adding more content. They say it's a memory issue. I believe this thread already exists also.
 
I hope they plan on extending the ferrari and lambo love.
Can't believe the testarossa is not there.
Why only 4 lambos?
 
Barso
I hope they plan on extending the ferrari and lambo love.
Can't believe the testarossa is not there.
Why only 4 lambos?
Click to expand...

Licensing issues.
I'm not a Porsche fan, but I'd like to see some in the game.
Including some GT1 cars.
 
Getting a little off-topic there but in fairness unlike Ferrari I believe there have only actually been four "different" lamborghini models since the late 70s (five counting the Reventon which was built on the Murcielago), with a few variations of each. That said, would love to see some of the older models like the Espada and 350/400GT

Regarding the shadows, I believe one of the recent online updates made them a little less jaggedy by (oddly) moving them, but it does seem strange. Shadow rendering is pretty resource heavy for sure, but watch a 458 around Grand Valley either in replay or B-Spec and do a backwards view when you go through then exit a tunnel, and just look at those reflections...you can't help wondering how they could pull that off, but not manage vaguely realistic shadows.
 
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I would like a "turn off shadows" option if they aren't going to fix them.
Having nothing there would be less distracting than the flickering mess that we have.

Also, I too would love to see F-cars like 348, 355, 512TR and Lambo GTs, Jalpa, Diablo.
 
Tyger
Getting a little off-topic there but in fairness unlike Ferrari I believe there have only actually been four "different" lamborghini models since the late 70s (five counting the Reventon which was built on the Murcielago), with a few variations of each. That said, would love to see some of the older models like the Espada and 250/400GT

Regarding the shadows, I believe one of the recent online updates made them a little less jaggedy by (oddly) moving them, but it does seem strange. Shadow rendering is pretty resource heavy for sure, but watch a 458 around Grand Valley either in replay or B-Spec and do a backwards view when you go through then exit a tunnel, and just look at those reflections...you can't help wondering how they could pull that off, but not manage vaguely realistic shadows.
Click to expand...

The only ones since the late 70's not included in the game (either premium or standard) are the Silhouette (update of the Urraco), Jalpa (update of the Silhouette), the LM002 beast, and as you mentioned, the Reventón.

I too am disappointed that the Testarossa, 308/328/355/360, 550, and so on are not included in the game. Fingers crossed for a future appearance.
 
NTIV10
The only ones since the late 70's not included in the game (either premium or standard) are the Silhouette (update of the Urraco), Jalpa (update of the Silhouette), the LM002 beast, and as you mentioned, the Reventón.

I too am disappointed that the Testarossa, 308/328/355/360, 550, and so on are not included in the game. Fingers crossed for a future appearance.
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For the Lamborghinis, I meant overall, including the ones in the game! I'd thought the Silhouette and Jalpa were still 70s (shoulda checked) so was counting the LM002, Diablo (ok in the game but many would give an vital organ for road versions), the Murcielago, Gallardo and Reventon

Personally for Ferrari other than the Testarossa/512TR, and perhaps the F50, I would much sooner see older models such as the 365 GTB4 "Daytona", 250GTO, 246GT "Dino", original 250 Testa Rossa etc. Who knows, maybe updates?
 
Barso
Bought a GT5 and PS3 bundle on Friday and so glad I did. I have been playing forza 3 constantly before this and I can't see myself going back to it.
Absolutely loving this game despite its faults but the main thing that worries me is the rubbish shadows.
As I see a car come out of a tunnel on replay, it looks fantastic and then the shadows ruin it totally.
I sometimes feel it would look better if the car shadows were not there at all.
Do you think PD will eventually try to fix them or are we stuck with the way they are at the moment.
Click to expand...
I think if they could have too would already done it. Its terrible and i cant get my head around how they where not able too fix this. In the demo's there was no such thing. I kills immersion instantly also that stupid Hud keeps annoying me.:grumpy:
 
Learn to love those shadows, cuz they aren't leavin' anytime soon.
 
JoeMaPampang
I think if they could have too would already done it. Its terrible and i cant get my head around how they where not able too fix this. In the demo's there was no such thing. I kills immersion instantly also that stupid Hud keeps annoying me.:grumpy:
Click to expand...

