Can People Really See More On Low Settings?

[sabresandiego]

The particle effects in this game, especially smoke from explosions and glare and snow in the wind, are extremely overdone and make it extremely difficult to see people at times. Flash from gunfire also makes it hard to see what you are shooting at. While many newer FPS games have these effects, none have overdone it to the point that BC2 has. The point where you cannot even see what you are shooting at is very common in this game even at short ranges.

I understand that people are setting certain things to "low" in the settings file in order to be able to see people better. I run everything at medium since I am a sucker for eyecandy while maintaining a good frame rate. I think it is poor game design if people can gain a competetive advantage by turning graphics to low.

So I am curious to know which if any settings in the settings file improve visibility if you set them to low. If it is really true than I think this is something that needs to be fixed.

[Naminator236]

Set bloom to off in the settings.ini, put shadows and effects to low and turn down the brightness and contrast when you are playing on Atama Desert and youll be able to see much more.

[Iryo]

I play with everything cranked, and I agree I can't see much in alot of scenarios. People go even further and use so called legit card tuning programs to dumb it down even more. It's getting to the point that I assume alot of people have the graphics decreased just to get that edge in battle. I suppose this is why guys can head shot me through massive amounts of foilage and smoke yet I can't see nothing.

Well I guess it's time to fight fire with fire. Eye candy or pwn? Pwn?

[notodd1991]

i run everything high with no aa,but i tried the low settings and did not find it helped alot.I know a few guys i play with run it on low because they say it helps them see better.

[sabresandiego]

Does setting effects to low have a noticeable effect on visibility? Has anyone actually tested to see if it is easier to see through smoke, muzzle flash, and particle effects when effects are set to low?

It is possible that setting effects to low just makes the effects uglier but just as hard to see through. Has anyone done testing?

[Zietlogik]

Originally Posted by Iryo

I play with everything cranked, and I agree I can't see much in alot of scenarios. People go even further and use so called legit card tuning programs to dumb it down even more. It's getting to the point that I assume alot of people have the graphics decreased just to get that edge in battle. I suppose this is why guys can head shot me through massive amounts of foilage and smoke yet I can't see nothing.

Well I guess it's time to fight fire with fire. Eye candy or pwn? Pwn?

in Multiplayer you always want the edge, in Singleplayer, eyecandy would be more appealing.

If your going to play in a competitive environment, then of course the best FoV and best framerates will win (metaphorically speaking...bad players are still bad even with these)

[UnTakenName]

If you can't see it with settings on high, then it should not even be rendered with settings on low. Having a top notch card and having every thing disabled is a cheat as far as I'm concerned.

[Skullwipe]

Originally Posted by Zietlogik

in Multiplayer you always want the edge, in Singleplayer, eyecandy would be more appealing.

If your going to play in a competitive environment, then of course the best FoV and best framerates will win (metaphorically speaking...bad players are still bad even with these)

Frame rates aren't the issue, the issue is people gaining a visual advantage by lowering settings. Trees and bushes become less dense, shadows become less dense and smoke and snow become easier to see through.

I think the solution is to tie the clip plane to the relative quality setting, lower detail means models aren't drawn until they get closer to you than someone on high settings. Bushes shouldn't change in density, they should just be more blocky, same goes for shadows, if anything they should be mono tone shadows, with no gradation as you reach the edge.

Originally Posted by DrLctr1

If you can't see it with settings on high, then it should not even be rendered with settings on low. Having a top notch card and having every thing disabled is a cheat as far as I'm concerned.

+1

[idontwantnumbers]

yes, people can see more

for example, before i upgraded my cpu, i ran everything on min settings. at reasonably far distances, the game wouldn't render bits of terrain geometry, but would still draw enemy players, so sometimes i could see an enemy that was actually completely hidden by terrain. i couldn't spot them with 'q', and i couldn't shoot them, since the terrain was still there, but i could see them. sometimes it would look like an enemy was floating since they would crawl up a slope, but on my side the slope isn't rendered. likewise with distant foliage that would otherwise provide cover

now i run things medium/high, and haven't really noticed this as much, though perhaps i haven't been paying as much attention.

