(guide) Make Tsw Less Flat & Bright Looking By Adding Ambient Occlusion

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by londonmidland, Oct 6, 2021.

  1. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Have you ever thought the interior of trains in TSW are just so flat looking and overly bright, to the point where you almost need to wear sunglasses?

    Thanks to trainside for finding out these commands. These enable the Ground Truth Ambient Occlusion (GTAO) feature.

    These are my settings I use, which you will need to add to your engine.ini file:
    r.AmbientOcclusion.Method=1
    r.GTAO.FalloffEnd=300
    r.GTAO.SpatialFilter=0
    r.GTAO.NumAngles=2
    r.GTAO.UseNormals=1
    r.GTAO.ThicknessBlend=0

    Note that the value of r.GTAO.FalloffEnd is responsible of how much depth you want in the shadows. The higher the value, the bigger the impact.

    Please remove any SSAO ini values you may have.

    Note: Personally I haven't had any FPS or performance impacts, although it may vary depending on your specs.
    Preference: Some of you may find this option makes things look too dark, so don't use it if that is the case.
    Limitations: The only limitations I've experienced is shorter shadow rendering distances on the rails. So it'll render closer to the player.


    I believe this will benefit the Class 387 greatly, as it features one of the most flat looking interiors I've seen in TSW.

    Below you can see the comparisons of the default vs new. Note that it now adds ambient occlusions to train interiors, so shadows and dark spots are now rendered. It also reduces the harshness of the interior lights significantly.

    Before:
    TSW2_Josh_1633560455_00.jpg

    After:
    TSW2_Josh_1633560461_00.jpg

    Before:
    TSW2_Josh_1633560721_00.jpg

    After:
    TSW2_Josh_1633560730_00.jpg

    After:
    TSW2_Josh_1633561688_00.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 6, 2021
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  2. MrSouthernDriver

    MrSouthernDriver Well-Known Member

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    this is stunning nice work londonmidland, DTG should take notice of this I think. Would be a huge change to graphics. It would make the game just look a lot more realistic, very strong 10/10 for me
     
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  3. SprattyHeath

    SprattyHeath Well-Known Member

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    Has made such a difference to the environment, fab work! upload_2021-10-6_23-47-52.png
     
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  4. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Thanks :) I'm hoping they'll take some notice of this thread to potentially change a few of their default core settings. Obviously its an easy change on PC, but consoles can't benefit from it.
     
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  5. tallboy7648

    tallboy7648 Well-Known Member

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    Hopefully dtg can do something for consoles. This seems like a major improvement
     
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  6. CK95

    CK95 Well-Known Member

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    Hopefully something they’ll sort out for us, although I doubt it considering the state of console builds of TSW 2 right now.
     
  7. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Another side-by-side comparison on ECW - default left, edited right.

    Studio_Project (3).jpeg
     
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  8. Jalio

    Jalio Active Member

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    I like it but still can't get mine to work. Tried a blank ini with just this in and I don't see any difference. Oh well.
     
  9. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Are you using the EPIC or Steam version of the game? It isn’t been tested on the Epic version so it might not work if you’re using that version.
     
  10. Jalio

    Jalio Active Member

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    No just the Steam version, never used Epic:)
     
  11. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Have you got any ini mods to work? If not, then it may indicate there is an issue with the location of the engine.ini file.
     
  12. heyitspopcorn

    heyitspopcorn Well-Known Member

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    Did you add the [SystemSettings] line before the new tweaks?
     
  13. Jalio

    Jalio Active Member

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    Yeah, so below is what I usually run and it's located here: C:\Users\Jalio\Documents\My Games\TrainSimWorld2\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor

    [SystemSettings]
    r.SceneColorFringe.Max=0
    r.SceneColorFringeQuality=0
    r.Streaming.FullyLoadUsedTextures=1
    r.Tonemapper.Quality=0
    r.ToneMapper.Sharpen=0
    r.TextureStreaming=0
    r.ViewDistanceScale=12
    foliage.LODDistanceScale=5
    r.fov=95
    ts2.fov=95
     
  14. Jalio

    Jalio Active Member

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    Yes mate I've had tweaks since TSW1 but it's just this that isn't working:o
     
  15. PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix

    PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix Well-Known Member

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    Hi Londonmidland, i am trying to use the same setting as you, but for some reason i don't know where is it, can you put the file directory step by step so that the people can follow it correctly?
    Once again really good work in finding this setting and thanks again :) Amazing work:)
     
  16. PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix

    PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix Well-Known Member

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    Also, what is the default setting if people want to revert back to the original setting?
     
  17. Winzarten

    Winzarten Well-Known Member

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    The file is in My Documents\My Games\TrainSimWorld2\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor\

    If you would to revert to default, just delete the file. It will be recreated next time the sim starts.
     
  18. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    londonmidland would you be happy sharing your engine tweaks please?
     
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  19. NickFarrant

    NickFarrant Active Member

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    Thanks for this Londonmidland, I will give this a look into tonight. Appreciate the work you do for the community!

