Rendering distance

[FlayedOne]

Hello guys, long time no see.

I recently fired up POTC again (with the build mod of course) and the game still feels amazing after all these years.

The only thing that irks me to no end is that in the clear weather the islands and ships seem to just suddenly pop into existance. Is there some way to increase rendering distance?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Is there some way to increase rendering distance?

Maybe one of the engine experts would have a clue?
@konradk, @ChezJfrey, @kb31, @cooodesloth?

By the way, if you're up to try your hand at a bit of modding again:
Notice - Unofficial Mod Contest for PiratesAhoy becoming of legal age!
New deadline is in two weeks. There's a prize involved.

 

[cooodesloth]

Hello,

do other players report this problem too? Does this happen with all the islands and all the ships or only particular ones?
In general, it looks like a LOD issue, but going through the code, I don't think the engine supports LODs for ships and islands.
From your description it can't be a far clipping plane issue as well.
I doubt there is a setting to tweak this behavior at the moment.

Best regards,
Nik

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Thanks for confirming, @cooodesloth.

I have a memory that we did once try to decrease the 'atmospheric fog', which allows you to see further.
But if increased too much, you start noticing technical glitches close to the horizon.

Maybe 'Weathers.Fog.Density' in PROGRAM\Weather\Init\WhrFogRainCheck.c could be relevant.
I once added this to it for Isla de Muerta:

           case  "Super Fog":
               Fog = 999;
           break;

Effectively, in this case @FlayedOne wants the exact polar opposite.
In clear weather, this seems to be used:

Weathers.SpecialSeaFog.Density = 0.001;

What would happen if that is changed to a lower number?
Or even 0, perhaps?

 

[FlayedOne]

First of all, let me say that my description may have been misleading.

The islands suddenly become visible/disappear piece by piece. I thinks it's a far clipping plane being too close - in plain sight when the weather is clear.

With the ships it's less of an issue - they are really small when this happens.

It may have become noticable to me because I play on a bigger display than I used too.

Does this happen with all the islands and all the ships or only particular ones?
In general, it looks like a LOD issue, but going through the code, I don't think the engine supports LODs for ships and islands.
From your description it can't be a far clipping plane issue as well.
I doubt there is a setting to tweak this behavior at the moment.

Best regards,
Nik

I think it happens on all the islands, but I'll try to make sure.

Thanks for confirming, @cooodesloth.

I have a memory that we did once try to decrease the 'atmospheric fog', which allows you to see further.
But if increased too much, you start noticing technical glitches close to the horizon.

Maybe 'Weathers.Fog.Density' in PROGRAM\Weather\Init\WhrFogRainCheck.c could be relevant.
I once added this to it for Isla de Muerta:

           case  "Super Fog":
               Fog = 999;
           break;

Effectively, in this case @FlayedOne wants the exact polar opposite.
In clear weather, this seems to be used:

Weathers.SpecialSeaFog.Density = 0.001;

What would happen if that is changed to a lower number?
Or even 0, perhaps?

I don't think that's it. The shapes are a little obscured when they appear/disappear, but I don't think it's related. I'll try setting it to 0 and see what happens though. It might surprise me.

By the way, if you're up to try your hand at a bit of modding again:
Notice - Unofficial Mod Contest for PiratesAhoy becoming of legal age!
New deadline is in two weeks. There's a prize involved.

I may try, but I doubt I can finish anything working in the short amount of time left

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I may try, but I doubt I can finish anything working in the short amount of time left

Depends on how ambitious you want to make your contribution.
The way I see it, "anything at all" beats "nothing" any day of the week.

Plus, the fun is in the joining.
Winning is a bonus.

 

[FlayedOne]

I'll try, but most probably I won't make it in time, so I will simply release it later instead of entering the contest .