[General Battuta]

There is currently no way we can turn that off and nothing we can do about it. What we can do is try building new builds without that lighting code after release, and testing on those.

[Solatar]

I can live with that.  I figured as much, but I thought I'd ask in case I had overlooked something.

[General Battuta]

I get drops from 60 to 30 or 15 with just four Myrmidons shooting Balors and I'm on a monster rig. This is clearly an issue to watch out for.

[Ranger1]

I've encountered another problem with this new update.  Going to try and fraps it but usually with a cap ship nearby on the screen everything with the exception of the hud itself goes black until I turn away.  This isn't with any specific cap ship.  This is all cap ships.  GTX580 with the latest nvidia drivers.

[General Battuta]

Those of you having FPS issues with the new lighting, try turning down lighting detail on the in-game options menu. Go to minimum, work up from there.

[[Wolf]Maverick]

Just for your information, I only get minor fps drops if there is much action and lights, so no problem here and i have an old system too. Amd2+ 3x2.4GHz, Ati 4870, 8 GB RAM and i'm playing on full hd, with maximum AA etc. but without shadows, so its not old hardware per se

[Ranger1]

I got the blacking out problem on fraps.  The link below in the video which I uploaded to youtube.

http://youtu.be/djBvXLdYtfU

This is with BP2.

C:\Games\FreeSpace2\fs2_open_3_6_17_SSE2_BP.exe -mod blueplanet2,blueplanet,mediavps_3612 -missile_lighting -3dshockwave -soft_particles -fxaa -no_vsync -dualscanlines -targetinfo -ship_choice_3d -weapon_choice_3d -3dwarp -warp_flash -snd_preload -mipmap  -ambient_factor 70 -spec_exp 8.2 -spec_tube 1.0 -spec_point 0.5 -spec_static 3.5 -spec -glow -env -mipmap

[The E]

Please follow this guide to produce an fs2_open.log. Please make sure to reproduce the issue while using the debug build.

[Jellyfish]

Those of you having FPS issues with the new lighting, try turning down lighting detail on the in-game options menu. Go to minimum, work up from there.

This worked like a charm. Only problem is that it also apparently turned normal mapping off. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.

[The E]

Well, I'll try and see if I can get this whole thing to be a bit more efficient. The lighting detail slider should be more useful, or more nuanced in its approach, and it should not determine the use of normal maps.

[Ranger1]

Attached is the requested log file.

[attachment deleted by a basterd]

[General Battuta]

Can you reproduce the problem with the new builds that just shipped with Act 3?

[Solatar]

Reducing lighting quality to zero in the options menu makes it look like crap (indeed seems to remove normal maps), but more importantly it's playable again.  Thanks for the suggestion.

[Ranger1]

The same problem persists with the lastest release.  I even went so far as to completely delete all traces of BP from my FreeSpace 2 folder and installed fresh.  The problem isn't as bad but it still is a frequent occurance.

[General Battuta]

The same problem persists with the lastest release.  I even went so far as to completely delete all traces of BP from my FreeSpace 2 folder and installed fresh.  The problem isn't as bad but it still is a frequent occurance.

Have you tried switching of postprocessing-related stuff, disabling GLSL, or disabling VBO?

[Ranger1]

I never use post processing because it makes everything so dark I can't see anything.  All of this started with the change to the fs2_open_3_6_17_SSE2_BP.exe update.  No problems at all before.

[General Battuta]

I never use post processing because it makes everything so dark I can't see anything.  All of this started with the change to the fs2_open_3_6_17_SSE2_BP.exe update.  No problems at all before.

You've got FXAA turned on, though, which is executed through postprocess. I don't know whether it actually operates with postprocessing off, but try switching that off too.

The big change in the new builds you're using is the new deferred lighting system. Why exactly this would cause the issue you're seeing, though, isn't totally apparent to me. Do you mind using the same build, but playing the regular FreeSpace 2 campaign, with or without the MediaVPs? This'll let us know if it's something in the BP data causing the problem for you, or something in the build.

Because this error is somehow peculiar to your software or hardware setup, do you also mind making sure all your drivers are up to date? Hopefully we can close in on what's doing this.

[SaltyWaffles]

I think it's a safe bet that anything short of introducing space jar-jar will be met with unanimous praise. Even salty needs a while to nitpick.

Nitpicking, as there aren't major flaws to be found. Done out of love and intense interest and curiosity, however ineptly/poorly executed.

---

I switch off to get through a nasty meat grinder period in my life, and one day QD posts the first part of his playthrough of Act 3, and my eyebrows raise several inches. Very much looking forward to playing through it soon--from what little I've already seen (mainly on a few threads in the forums), some really technical marvels have been pulled off on top of the actual content update--and if WiH's first two acts are any indication, the BP team has crafted another masterpiece.

(If Calder or Netreba shouts "STEEEEEELE!" at any point in Act 3, I'll have to figure out a way to stop smiling and laughing at the sheer awesomeness...hell, if ANYONE shouts it, it'll be a treat. Similarly, I really hope to see Steele say something like "Just as planned" at some point. Bonus points for the latter provoking the former.)

[Aurora Paradox]

Are there recommended lighting settings for WIH?  My graphics card is a Ge Force GTS 250.

Currently I'm using -ambient_factor 35 -ogl_spec 20 -spec_exp 15 -spec_point 1.2 -spec_static 1.5 -spec_tube 1.5

[General Battuta]

As is highlighted in the install post, you'll want your -spec_point down around 0.3 or something