Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback [Suggestion] "Fog of War"

I don't know if there are any plans to implement something like this, but here goes.

I'm on the lower end of PC specs; just above recommended.
This game on even just a few Medium settings taxes my rig pretty hard, and I think it's because the entire world essentially loads as far as the eye can see.
More detailed textures get drawn in the closer you get to them, but the bulk of the world, as it is, is always present whether the camera is remotely close to it or not.

Is there any plan (or is anyone planning a mod?) to give players the option to adjust draw distance, resembling the "fog of war" that was present in D:OS2?

I'm not going to be able to get a new computer or (even upgrades) within the foreseeable future due to my financial situation.
I'm really hoping that there is going to be something in the options to dramatically tone down just how far things are being rendered because it would improve my performance dramatically.
It's so mind-boggling to me to go from playing D:OS2 at Ultra with just the occasional spot of stutter (Blackpits, I'm looking at you) to a 20 FPS slideshow in busier areas in BG3.
Dropping the settings to their lowest essentially makes the world one bright blob of mismatched pixels. I don't need everything looking photorealistic, but I was hoping for better than a first-gen Playstation 1 game on Low.

And yes, I know that it's a new engine and this is likely just wishful thinking, but the leap between games feels massive to both my non-technical brain and my computer.

It would be a nice option to have, for sure.

It's just really disheartening to see how smoothly everything renders when I'm in an interior location like a dungeon or cave or whatnot, and then wander outside and grind to a halt because I'm being bombarded by an excess of well, world. It's likely not going to happen and I'm sure that a grand majority of people that are playing have awesome PCs, but I figured I'd take a stab in the dark and suggest it for the handful of us who love the game but are chugging along.

also for gaming perspective, just moving the camera to to see it all is not so fun as to go exploring, pillars of eternity does this, you'll never know what you'll find in next corner, and thats fun

Sometimes I'll move the camera to get an idea of the geography if the pathing gets a little complicated or confusing, but we spend a grand majority of our time with our focal point being on our characters.
I agree that the mystery is great, and that's just another reason that I'd love to see something like this implemented.

I don't understand why I need to see 40 miles into the distance. If it's for the sake of realism, ok I guess, but less than 1% of my gameplay is stopping and adjusting the camera to take in the sights.
Adding in this option with this (seemingly?) minor change would go a long way in reducing the severe impact on mid-to-low-end machines.
Everyone with great rigs could just keep the distance at high or toggled on without being impacted negatively.

+1

For me realism usually is more fun.

I agree with this but find myself being forced to move the camera separate to the character constantly because of the stupid angle. If they could allow us to pan the camera up like a normal person can see instead of being forced to see nothing higher than eye level, then I would love to have it permanently attached to the character.

I'd be fine with the camera essentially glued to my character, because it falls in line with my desire to only really have the immediate surrounding area that's relevant to my character visible.
I've seen just a handful of people mention how great the vistas are, so I'm convinced that most people aren't spending any significant amount of time just staring off miles into the distance for anything outside of screenshots.

Desperation bump for final attempt at visibility.

I agree , it's also not normal to be able to see everything behind closed doors .

I didn't realize how much of an issue I had with this until you mentioned it.
In general, it takes away the mystery. In the case of locked or sealed doors that require effort of some kind, being able to peek into the next room kills the danger and anticipation.
Even if you couldn't see who or what was in the room specifically, getting an idea of the layout and architecture kinda breaks the feeling of adventure and exploration.

Add this to the list of reasons why some type of fog of war or rendering distance slider or option would be great!

Agree with this 100%. If they are going for realism, then the fog of war is the way to go. Even in d&d pnp, your max field of vision to see any kind of detail is 100 ft. LOS is blocked, and how do you know that hill behind that cops of trees has a rock to hide behind? You won't know until you get there and see it. I understand that it is for tactical reasons, but again, you don't know what's behind that door until you open it. If there's a creature behind there trying to kill you, well then it's time to adjust tactics.

