Asteroids Suddenly Appear in field of view.

Hello, Bill!

Sorry to hear you're experiencing this issue. Thank you for the PDF and information. Would it please be possible to also provide a save file with reliable steps to easily reproduce this issue? I think it would be easier to see an example that you can provide? I'm finding it hard to reproduce myself without a clear file.

• You can access your save files by typing %appdata% into your Windows search bar and you will be redirected to the hidden Roaming folder. After that just follow: \Roaming\SpaceEngineers\Saves. There should be a folder with your SteamID and your saves.
• Please zip the file and attach it here. If you are having difficulty attaching files you can optionally use Google Drive. When sharing a google drive link please make sure it is set to be downloadable by anyone with the link.

Kind Regards

Laura, QA Department

1. Load file (in 3rd person view behind "Shutl")
2. Note: Asteroid visible near left, Planet visible left edge of frame, GPS marker at 10.03 km in center top
3. Turn off HUD
4. Note object faintly visible at marked location
5. Turn HUD on
6. Cntrl 1 # 5 (Fwd Camera)
7. Make sure camera is zoomed out and line up on GPS mark (10.03 km)
8. Turn off HUD
9. Note object visible at marked location
10. Begin zooming in slowly
11. Note that asteroid suddenly becomes visible
12. Zoom in all the way and you'll see object is attached to asteroid
13. F out of camera view and F out of cockpit.
14. Turn character to look at marked location and with HUD off note object is visible but not asteroid.
15. Switch to 3rd person view and note object is visible but asteroid is not.
16. In 1st or 3rd person fly towards GPS mark and note that asteroid suddenly becomes visible.

Planets/moons are displayed at very large distances (> 100 km) and presumably the is some type of optimization to reduce the burden on the view generation mechanism. Similarly objects built out of blocks are displayed at distances where due to their size they just become visible (e.g. 10 - 15 km). Asteroids are between objects and planets in size. Their albedo is such that when they are lit by the sun they are usually very bright. If in the sunlight, most should be visible at least the 20 km mark.

When travelling at 100 m/sec, I have had asteroids suddenly appear just a few km ahead of me. In a big ship they are hard to miss when that happens.

Granted there no doubt must be some type of optimization for the view generation mechanism to make them visible at that distance. The current method of displaying asteroids so distracting and annoying it affects the player's immersion in the game. I know that in reality they would not just suddenly appear that way.

Are they spawning or do they exist in the model and just not being displayed in a realistic way? Either way the mechanism needs to be adjusted so the appear at the physical limit of their visibility and like in reality become more detailed as the player gets closer. This is already done with objects, moons and planets ... what is so different with asteroids?

Regards,

WDL

See new comment added with steps and file

Regards,

WDL

On Mon, Nov 1, 2021 at 6:48 AM <support@keenswh.com> wrote:

Hello, Bill!

Thank you for the reproduction steps. Things don't appear to be happening like they are for you, however:

1. Note that asteroid suddenly becomes visible - No, this is visible straight away at the point of being zoomed out and does not suddenly pop in as is is already visible
2. Zoom in all the way and you'll see object is attached to asteroid - This I could already see from being zoomed out
3. F out of camera view and F out of cockpit.
4. Turn character to look at marked location and with HUD off note object is visible but not asteroid. - No, the object and asteroid are already visible
5. Switch to 3rd person view and note object is visible but asteroid is not. - Again, asteroid and object are visible
6. In 1st or 3rd person fly towards GPS mark and note that asteroid suddenly becomes visible. - And again, same as above

Could I ask what your graphical settings are?

Kind Regards

Laura, QA Department

Interesting

See attached file for screenshots showing settings and graphics capability of my machine.

I play other graphics intensive games like Elite Dangerous, Halo, Mechwarrior ... I usually max out the graphics settings and my system handles them smoothly. Space Engineers often stutters and hesitates with graphics intensive scene changes. Switching locations via Alt F10 Entity List also uses a tremendous amount of CPU % and there can be a considerable hesitation/wait time.

Regards,

Bill

Commented in system with requested info.

Regards,

WDL

On Tue, Nov 2, 2021 at 5:26 AM <support@keenswh.com> wrote:

See attached Files for details.

View Distance is 20 km for the test. See attached files for test results.

Bottom Line - Odd phenomena is gone as far as I can tell. All asteroids that are within visual range size are visible.

In my opinion, the the ultra setting just does not work right. There is more than a performance hit, the optimization that reduces the detail but allows the asteroid to be visible at larger distances is broken.

I can deal with playing with settings on "high".

I tested flying at 100 m/sec with view distance set at 20 km. Asteroids blinked into visibility but at around 20 km away so it was not so jarring. Visual field is much more realistic as quite a few asteroids are visible all around. Much of the stuttering is also gone.

Set view distance to 30 knm .... OMG the visual field is now speckled with asteroids. Now it looks like I'm in an asteroid field.

So there is the key. On a high performance rig put everything on "HIGH" and increase the view distance. Now the immersion is realistic.

My conclusion: "Ultra" settings are broken. "High" settings work fine. Visual field and immersion are enhanced by increasing the view distance base on rig capability.

Thanks for the help!!

Regards,

Bill

Hello, Bill!

Thank you for the information. I just want to double-check in more simple terms. Do you think that when you are in 'ultra' with the same view distance as in 'high' you are not getting the same amount of asteroids? I just want to make sure as there was a mention of both 30 and 20km just to rule out any confusion :)

Kind Regards

Laura, QA Department

Laura,

Please note I previously used the word "Ultra" for the maximum graphics settings. I should have used the word "Extreme".

========================

Ok, here are test results to show the answer to your question (see file for screen shots).

View distance 30km with graphics settings on high or extreme (where available).

The difference in the number of asteroids displayed is amazing. When the settings are "high", it does appear there is less detail on the asteroids viewed on camera when zoomed-in. The detail difference is big enough that I am not certain I am looking at the same asteroid, but I think this does answer your question.

Regards,

Bill

Laura,

Weird ... This issue has been present to some degree or other since I started playing (about 1200 game hours). I don't know any more than what I have conveyed to you.

Maybe we can try coming at this from a different direction. Within the process that determines when to display objects (built of blocks, asteroids, planets, etc.). In other words the process that uses settings like "view distance", "grass draw distance", "tree draw distance". What other settings affect this process. I'll see if any of them affect how objects display.

Regards,

WDL

Hello, Bill L,

I am sorry for the long wait. I tested the bug and I was able to reproduce the issue and I reported it into our internal system.

Thank you for your patience.

Kind regards,

Keen Software House: QA Department

Hello i have the smae issiue and its posible its coused by changing my GPU to AMD her are screen shots of extreme and high from same perspective same world