[DX11] Help regarding Nvidia Profile Inspector (NPI)

[theclumsygeek]

I agree with that opinion. I think the NPI tweaks the masters here have come up with are far more superior than what we have in ATS Beta 1.38 at the moment.
I guess the only missing piece in my view is the SSAO. That part looks better with in-game settings for 1.38, in terms of shadows.
But I'm confident we'll find some way to beat that with NPI after a while lol.

[Sansemiano]

@Sansemiano - The mouse does lag a bit at 30 fps but then i'm driving, not playing clicking on the menu etc. At 60 fps it won't lag. But it sounds like your Tobii isn't providing a good stable input into the game? Does it have a smoothing setting in its software?

Hi JHTrucker, Don't think it has anything to do with Tobii. 30 fps is just too slow to present all those needed consecutive images in a fluid way, when panning. The Tobii device just commands the in-game camera. Anyway, there is no smoothing setting in the settings of Tobii.

[BenganJ]

@Russ469

Thanks for your opinion! There's no doubt about that NOTHING has happened to the main feature we use
NPI for in 1.38 version, the AA solution. What I 'm investigating now is if the new SSAO is anything worth
using and as it is a WIP I will give a report later.

@theclumsygeek

Hi mate! You say this, "... SSAO. That part looks better with in-game settings for 1.38, in terms of shadows.",
but never tell what the in-game settings were at the test moment. Inactivated NPI, maxed in-game instead?
And I assume you mean by "looks better" a comparison with the AO solution we have with NPI today, the FIFA14
one.

[Sansemiano]

I did one simple test: switch on SSAO to high with the NPI settings active. Saw no clear improvement. Only a FPS penalty.

The AA-cure the NPI-settings give is not given now by SCS in ATS 1.38.

[BenganJ]

@Sansemiano & All

Well, that is quite logical as you will then process the same Ambient Occlusion thing twice, hence FPS drop.
And mind you folks, NOTHING has been done in v1.38 to improve the in-game AA, so there's NO doubt from me,
that we will have to go on using NPI for that still. The BIG question now is if the implementation of the in-game
SSAO feature beats what we've already had for long now via NPI, the FIFA 14 kind of AO!

[black-coffee]

People might disagree with me, I think this SSAO is pointless on this 15 year old game engine, frankly at this point even SCS probably realize they are just putting lipstick on a pig... Unfortunately for them and us, they put all their eggs in one basket and tied their future to a outdated and backwards game engine.

[BenganJ]

@black-coffee

I agree with you! They are doing cosmetic surgery more or less. As long as we,
totally out side of SCS, can enhance the immersion of the game better than SCS,
it will be true!

[theclumsygeek]

@BenganJ yes, here's high level how the 2 different settings I tested were:

1. NPI - as in my screenshot a few posts up along with all other pre-reqs as guided by the first post. (2560x1440 resolution)
2. In-Game - de-activated NPI (removed amtrucks.exe from NPI profile), then in-game Ultra settings with 200% scaling, ultra SMAA, and high SSAO. (2560x1440 resolution)

In-game SSAO consistently shows better shadows in buildings/grass patches.

See my previous post comparing the 2 images.

Here's one more. I'll try to highlight the shadows from in-game that I find better (mostly in corners):
NPI SSAO:


In-Game SSAO:

[BenganJ]

@theclumsygeek

Correct me if I misinterpret you now, but this is what I suspected. There you compare two things that is impossible to combine.
If we can agree about the fact that we will NOT abandon the NPI scheme for AA, the only way to compare is these two situations.
1. All NPI settings activated, In-game SSAO Disabled! That's one image.
2. Deactivate ONLY AO in NPI and set SSAO to High in-game. That's the other image.
Now compare them.

You will NEVER be able to get Higher than 100% Scaling if you want proper AA. What we are curious about is if we should disable
NPI AO and use in-game SSAO or if we should keep our NPI AO and Disable in-game SSAO. The ONLY two alternatives I think.

TIPS: You have an easier way of disabling NPI totally, at least if you have exported your profile earlier. There's a button up there
saying, Restore current profile to NVIDIA defaults. That will reset everything and when you then want your NPI settings back, you
just import your previously exported profile again.

[Russ469]

@BenganJ

For me, the choice is simple and i have made it. I am sticking with the NPI. This is the only alternative for me. It makes both games look really good, and along with the secret stuff that JHTrucker has found, can be enhanced that little bit more. I fully intend to not abandon any part of the NPI.