I was able to reduce it but not eliminate it with the config changes the mod makes. However the top layer of hair is a has a special shader that always uses non-RT cascade shadows, and sometimes they don't line up with the RT shadows on the rest of the head. Increasing shadow quality might help in some cases but cannot fix it completely.
I found this mod trying to solve the hair problem. It literally only occurs in skellige, everywhere else is fine. I don't know why skellige makes the hair act like this. I will update this comment if this file fixes it, thank you!
Edit: Unfortunately, still having the problem in skellige. Appreciated nonetheless
I haven't found anything, yet. It only happens when in lighting situations where 1) Geralt has shadows from things like trees cast over him on one side, and 2) has light coming from the other side.
Since that isn't the most common situation I try to just ignore it when it happens, since I haven't found a fix.
Do you have hairworks enabled? Turn it off - it doesn't work well with ray tracing.
If you would like hairworks on monsters but not Geralt then you might like the mod https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/7217 . I play with this mod as the wolves and griffin look better with hairworks.
The purple windows bug appears with the builtin RTXGI, not caused by any mods. I did experiment a bit but didn't find a way of fixing it.
I believe the windows use a special shader that doesn't interact well with the global illumination. Cobwebs used to have a similar bug, but CDPR fixed it.
This video here suggests turning off either ray tracing, OR turning off hairworks will fix purple windows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCJI0zhgQh8 - if they're right then maybe the bug only appears when both are on.
Yes, it is still relevant. The 4.00 bug where tree shadows jumped was fixed in 4.04 so this mod is not as essential as before.
However, the still mod improves consistency in lighting on Geralt's hair, increases the distance at which small objects get shadows and at which tree shadows actually move. I would not recommend using RT shadows without this mod as without it the shadows are not always better than non-RT shadows.
When rotating the viewing angle, there will still be shadows disappearing/appearing, especially the light at sunset, so it is currently not recommended to turn it on.
The only fix is to have a really high update distance. It might seem okay in many places but in areas with dense trees performance can drop a lot - that's why I provided 3 different presets to download.
The problem with big distances is that doubling the distance quadruples the area and therefore number of trees to update (area of circle = πr²).
I've actually been playing without RT shadows myself. After using my mod for a while I decided I preferred to have more consistent good performance.
CDPR could and should do a better fix than just increasing the radius (e.g. consider the direction of the sun, or simplify the shadow movement).
The only fix is to have a really high update distance. It might seem okay in many places but in areas with dense trees performance can drop alot - that's why I provided 3 different presets to download.
No. It's not about update distance. I simply increased it to 1000 and still didn't help. RT Shadows in Witcher 3 are simply horribly broken. What original poster says is about situation when the sun rises you are on the beach and chararacter stands still (no running so pop-ins doesn't matter). And you just simply rotate view, without moving. Shadows from other objects (usually trees) start to appear and disappear. It doesn't make sense. Character stands still, sun is moving very slowly so can be neglected, but the shadows go crazy. It's broken as hell beyond mod repair. Hair shadows at dawn are also broken (Geralt hairs shine like crazy). Definitely should be switched off.
They have fixed many of those issues in the new 4.03 patch, and I've just update this mod to fix one thing the missed - the hair shadows are weird because the top layer of hair is using cascade shadows instead of RT shadows. My fix makes the two shadow methods line up better and dawn and dusk to minimise inconsistency between them.
Actually, that comment you were replying to is out of date.
Afterthey released patch 4.03, which improved performance and mostly fixed the jumping shadows, I updated update this mod to make it less expensive and fix stutter. Since then I have been playing with RT shadows on using this mod.
the hair shadows are weird because the top layer of hair is using cascade shadows instead of RT shadows.
This! Think it will be possible to mod so it only uses RT shadows? It looks so funky when the hair shines like you're standing in sunlight when the cascade shadows are missing but you're standing in RT shadows XD haha
Well, this mod is a partial fix - it changes a settings that limited the length of cascade shadows, which was making RT and cascade shadows not align at dawn and dusk. However, it's not perfect - the point of RT is that it doesn't look the same cascade shadows - RT is more accurate, so you can still get small artefacts at the edges.
I haven't tried using the new recently released official modding tools. It might be possible to fix but I think the fix would be to completely remodel the hair using a standard material type instead of using the special hair shader. It would be hard to make it look as good - there's a reason hair is implemented differently - thin strands don't work as normal polygons. I'm not a good enough artist to try it.
This xml file defines which internal options get set when you select Low, Medium, High, Ultra in the menu. You might be able to create a better combination that works without being too slow. Perhaps using distances from ultra but lower shadow sizes (resolution).
There are also some additional hidden shadow options that you can put in an ini file (similar to how my mods work.) You can grab a list of possible ini file settings here: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/7426?tab=files&file_id=46579 and experiment with the shadow options.
