Post-Process Effect? - Guild Wars Forums

poasiods · May 24, 2008, 07:06 PM // 19:06

My Guild Wars sometimes achieves 60 fps but usually settles for 30 in missions or explorable areas. I was messing with my options little bit and found out that I can keep 60 fps constantly with all the highest graphic settings as long as I turned Post-Process Effects off.

I looked it up and saw that Post-Process Effects are what enables drunken effects to be shown, but I couldn't find much else.

Can someone tell me what I will be missing if I turned this off for everything I do?

Miska Bow · May 24, 2008, 07:27 PM // 19:27

Image-processing techniques can improve the quality and realism of a scene, as well as achieve some specific effects, such as scene-wide blurring. In Direct3D, image processing is usually performed as a postprocess after the rendering is completed. An application first renders its scene onto a texture, then processes the texture with a pixel shader to produce a different image with the enhancement or alteration. The use of pixel shaders makes this operation very efficient, so it can be performed in real time.

Postprocess effects can achieve interesting results particularly when a sequence of one or more postprocesses are applied to the original scene. Four such postprocess effects are included in this sample:

* Blur - Combine a pixel color with surrounding pixel colors to blur the focus.
* Bloom - Magnify bright spots in the image, as well as the area around the bright spots.
* Depth of Field - Blur a pixel based on the pixel's depth or z value. Pixels very far away or very close get blurred.
* Edge Glow - Use object normals to find an object's edge, and then use blur to help create a glow on the edges.

Taken from here

Edition: Thx for asking, you made me learn stuff

miskav · May 24, 2008, 07:39 PM // 19:39

For some people, Post process effects can also be painful to the eye, so if you have any complaints playing (And not 23 hours per day + 1 hour pee-break) Then you should try turning it off.

PRNG · May 24, 2008, 07:43 PM // 19:43

Miska Bow pretty much summed it up. In Guild Wars, the most noticeable effects (to me) are the glow effects (which also seems to wash out the colors a little bit) and a smoothing of edges (less jaggies).

I prefer it off since higher FPS is what I'm looking for, I don't notice the jaggies much anyway, and I like the more saturated colors vs glow.

miskav · May 24, 2008, 07:51 PM // 19:51

Also if you care, Post-Process animates the portals more in EoTn (and probably other places too, not sure).

Supervillain · May 24, 2008, 07:58 PM // 19:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by poasiods

My Guild Wars sometimes achieves 60 fps but usually settles for 30 in missions or explorable areas. I was messing with my options little bit and found out that I can keep 60 fps constantly with all the highest graphic settings as long as I turned Post-Process Effects off.

I looked it up and saw that Post-Process Effects are what enables drunken effects to be shown, but I couldn't find much else.

Can someone tell me what I will be missing if I turned this off for everything I do?

From what I read you are looking to find out why you are getting a max of 60 fps? If not, ignore this

The "Vertical Sync" option is what is making 60 fps the highest you can get not "Post-Process Effects".

As stated by Miska Bow, PPE increases the amount of bloom and lighting effects aswell adding the blurred effects such as Guild Wars version of being totally hammered. This option can have a great impact on your overall performance when playing most areas of Eye of the North or some high quality areas in the other campaigns due to lighting effects used. Note that you may need to enable some form of Anti Aliasing to remove any jagged edges PPE may add, even if its just 2x.

The PPE (post processing effects if you havent realised yet :P) I have described is from other games such as Half Life 2 (and its mods like CSS) and UT3, but I imagine it to work the same. To conclude, "Vertical Sync" is what is maxing your FPS at 60, disable this and your FPS will increase.

Now im off to crack the kettle on for a cuppa tea

Quick EDIT:
Just found this for you mate, may be of interest (didnt check if its outdated sorry).
http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6129...pe=tech&page=2
Its a guide to Guild Wars graphical settings (and other tabs above it for CPU and Memory etc), could be of use

Yeah noticed that now lol

must of been summet in my tea, anyways, more info never hurt anyone

miskav · May 24, 2008, 08:15 PM // 20:15

No supervillain, that's not what he asked =)
He asked how he could keep his fps from dropping to 30 and if Disabling PPE would help.

Which it does, turn it off and you'll have smoother gameplay :3.

Snograt · May 24, 2008, 08:21 PM // 20:21

Yeah, the OP was saying his FPS sometimes drops from 60 to 30. VSync will cap your FPS at 60 (or at whatever your monitor's native refresh rate is) - it won't stop it from dropping below that

poasiods · May 24, 2008, 10:13 PM // 22:13

Thanks for all the answers. I was actually planning on keep this off for good and wondering what graphical features I might be missing out by keeping this turned off. Looks like I won't be seeing too much of those fuzzy screen effects, drunken effects, and illuminated EotN portals.

Mercury Angel · May 24, 2008, 11:06 PM // 23:06

Nightfall brought with it poison/disease and death effects, and some unique animations for some of the dungeon trap effects (the madness darts I think?). If I remember correctly, they mainly just recolor the screen and make it blurry/shakey.

Tyla · May 25, 2008, 02:23 AM // 02:23

I have a question myself about this.

