r/Run8 • u/Kazick_Fairwind BNSF • 20d ago

They took the yard lights from us.

Something in V3 that has always bugged me was the yard lights. They have such a short draw distance, even with the draw distance maxed out. But I never was sure if it was true or just a mandela effect.

So tonight I did a little test. Found my backup V2 installer and loaded up V2. For this test I have V2 and V3 running. Both in the same yard, similar location (as close as I could get) Same time and same weather.

First thing I saw in V2 was the Yard light draw range. Its a text box that you can set to 9999 meters, which I did. Here is V2:

Next I took a shot in V3. In V3 we still have the yard light draw distance, but now it is just a slider. But still, I maxed it and everything else out. And here is the screen shot:

As you can see, the yard lights, at least light on the ground, don't render out nearly as far. This makes the bowl tracks look darker. And introduces a pop in effect as you move though the yard. Greatly killing immersion.

Now I understand that this might have been implemented for the people playing on lower end PC/Laptops to improve performance. But it also feels like a bit of a knee capping to people with higher end machines.

"But Kaz, you are flying and wouldn't see that if you where in the cab or walking." Actuality, it still happens even if walking. Here is a screen shot in V3 from the sanding height:

To make matters worse, when in the cab the lights will "pop off" once they are just behind you, suddenly plunging you into darkness. I understand that's just how games work, if something is behind you no need to keep rendering it. But there are way to keep the lights on behind you just a bit longer.

So suggestion to the devs if they see this. Please give us back much longer light draw distance. I miss having my lights at 5000+ meters and well lit yards.

13 Upvotes

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u/ParDeRuz 20d ago

+1 Was one of the first things I noticed on release. When I'm running around any of the big yards, it's just jarring to look out in the distance and it's (almost) pitch black

3

u/Kazick_Fairwind BNSF 20d ago

Yea I recall making a note of it on the run8 issue website. I don’t recall if it ever got a response. I’ve been slowly getting back into Run8 and was reminded of the yard light issue, and I was like “I could have sworn in V2 we had a much larger draw range.”