Turning off Shadows

[Bradforth]

HI all,
I can't seem to turn off shadows in 2015, I have got the slider in the settings right over to the left but the shadows are still there.
Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,
Pete.

[Trev123]

The shadow slider says shadow quality so perhaps it doesn't turn them completely off but just lowers the quality.

[peterfhayes]

Pete
I seem to recall something about this way back - hazily remembering - that there are "default" shadows that can't be turned off.
I have the slider all the way to the left and still see some shadows but nothing like when the slider goes toward the right.
pH

[Bradforth]

Hi,
Thanks for your replies, I think I may have a problem because moving the slider does not make any difference.
It now looks terrible compared to how it used to be.
I think when I went online yesterday Steam did a small update to TS 2015, I'm afraid I wasn't taking much notice say I'm not sure what the update was, it seems to have got worse since this update.

Has anyone else noticed this update.

Regards,
Pete.

[ightenhill]

Dont think the update had much to do with this(think it was a tiny update to one model).. Shadows are not part of the models anymore (though some old models from the original incarnation of the game still have them and use them) You cant physically turn them off anymore as they are generated by the light source(you can lower the quality though).

Those older models I mentioned will though have shadows that look good with shadows on with TSX off but you can see the horizon through the model from certain angles as the material is wrong for the shaders in use now.

Are you using TSX on or OFF

[Bradforth]

Are you using TSX on or OFF

Hi,
I have got TSX off, I'm going to have a fiddle around a little later, I don't think that any of the sliders are working properly so something is wrong.
It's visually worse now than it was, the shadows are much more intense and spoiling the look of the game.
I think you have hit the nail on the head because the worse routes which are affected are the older ones the newer ones are not as bad but still not quite right.

Regards,
Pete.

[chrisonline]

The slider works for me. I find that sliding it to the left reduces the intensity/darkness of the shadow (but no deterioration in "quality of texture"), down to no shadow at all when set fully to the left. I have it set about 1/3 from the left, so shadows are noticeable but not overbearing. I have all other effects turned on including TSX and max settings (except for shadows).

My problem is that I find the "dark" side of the train is too dark in strong sunshine, with detail barely discernible, despite having brightness set quite high. Removing the shadow of course makes no difference to that. I frequently convert scenarios with strong sunshine, into "cloudy" or "overcast" to provide a more even light and less intense "shaded areas" of rolling stock.

Chris

[Bradforth]

Hi all,
Thanks for all your comments, much appreciated.
I couldn't find out what was wrong so I deleted all my TS 2015 install and copied it all back from my TS 2015 backup, all now working fine including shadows.

With my internet connection a full download from Steam is not on option so I ALWAYS keep an up to date backup in case of emergencies like the above.
Its just MY opinion but keeping an up to date backup is still a worth while option and the quickest if you need to reinstall, of course your backup needs to be done when your game is running at its best, if you think about it you don't need to reinstall all your third party stuff or reskins etc.
My install is just over 80Gb and the whole process took about two hours including deleting and copying back.

My next problem is Steam did a download to TS while I was looking at some DLC, and that's when the problem with the shadows started so I'm now a little concerned about going on line again with TS, this download happened about three days ago did anyone else notice a download from Steam to TS, I'm not sure how large this download was because I was too occupied with looking at the DLC page, it wasn't downloading any DLC because I didn't purchase anything.

Regards,
Pete.

[gptech]

My next problem is Steam did a download to TS while I was looking at some DLC

Try looking at DLC from outside of the game, any browser will allow you to see what's available without having the game, or Steam, loaded.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/24010 for the game and *official* DLC

http://steamcommunity.com/app/24010/workshop for Workshop items

Possibly even easier is browsing through what's available at http://www.railsimulator.com/store which includes Marketplace items.

[Bradforth]

My next problem is Steam did a download to TS while I was looking at some DLC

Try looking at DLC from outside of the game, any browser will allow you to see what's available without having the game, or Steam, loaded.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/24010 for the game and *official* DLC

http://steamcommunity.com/app/24010/workshop for Workshop items

Possibly even easier is browsing through what's available at http://www.railsimulator.com/store which includes Marketplace items.

Thanks for the links and advice Gary but it would be much easier if we COULD switch off auto updates and just download what we want.

Regards,
Pete.

[atlasduff47]

I never go on line within the sim unless I am buying something, even then, I use a second copy purely for this purpose in case anything goes boobs up! If you have the disk space, it would definitely be worth considering.


Andy

[gptech]

I never go on line within the sim unless I am buying something, even then, I use a second copy purely for this purpose in case anything goes boobs up!

Likewise, but I'd say we're both being stupidly paranoid about it!!

Can't argue about it working though, and it certainly takes the 'worry' out of it, so all in all I'd rather be stupidly paranoid than sorry!

[Bradforth]

I never go on line within the sim unless I am buying something, even then, I use a second copy purely for this purpose in case anything goes boobs up!

Likewise, but I'd say we're both being stupidly paranoid about it!!

Can't argue about it working though, and it certainly takes the 'worry' out of it, so all in all I'd rather be stupidly paranoid than sorry!

Hi guy's,
I think can see where you are going with this but when you say that you download new material to your second copy does this second copy now become your main install, (ie the one that you use to play the game), or do you transfer what you have downloaded to your original install.
Hope I've made it clear what I'm asking.
Looking back to original post it's the first time I have had any problems like this while online, I also wanted to look in the workshop as well as DLC content to see if anything caught my eye.
You are both right in the respect that I can't risk messing up my installation because as I have said before I am on a slow limited download internet connection so a complete re-download from Steam is not an option, that's why I ALWAYS keep an up to date backup.
Any further comments would be most welcome.

Regards,
Pete.

[atlasduff47]

I never go on line within the sim unless I am buying something, even then, I use a second copy purely for this purpose in case anything goes boobs up!

Likewise, but I'd say we're both being stupidly paranoid about it!!

Can't argue about it working though, and it certainly takes the 'worry' out of it, so all in all I'd rather be stupidly paranoid than sorry!

Just because your are paranoid........................

[atlasduff47]

I never go on line within the sim unless I am buying something, even then, I use a second copy purely for this purpose in case anything goes boobs up!

Likewise, but I'd say we're both being stupidly paranoid about it!!

Can't argue about it working though, and it certainly takes the 'worry' out of it, so all in all I'd rather be stupidly paranoid than sorry!

Hi guy's,
I think can see where you are going with this but when you say that you download new material to your second copy does this second copy now become your main install, (ie the one that you use to play the game), or do you transfer what you have downloaded to your original install.
Hope I've made it clear what I'm asking.
Looking back to original post it's the first time I have had any problems like this while online, I also wanted to look in the workshop as well as DLC content to see if anything caught my eye.
You are both right in the respect that I can't risk messing up my installation because as I have said before I am on a slow limited download internet connection so a complete re-download from Steam is not an option, that's why I ALWAYS keep an up to date backup.
Any further comments would be most welcome.

Regards,
Pete.

Pete, I choose to copy across the new content to the *working* copy of the game which is easy enough.

This thread (and Gary) have reminded me how paranoid I actually am, in that as well as this, I also have a full backup on an external drive..................I could be losing it!