    Nick
     
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  20. JBViper

    JBViper Well-Known Member

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  21. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Hi, I have these applied:
    r.ViewDistanceScale=4.0
    foliage.LODDistanceScale=4
    r.BloomQuality=5
    r.TonemapperGamma=2
    r.SkylightIntensityMultiplier=0.5
    r.EyeAdaptationQuality=1
    r.ToneMapper.Sharpen=0
    r.Streaming.FullyLoadUsedTextures=1
    r.Streaming.HLODStrategy=2
    r.DefaultFeature.AutoExposure=1
    r.DefaultFeature.AutoExposure.Method=1
    r.DefaultFeature.AutoExposure.ExtendDefaultLuminanceRange=0
    r.TextureStreaming=0
    r.LightMaxDrawDistanceScale=50.0
    r.MotionBlur.Scale=2.0
    r.MinScreenRadiusForLights=0.00
    ts2.CameraMotionSway.EnableUprightCompensation=0
    ts2.CameraMotionSway.KSitting.Y=200.0
    ts2.CameraMotionSway.KSitting.Z=200.0
    ts2.CameraMotionSway.LSitting.Y=40
    ts2.CameraMotionSway.LSitting.Z=5.0
    ts2.CameraMotionSway.SittingPivotOffset=-200
    ts2.CameraMotionSway.LSitting.X=50
    ts2.save.CheckpointsEnabled=0
    r.Shadow.RadiusThreshold=0
    r.SkeletalMeshLODBias=0
     
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  22. KoeleKoen

    KoeleKoen Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for this! Will test soon, does this conflict with sgi settings or can you combine?
     
  23. markhazeldine

    markhazeldine Well-Known Member

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    The difference looks huge in the interiors and no performance impact? Amazing!
    I can see your 1 screenshot of the exterior and it looks like it makes shadows a bit darker. Is that all it does outside?
     
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  24. WaveyDavey

    WaveyDavey Well-Known Member

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    Unfortunately on my system it just darkened everything down to the point that the cablight needed to be on to see the switches and buttons even in the daytime. :(
     
  25. 5cip

    5cip Active Member

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    i have to test this because i dont see any differences on the screenshots

    londonmidland thx a lot now i cee the difference
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2021
  26. Haribo112

    Haribo112 Well-Known Member

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    Man londonmidland you're on fire! First the SEHS mod, then the skybox improvement, and now this! DTG should hire you!
     
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  27. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    I don’t think I have any SGI settings enabled, so I’m not sure about that.
     
  28. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    The main difference is inside the cab and the train interior, however as you mentioned, it also makes shadows on the outside darker/adds them.
     
  29. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the comments :)
     
  30. Anthony Pecoraro

    Anthony Pecoraro Well-Known Member

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    What does the checkpoint save one do?
     
  31. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    You can leave that one out. It just disables automatic saving whilst in session.
     
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  32. sid.holmes0707

    sid.holmes0707 New Member

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    What is your specs? GPU, CPU etc
     
  33. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    First of all, I play with -DX10 Steam command which significantly increases performance for me.

    Specs:
    CPU - i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz
    GPU - NVIDIA GeForce 970
    RAM - 16GB

    I usually get anywhere between 30 - 60FPS on most routes with these settings.
     
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  34. sid.holmes0707

    sid.holmes0707 New Member

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    Alright, thank you.

    I have an RTX 2070 super, do you think I should use DX12? Or stick with DX11
     
  35. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    All I can say is test it out and see what the results are. It varies for everyone.

    Bear in mind you will NOT be able to use the livery editor or custom liveries as DX12 is not compatible with it.
     
  36. sid.holmes0707

    sid.holmes0707 New Member

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    Alright I will test it now.
     
  37. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Default vs GTAO enabled on the 387 interior:

    Studio_Project (4).jpeg
     
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  38. Jalio

    Jalio Active Member

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    Nice. I got it working by messing with it until it worked.
     
  39. jamesthepershing

    jamesthepershing Active Member

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    I recently followed the instructions for the upgrade for the lighting. Could someone tell me if it looks like I installed the mod correctly? Here are some pics: unknown (1).png IMG_20211007_175249.png
     
  40. Jalio

    Jalio Active Member

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    I believe so yes, mine looks pretty close and I was constantly comparing.
     
  41. jamesthepershing

    jamesthepershing Active Member

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    Thanks very much!
     
  42. Jalio

    Jalio Active Member

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    londonmidland Slightly off topic so apologies but the setting r.LightMaxDrawDistanceScale=50.0 does this mean we can see signal lights or which from a further distance? Not sure what it does.
     
  43. Dinosbacsi

    Dinosbacsi Well-Known Member

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    Regarding this, are there any ini settings that make train headlight flares render from further away?
     
  44. Jalio

    Jalio Active Member

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    Oh yes they could be actually.
     
  45. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    It does make it more viewable from slightly further away, but not much. That's due to TSW's limitations.
     
  46. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    Hi, yes that's installed correctly.
     
  47. montes_1234

    montes_1234 Well-Known Member

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    How to install this tweaks in to engine.ini file. Just to paste it anywhere or it need to be placed to correct place?
     
  48. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    Anywhere under the [SystemSettings] section header. NB- there is no such section in the vanilla engine.ini file, so if this is your first tweak, just add it yourself to the bottom of the file.
     
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  49. montes_1234

    montes_1234 Well-Known Member

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    Thank you very much.
     
  50. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    Then adjust r.color.mid, which is your "general" brightness control: sets the brightness midpoint (50% gray point). Default is 0.5; range from 0 (dark) to 1 (bright)
    You can also fiddle with r.color.min, which sets the black point. 0 is default; range -0.1 to +0.1 (more or fewer grayscale levels go black).
     
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