If you can run both 4.04 and 1.32 you may be able to grab the list of ini file settings from both to compare using https://github.com/SpontanCombust/rusty_witcher_debugger command rw3d_cli.exe varlist (while game is running)
This xml file defines which internal options get set when you select Low, Medium, High, Ultra in the menu. You might be able to create a better combination that works without being too slow. Perhaps using distances from ultra but lower shadow sizes (resolution).
that is what i did using your mod and the tweaks mod. i think it was crazy , but look .
I personally wanted to get a RTX 9090ti to try playing to The Witcher 3 Complete Edition Next Gen to the Max with Tweaks, Raytracing and this mod. More seriously, I'm going to try in few minutes, maybe I'll get that 60fps in 4K:P But of course, it's not his fault, I'm glad if he found a solution to another issue in this update:)
116 comments
HairWorks off, RT on, Shadows low - wired shadows on hairs are still present.
Only when Geralts head is in edge of casted shadow.
I was able to reduce it but not eliminate it with the config changes the mod makes. However the top layer of hair is a has a special shader that always uses non-RT cascade shadows, and sometimes they don't line up with the RT shadows on the rest of the head. Increasing shadow quality might help in some cases but cannot fix it completely.
Edit: Unfortunately, still having the problem in skellige. Appreciated nonetheless
Since that isn't the most common situation I try to just ignore it when it happens, since I haven't found a fix.
Geralt's shadow doesn't have the hair. He seems bald. How can i fix this? This happen only when i set Ray Tracing ON.
If you would like hairworks on monsters but not Geralt then you might like the mod https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/7217 . I play with this mod as the wolves and griffin look better with hairworks.
I believe the windows use a special shader that doesn't interact well with the global illumination. Cobwebs used to have a similar bug, but CDPR fixed it.
The hair still yellow :(
However, the still mod improves consistency in lighting on Geralt's hair, increases the distance at which small objects get shadows and at which tree shadows actually move. I would not recommend using RT shadows without this mod as without it the shadows are not always better than non-RT shadows.
The problem with big distances is that doubling the distance quadruples the area and therefore number of trees to update (area of circle = πr²).
I've actually been playing without RT shadows myself. After using my mod for a while I decided I preferred to have more consistent good performance.
CDPR could and should do a better fix than just increasing the radius (e.g. consider the direction of the sun, or simplify the shadow movement).
No. It's not about update distance. I simply increased it to 1000 and still didn't help. RT Shadows in Witcher 3 are simply horribly broken.
What original poster says is about situation when the sun rises you are on the beach and chararacter stands still (no running so pop-ins doesn't matter). And you just simply rotate view, without moving. Shadows from other objects (usually trees) start to appear and disappear. It doesn't make sense. Character stands still, sun is moving very slowly so can be neglected, but the shadows go crazy. It's broken as hell beyond mod repair. Hair shadows at dawn are also broken (Geralt hairs shine like crazy). Definitely should be switched off.
Afterthey released patch 4.03, which improved performance and mostly fixed the jumping shadows, I updated update this mod to make it less expensive and fix stutter. Since then I have been playing with RT shadows on using this mod.
This! Think it will be possible to mod so it only uses RT shadows?
It looks so funky when the hair shines like you're standing in sunlight when the cascade shadows are missing but you're standing in RT shadows XD haha
I haven't tried using the new recently released official modding tools. It might be possible to fix but I think the fix would be to completely remodel the hair using a standard material type instead of using the special hair shader. It would be hard to make it look as good - there's a reason hair is implemented differently - thin strands don't work as normal polygons. I'm not a good enough artist to try it.
Video that clearly shows the difference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpFsP3ytT0I&t=156s&pp=ygUbd2l0Y2hlciAzIHNoYWRvd3MgZG93bmdyYWRl
If not, then hint how you can edit the range of normal shadows to look like in the original. Thanks in advance!
Look for <!-- Shadow Quality --> in
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Witcher 3\bin\config\r4game\user_config_matrix\pc\graphics.xml
This xml file defines which internal options get set when you select Low, Medium, High, Ultra in the menu. You might be able to create a better combination that works without being too slow. Perhaps using distances from ultra but lower shadow sizes (resolution).
There are also some additional hidden shadow options that you can put in an ini file (similar to how my mods work.) You can grab a list of possible ini file settings here: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/7426?tab=files&file_id=46579 and experiment with the shadow options.
If you can run both 4.04 and 1.32 you may be able to grab the list of ini file settings from both to compare using https://github.com/SpontanCombust/rusty_witcher_debugger command rw3d_cli.exe varlist (while game is running)
Good luck!
that is what i did using your mod and the tweaks mod. i think it was crazy , but look .
Edit : Awesome job rj200b