[Skullwipe]

Originally Posted by idontwantnumbers

yes, people can see more
for example, before i upgraded my cpu, i ran everything on min settings. at reasonably far distances, the game wouldn't render bits of terrain geometry, but would still draw enemy players, so sometimes i could see an enemy that was actually completely hidden by terrain. i couldn't spot them with 'q', and i couldn't shoot them, since the terrain was still there, but i could see them. sometimes it would look like an enemy was floating since they would crawl up a slope, but on my side the slope isn't rendered. likewise with distant foliage that would otherwise provide cover

Exactly, if it won't draw the terrain, it shouldn't draw the soldiers.

[sabresandiego]

So is "effects" the only setting that increases visibility? Or does undergrowth/overgrowth also effect visibility, and other settings.

[Iryo]

Originally Posted by Zietlogik

in Multiplayer you always want the edge, in Singleplayer, eyecandy would be more appealing.

If your going to play in a competitive environment, then of course the best FoV and best framerates will win (metaphorically speaking...bad players are still bad even with these)

I average 60-100 fps in multiplayer games...cranked...top resolution. But I digress, I will be getting riva tuner and dumbing game to point where it looks like Doom, at least all those pesky partical, foilage, shadow effects won't get in the way huh? Why play the game how it was meant to be! Shame on me.

[Fragasm]

Honestly I have to say I think this is a myth. I have been playing with max settings since day one. The only thing I have turned off is HBAO and AA is at 4x.

You can look at my stats and decide for yourself -- but I think I do just fine with max settings. I like to have my cake and eat it too.

[sabresandiego]

Just because you have good stats doesn't meant they wouldnt be better if you could see more. I know for a fact that I am constantly blinded by particle effects in this game and can't see what I am shooting at. If I could actually see what I was shooting at my performance would improve. My stats are all at medium settings where I can hardly see anything due to overdone particle effects and tremendous foilage. My stats also include my noob days, and really bad teams which I refuse to leave due to being stubborn but thats besides the point .

I am going to do some real tests with effects, foilage, and other variables to see if it is true that you can actually see more.

[Hedgeson]

Same. I'm tired of being blinded by snow drifts in the snow maps, dirt clouds in desert maps, and the dirt thrown by bullet hits. How the hell am I supposed to hit the enemy if they're hidden by a single bullet hitting the ground or a wall nearby !?

[imode]

Not a myth. Yesterday I installed new nvidia drivers, and decided to play a little bit of BC2 before i rebooted. For whatever reason, all my settings got borked down to the lowest settings. While playing on Valparaiso using Abakan w/4x I saw a guy running around who eventually came to a stop and crouched down. I squeezed of a few shots that did nothing. Q did nothing either. I descoped and noticed there were a bunch of crates now concealing him. Scoped again, and saw right through the crates.

[sabresandiego]

I have noticed that I often get shot by people who I am facing but can't see due to particle effects like fog/smoke. Somehow they can see me and shoot me through the effects even though I can't see them.Logically if I cannot see them, they should not be able to see me. Why is this the case, are they using specific settings which give them better visibility or is the game so poorly designed that the overdone particle effects are completely randomized and client side?

[Skullwipe]

Originally Posted by sabresandiego

So is "effects" the only setting that increases visibility? Or does undergrowth/overgrowth also effect visibility, and other settings.

I can't get in game to test it, there's a switch down between me an easo.ea.com. But I would assume if affects the density of the drawn under and over growth.

[Rehmes]

Originally Posted by Naminator236

Set bloom to off in the settings.ini, put shadows and effects to low and turn down the brightness and contrast when you are playing on Atama Desert and youll be able to see much more.

You cant just set bloom off because it'll reset when starting a new game in bc2.

