Help with PSO2 graphics and Inspector

[Killerwing]

I've been trying to do some tweaks with NVIDIA Inspector in order to improve the graphics on my PSO2 game. While so far I have managed some acceptable stuff, I wanted to see how far I can still improve.

At the moment, I'm using multisampling for the main Anti-Aliasing, however I wanted to try Supersampling, which I know is in the options for AA.

And what's nice is I can get some nice results for sharpness and details, while retaining overall good fps and smoothness, however, there is another problem that emerged.

There's a really nasty issue with the lighting.

This is a screenshot of how my game looks like with the current normal settings I have in Inspector.

Spoiler!

This is a screenshot using Supersampling AA instead of Multisampling. As you can see, I don't even have the proper lighting present.

Spoiler!

Here's another screenshot to better demonstrate the lighting issue. What basically happens is that there will always be a rectangle of light in front of my camera, no matter where I move it. Everything else will remain shadowed in the image.

Spoiler!

I'm really not sure where the issue might be regarding this problem, especially since I didn't thought I could have pushed my graphics this far and still retain smooth gameplay. So any help from anyone that knows how to use NVIDIA Inspector would be gladly appreciated.

Also, here's some screenshots of my current Inspector settings. For the supersampling, I tried changing the AA setting from "4x [4x Multisampling]" to "8xS [Combined: 1x2 SS + 4x MS]"
My GPU is an EVGA GeForce GTX 770 with 2GB Dedicated Video Memory.

Spoiler!

[Sizustar]

Next time go thorugh and use the Nvidia inspector topic.
http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=205228

Or the quick question and answer topic
http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213385

And this problem is fixed with custom resolution that is 1440P or higher

[wefwq]

OP:
Are you using in-game Blur setting?
Blur seems to gave me light problem for me.

[Killerwing]

Blur settings were disabled, as well as ingame AA.

[Preposterous Rhino]

I've been trying to do some tweaks with NVIDIA Inspector in order to improve the graphics on my PSO2 game. While so far I have managed some acceptable stuff, I wanted to see how far I can still improve.

At the moment, I'm using multisampling for the main Anti-Aliasing, however I wanted to try Supersampling, which I know is in the options for AA.

And what's nice is I can get some nice results for sharpness and details, while retaining overall good fps and smoothness, however, there is another problem that emerged.

There's a really nasty issue with the lighting.

This is a screenshot of how my game looks like with the current normal settings I have in Inspector.

Spoiler!

This is a screenshot using Supersampling AA instead of Multisampling. As you can see, I don't even have the proper lighting present.

Spoiler!

Here's another screenshot to better demonstrate the lighting issue. What basically happens is that there will always be a rectangle of light in front of my camera, no matter where I move it. Everything else will remain shadowed in the image.

Spoiler!

I'm really not sure where the issue might be regarding this problem, especially since I didn't thought I could have pushed my graphics this far and still retain smooth gameplay. So any help from anyone that knows how to use NVIDIA Inspector would be gladly appreciated.

Also, here's some screenshots of my current Inspector settings. For the supersampling, I tried changing the AA setting from "4x [4x Multisampling]" to "8xS [Combined: 1x2 SS + 4x MS]"
My GPU is an EVGA GeForce GTX 770 with 2GB Dedicated Video Memory.

Spoiler!

EDIT: I was told a resolution higher than 1080p would fix the issue, however the problem is that I'm using a 144Hz monitor, and any kind of virtual resolution I tried to create in NVIDIA Control Panel can't run at 144Hz. So I'm stumped on that matter as well. And also, I'm running the game with Virtual Fullscreen.

SGSSAA shouldn't be giving you any lighting issues. Were the screenshots using SGSSAA or SSAA? I know you said SSAA, but the Nvidia Inspector screenshot isn't lol. Also, try turning on the anti-aliasing fix setting. It should help out with the blur a tiny bit.

[Killerwing]

SGSSAA shouldn't be giving you any lighting issues. Were the screenshots using SGSSAA or SSAA? I know you said SSAA, but the Nvidia Inspector screenshot isn't lol. Also, try turning on the anti-aliasing fix setting. It should help out with the blur a tiny bit.

Sorry, by 'Supersampling' I meant "8xS [Combined: 1x2 SS + 4x MS]" When I try that, I get the lighting issue.

On another hand, I've also tried running 32x [32x CSAA (8 color + 24 cv samples)] and 8x Sparse Grid Supersampling(or plain Supersampling, both don't seem to do any real change) and I've noticed that while graphics are a lot sharper, and that the game still runs quite fine, I noticed some physics-related issue happening, mainly the sleeves on the Mikoto Cluster outfit that were bending way too much whenever I'm running. I'm guessing there's a certain limit as to how far I should go for those AA settings before I also get physics issue.

Also, I have no problem running the game in Fullscreen instead of Virtual Fullscreen. In fact it seems to run better this way.
And my current versions of my NVIDIA drivers are at 337.88. I heard about issues if I were to update, so I'm a bit unsure about if I should update them or not, especially since I don't know if updating would actually help instead of being a problem.

EDIT: After multiple trial and error tests, I've basically managed to dial the highest AA I seemed able to go for without getting physics-related issues. I also changed the AA compatibility option I was previous using, which helps a lot as well in improving overall quality and gameplay smoothness.

