Guild Wars 2 Graphics

[Jukhy.2431]

12 hours ago, SinisterSlay.6973 said:

Man I struggle to break 60fps most days. Gw2 is like a 20fps game most of the time, with my GPU barely doing anything because it's so ridiculously bottlenecked by what I assume is network IO and player ghost calculations.  Even my CPU is barely busy in this game.

That sounds strangely low FPS. What is your character model limit setting? I always recommend turning it down to low/lowest since it has a huge impact on FPS.

Playing on high end system with good connection I get 60-100+ FPS on 49" 1440p widescreen. Depends greatly on the number of players/effects around me, so it might drop down to 60 in a crowded meta etc. but can get to 120 or so if there's no one else around.

[Zeusx.2906]

Bear in mind I don't use "reshade" I use "GSHADE" (GPOSERS). Important distinction as GShade has some heavier shaders than reshade.

 

As for what's costing me roughly 80-100 fps. Well its the ambient occlusion mostly, I'm running HBAO, SSDO and SSAO shaders. That's where the bulk of the performance loss is. The added shadows are not just on the rocks and trees, they are all over. Tiny pebbles, plants, in between armour and weapons on your character, npc's and other players. This is why the fps loss is so big.

For world bosses and big fight in general I would of course optimise in-game settings to gain performance but I do that anyway with or without GShade on. Possibly turning one or two of the heavier shaders off if needed but so far I'm able to do stampede only optimising in-game settings. This is probably due to how the game is, in GW2 you can have 220+ fps one moment and then 80 fps the next moment depending on where you are and what's going on. This is with or without shaders so really I don't drop much lower with GShade on than I would with GShade off.

So for anyone who still doesn't understand why the performance loss is so big, install GShade (GPOSERS) and activate these shaders and then you will understand when you see your fps vanish. NOT RECOMMENDED IF YOU ALREADY HAVE LOW FPS. Might fry your stuff idk.

My RX 6900 XT is hovering around 97-98% with the shaders on. Basically being pushed as if GW2 is a new AAA game. Vanilla GW2 barely uses my gpu. 

 

And lastly if you are wondering I'm running a shader called "comic" which is what gives my game the Borderlands kind of look. Turning it off does make it look more realistic but I like how my character stands out with it on so I leave it.

Edited June 23, 2022 by Zeusx.2906

[Forum Moderator.3419]

Hello Everyone,
I've removed some off-topic posts.
Regards.

[Freya.9075]

I don’t see the big difference. A bit lighter and more contrast but where is the big difference? A little different sure and it may be to your liking. it’s good you get an option to tweak it as you want. However that doesn’t mean the game needs graphic upgrades. Would be nice for sure but not needed at all. I like the graphics as they are. Specially the newer maps

[SinisterSlay.6973]

6 hours ago, Jukhy.2431 said:

That sounds strangely low FPS. What is your character model limit setting? I always recommend turning it down to low/lowest since it has a huge impact on FPS.

Playing on high end system with good connection I get 60-100+ FPS on 49" 1440p widescreen. Depends greatly on the number of players/effects around me, so it might drop down to 60 in a crowded meta etc. but can get to 120 or so if there's no one else around.

I usually keep it at high.  I grew up with bad computers so low framerate doesn't bother me that terribly much. I know my 4790k @4.7ghz is long in tooth now. And I've always hated this CPU for how slow it is, even new.

waiting on AMDs next CPU to upgrade. And it's sad I don't even play any games that max out my 970 because of how bad my CPU bottlenecks everything.

[Zeusx.2906]

39 minutes ago, Freya.9075 said:

I don’t see the big difference. A bit lighter and more contrast but where is the big difference? A little different sure and it may be to your liking. it’s good you get an option to tweak it as you want. However that doesn’t mean the game needs graphic upgrades. Would be nice for sure but not needed at all. I like the graphics as they are. Specially the newer maps

Well that's a bit baffling, are you viewing the screenshots on your phone or something? xD

And I have named them appropriately but generally GShade are the ones that are a tiny bit darker, just an fyi. 

I guess monitor and monitor settings matter as well. On my screen the difference is pretty huge.

But like I said, actually playing the game the difference is night and day. Not even close.

Edited June 16, 2022 by Zeusx.2906

[Zeusx.2906]

Just to add to my last non-responding post.

 

I could do way more with my re-shade but at a certain point it becomes something else. This is what tends to happen with most presets out there and it ends up looking like a scuffed poor mans BDO.

