2160p and shadows on player character and NPCs

[icannotaim]

Hi,

 

First post here.  I have moved to a 4096 x 2160p display and I cannot find the settings/conditions to eliminate black / unrealistic shadows on player character (PC) or NPCs.  Using MO2 and only a couple mods for testing purposes (two of which have NO impact on graphics: USSEP and Alternate Start).  The third is tempered skin for males (which I toggle on/off to see if graphic settings change the results).  No ENB was used and no other mods.  Skyrim Special Edition (current: [sSE 1.5.97.0]). 

 

GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2080Ti

 

I have tried all these (and may other settings) based on the STEP wiki that says this would eliminate shadows in SkyrimPrefs.ini:

bDrawLandShadows=0
bDeferredShadows=0
bShadowsOnGrass=0
bTreesReceiveShadows=0
fShadowDistance=0
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=0
iShadowMapResolution=1

In the attached cropped screen shots you can see the darker regions in the PC.  At 1080p the shadows are not distracting.  Similar results occur using the vanilla bodies as well, albeit they are less distracting (see the cropped vanilla 2160p image ... focus on shadows under arms and on spine).  CBBE textures have the same distracting black shadows.  I tried various surface normal installation options where I could find them (CBBE) and all have this problem.

 

I verified in-game values at the console using getini that the values were read in correctly.

 

I have explored the limits (min, max) of all the INI variables that are related to shadows according to the guide.  In addition, changing fFirstSliceDistance (Skyrim.ini) and fShadowBiasScale (SkyrimPrefs.ini) didn't solve this problem.  I am sorry that I don't have a copy of every setting I changed as I have spent a few days on this using the STEP and other guides and I have exhausted my patience at changing values etc.  I haven't found any indications of this anywhere on the internet, but I am not the best Googler, so this could be a well known problem.

 

I am using the NVIDIA settings recommended in Lexy's LOTD guide v5.  Note that using the ENB, settings and helper files from Lexy's guide did NOT change the results.  I haven't tried any other ENBs.  To reiterate, the results discussed above and the attached screenshots were done without any ENB.

 

I have no idea what to try next.  I am not a graphics expert, merely a skyrim junkie.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Cheers,

Aim

Edited February 17, 2020 by icannotaim

[icannotaim]

Hi,

 

So it is now resolved.  Made this change (along with the STEP bits above to remove the shadows) ... thanks to response on Reddit.

 

SkyrimPrefs.ini

 

[Display]

bSAOEnable=0

 

***

It was previously set to 1. Perhaps by the guide I was following that had BethIni set

 

6. Verify that Ambient Occlusion is set to Full.

 

was the cause, I am not sure.   Was only an issue at 2160p, not 1080p.  Note that I didn't check 1440p.  NVIDIA Control Panel doesn't support AO for Skyrim SE (Direct X version not supported).

 

Maybe this post will help someone else.

 

Final "fixed" screenshot attached.  Note that it had to be cropped significantly as my upload limit for this post was capping the file size.

Edited February 17, 2020 by icannotaim

[TechAngel85]

PC (player) shadows have always been bugged in Skyrim. I'm not sure if SE improved or fixed the issue, but they've always been blocky. I seem to remember something that improved this issue, but I could be thinking of another game too. DoubleYou would know best, probably. If he doesn't notice this post after a day or two, you might kinda post in his BethINI topic with a link back to this topic or PM him.

iblurreddeferredshadowmask (higher values should reduce blockiness of shadows...makes them softer...but I don't know if it'll work on the player)

[TechAngel85]

It's best to use a third party site use host your images and then just insert them into the post using the button on the editor. I use Postimg.

[renexing]

  On 2/17/2020 at 10:08 PM, icannotaim said:

Hi,

 

So it is now resolved.  Made this change (along with the STEP bits above to remove the shadows) ... thanks to response on Reddit.

 

SkyrimPrefs.ini

 

[Display]

bSAOEnable=0

 

***

It was previously set to 1. Perhaps by the guide I was following that had BethIni set

 

6. Verify that Ambient Occlusion is set to Full.

 

was the cause, I am not sure.   Was only an issue at 2160p, not 1080p.  Note that I didn't check 1440p.  NVIDIA Control Panel doesn't support AO for Skyrim SE (Direct X version not supported).

 

Maybe this post will help someone else.

 

Final "fixed" screenshot attached.  Note that it had to be cropped significantly as my upload limit for this post was capping the file size.

Thank you for your post, my ugly shadows are gone too :)

 

[Display]

bSAOEnable=0

 

That helped