Visibility settings

[JohnO]

While I'm battleing a cold, when the visibility settings is set at its max, which is 18000m, what affect if any on the terrain detail distance? If set at default is that the best setting or is there a setting that most players have it set on?

The terrain detail distance default settings is:

General - 50.5

Ground - 50.5

Ground Cover - 10.1

[Sean]

I would not set the visibility out that far unless you are willing to accept the performance hit. The best way to figure out what works is just to try the sliders in game and see how far you can push them. I would not set them to 100, that can cause issues.

[Ssnake]

Terrain detail settings apply only to the relatively near field around the player; you can see that effect better if you use the free-floating camera and move high up into the air, then look down on the ground and then adjust the lower two sliders (Alt+D). The effect of the "General" slider on the other hand is best seen from close to the ground in a rolling terrain where it determines out to which distance the highest level of detail is used for the terrain contours.

IMO, visibility beyond 12,000m adds very little to the overall visual impression, and for most scenarios even 8,000m is plenty. Treat it more as a "growth potential" for a future with even more powerful hardware than today.

[SeanPatrick]

I keep the "General" and "Ground" sliders at 100% and the "Ground Cover" slider around 50%. But then I have a super-duper gaming rig.

IMO, the "Ground" slider is the most noticeable when set to a very low setting because you can see how the ground is not being rendered at all at longer distances. (A real immersion killer to see a tank just floating in space in the distance.)

A close second would be the "General" slider. When set to a very high setting you will probably notice a substantial frame rate hit. Especially when near a large city or forest. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is because your processor now has more calculations to do in order to sort out what should be visible and what shouldn't. The flip side is that when this slider is set to a lower setting, you can still use the zoom function to see objects in the distance which aren't rendered otherwise.

Last, of course, is the "Ground Cover" slider. Sure, the game looks better with it all the way up, but it can be a frame rate killer as well. And even all the way up you still won't see much in the way of ground cover when looking through the magnified optics.

Now, when I use my laptop (which is at the bottom of the system requirements range) I keep all of the sliders at zero and the resolution at a lower than native setting. At that point, SB 2.552 starts to look like SB1. But if the CO (my GF) is on the main PC, it's what I have to deal with to get my "tank fix."

[JohnO]

Thanks guys will give it a shot when I can stay away from the bathroom :redface:

This cold is killing me.

[SeanPatrick]

Have you tried the Vegemite yet? :biggrin:

[Gibsonm]

"He can't handle the Vegemite!"

With apologies to Mr Nicholson.