GW2 is a cartoony looking game by default so it only makes sense to stay within that framework.

 

Some people say that GW2 doesn't "need" a graphics update. Well no it doesn't need it but what really matters is this question, would it be a good thing for the game? The answer to that is obviously yes.

WoW didn't need at least one or two of its graphics touch-ups yet they happened and the game looks that much better because of it.

I'm not expecting GW2 to look 50 times as good as it does now. WoW could only do so much, these older games have a celling when it comes to graphics obviously. 

So when someone says that they can't tell THAT big of a difference in my re-shaded game I'm almost thinking that they are expecting to see a next-gen looking game or something. GW2 can only look a little bit better, and then a little bit better than that and it can do this a couple of times before hitting that aforementioned celling. 

 

And like I said in my OP, we are on the verge of seeing mmorpgs being made in Unreal Engine 5. That is going to make GW2 (and other mmos, GW2 isn't alone in this) look absolutely ancient.

Edited June 16, 2022 by Zeusx.2906

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

8 hours ago, Freya.9075 said:

I don’t see the big difference. A bit lighter and more contrast but where is the big difference? A little different sure and it may be to your liking. it’s good you get an option to tweak it as you want. However that doesn’t mean the game needs graphic upgrades. Would be nice for sure but not needed at all. I like the graphics as they are. Specially the newer maps

It depends heavily on your monitor settings and your eyesight.

 

For example, if your monitor isn't calibrated you may already see the game as very saturated (a common complaint to the devs), despite that they develop the game to sRGB standard and on a proper calibrated display the game actually looks washed out, even in Cantha a little.

 

If you have good eyesight, you won't notice how blurry the game can be and why sharpness helps so much.

 

Btw, always compare how your game looks on your monitor to how it looks on your phone. Phones are almost always calibrated to industry standards (usually sRGB @ 6500k). If it looks alot different than your monitor then your monitor settings are all over the place.

Edited June 16, 2022 by Hannelore.8153

[Silent.6137]

8 hours ago, Freya.9075 said:

I don’t see the big difference.

What you see on the screenshots and what you actually see on the monitors are practically night and day. Lots of details are lost on the images we posted. The same applies to any video you watch. Details are lost.

Since many are familiar with Tekkit, here's a video of ReShade in action: Tekkit's ReShade video (There's another video of his with DX11 but doesn't show as much). Watch some of the transformations to about 2:25 into the video. Again, I stress that what you see on the video won't be as good as what you see on your monitor since  adjustments will be done specific to display and game settings.

For those who are hesitant, don't use it. It is just a recommendation from those of us who uses and loves it.

[Zera.9435]

On 6/15/2022 at 1:12 AM, Zeusx.2906 said:

Here is a comparison of my current GShade setup. I think there is a very noticeable difference and the pictures don't even do it justice, when I toggle GShade off and on the difference is massive.

 

https://postimg.cc/gallery/QHdH9Cp

If you want to get a proper understanding of what changed then download the images and switch between them back and forth. 

 

WARNING however, the things I'm running drops fps by like 100 and I'm not even kidding. It's manageable though because I have like 200+ fps without GShade. 

I saw your screenshots, and I honestly didn't even like the changes. That thick black border around the character makes it look cartoon-ey.

[Zera.9435]

On 6/15/2022 at 9:34 AM, Silent.6137 said:

A couple of screenshots placed side by side: https://ibb.co/dQF100M.

Look at the clarity and details of the rock, wall designs and the ground/grass. As Zeusx.2906 mentioned above, the differences are more prominent when viewed ingame on your monitor as opposed to just screenshots.

 

I only see what looks like a difference in color saturation/contrast. That is NOT a graphical improvement. Sure, it's a visible difference compared side by side, but that doesn't make it 'better graphics'.

[Silent.6137]

55 minutes ago, Zera Allimatti.2541 said:

I only see what looks like a difference in color saturation/contrast. That is NOT a graphical improvement. Sure, it's a visible difference compared side by side, but that doesn't make it 'better graphics'.

Quote

differences are more prominent when viewed ingame on your monitor as opposed to just screenshots

Clarity & more details = BETTER graphical improvements.

But if you don't think so, then...

Quote

For those who are hesitant, don't use it. It is just a recommendation from those of us who uses and loves it.

