Everquest 2 Shader 3.0 Slideshow, Part 1

[brygdomin]

Funny how over 2 years later and they still haven't fixed Shader 3.0.

I turned it on for the second time after turning it off some time ago due to the failed textures, etc and while inside my New Halas home the floor would be transparent with me seeing the ocean and icebergs below me.

[faralith]

lol @ at the crowd. Bunch of sados.

[karsyth]

WOW

[Geck211]

When I enable 3.0, I dont get any shadows

[kelaEQ2]

@Geck211 You may want to post on the official boards about this, but I think you may have to have GPU shadows enabled as the old CPU shadows use Shader 1.0 while the GPU shadows use Shader 3.0.

[xenoclix]

OOwoWOOWO owooooo wooooo OO OO OO O all you hear from the crowd ahaha i laughed.

But seriously awesome stuff!, might give it a go again :D!

[jcodbf2]

It seems they are still having trouble getting S3.0 to work properly. The last thing I read was that its still only on the test server and it has issues.

This was a month or so ago I guess so I dont know if they ironed anything out yet or not.

[kelaEQ2]

that is my understanding too, if you follow the dev Imago-Quem on the EQ2 boards he regularly gives updates on where they are at.

[jcodbf2]

This is what happens when you jump the gun and code the game CPU heavy.

Would have been an easy addition but I guess they have to recode a ton of things.

[kelaEQ2]

It wasn't really jumping the gun, so much as Building for the Future, right before a sea change in how PCs get more powerful, one that at the time of development, no one was predicting.

[jcodbf2]

But they werent building for the future.. CPUs at the time were ahead of GPUs and so they panicked and coded the game for that time period.

It was a shortsighted decision and it has held the game hostage as far as performance goes.

[kelaEQ2]

Actually they where, remember the game is nearing is 6 year of release, and it was in development for almost 5 years prior to that, So we are talking 1998 time frame, back then it was all about ever faster CPU Core speeds, and DX 6 had just come out. GPUs where still called Graphics ACCELERATORS as most of the processing was still done on the CPU, and they also wanted to build in SOME backward capability. Looking back now it was obviously wrong, but at the time it looked like the safe bet.

[jcodbf2]

EQ2 was not being developed in 1998.. EQ1 had just released or was about to.

SOE just isnt a very smart company.

[kelaEQ2]

your right my mistake on the math, the dev that is speaking in this footage has stated he is working on Ten Year old code, that would put it around 2000, but would still be developing for DX6(as DX7 was ME exclusive), and they wanted it to be as backward compatible as possible, and even back then remember you needed a very high end computer to run it well.

[abowlofsoda]

It looks like they all they are doing is clicking on GPU shadows and Flora in some of these screenshots

[MephistophelesMyLord]

I'm wondering how high I can have the display on my laptop,if anyone knows about this stuff can you PM me so I can give you my specs?

[Bonerot666]

So when's this shader 3.0 out?

[kelaEQ2]

Latest guess by the Devs is the same Live Update that brings the expainsion in Feb. Though it was supposed to be in the next update for the last 2 updates as well. Though we where informed well ahead of time if when the delays happened.

[Bonerot666]

Alright, thanks bro!

[jcodbf2]

On some of them I can tell a difference .. In others it looks like the player torch is all that is different.

[kelaEQ2]

@jcodbf2 The issue is the method of recording the video, with my little point and shoot still camera that at best takes video at 640x480, though for this I think it was half that, in a convention room at a projection. In person the differances where far more noticable. Also if you goto the EQ2 Forum, and Dev Track Imago-Quem you will find post he made that show the differances far better. He is the one working on this change.

[jcodbf2]

Thats cool.. Just saying that I have seen ( I am sure most of us have ) similar comparisons and it very rarely turns out to be as good as the demo shots.

[kelaEQ2]

@jcodbf2 True screen shots are taken with top of the line machines and highest settings, as FPS is not an issue.

[jstrang01]

does anyone know if this shader 3.0 upgrade is going to change the system requirements when it comes to graphics card, if so and my graphics card wont handle it is the feature going to be optional?

[kelaEQ2]

@jstrang01 they way it looks right now, my understanding is that they will have the normal Shader 1.0 option wich will not change any requirments. To use Shader 3.0 you do need atleast a DX9.0 card, and there is a performance drop-off for "lesser" video cards that support SM3.0. So basically it will expand somewhat the benifit you get for having highend cards, and for the rest it will be the same.

