Let Us See the World! - Alternatives to the "Wall of Fog"

SirIronclad · February 2017

I'd like the devs to give us more options how we want the game world to be displayed. One big problem greatly hindering the visual representation of landscapes (and especially indoor areas!) is what I myself and others have been calling the "wall of fog".

Some great points made by Gidorick that really summarize the issue:

Gidorick wrote: »

I simply have a problem when a developer leaves out options that are technically viable for the engine/platform/machines that a piece of software is running on to cut corners.

We can argue all day about what looks good what doesn't. That is entirely subjective.

What is not subjective is that ZOS included the fog to hide distant low LOD textures. ZOS didn't have to have low LOD textures. They could have included the option to have detailed textures and little to no fog. Why didn't they?

I believe it was to save time. The fog allows them to "not worry" about far off textures. That is a design choice that I disagree with. If you are going to make a game that has a legacy of...

this:

and this:

You should have been satisfied with this:

Notice how both oblivion and skyrim have fog, but it slowly and gradually gets thicker over distance? ESO isn't like that it's more like a curtain. A wall of fog that covers everything past a certain point in muddied haze.

And for the record... I'm 100% for contextual fog. This is from March 2015:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/156070/eso-contextual-fog-concept/p1

Gidorick wrote: »

Here's a quick one.

When the weather is bad we should see the fog that we see now and possibly even MORE fog. When the weather is good, we should see much less fog, possibly even no fog. The maximum amount of fog relief be attached to a slider in the graphics menu and the amount of fog relief could be based on the percentage of that slider.

Allow those of us who are able to support no fog, experience no fog.

I have more Fog/No Fog screenshots here:
http://i.imgur.com/RAasVtQ.jpg?1

Please note, I have seen NO noticeable FPS drop since installing SweetFX.

I decided to take some comparison shots of inside a dungeon:

Thoughts?

But if I MUST choose fog or no fog... I would choose no fog.

Sneaky-Snurr · February 2017

I really love how the visual looks like in Oblivion and Skyrim but I'm not too sure how that would work out if it was to be implemented into ESO. Do note that I'm completely on your side, OP (and @Gidorick 's).

I foresee tremendous implications on the system and server if the visual system is to be replicated as there would be players and NPCs in your sight. Mind you they could be as actively fighting or mindlessly spamming skills just for the hell of it and that could cause some real strain on the server and your local systems (don't forget dem dolmens too!). I get that in Cyro, the server could handle quite a lot with 100s of players in one instance but remember that the landscape in mainland Cyro isn't as saturated as the PvE lands are. I even get FPS drops on the immediate outskirts of Rawl'Kha with all that's happening in town (duels, players phasing in from wayshrines etc.).

Again, I'm not saying @Gidorick 's and your suggestion could not work but I'm simply stating the potential problems that can incapacitate our gameplay for the sake of visual.

There needs to be somekind of workaround or improvements to your suggestions so as to optimise gameplay in tandem to visuals.

WeyounTM · February 2017

I am using "Hook64" which was once called ESO Launcher back in the day. It is a nice program which lets you change a lot of options...and it includes getting rid of the fog. You can find it here:

https://www.gamemodi.net/

And no, you won't get banned for using it...

SirIronclad · February 2017

Simply disabling the fog sadly isn't the solution. Some areas look amazing from certain angles, others look even worse.

One thing I do wanna say is that I see no reason why the fog shouldn't be disabled completely in enclosed indoor areas. Especially dungeons would benefit greatly from that, with a much darker, gloomier atmosphere:

MLGProPlayer · February 2017

I always found it strange that people want to remove the fog in open world games. The fog is neccessary to create the illusion of scale. Without it, the game world feels very small.

SirIronclad · February 2017

I actually want more fog, just a different kind. This arbitrary wall of grey has very little to do with how I would imagine fog.

Sneaky-Snurr · February 2017

SirIronclad wrote: »

I actually want more fog, just a different kind. This arbitrary wall of grey has very little to do with how I would imagine fog.

@MLGProPlayer ^ This.
I am coming from your point of view but all the OP is stating is a tweak that will expand the visuals of the game as currently, there is a blatant 'cutoff' as to the maximum distance you can see on the horizon (sorry I'm not that good at phrasing something but I understand the source) which makes the world around you feel a little closed up and small.

Oblivion and Skyrim did the best visual experience imho as it makes the world around you feel more expansive. The OP is merely suggesting that ESO should replicate some visual systems from previous ES games but alas, not all can be implemented into ESO without causing hiccups and/or performance deterioration.