Basically, these are now the settings I'm using. I'd like some opinion on what might be further optimized, in case I might have forgotten an option that could be adjusted better.

Spoiler!

And here's a screenshot of how it looks ingame with those settings:

Spoiler!

Aside from that, my last issue now is my uncertainty regarding whether or not I should proceed with updating my NVIDIA Drivers.

[Misaki Ki]

For combined, I believe you need to bump the resolution up to something like 1440p (downsample if needed) and run in full screen. It'll give the weird lighting issues otherwise.

Sizustar would know more about combined settings honestly; I only tried it a few times.

[Sizustar]

Sorry, by 'Supersampling' I meant "8xS [Combined: 1x2 SS + 4x MS]" When I try that, I get the lighting issue.

On another hand, I've also tried running 32x [32x CSAA (8 color + 24 cv samples)] and 8x Sparse Grid Supersampling(or plain Supersampling, both don't seem to do any real change) and I've noticed that while graphics are a lot sharper, and that the game still runs quite fine, I noticed some physics-related issue happening, mainly the sleeves on the Mikoto Cluster outfit that were bending way too much whenever I'm running. I'm guessing there's a certain limit as to how far I should go for those AA settings before I also get physics issue.

Also, I have no problem running the game in Fullscreen instead of Virtual Fullscreen. In fact it seems to run better this way.
And my current versions of my NVIDIA drivers are at 337.88. I heard about issues if I were to update, so I'm a bit unsure about if I should update them or not, especially since I don't know if updating would actually help instead of being a problem.

EDIT: After multiple trial and error tests, I've basically managed to dial the highest AA I seemed able to go for without getting physics-related issues. I also changed the AA compatibility option I was previous using, which helps a lot as well in improving overall quality and gameplay smoothness.

Basically, these are now the settings I'm using. I'd like some opinion on what might be further optimized, in case I might have forgotten an option that could be adjusted better.

Spoiler!

And here's a screenshot of how it looks ingame with those settings:

Spoiler!

Aside from that, my last issue now is my uncertainty regarding whether or not I should proceed with updating my NVIDIA Drivers.

1. Like I said in the other topic, to run Combined setting, you need to run 1440P or higher, there is no other solution.

2. Regarding driver version, it doesn't effect AA as much, as much as AO(Shadow effect).
Driver after 331.40 use HBAO+, which PSO2 doesn't support, and give a very weak, if any AO effect at all, for strong AO, you'll have to use ealier driver version.
Whether you want AO or not, that is up to you.
Here is Lavendy using No AO and HBAO+

[Killerwing]

1. Like I said in the other topic, to run Combined setting, you need to run 1440P or higher, there is no other solution.

2. Regarding driver version, it doesn't effect AA as much, as much as AO(Shadow effect).
Driver after 331.40 use HBAO+, which PSO2 doesn't support, and give a very weak, if any AO effect at all, for strong AO, you'll have to use ealier driver version.
Whether you want AO or not, that is up to you.
Here is Lavendy using No AO and HBAO+

Well that explains why I was pretty much noticing no change between enabling and disabling AO. So I guess I can update without risks since I'm already above. Though some minor HBAO+ might be better than nothing.

So I guess now I need an AO compatibility setting that works with HBAO+ now. I don't suppose any of you has one? I guess Lavendy must have a setting he or she is running, and would you know of it by any chance? (I tried looking for other settings, and while I found one AO compatibility setting that would work ( 0x00000482 ), it kinda murdered the AA and it also was too dark for my tastes.)

Also, on another issue, I was wondering if Inspector could cause some physics issue in PSO2, because I noticed(mainly in lobby) that with some of the higest settings I tried, I saw that the big sleeves on the Mikoto Cluster outfit I use were bending way more than usual whenever I was running. It's possible it might be because of my game loading all the other players around me, but I'm not sure.

Anyone might be aware of those kind of physics issues?

[Sizustar]

Well that explains why I was pretty much noticing no change between enabling and disabling AO. So I guess I can update without risks since I'm already above. Though some minor HBAO+ might be better than nothing.

So I guess now I need an AO compatibility setting that works with HBAO+ now. I don't suppose any of you has one? I guess Lavendy must have a setting he or she is running, and would you know of it by any chance? (I tried looking for other settings, and while I found one AO compatibility setting that would work ( 0x00000482 ), it kinda murdered the AA and it also was too dark for my tastes.)

Also, on another issue, I was wondering if Inspector could cause some physics issue in PSO2, because I noticed(mainly in lobby) that with some of the higest settings I tried, I saw that the big sleeves on the Mikoto Cluster outfit I use were bending way more than usual whenever I was running. It's possible it might be because of my game loading all the other players around me, but I'm not sure.

Anyone might be aware of those kind of physics issues?

HBAO+ you'll have to ask Preposterous Rhino, he did some test and the result are a few page back.
Lavendy, didn't really have much luck either, and seems ot have given up hope, so unless Nvidia fix it, there isn't much hope for HBAO+ support for PSO2.

And regarding hair/sleeve/acesssory suddenly growing long and stretching, that's usually something to do with too strong AA setting, and the game can't handle it, lower AA or resolution is the only option it seems.