[valkour22]

aion's new graphic update makes this look like pure crap lolol,sry eq2

[kelaEQ2]

@valkour22 You are aware that this video was taken from a projected image, in a lite room, with a still camra, at 320x240 right? That said I played in the Aion beta right befor launch and unless they had a graphics update in the 3months or so sence thier US launch, only the Landscape looked better, the player models where accually worst IMO, atleast at the highest settings, that is pritty sad for a 2y/o game, when compaired to a game built on 10y/o tech. Oh and that is not including this addtion

[archchunk]

They decided not to add it into GU52 so we gotta wait a bit more...darn..lol

[twixas8866]

how do i get the shader model 3.0 its self i cant play prince of persia without it! plz help

[kelaEQ2]

It is part of the Direct X 9.0c package that comes with most games, if it doesn't you should be able to download it from Microsoft. Though even if you have DX9 you might not have a card capable of supporting Shader 3.0 depending on how old your card is, though it does have to be fairly old (over 5years or so) to not support is. All modern video cards(for gaming) are DX10 capable, some of the highest end being DX11, the new code that came with Windows 7.

[kelaEQ2]

and by "it" I mean Direct X 9

[kelaEQ2]

In reply to TheCommentGuy2's question I accidentally removed. Which was:

"Where can I get the Shader Model 3.0? "

Shader Model 3.0 was part of DX9, but was not required to be suppoted by Video Cards until DX10, most late model DX9 cards do have it. As far as getting it in EQ2, that is something happening on the developer end and if all goes right it will be included in the next Live Update Scheduled for Dec.

[Zmej0007]

толи мне показалось толи нет. но он сказал что реплики(голосовые) будут переведены на все языки?

[gor80gor]

d pfkt pflhjnsв зале задроты

[Bonerot666]

When's this going to be put into EverQuest 2?

Do we have a date?

[kelaEQ2]

They wanted to get it in for the last Live update(a couple weeks ago), but it was not quite done, so my best guess is that it will go in with the next one sometime late Nov or early Dec.

[Bonerot666]

Hey cool! :D Thanks Kela!

[soldier101000]

So Everquest 2 is all about the processer and gigs of ram then the graphic card. tell me your graphic card is it 1g or 512mb?

[kelaEQ2]

I have an Nvidia 9750 512MB, 2Gigs of Ram, and a Intel Core 2 6400 at 2.13Ghz. And can run it fine on a tweaked "High Quality" set-up, most of the time.

[1STANTHAMAN1]

I have the 9600 GSO with 1g and 4 gigs of ram and a dual core processor i run it at max all the time

[select20]

If EQ2 had different skeleton models for each race I would have stayed around longer. But when WoW came out and each race looked, ran, dance, sounded, etc. different, it was no contest for me.

[kelaEQ2]

Skeleton does not = Animation. The reason EQ2 has such an enimic amount of armor types is BECAUSE each race has a differant Skeleton model. What your complaining about is animation, and yes, nearly all the original races run the same(ratmen run differant), & all use the same dance, thier voice overs are very differant though, & all the new races have completly differant animations. BTW, I don't count frogmen as original, otherwise I would say they ran differant too.

[MrEddieLomax]

Ok, just looking at the WoW human model cast a spell, its awful and looks like an action man its so ropey, in contrast EQ2 has motion captured animations.

That's a key difference with WoW, it looks and feels cartoony/like a computer game, that's an advantage in some areas but isn't as believable.

And unlike WoW EQ2 when it comes to undead skeletons really looks different, in contrast WoW's are all scaled humans, I always found it odd that all the bones in the world were human.

[phaedruslive]

@MrEddieLomax the truth is wow isn't a rpg in the purest sense. certainly not in the same way as ultima and eq. you can tell that they put a lot of effort into making the world of norrath believable wheras blizzard just wanted theirs to be entertaining

[stargazntreki]

oh god my computer is going to scream and then it's going to die.

[kelaEQ2]

Accually according to the Dev doing the change over, with nearly every configuration he has tried he has seen slight improvments in FPS, and the newer the card the bigger the improvement. And that was befor doing any optomising, wich this change over will allow for more of. On top of that, this like GPU shaddows will be optional, so those with really old Vid Cards can run under the old system.

[noremorse126]

i wish i could run eq2 i need a new graphics card

[kelaEQ2]

Right now EQ2 really needs a high end single core CPU and 2GB of memory more then anything else. Though this change over will off load more work to the GPU, if you have a card that can handle it.

