Borderlands and Dynamic Shadows.

davedudes · 3 Dec 2009 at 19:20

I was running Borderlands last night, was a little choppy in parts, then i decided to mess around with the settings, so i turned dynamic Shadows to off, OMG i was shocked the game ran like a dream.

Just want to know how can one option do so much, why is the dynamic shadows option such a hog on resourses?

Oizu · 3 Dec 2009 at 19:35

just a guess really but might it switch the game from dx10 to dx9?

Dano · 3 Dec 2009 at 20:27

Oizu said:
just a guess really but might it switch the game from dx10 to dx9?

Wouldn't make much of a difference, the calculations to generate dynamic shadows are significant which is why there is such a performance boost.

wakayoda · 3 Dec 2009 at 20:45

Just getting that game working online is a joke

HangTime · 3 Dec 2009 at 20:51

Dynamic shadows are typically one of the most demanding settings in a game. I'm sure nowadays they've been able to optimise it and offload some of the processing onto the GPU, but they always used to be massively CPU dependent.

Generally speaking when I get a new game and am setting up a game I put shadows on medium or lower as a starting point simply because they usually have such a dramatic effect on framerate.

Teaf · 3 Dec 2009 at 20:55

Dynamic Shadows in this game are not very well coded, either that or the drivers are optimised enough, no way should they give as much as an impact to performance as they do in Borderlands. I did hear that people with nVidia cards handle it much better than ATI cards. Personally I just turned them off, it looked really weird at first but I got used to it and after a while I didn't really notice anymore. Also you can alter the LOD size of the shadows with INI tweaks, but it's not really worth it.

davedudes · 3 Dec 2009 at 21:01

Thanks for all the info guys

arc@css · 3 Dec 2009 at 21:02

I also found it helped a lot turning dynamic shadows down. The frame rate was choppy and laggy so perhaps its not a crossfire issue but just another game that is optimized for nvidia, lets face it most of them seem to be although the difference in my experience tends to be nothing 'that' great normally.
Later on, now further in to the game, I turned them back on and haven't really noticed it as much so I don't know. More intensive moments earlier I guess.

Aod · 3 Dec 2009 at 22:10

anyone know how to change the FoV in borderlands? it's very reminiscent of FC2, it looks like you're zoomed in all the time, makes me feel a little uneasy.

great game though!

<edit> is it just me or are the SMG's that fire four bullets at a time the most powerful weapons in the game? i smashed the final boss in about 3 mags worth with one

Frapple · 3 Dec 2009 at 22:12

wakayoda said:
Just getting that game working online is a joke

1. Forward ports
2. Play online

??

Andelusion · 3 Dec 2009 at 22:22

I struggle to run Borderlands anywhere near full detail @ 1900x1200 with my 8800GT, quite dissapointing really but shadows have always been a killer on FPS.

-|ScottFree|- · 3 Dec 2009 at 22:27

My 5870 eats Borderlands.. with everything highest poss 1920x1200... just thought I would take this oppotunity to willy wave!!!

GobzzzMp3 · 3 Dec 2009 at 22:40

I am running a 8800GT OC, and i am running Borderlands smooth with Dynamic Shadows on and running at a Res of 1680x1050... obviously i get the FPS drops in some areas but nothing major in the slightest...

Andelusion · 3 Dec 2009 at 22:49

GobzzzMp3 said:
I am running a 8800GT OC, and i am running Borderlands smooth with Dynamic Shadows on and running at a Res of 1680x1050... obviously i get the FPS drops in some areas but nothing major in the slightest...

What CPU? I tend to average 20fps with everything on max at 1900x1200.

Teaf · 3 Dec 2009 at 23:18

Frapple said:
1. Forward ports
2. Play online
3. Hope the game doesn't remove your artifacts and skill points due to a bug

??

Fixed

Aod said:
anyone know how to change the FoV in borderlands? it's very reminiscent of FC2, it looks like you're zoomed in all the time, makes me feel a little uneasy.

Go into Documents\Borderlands\WillowGame\Config and open up WillowInput.ini, and scroll down until you see the heading: "[WillowGame.WillowPlayerInput]". After the last line, just add a couple of more lines saying:

Bindings=(Name="F11",Command="FOV 75",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False)
Bindings=(Name="F12",Command="FOV 90",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False)

Just change the FOV amounts and the key to whatever you want, just make sure you don't clash the binding key with another one already there.

Echo · 4 Dec 2009 at 03:06

GobzzzMp3 said:
I am running a 8800GT OC, and i am running Borderlands smooth with Dynamic Shadows on and running at a Res of 1680x1050... obviously i get the FPS drops in some areas but nothing major in the slightest...

Must be some new definition of smooth

1920x1200 with shadows on is pretty horrible when aiming at baddies on this 8800GTX - not only have I turned them off, but am running at non-native 1680x1050 to keep things ticking over nicely when aiming.

(and absolutely no AA!)

clippa · 4 Dec 2009 at 03:41

-|ScottFree|- said:
My 5870 eats Borderlands.. with everything highest poss 1920x1200... just thought I would take this oppotunity to willy wave!!!

I have the same card as you and play at the same resolution, I have a q6600 @ 3.6ghz and turning off dynamic shadows is the only way to get a smooth (constantly 60fps) framerate (the game is capped at 60).

Bizarre · 4 Dec 2009 at 04:56

Borderlands is heavily optimized for Nvidia cards, even a GTX 260 pulls more frames than a 5870. :eek:

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...with-Unreal-Engine-3-Geforces-ahead/Practice/

MikGriff · 4 Dec 2009 at 05:23

Using a 4870 1Gb card myself, 1680x1050, everything maxed, not noticed any performance hits tbh, E8400 @ 4.00GHz.

-|ScottFree|- · 4 Dec 2009 at 06:46

clippa said:
I have the same card as you and play at the same resolution, I have a q6600 @ 3.6ghz and turning off dynamic shadows is the only way to get a smooth (constantly 60fps) framerate (the game is capped at 60).

Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.40GHz!
Gigabyte EX58-UD3R Intel X58
Corsair XMS3 6GB
ATI 5870

I can honestly say that I have everything maxxed out.. I have Vsync enabled using this handy bit of software and get 60 fps everywhere... and alway more than 60 if Vsync is off!!