 

[Emberfoot.6847]

On 6/15/2022 at 10:53 AM, Freya.9075 said:

No graphic upgrade needed. I do not want the amazing low poly pigeons in divinity’s reach to be gone 👀 low poly pigeons lives matter

Game needs more badly rendered parrots. Low poly want a cracker? 

[Dante.1508]

I don't think it needs an update at least until GW3.. if thats ever a thing. Seems like a huge waste of assets like the Dx11 update was.

[Silent.6137]

4 hours ago, Dante.1508 said:

I don't think it needs an update at least until GW3.. if thats ever a thing. Seems like a huge waste of assets like the Dx11 update was.

Graphics update, not necessary. We already have ReShade and GShade. And they do the job very very well.

But Anet adding something along the lines of ReShade where we can adjust a few effects such as the gamma, fog levels, etc. A few sliders to adjust them placed in options would not take up that much resources.

--------

I'm satisfied with ReShade and only make these suggestions so others can perhaps have better viewing experiences as well. But as I mentioned above, if anyone thinks add-ons such as ReShade are not for them, then ignore them and move on. No reason to comment just for argument sake. It's only a recommendation.

[hellsqueen.3045]

On 6/15/2022 at 6:12 PM, Zeusx.2906 said:

Here is a comparison of my current GShade setup. I think there is a very noticeable difference and the pictures don't even do it justice, when I toggle GShade off and on the difference is massive.

 

https://postimg.cc/gallery/QHdH9Cp

If you want to get a proper understanding of what changed then download the images and switch between them back and forth. 

 

WARNING however, the things I'm running drops fps by like 100 and I'm not even kidding. It's manageable though because I have like 200+ fps without GShade. 

 

I like the Vanilla way more. Yours looked too dark for my liking and made the Norn NPC look like she came right out of borderlands with those heavy lines.

Maybe this is just a personal preference thing because I have always been a big fan of GW2 graphics.

[Zera.9435]

9 hours ago, Silent.6137 said:

Clarity & more details = BETTER graphical improvements.

But if you don't think so, then...

 

As if you're really going to pay attention to the higher contrast in grass...

[Silent.6137]

5 hours ago, Zera Allimatti.2541 said:

As if you're really going to pay attention to the higher contrast in grass...

You don't just pay attention to a single detail but to the overall picture. Just as the difference a 1080p video would give as opposed to a 720p.

But you already made your views pretty clear. That this add-on is not for you. And if I do pay attention to the higher contrast in the details of grass, why would it bother you so much?

[Zera.9435]

1 hour ago, Silent.6137 said:

You don't just pay attention to a single detail but to the overall picture. Just as the difference a 1080p video would give as opposed to a 720p.

But you already made your views pretty clear. That this add-on is not for you. And if I do pay attention to the higher contrast in the details of grass, why would it bother you so much?

Because you're calling a manipulation of color/contrast and turning off a bloom a graphical upgrade when it isn't. Graphical upgrades include particle/hair physics, polygon count, texture maps and such.

It's fine to like the aesthetic changes of the color/contrast manipulation, but don't call it a graphical upgrade because it's not.

[Labjax.2465]

On 6/15/2022 at 4:45 AM, HowlKamui.5120 said:

There’s really no need to overhaul a game’s engine to make it look better… It’s the assets that we want to be updated. Assets are the texture resolutions and model qualities that we see. The higher the resolution, the nicer it looks to our eyes, and the higher the model quality, the less blocky it looks. 

A huge downside of improving these is that the game’s file size would increase dramatically and it would lock some of the playerbase out of the game. 

I wish there was a better high resolution texture pack available.

They could make higher res textures an optional download and setting in-game. I'm not sure how thrilled they'd be about the logistics of it in engineering or user-facing clarity, but it should be possible. I imagine the main difficulty is with it being proprietary software and just for performance and storage reasons, they want to bundle it all together into private assets that can be efficiently accessed together. So that's where separating it out could present a challenge they don't want to deal with. But... I still think it's possible, just not the standard way of doing games.

[Silent.6137]

3 hours ago, Zera Allimatti.2541 said:

Because you're calling a manipulation of color/contrast and turning off a bloom a graphical upgrade when it isn't. Graphical upgrades include particle/hair physics, polygon count, texture maps and such.

It's fine to like the aesthetic changes of the color/contrast manipulation, but don't call it a graphical upgrade because it's not.

Where exactly did I state that it is Graphical upgrades?