This is something I've been told from a guy in here "The Gump":

Change Settings.ini so it doesnt go back to default:

Do your settings change back to default even though you set them in game all the time?
Change the settings manually in the settings.ini file, then change it to "Read Only" by right clicking on it and choosing properties...

After you do this, DO NOT change the settings in game, it will cause weird problems like some settings changing to default and others not.... just do all your settings manually from then on, or disable read only before changing the settings via the in game menu..

Also, DO NOT do this to the Gamesettings.ini file, the game needs to be able to write to this file at all times (to save info like weapon choice etc).

Without changing settings.ini to 'read only', things like Bloom always seem to revert to their default settings, no matter what changes you make manually (this is what happened to me anyway, along with the Russian team always going back to their native tongue)

Ive also found you have to re-set all your settings after a patch....
When the game updates, it assumes it can access the settings.ini file.... and again, if you have it set to read only, you'll find funny things happening.... like the game always re-setting to 1280x1024 after you log in....

To fix this problem after a patch, disable "read only", start the game, play around with the settings a bit (random changes are ok) then shut it down again, this seems to reset everything the way the patch intended....

Then go back and manually set what you want & change it to read only again...

Worked for me anyway

[Loeder]

Originally Posted by Iryo

I play with everything cranked, and I agree I can't see much in alot of scenarios. People go even further and use so called legit card tuning programs to dumb it down even more. It's getting to the point that I assume alot of people have the graphics decreased just to get that edge in battle. I suppose this is why guys can head shot me through massive amounts of foilage and smoke yet I can't see nothing.

Well I guess it's time to fight fire with fire. Eye candy or pwn? Pwn?

eyecandy for me, toning down gfx is more placebo then you think, and you miss all the pretty colors...

[st0nedpenguin]

Originally Posted by sabresandiego

I have noticed that I often get shot by people who I am facing but can't see due to particle effects like fog/smoke. Somehow they can see me and shoot me through the effects even though I can't see them.Logically if I cannot see them, they should not be able to see me. Why is this the case, are they using specific settings which give them better visibility or is the game so poorly designed that the overdone particle effects are completely randomized and client side?

I'm beginning to suspect the dust clouds and other visibility destroying lalalala is all client side, I play with everything low on the laptop and still get killed through dust clouds by people with apparently perfect visibility.

Although there's still a decent chance they're just using wallhacks/aimbots I guess.

[Skullwipe]

Originally Posted by st0nedpenguin

I'm beginning to suspect the dust clouds and other visibility destroying lalalala is all client side, I play with everything low on the laptop and still get killed through dust clouds by people with apparently perfect visibility.

Although there's still a decent chance they're just using wallhacks/aimbots I guess.

I think it's the former, which is pretty lala if you ask me. I know the server monitors the position of the smoke nade because I've been killed by one, shouldn't be too hard to make sure it's impact on the ground is also registered.

[Murigen]

mmm i remember when i first played the game with effects on high and when i turned them down cos of performance i noticed a better visibility

now i think it was an illusion, cos i turned it back to high yesterday and i didnt notice any real degrade in visibility

[laughing_goat]

Originally Posted by Iryo

I play with everything cranked, and I agree I can't see much in alot of scenarios. People go even further and use so called legit card tuning programs to dumb it down even more. It's getting to the point that I assume alot of people have the graphics decreased just to get that edge in battle. I suppose this is why guys can head shot me through massive amounts of foilage and smoke yet I can't see nothing.

Well I guess it's time to fight fire with fire. Eye candy or pwn? Pwn?

I always ran BF2142 in 1024x786, same with lower end settings for BC2.

I tend for meduim detail or whatever i find with very low i get random stuff appearing or objects not showing.

Its a common known fact that you will have a somewhat advantage with lower settings as you tend to get better preformance and it will be easier to spot other players.

Then again, i play with a low end system, dual core etc.

[fableman]

Thats why consoles wins over PC, Everyone see the same and no aimbots or other lalalala.