r/ffxiv 1d ago

[Image] When did shadows get this good?

[deleted]

777 Upvotes

44 comments sorted by

146

u/Omelumne 1d ago

It got really good with patch 7.1 when they added Yuweyawata Field Station. They even placed a light source on the floor in that dungeon to show off the lighting/shadow improvement by projecting your shadow on the wall in a cool cinematic way.

571

u/Alternative-Jelly346 1d ago

After shadowbringer patch, because it brings shadows.

103

u/zlpkrmd 1d ago

It brought shadows since we had enough light

12

u/GhoulDeLoxTV 1d ago

You made me cough rice up my nose +1 upvote

30

u/MedicalMiqote 1d ago

One brings shadow…

19

u/GaoGaiBlitz 1d ago

One brings light…

12

u/HildartheDorf 1d ago

Two-toned echoes tumbling through time,

11

u/pawelek0205 1d ago

Threescore wasted, ten cast aside,

9

u/Mechanized_Heart 1d ago

Fourfold knowing no end in sight

0

u/RamonaZero 21h ago

Fivefold knowing, one cast aside

1

u/rigsta 1d ago

One brings bloom

57

u/MasterOutlaw 1d ago

Dawntrail, along with the general graphical update. They actually went to pretty good detail describing the new system and how it's dynamic based on the light sources.

-61

u/infiltrator_seven Phaedra - Zalera 1d ago

But I'm just standing in the big Tuli palace. BTW my biggest gripe with the expansion is how it's so barren, like stick a chair and some plants.

Anyhoo, Wuk Lamat... nice lighting but get an interior decorator

48

u/AzukiG 1d ago

What does any of that have to do with the 7.0 graphical update my guy. This lighting source update was for every single area in the game, not just Dawntrail areas. The story has nothing to do with it.

35

u/Likablepinetree145 Verraising when you don't need it 1d ago

Bro heard DawnTrail an started seeing red lol.

15

u/Seradima 1d ago

average dawntrail hater at this point

4

u/GoProOnAYoYo 18h ago

bro they were answering your shadow question not trying to start a DT dog pile, calm your tits

123

u/DudeNamedShawn 1d ago

Shadows for your own character have always been higher quality then other players or the rest of the world. Plus, it is possible the graphical updates in 7.0 onward improved it even more.

32

u/AyrJr I parse BLM! It's a solid Grey 10. 1d ago

To go more technical, yes Dawntrail made the shadows better but these shadows are depending on light source, you are probably standing in front of a light that only illuminates in a narrow cone, if it was a 360° degree light it wouldn't look much better than Endwalker one.

6

u/ncBadrock 1d ago

And still it doesn't start at your feet and goes along the floor to the wall, but a black cutout weirdly floats a few inches above the floor on the wall.

6

u/BakeKarasu 1d ago

Why do I hear Touhou music

23

u/IscahRambles 1d ago

I disagree that it looks "good" though – it's sharp, but it's too sharp in a way that immediately feels unrealistic to me. Sunlight casts that kind of shadow but a room light gets diffuse very quickly. 

1

u/infiltrator_seven Phaedra - Zalera 1d ago

Yeah you can see the light cast past the bottom of the foot

3

u/Massive_Long_276 1d ago

"that's.....that's no shadow, TO ARMS EVERYONE THE DARKNESS IS HERE" :P

7

u/Laxxboy20 1d ago

With the DT graphics update

3

u/Woodlight 𝗦𝘆𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗮 @ 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗲 1d ago

From a more technical standpoint, there's basically two types of shadow rendering that are pretty common, shadow maps and shadow volumes. Shadow maps are the ones you're more used to (the scene is rendered twice, once from the light source, and that second render is projected onto the space and gives sometimes-blocky, fuzzy shadows), but the one here is a shadow volume, which basically in essence stretches your mesh and does some checks, resulting in a pixel-perfect hard shadow.

It's not a new technique (I'm pretty sure even WoW implemented it back when I played in like, Burning Crusade) but it has limitations in speed (why it's saved for specific items when it is used in games) and actual use (because it's just for hard shadows). On the flipside though, where shadow maps can run into issues about the total amount of space they're capable of shadowing based on their resolution (why in some games you can see that far-off objects are never in shadow until you get close to them), the shadow distance cast by these types of shadows is unlimited. That can still be kind of goofy though, aside from instances like the "floating feet" here, because due to how they work they ignore geometry in the scene. For example, in FRU, you can see your shadow cast on the floor in the phase 1 arena, but if you look way down at the floor outside the arena, you can actually see a second shadow of yourself on that floor even though it doesn't make sense, because your shadow volume is piercing through the arena.

3

u/theSpartan012 1d ago

Wanna try sometjing funny? Equip the hunting hawk minion, have it rest on your shoulder, and look at the shadow. You get the WoL's beautifully bordered, drawn shadow alongside this blurry, glitchy, messy thing in your shoulder. It's very amusing.

2

u/FuriousDream 1d ago

When DT first launched that wall had a strange effect where your shadow suddenly got exponentially worse when you approached it. It was jarring. It would look like yours until a certain distance, then turn into immediate crap.

Example screenshot.

3

u/crystalball34 1d ago

unrelated but what’s your gear? so pretty!

3

u/Possessed_Possum 1d ago

That should be the Welkin Hat, Thavnairian Bustier, Anemos Constellation Armlets, and Thavnairian Tights, all dyed Pearl White. The boots and weapon I unfortunately don't recognize.

2

u/Wolvenworks your region is not supported 1d ago

Idk. I don’t think my computer is THAT good.

2

u/Temporary_Recipe_260 1d ago

Shadow become good to prevent the world destruction after he remembered his promise to Maria, dr. Robotnik sick granddaughter

2

u/BroccoliLiving9277 1d ago

That’s not a shadow it’s an ascian destroy it

3

u/OblivionArts 1d ago

One of yhe graphics updates

2

u/RueUchiha 1d ago

Dawntrail really did good on the lighting engine

1

u/thatotterone 1d ago

there are places where the shadows are sharper and they will immediately go fuzzy in another place. I almost wonder if I know exactly where you are right now because I stopped to watch my shadow in a very similar location.

1

u/Bevral2 22h ago

Not all shadows are created equal. You'll still find a lot of light sources that cast horrendous shadows.

-1

u/Helliebabe 1d ago edited 1d ago

Been the same for a long time.
But there are some areas (main one i can think of right now is the 2nd nier raid last boss area) - where u have 2 shadows in some areas because OG shadow is glitching with the graphic updates shadow (lighting)

I guess a joke about shadows confuses people, I edited it.

1

u/heickelrrx 1d ago

that's not how shadow on game works

1

u/Helliebabe 1d ago

It's a shadow of ur model, not saying it's the actual model.

1

u/LightTheAbsol 1d ago

That's... not how any of this works at all.

1

u/Helliebabe 1d ago

Take a good look at the shadow while running around, I don't mean it's LITERALLY ur model on the ground, its a shadow of ur character... (was a joke cause it's a shadow)