Does it effect the animations of skills, or anything that you should be taking notice of in PvP anyway, or just the extra things like portal animations, small effects such as being drunk and traps being set off?

Supervillain · May 25, 2008, 10:39 AM // 10:39

@ Tyla

You may see slight changes to the enviroments but nothing too fancy because they didnt make the PvP areas :O style xD.
I dont think skills are affected by PPE due to them having a set animation that isnt affected by lighting. Weapon spells and avatars may have a slight change, but I doubt it.

May 24, 2008, 07:06 PM // 19:06	#1
poasiods Krytan Explorer Join Date: Apr 2008 Profession: R/	Post-Process Effect? My Guild Wars sometimes achieves 60 fps but usually settles for 30 in missions or explorable areas. I was messing with my options little bit and found out that I can keep 60 fps constantly with all the highest graphic settings as long as I turned Post-Process Effects off. I looked it up and saw that Post-Process Effects are what enables drunken effects to be shown, but I couldn't find much else. Can someone tell me what I will be missing if I turned this off for everything I do?

May 24, 2008, 08:21 PM // 20:21	#8
Snograt rattus rattus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST Guild: [GURU]GW [wiki]GW2 Profession: R/	Yeah, the OP was saying his FPS sometimes drops from 60 to 30. VSync will cap your FPS at 60 (or at whatever your monitor's native refresh rate is) - it won't stop it from dropping below that __________________ Si non confectus, non reficiat

May 24, 2008, 11:06 PM // 23:06	#10
Mercury Angel Avatar of Gwen Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Wandering my own road.	Nightfall brought with it poison/disease and death effects, and some unique animations for some of the dungeon trap effects (the madness darts I think?). If I remember correctly, they mainly just recolor the screen and make it blurry/shakey. __________________ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...uting_projects Donate idle computer time.

May 24, 2008, 07:27 PM // 19:27	#2
Miska Bow Krytan Explorer Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: somewhere, Grinding some l33t titles Guild: Order of the Divine WoodChuck Profession: R/	Image-processing techniques can improve the quality and realism of a scene, as well as achieve some specific effects, such as scene-wide blurring. In Direct3D, image processing is usually performed as a postprocess after the rendering is completed. An application first renders its scene onto a texture, then processes the texture with a pixel shader to produce a different image with the enhancement or alteration. The use of pixel shaders makes this operation very efficient, so it can be performed in real time. Postprocess effects can achieve interesting results particularly when a sequence of one or more postprocesses are applied to the original scene. Four such postprocess effects are included in this sample: * Blur - Combine a pixel color with surrounding pixel colors to blur the focus. * Bloom - Magnify bright spots in the image, as well as the area around the bright spots. * Depth of Field - Blur a pixel based on the pixel's depth or z value. Pixels very far away or very close get blurred. * Edge Glow - Use object normals to find an object's edge, and then use blur to help create a glow on the edges. Taken from here Edition: Thx for asking, you made me learn stuff

May 24, 2008, 07:39 PM // 19:39	#3
miskav Jungle Guide Join Date: Jun 2005 Guild: None Profession: Mo/	For some people, Post process effects can also be painful to the eye, so if you have any complaints playing (And not 23 hours per day + 1 hour pee-break) Then you should try turning it off.

May 24, 2008, 07:43 PM // 19:43	#4
PRNG Academy Page Join Date: Oct 2007	Miska Bow pretty much summed it up. In Guild Wars, the most noticeable effects (to me) are the glow effects (which also seems to wash out the colors a little bit) and a smoothing of edges (less jaggies). I prefer it off since higher FPS is what I'm looking for, I don't notice the jaggies much anyway, and I like the more saturated colors vs glow.

May 24, 2008, 07:51 PM // 19:51	#5
miskav Jungle Guide Join Date: Jun 2005 Guild: None Profession: Mo/	Also if you care, Post-Process animates the portals more in EoTn (and probably other places too, not sure).

May 24, 2008, 08:15 PM // 20:15	#7
miskav Jungle Guide Join Date: Jun 2005 Guild: None Profession: Mo/	No supervillain, that's not what he asked =) He asked how he could keep his fps from dropping to 30 and if Disabling PPE would help. Which it does, turn it off and you'll have smoother gameplay :3.

May 24, 2008, 10:13 PM // 22:13	#9
poasiods Krytan Explorer Join Date: Apr 2008 Profession: R/	Thanks for all the answers. I was actually planning on keep this off for good and wondering what graphical features I might be missing out by keeping this turned off. Looks like I won't be seeing too much of those fuzzy screen effects, drunken effects, and illuminated EotN portals.

May 25, 2008, 02:23 AM // 02:23	#11
Tyla Emo Goth Italics Join Date: Sep 2006	I have a question myself about this. Does it effect the animations of skills, or anything that you should be taking notice of in PvP anyway, or just the extra things like portal animations, small effects such as being drunk and traps being set off?

May 25, 2008, 10:39 AM // 10:39	#12
Supervillain Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: England Guild: HML Profession: W/	@ Tyla You may see slight changes to the enviroments but nothing too fancy because they didnt make the PvP areas :O style xD. I dont think skills are affected by PPE due to them having a set animation that isnt affected by lighting. Weapon spells and avatars may have a slight change, but I doubt it.