[noremorse126]

hmm. so lets say if i have a good card and like 2gb dose my ghz really matter cuz i have 1.8ghz, but maby it would just be better to build a new comp

[kelaEQ2]

Because EQ2 is so proc intensive, your clock speed does matter to a point, though not as much as it did in the past do to procs being more effecant. That said at 1.8 you will be able to run it, but at lower settings. The nice thing with EQ2 is that you can control nearly every graphical setting if you want, and there are great threads on how to get Maximum Pritty with lower end systems. That said your better off with a 2ghz +, though my comp is a 2.2ghz Duo, and runs fine on fairly high settings

[noremorse126]

ok thanks

[Asamof]

no amount of pretty shadows and lighting is going to solve how ugly the character models and armor is.

once again SOE attempts to replace talented artists with technology, much to the appeal of idiots and artistically challenged

[kelaEQ2]

This was not the panel where they showed off the talents of their artists. They also had a Art Panel, that showed off a lot of really good looking new armor models; as well as lots of new NPC Models that also are very cool looking. Also if computers could actually run the game at the highest settings you would see the armor is very highly detailed and realistic. Problem is the engine is built around dead technology, that is why they are ALSO doing technology improvements.

[b00mQQ]

What the hell are you talking about? LOL This has nothing to do with SOE attempting to replace talented artists with technology. This just shows the comparison between shader model 1.0 and shader model 3.0.

[Vinasaar]

Are you saying the models and armor are ugly, comparing it to what?

[kelaEQ2]

While I personally think the models are very good looking, and realistic. They are rather plain for a Fantacy Setting. That said they are working on imporving that as well.

[0ctober31st]

The only real difference seems to be the shadows and lightning. Doesn't really do much for me tbh.

[kelaEQ2]

A large part of it is improved lighting, though that lighting looks much better when not shot with a cheap camera, in a Poorly lite room, at a resolution of 320x240. As far as the improved shadows they are already implemented. What this is showing is all the Shadder 3.0 additions, including having the Shadows run off the GPU instead of CPU. The improved lighting is in reality a side effect of the change. The reason for going to Shadder 3.0 is to improve performance.

[HappyPepper]

Amazing!!! The video quality is crap, and you can still tell how rad it looks. Nektulos might be my favorite zone!

[alchemda]

Do you have to have any specific game update to get this graphic update. I havent used EQ2 in forever and the last update i have is Faydwar or whatever?

[kelaEQ2]

Well like ecidemon1 said the GPU Shadows which use SM3 came out last Free LU, while this one they hope to add with the next Free LU due out in September (they have moved to a 3 month update cycle with MUCH larger updates)

[chefren77]

No.

[wolfeedarkfang]

Wow the shader 3.0 makes the runes on the rime armor even brighter then they are now. :D

I just got my set and turned off local lighting in my house to see them and it was great. Can't wait to see them in 3.0. :)

[Drumstix42]

Can't wait!

[outlawstar07]

They haven't gone live, wtf you talking about

[ecidemon1]

meh, the new gpu shadows have gone live on the servers.

They look ok but dont quite blend in as natural as the old ones do, and they are only affected by sun and moon light.

Hey you wanna get same kind of effect they show in the video with the light source?

Easy, save an option preset from the game, edit the file with notepad and up the torch intensity x5 and presto!

I serously doubt the lighting in they show in this demostration has anything to do with SM 3.0, only the new gpu shadows.

[kelaEQ2]

First Shader 3.0 has NOTHING to do with the new shadows. Currently the game uses SM 1.0, they are upgrading it to 3.0... and apparently getting a performance boost in the bargin.

Second, of this is video taken in at an angle zoomed all the way in, from a projector live the differences where much greater

Lastly. how does the moving shadow rendering to a scene, cause more lighting effects? The Images got brighter and more defined, putting something in a shadow does the opposite.

[ecidemon1]

So the new shadows has nothing to do with SM 3.0 eh?

This is from the LU 52 "Moment and Might Update log:

"A new shadow system has been implemented for the game. This new system uses your graphics card to build the shadows rather than your CPU and it comes with a few extras as well. Using the shadow mapping technique and 3.0 Shaders were now able to cast softer shadows, fade shadows, and cast dynamic shadows from trees, plants, feathers, and more!"

[kelaEQ2]

I sould have been more specific the Shader 3.0 UPGRADE and GPU shadows are TWO DIFFERENT things, that is what I ment when I said they had nothing to do with each other. Before GPU shadows they didn't use the video card at all. What they are doing now is upgrading the dynamic lighting system that WAS using the GPU using SM1 to SM3.

And yes in SOME of the shots he had both Dynamic Lighting and GPU shadows on because he was showing the differences between what SM1+CPU Shadows, doing it all in SM3.

[ecidemon1]

In this you are correct : )

The new shadow system can have a really dramatic effect in some zones adding much more contrast so when I saw that video the only thing that stood out was the added light sources. Though in most cases they came from the character it self. Thats what i mean with you can get a similar effect as it is now using the new gpu shadows and boost player torch intensity a bit.

I am all for adaptation of SM 3.0 in more areas then shadows, this is looong over due.

[TwoXL]

Wow the shader 3.0 changes look amazing!

Thank you for sharing the video kela.

[AceofOrder]

Fantastic change. I'm souped.