Quote

Clarity & more details = BETTER graphical improvements.

What I said above is better graphical improvements as in what is viewed. Nothing about upgrades. I used words like "tweak it to my liking", "adjust some graphic settings", "The adjustments I made", & "since  adjustments will be done specific to display and game settings"

When I stated "Graphics update, not necessary. We already have ReShade and GShade. And they do the job very very well. ". that was in response to a previous comment. And nowhere was it implied that what ReShade and GShade do is graphical upgrades but rather that they can tuned the graphics.

Again, why does it bother you so much?

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by Silent.6137

[Zera.9435]

On 6/21/2022 at 10:52 AM, Silent.6137 said:

Where exactly did I state that it is Graphical upgrades?

What I said above is better graphical improvements as in what is viewed. Nothing about upgrades. I used words like "tweak it to my liking", "adjust some graphic settings", "The adjustments I made", & "since  adjustments will be done specific to display and game settings"

When I stated "Graphics update, not necessary. We already have ReShade and GShade. And they do the job very very well. ". that was in response to a previous comment. And nowhere was it implied that what ReShade and GShade do is graphical upgrades but rather that they can tuned the graphics.

Again, why does it bother you so much?

 

Was speaking generally to the others on here who are trying to say that using things like Reshade and such are a graphical upgrade, not referring to you specifically. If it seemed that way, it's because I probably mistook you for someone else who was saying that they are graphical upgrades.

Why does it bother you so much that it 'bothers' me? It's a form of misinformation to say that those 3rd party programs are a graphical upgrade, and there's enough misinformation going on in the rest of the world already as it is. The players don't deserve to be misinformed or misled into thinking something that isn't true, especially when this game's graphics are already quite good for their time. They don't add details or textures or polygons, they only highlight (or obscure) what's already there.

Edited June 23, 2022 by Zera Allimatti.2541

[Silent.6137]

17 minutes ago, Zera Allimatti.2541 said:

Was speaking generally to the others on here who are trying to say that using things like Reshade and such are a graphical upgrade, not referring to you specifically. If it seemed that way, it's because I probably mistook you for someone else who was saying that they are graphical upgrades.

You quoted me specifically. Of course it'll seem that way.

19 minutes ago, Zera Allimatti.2541 said:

Why does it bother you so much that it 'bothers' me? It's a form of misinformation to say that those 3rd party programs are a graphical upgrade, and there's enough misinformation going on in the rest of the world already as it is. The players don't deserve to be misinformed or misled into thinking something that isn't true, especially when this game's graphics are already quite good for their time. They don't add details or textures or polygons, they only highlight (or obscure) what's already there.

This thread is all about a recommendation for a 3rd party add-on that can make what is viewed better. I read through every single comments on this thread and I can't find anyone suggesting that ReShade or GShade is a graphical upgrade. Some comments suggested that GW2 can do with a graphical update. There is zero misinformation except what you gave. That's why I asked why it bothers you so much about the add-on recommendation.

[Zera.9435]

3 minutes ago, Silent.6137 said:

You quoted me specifically. Of course it'll seem that way.

This thread is all about a recommendation for a 3rd party add-on that can make what is viewed better. I read through every single comments on this thread and I can't find anyone suggesting that ReShade or GShade is a graphical upgrade. Some comments suggested that GW2 can do with a graphical update. There is zero misinformation except what you gave. That's why I asked why it bothers you so much about the add-on recommendation.

I don't have a problem with the recommendation, it's just that every time this topic of graphics comes up and Reshade and the like get mentioned, some try to pass it off as a 'must have' or suggest that GW2's graphics are somehow horrible without it. I've used Reshade with various different presets in the past, and never once did anything seem better. Higher contrast, sure, perhaps some brighter colors, but the game's base graphics are already good and everything already has enough clarity. Maybe I just have good vision, but I found them all to be completely unnecessary and were not an actual improvement in anyway. The only 'lack of clarity' is during things like Leyline Anomaly when particle count from player skill effects are overly abundant. Aside from that, the game's graphics do not lack clarity. What I see instead is people falling into the odd belief that 'different' is automatically better.
 

 

[titje.2745]

i don't know if someone already mentioned this but you can try a monitor with photo modes. i have a benq xl2424t and i often use photo (foto) modes for a nicer look. so by this option i don't need other program's for other graphics. in battlefield 3 ppl got banned when using reshade, because they could change bright colours and so got an advantage from others.