There is an issue where random blocks of foliage generate without shadows. The effect is seen here:
Which patches generate without shadows is completely random and changes on each generation. Normally this is not important because foliage doodads are by default small. However, I use upscaled dynamic grass to make fields of tall grass. In this use case, the patches without shadows are very noticeable.
Has anyone who has also encountered this issue know a solution?
Also, generating static shadows is not the solution. I have tried this and it has no effect.
1. Zoom in. You may be having a draw distance issue with shadows, I've had this before.
2. You say you're using custom models for the foliage? In this case there may be something wrong with those in itself. It's possible there's a limit on how many foliage shadows can be generated in the game. What happens if you remove a shadowy patch, save, and restart?
1. I just tried zooming in, but the shadows are still not there.
2. These are not custom models. The ones in the screenshots are a copy of DynamicGrassEndion that has a larger Z scale. However, being a custom model is not the issue. This effect also occurs for the normal DynamicGrass models. But it is less noticeable with normal dynamic grass models because they are small. I've been having this issue with the DynamicGrass for a while, but I've ignored it since it's usually not that important. It has become important now because I'm using foliage for tall grass.
Also, do you have similar effects when generating a lot of grass foliage, or is this unique to me?
Alright, I did a little bit of testing; I have the exact same problem myself. I have no idea what's causing it, but I do have a fix for you: find the doodad's model in the data editor and set the '(Basic) Art : Layer' field from 'Grass' to 'Brush'. Problem solved!
Unfortunately this does not work. I tried both "Brush" and "Tree" Layer without success.
I will be doing my own testing with this issue as well.
Okay so it appears that setting (Basic) Art: Layer field from Grass to Brush at least increased the proportion of dynamic grass that generates with shadows. However, there are still patches without shadows.
From running multiple generations, it definitely feels like more grass has shadows than before.
Using the setting Tree gives about the same proportion of shadows as Brush.
So there are more shadows which is a definite improvement, though still not optimal.
The whole thing is honestly quite weird. I just tried again with a new blank map with high foliage intensity and two terrain textures, changed the size of the grass to 3, then 2, then 5, and in none of those settings did I get any shadowless patches at all. They only occur if I zoom out too far and I'm at max shadow render distance, and then you see clear cutoff marks, like so. Plus, zooming in fixes that issue instantly. This is without even changing the (Basic) Art : Layer setting at all.
Perhaps you can try fiddling with the size of your model, see how that works out. Worst case scenario, try a new model copied from a rock or such, but change the actual art model to "Assets/Foliage/DynamicGrassEndionSmall/DynamicGrassEndionSmall.m3".
Hi all,
There is an issue where random blocks of foliage generate without shadows. The effect is seen here:
Which patches generate without shadows is completely random and changes on each generation. Normally this is not important because foliage doodads are by default small. However, I use upscaled dynamic grass to make fields of tall grass. In this use case, the patches without shadows are very noticeable.
Has anyone who has also encountered this issue know a solution?
Also, generating static shadows is not the solution. I have tried this and it has no effect.
Thanks!
That's very weird. Two things I can think of:
1. Zoom in. You may be having a draw distance issue with shadows, I've had this before.
2. You say you're using custom models for the foliage? In this case there may be something wrong with those in itself. It's possible there's a limit on how many foliage shadows can be generated in the game. What happens if you remove a shadowy patch, save, and restart?
@Mozared: Go
1. I just tried zooming in, but the shadows are still not there.
2. These are not custom models. The ones in the screenshots are a copy of DynamicGrassEndion that has a larger Z scale. However, being a custom model is not the issue. This effect also occurs for the normal DynamicGrass models. But it is less noticeable with normal dynamic grass models because they are small. I've been having this issue with the DynamicGrass for a while, but I've ignored it since it's usually not that important. It has become important now because I'm using foliage for tall grass.
Also, do you have similar effects when generating a lot of grass foliage, or is this unique to me?
Thanks!
@Xethyr: Go
Alright, I did a little bit of testing; I have the exact same problem myself. I have no idea what's causing it, but I do have a fix for you: find the doodad's model in the data editor and set the '(Basic) Art : Layer' field from 'Grass' to 'Brush'. Problem solved!
@Mozared: Go
Unfortunately this does not work. I tried both "Brush" and "Tree" Layer without success.I will be doing my own testing with this issue as well.Okay so it appears that setting (Basic) Art: Layer field from Grass to Brush at least increased the proportion of dynamic grass that generates with shadows. However, there are still patches without shadows.
From running multiple generations, it definitely feels like more grass has shadows than before.
Using the setting Tree gives about the same proportion of shadows as Brush.
So there are more shadows which is a definite improvement, though still not optimal.
Thanks!
@Xethyr: Go
The whole thing is honestly quite weird. I just tried again with a new blank map with high foliage intensity and two terrain textures, changed the size of the grass to 3, then 2, then 5, and in none of those settings did I get any shadowless patches at all. They only occur if I zoom out too far and I'm at max shadow render distance, and then you see clear cutoff marks, like so. Plus, zooming in fixes that issue instantly. This is without even changing the (Basic) Art : Layer setting at all.
Perhaps you can try fiddling with the size of your model, see how that works out. Worst case scenario, try a new model copied from a rock or such, but change the actual art model to "Assets/Foliage/DynamicGrassEndionSmall/DynamicGrassEndionSmall.m3".