For the record, Tzelanit, I went out and bought a 1050ti just so I can play this game. I have to use custom graphics to play it, and not on ultra like I could with many other games. I see this happening more and more with developers. They want to make a phenomenal game with all the latest technology, but they don't consider that their average gamer doesn't have the most up to date rig, so they won't be able to enjoy it as much.

I will say BG3 is in early access, so I'm sure they are going to work on performance issues. Just need to be patient for the time being. Keep the faith my brother!!!

I understand that it's more on me as the consumer to ensure that I'm up-to-date with my hardware, but I bought the game specifically because I was somewhere between minimum specs and recommended specs. It's really disheartening that the definition of minimum specs in this case is "you can play it on meager settings that make it look like an early Playstation 1 game" when in every other case that I've seen, falling between those spec ranges just meant that it would look fine and perform well, just nowhere near as well as top-of-the-line hardware. I hate to keep using it as an example, but going from Ultra in DOS2 to barely above Low seems VERY off to me.

I'm trying to stay optimistic since we're in early access. I'm hoping that they implement a fog of war or rendering distance option, and if not, I'll just keep my fingers crossed that optimization over time smooths things out.

I'd like to not be able to see secret rooms behind walls I shouldn't be able to see.

Or explore the wilderness before I've actually been there.

I'm not sure how much of this is due to the early access build and how much of this is design intent.
I know that I was pretty disappointed the first time I got to the hag's cottage and turned my camera and was able to see what's going on with the fireplace.
I wouldn't have even thought to look for anything suspicious there when I first walked in.
I think that so much map exposure in both indoor and outdoor locations ruins a lot of the surprise and sense of discovery that those moments intend.

This is a good point too. I'd rather have some crazy monument or impressive land configuration come slowly into view and be revealed than be able to edge pan my screen around an entire map and just get a look at every single thing in the world. It really sucks the adventure out of the experience.

+1 for fog of war, not having this ruined my immersion at certain points of the EA. the world they created is really cool but it's giving away too much which reduces the sensation of exploration. so i would be okay with a toggle in options at least!

There is a pan/tether limit to how far you can scroll around. I don't think an actual fog of war is very fun to play personally. Navigation in top down games is irritating if it constantly blacks out, especially if I have already been in that area.
Additionally, there is a distance limit to drawing NPCs, so you can't see them if you, again pan too far away and try to look ahead.

What can be done to satisfy some of your concern is to reduce the tether so that the camera is more restrictive and reduce the draw distance. to keep "enemies" hidden.

On top of all that there is a line of sight check constantly being done, so this can be hooked into the draw npc function. If none of the players can "see" the target, then don't draw npc model on screen. In combat, on the other hand, some spells do not need LOS, so limiting the draw in combat would be...again...irritating and gameplay impacting.

The only point I agree with on this thread would be the fact that hidden rooms can be observed with the top down camera, giving away the secret sometimes. I am sure a draw function can be added to that to limit when it is visible.

Basically, there is a rift between tactical fighting players and rpg/exploration players. What we want in the game differs slightly. I want functionality, you want intrigue and limitations.

A majority of my concern is the impact on performance to have miles and miles of world drawn at all times.
And what I want is an option to limit that, which is a concept that people on this forum consistently fail to grasp.
A suggestion is generally a request for an addition or adjustment, not an attack on what's currently available. There are more than enough "tHiS dOeSn'T fEeL lIkE bAlDuR's GaTe" posts covering that angle.
I want everyone to be able to play their way (within the developer's vision and goals for their product, obviously.)

Agree, option is nice.




Your original post was simply about rendering slow downs based on hardware and options to reduce draw would be nice, but now you are worried about immersion.



Also worried about exploration here.



I am totally fine with that, but I wanted to further flesh out the opposing side of the conversation instead of it being rolled up inside a one sided conversation that started with performance and turned into immersion and exploration. I see reasons for both, but an option is the best solution. If it was a flat change to all users, the tether limits and draw distance I suggested would be a good compromise between the two parties and help with performance issues similar to yours.