Yeah not to mention the map dead centre in the rallies, what's with that? I ended up having to switch it off and trust the co-driver...well more my instinct :)
 
Read somewhere in the forum thread that Sony just applied for a patent for a PS3 hardware add on to upgrade the memory and graphics engine. So until then when it comes to market I don't think they can fix it. They pretty much maxxed out the processing power of the PS3 in GT5. Kaz spent too much on details for the interior of the car and the poly counts. Wish they put an option to were you can lower the graphics detail for more cars on the grid or even the AI. Instead he had to make the whinny fans happy with skid marks, reverse lights and damage which IMO is not up to par to Kaz's high standards. It seems like they just decided to release it roughly unfinished. Probably the 3D update and headtracking was last minute orders from Sony which really doesn't do much for GT5 either.

I remember Kaz saying in an interview that they over developed GT5 more for PS4 so maybe when PS4 and the hardware upgrade comes we will get GT6 with the shadows fix plus real 16+ cars on the grid, all premium cars with interiors, LAN mode, multi-screen mode and full race mods with livery editor. Considering all the shortfalls of GT5 it is still an outstanding game I think and will ge me lots of entertainment until the next edition comes out.
 
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If it's a memory issue then i would rather have it this way than to loose another thing.

If it's not a memory issue then i would rather that they focus on additional tracks/cars/events than fix it.

So .. I hope not.

If you are bothered by the shadows you need to drive faster so you'll focus on the road.
 
Barso
As I see a car come out of a tunnel on replay, it looks fantastic and then the shadows ruin it totally.
I sometimes feel it would look better if the car shadows were not there at all.
Click to expand...
Paint all your cars black and problem solved.
 
Yeah actually despite my earlier post I don't notice the shadows too much, was just surprised at some details being prioritised over others

But yeah when you are racing, you seldom notice
 
Barso
I hope they plan on extending the ferrari and lambo love.
Can't believe the testarossa is not there.
Why only 4 lambos?
Click to expand...

No. Fix the shadow issues first.

I went back to GT4 today to do have a little drive thru the past. Okay, yes, GT4's replays are not as stunning as GT5's replays, but GT4's replays at least look finished. Know what I mean? They at least look as though PD did all they could at the time, and it's the best the PS2 could have handled. GT4's shadows look so ordinary I don't even notice them usually. But today I did!

So there's no excuse really for GT5 to be inferior at this point. I don't know if PD is planning on fixing them, or if they even can be fixed, but every time I watch a replay, I'll be honest, the shadow issue does bug me a little. It's like distracting. q
 
just be glad its not the shadows in GT3 and 4. Where you move towards a wall, and instead of the shadow creeping up on the side of the wall it goes under. In other words, fake dynamic shadows, unless they did an ingenious way of imitating it.
 
Not sure as I've noticed some cars handle the shadows a LOT better than others... some of the demos that come up in "screen saver" mode are just out of this world... If this is a per car thing then it could constantly improve over time... but if its a system wide thing then I'm not so sure I'll hold my breath... A whole new shader model might be easier than correcting the existing one...
 
They don't bother me anymore I must have gotten used to them :lol: .
 
Some cars are worse than others. And the user will see it more when it happens that their favourite car happens to be the one the shadow monster puked on. For me, its the Nissan 370z. Watching that poor car drive in the daytime with its headrests blinking in the cabin makes me sad.
 
I thought the shadows looked fine maybe I'm just more tolerant.
Definitely the best shadows I've seen in ANY game.
 
In most CG applications shadows like this are caused by trying to balance the amount of shadow sampling with the size of the CG environment and the speed of rendering. I think that PD will not be able to drastically change this without fundamentally changing the render engine. The shadow samples are based on a grid. If the grid is small and only has to generate the shadow for one car then the shadows are much tighter, but if the shadow grid has to cover an entire environment then it is projected much, much larger and artifacting becomes very apparent. This is not unlike projecting a flashlight close to your hand. Hold it close and the shadow is dark and well defined. Move it farther and farther out and the shadow becomes much less dense and far less defined. There are some tricks with blurs that can be done to smooth shadows, but I would not expect to see a significant change through an update. I hope I'm wrong because I could forgive everything else if they fixed it, but I doubt it's likely.
 
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