Gameplay and video settings

[saamohod]

Any player who is not completely new to PR and BF, or actually any FPS, will admit that graphic settings can dramatically affect gameplay. This time I mean inverse correlation, i.e. worse graphics may lead to better, advantageous gameplay. One single, but maybe a prominent example, is grass texture. The grass may altogether disappear or be drawn only short distance from the first person view on low settings. This gives a definite advantage to a player with inferior video settings, since he will notice his enemy lying in the grass while being unnoticed in the same grass (his enemy has high video setting and grass is drawn to far distance).
Can anyone comment on that? Which graphic setting can be deemed standard or "honest" in online servers?

[Nixy23]

I knew this to be an issue back in the days of Counter Strike (1.5 and 1.6) where inferior color depth settings (16 vs 32bit) would allow you to see through smoke grenades. I've not really noticed the same in PR though. I don't actually know if the render distance for grass and a player are different. I think they are on the same scale.

As for density? Yeah, that might be an issue. It would be easier to see through a few specs of grass than through a proper tall-grass field. I however do not think there's -that- much difference between the quality settings.

I play on the maxed out settings (even 8x AA) and I often see enemies faster than clanmates that play on an old computer with medium/low settings.

[Sgt. Mahi]

My thoughts about stuff like that is that nobody want to play on lower settings if they can escape it. Especially in a game with such an old engine as BF2's. Putting settings on low in PR/BF2 looks horrible... It makes my brain hurt.

[CelticSon]

i can play bf2 with max settings but most of my PR settings are lowered to medium. but not to pawn everyone, just because of this simple reason: its the one and only way i can play PR without CTDs.

six years ago, as i started with bf2 i got an old ati 9600. this card was not able to draw dynamic lights correctly which brought the effect that every interior of buildings was illuminated like bright daylight. that was a great advantage for me and worked like a cheat.

i think this topic is an important one if PR is on the ESL ladder, but in a free public game i wish everyone this setting he wants, even if he gets some advantages against me, its just a game for fun not for competition.

[saamohod]

I don't actually know if the render distance for grass and a player are different. I think they are on the same scale.

I guess I didn't explain myself properly. I'll try to put it differently.
If you are on low settings in PR, and the map terrain has grass (like Qwai River), then the grass will be rendered only a short radius from the point you are standing, just a few meters away actually. Beyond that radius there will be no grass at all. (Please note that I don't mean view distance. View distance is the only thing that is 100%. The rest of the video settings are low.)
Now your opponent has high video settings. He sees the grass much further. And if you both happen to be lying in the grass he will not see you, since your body appears to him to be covered with grass, while you will see him. With your low settings he will appear to be lying on bare ground, no grass around him.
I hope you understand what I meant.

[Blexie]

The only 'honest' setting is the best your computer can handle.

The higher you turn it up, the more realistic and accurate it becomes, to the limits of the BF2 engine.

[Arnoldio]

Actually it comes to my mind that grass draw distance and stuff like that should be the same for everybody, just the texture resolution would be worse on lower settings. So everybody has same survivability chance, it just looks worse.

Some options would be taken out from the menu, but hey, PR is moving on, so should you.