The "Wow, look at the scenery" Since the draw distance was increased thread

[Twitcheetwitch]

Wandering around Galtrev for the first time in a long time, and in one direction I can see all the way to the Falcon Clan's enclosure with the snowy mountains beyond. In the other direction, both the Gondorian ruins and Ost Dunhoth are clearly visible, when they weren't the last time I played a character in this area. On the one hand it's great to see distant sights, but on the other hand it does betray just how small some of the maps are.

Anyone else noticing sights that weren't all that visible before?

[Hurin]

One suspects that they read this, and then one dev turns to the other and says. . .

"did you increase the maximum draw distance?"

"No. Did you?"

. . . and then they both shrug in unison.

[Nosdracir]

My 5 year old video card recently died a slow and painful blue screen death. I replaced it with one that is cheaper but more powerful than the original (the base PC is still running fine and has plenty of horsepower for LOTRO).

Wow!

This is my third PC in the years I've played, but the new card that supports DX11 and higher graphics options really makes the scenery "pop", especially in Gondor.

[farmhand99]

Agreed a new video card on the right settings will make one's mouth drop in awe. I know when I fine tuned mine settings it did.

[LethalLethality]

Aside from the 2D paper trees, looking at a distance is nice. Would be nice if I could set trees to appear even farther away. I hate seeing bald plains and hills in the distance.

[FyreBrand]

I got a new system over Christmas holiday with a GTX970 in it. The draw distances, water, and entire game look incredible.

[Cambruin]

standing on the Trestlespan not too long ago, I could see the gates of Fornost and beyond.

[Arbor]

One suspects that they read this, and then one dev turns to the other and says. . .

"did you increase the maximum draw distance?"

"No. Did you?"

. . . and then they both shrug in unison.

Nope, this was done on purpose. One of our world devs increased the draw distance in Eriador, Lothlorien, Southern Mirkwood, and the Great River (Moria, Rohan, and Gondor weren't touched). He did a fantastic job, though it introduced some unintended bugs that were mostly caught, save for some such as the "missing" Floid and Dewitt in The Pristine Glade

[robbie1435]

but the new card that supports DX11 and higher graphics options really makes the scenery "pop", especially in Gondor.

I can't use dx11 because it crashes me, like many others...

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

Nope, this was done on purpose. One of our world devs increased the draw distance in Eriador, Lothlorien, Southern Mirkwood, and the Great River (Moria, Rohan, and Gondor weren't touched). He did a fantastic job, though it introduced some unintended bugs that were mostly caught, save for some such as the "missing" Floid and Dewitt in The Pristine Glade

I'm glad for these changes, but have the pixelated trees been fixed? I specifically remember this problem on medium graphics around the Haunted Inn in Mirkwood, and on the far side of Chetwood, on the north-east side of the Midgewater Marshes.

[beorf]

Nope, this was done on purpose. One of our world devs increased the draw distance in Eriador, Lothlorien, Southern Mirkwood, and the Great River (Moria, Rohan, and Gondor weren't touched). He did a fantastic job, though it introduced some unintended bugs that were mostly caught, save for some such as the "missing" Floid and Dewitt in The Pristine Glade

Wow, well done!! I can finally see the Last Homely House from the Gates of Imladris. (I always thought that iconic "reveal" was somewhat disappointing.)
Bree looks great from Dead Man's Perch, and almost the whole of the Shire is laid out before you from the hill overlooking Tom Cotton's farm.

Time for some more sightseeing....

[Beastnas]

Other MMOs may have prettier particle effects or more elaborate character models, but I think LOTRO still wins out with it's landscape graphics. It really gives a sense of vastness to the world you don't often see in virtual places.

[Wolfhelm]

Other MMOs may have prettier particle effects or more elaborate character models, but I think LOTRO still wins out with it's landscape graphics. It really gives a sense of vastness to the world you don't often see in virtual places.

Agree 100%. The character models definitely look dated (they didn't look too flash at launch to be honest), but the landscapes are still spectacular. The game is over eight years old now, and nothing I've seen in an MMO can touch it for beautiful scenery.

[auximenes]

Turbine's landscape teams over the years have always been top-notch, for all of their games.

[Celebrawn]

Time to go exploring again. I already noticed you can see Annuminas from Tinnundir, instead of just bare hills. I've always wanted to see that. And if you climb up to the secret place in Emyn Lum, you can see the silhouette of Dol Guldur from there.
How long ago did this increase happen?

[Unthariel]

This is just amazing. I was always so annoyed that I cannot see Annuminas from Tinnudir and generally entering places with great view wasn't that great at all, because you could see only bare land and some foliage imposters. But now its just amazing, almost perfect. There are still some places that are not visible as they should, but generally increasement is amazing. Great reason for everyone to start with new character form the beginning and explore this great, and now even greater world again.

[Valamar]

Nope, this was done on purpose. One of our world devs increased the draw distance in Eriador, Lothlorien, Southern Mirkwood, and the Great River (Moria, Rohan, and Gondor weren't touched). He did a fantastic job, though it introduced some unintended bugs that were mostly caught, save for some such as the "missing" Floid and Dewitt in The Pristine Glade

This definitely is obvious with OpenGL on the Mac Client!

[PerfectApproach]

I'm glad for these changes, but have the pixelated trees been fixed? I specifically remember this problem on medium graphics around the Haunted Inn in Mirkwood, and on the far side of Chetwood, on the north-east side of the Midgewater Marshes.

Pixelated trees is an option you can disable. If you do, you get, well, nothing. Personally, I prefer extremely low-resolution versions of the stuff I'm supposed to see in the distance rather than seeing nothing in the distance. Seeing nothing gives me the impression that I'm running towards a clearing that I'll never reach. At least with the pixelated placeholders, the environment looks suitably "cluttered".

[cdq1958]

I'm glad for these changes, but have the pixelated trees been fixed? I specifically remember this problem on medium graphics around the Haunted Inn in Mirkwood, and on the far side of Chetwood, on the north-east side of the Midgewater Marshes.

Ah, yes, a level of detail manager bug. That one's really tricky. I've not seen that one recently. The last time that I did see it prompted an immediate bug report.

[Unthariel]

Pixelated trees is an option you can disable. If you do, you get, well, nothing. Personally, I prefer extremely low-resolution versions of the stuff I'm supposed to see in the distance rather than seeing nothing in the distance. Seeing nothing gives me the impression that I'm running towards a clearing that I'll never reach. At least with the pixelated placeholders, the environment looks suitably "cluttered".

Exactly. Enabling distant imposters will make you see pixelated trees sometimes, but generally it is required to make game world realistic. I would love to see high quality imposters options or something like that, because pixelated trees are quite a big problem in places like Chetwood, Fangorn, Great River, Lothlorien, generally almost everywhere.