Water Flicker

[!!HansGruber!!]

With certain sea states I am getting a flicker through the water at a regular interval. Almost like the waves are on a loop and when the loop restarts there is a flicker. I have played very little vanilla SH4 so I'm not sure if this is a FOTRSU issue or not. Reflections on the water flicker pretty badly as well. Do others experience this and is there a fix? Are there recommended graphics settings in game or Nvidia control panel?

Only mod installed is FOTRSU 1.8 and fix but noticed in prior versions as well.

[Mad Mardigan]

Originally Posted by !!HansGruber!!

With certain sea states I am getting a flicker through the water at a regular interval. Almost like the waves are on a loop and when the loop restarts there is a flicker. I have played very little vanilla SH4 so I'm not sure if this is a FOTRSU issue or not. Reflections on the water flicker pretty badly as well. Do others experience this and is there a fix? Are there recommended graphics settings in game or Nvidia control panel?

Only mod installed is FOTRSU 1.8 and fix but noticed in prior versions as well.

This would better be served, being asked about there... on the main thread for FotRS-U v1.8, just saying...











M. M.

[!!HansGruber!!]

Originally Posted by Mad Mardigan

This would better be served, being asked about there... on the main thread for FotRS-U v1.8, just saying...

Might not be a FOTRSU issue as I did find a steam thread reporting the same thing

[propbeanie]

That big bugaboo with SH4 can happen if you "shell-out" to Windows from the game. This could be something purposefuly done to access a document, to do email, etc., or it can happen accidentally and sometimes from Windows itself starting an accessory app that is running from the systray. If you have a stronger computer, that can alleviate the problem somewhat, but it will still happen. SH4 is a "legacy" app, and was not written to the 'modern' Windows paradigm. As such, Windows operates on "virtual technology", and might reassign resources when the game loses focus. When you return to the game, it might not find all of the computer's resources at the same exact "real" addresses where they were before the shell-out. "Pause" the game if you do have to do that. It is best to avoid it though.

The issue can also happen if you are low on system RAM and / or have not used LAA or the 4Gig Patch. Generally speaking though, FotRSU will not load and run without one of those, so that is most likely not the issue. But check your video "stream", in that each display monitor has a "native" resolution, which Windows will usually list as " (recommended)" in its display resolution dialog. Make certain you have chosen that. Also use that in the SH4 game, if the choice is available. If you do not have the choice available, you might have to choose a divisible, such as 1920x1080 instead of 3840x2160. or similar. Or you might have a laptop that has a 1366×768 display or some other resolution that is neither 5:4 nor a 16:9 ratio. In that case, using the "Windowed Mode" choice in the SH4 Display Settings menu, with a smaller resolution might work, such as an appropriate 1280x whatever size that has the proper ratio. You want the video stream as "efficient" as possible for the game.

Lastly, be sure you have the Properties settings as best as they can be for your computer. Navigate into the Silent Hunter 4 folder you are using, find the SH4.exe file and right-click on it. Chose "Properties" from the resultant context menu with the left button. On the next window, click on the "Compatibility" tab, and experiment some with the dialog there, especially the "Change high DPI settings". Most of the other settings are computer dependent, and you will have to experiment with them, as to whether they are needed or not...





btw, this can happen with the stock game, or with any mod...

[!!HansGruber!!]

Thank you for the suggestions, propbeanie. I found older thread where somebody reported similar issues and posted a video where there was a comment about blinking control panel lights in the conning tower being a sign of graphical settings not being correct. I have this as well and always thought that was a part of the charm of a 1940's submarine mixing water with electronics.

I have game and monitor both at the monitors native resolution of 1920x1080. I know the refresh rate of the monitor is 60Hz but in game there are multiple 1920x1080 options (60 Hz, 59 Hz, & 50 Hz).

Relevant CFG file settings:

[VIDEO]
Resolution=1920,1080,60,22
DynamicShadows=No
FullScreen=Yes
Synchronized=Yes
TextureResolutionHigh=Yes

[Current]
DepthBufferEffects=0
Filters=0
Glare=1
UnderwaterDispMap=1
LightShafts=1
3DShipWakes=1
DetailedWaveRipples=1
UnitNormalMaps=1
ShipCausticsEffects=1
Ship3DDamage=2
CharacterDetail=1
ParticlesDetail=10
TerrainObjectsDensity=10
TerrainObjectsLODSize=5
GammaCorrection=50
VolumetricFog=1

The suggested compatibility mode changes do not appear to have fixed the water or lights. The twinkling lights are more consistent so perhaps if I fix on correcting that I will see improvement with the water as well.

Should I be forcing Adaptive (half refresh rate) through Nvidia control panel to address the day/night cycle issue? This locks the frame rate at 30 fps.

I would be interested to know the in game graphics settings, Nvidia control panel settings, & SH4.exe properties of others who do not have twinkling control panel lights.

[propbeanie]

OK, you have "Syncronized=yes" in the Main.cfg "Video" settings. Try that at "No" and turn the "VolumetricFog" to "0" or off in the GFXSettings. That should improve things immeasurably... if you go on the bridge right now, and encounter fog, your crew become "sea-through", since you'll see the sea and the conning tower walls through them... That is the fog setting. With the V-Sync on, it makes the graphics stream too rigid, and besides what you are seeing now, you can end up with the interminable "Jello Water" effect all too easily. Now, changing those in the files inside the game folder will do nothing. You'll have to either use the game's Graphic Settings interface, or edit the files in the Save folder...

Someone has an nVidia nip file somewhere around here for the profile inspector, but I can't find it just yet...