![[TS3] Shadow Extender](https://img5.samuzai.com/storage/9/fv/bu/ee0934-019e8305-14aa-729a-9f3d-3e8bbe03d45a.png)
[TS3] Shadow Extender
Added 2022-01-12 17:02:36 +0000 UTCOverview
This mod increases the draw distance of shadows and in addition improves the look of map view by making trees and other miscellaneous deco cast shadows, when they previously did not.
Pre-Requisites and Installation (Important)
Extract the attached .zip file into your (Sims 3 Installation Folder)/Game/Bin
Included is a "Presets" folder with configuration files I've made for different shadow map resolutions, such as 2k (2048), 4k (4096) and 8k (8192) resolution shadows. Also an "Unmodded" version that looks like unmodded TS3, in order to provide a base for your own customization.
You can of course use a preset that is meant for lower resolution shadows than you have in your game if you want the shadows to look higher resolution.
You can replace the "ShadowExtender.cfg" file in Game/Bin with any of these, and configure it further on your own if you wish.
If you don't know how to change shadow resolutions, SimsCommunity has an article on it. It's necessary to get this mod to look good.
Drawbacks
It's been reported that reflections and objects might appear lower quality with this mod enabled. If this happens to you, try opening your GraphicsRules.sgr with notepad, scrolling down to "option TreeQuality" and adjust the LODDistances to bigger numbers. This won't fix reflections, but it should help with object quality.
Comparison Shots using the 8k Preset and 8k Shadows
Before:
After:
Comments
Something I’ve noticed with this mod is that even with 8k shadows set in the graphics rules file, in-game they look super pixelated once this is enabled. :( doubling the shadow map size to 16k makes it a little better but anything beyond that number stops improving the shadow quality
Sam
2024-12-18 21:25:05 +0000 UTCWent back in game without both mods and the issue is vanilla, just never noticed it before. I think it has something to do with the ammount of windows in a room. good to know its not caused by either mod though! :)
Anime_Boom
2022-01-21 08:24:26 +0000 UTCThat seems to be a completely unrelated lightmap bug, I don't really see how shadow extender could cause that. I don't seem to be able to reproduce it at the moment.
Lazy Duchess
2022-01-20 16:42:17 +0000 UTCMight have found another bug with the shadow extender or it could be shader tweaks since i have them both installed - https://imgur.com/a/mrNN8wo This time its ambient light sources having issues, I feel like it could be shader tweaks but this only started to happen when I installed shadow extender.
Anime_Boom
2022-01-20 11:18:50 +0000 UTCThrough more testing I found that on other tries with the mod installed the issue might not be apearing anymore. If it was happening a simple restart of the game "could" resolve the issue from appearing. Edit: seems reflection cube maps are still low resolution but restarting might fix low poly models bug.
Anime_Boom
2022-01-14 04:14:10 +0000 UTCThank you for the tip!
Lazy Duchess
2022-01-14 01:48:25 +0000 UTCI have a "possible solution" you can try and see if it helps. It has to do with the LOD of plants BUT it interferes with the LOD of some objects in the game. Remember to Backup your Graphic rules before making any changes. Go to option TreeQuality and in Setting $VeryHigh change the value in quotes of the four lines to "6000, 6001, 6002, 6003". That should help. The counterpoint is that distant trees, because they are loaded, can look less pompous and natural. But you can check if it works for your problem and go back if you don't like the result
Boring Bones Tv
2022-01-13 23:04:56 +0000 UTCThank you for the feedback! That's unfortunate, I hadn't noticed these things happening. I'll see if there's anything I can do, hopefully it doesn't end up as a drawback we'll have to live with :/
Lazy Duchess
2022-01-13 18:14:23 +0000 UTCThanks for the release! After some testing I have noticed that Reflection maps in certain reflective objects with the shadows extender enabled are now really low resolution and pixelated and some in game objects have their lowest poly models loaded instead of mid range models ect. Apart from these the mod is fantastic especially in bridge port with the high rise shadows coming down onto the streets at further distances! :) Comparison Images of bugs here - https://imgur.com/a/ujnUOlf
Anime_Boom
2022-01-13 04:48:21 +0000 UTCBingo! I doubled the quality of the shadows in my graphic rules to 15,360 and now the shadows are back with impeccable quality! I tested as you suggested with the 4K file but I went back to 8K due to the fade distance of the shadows. Thank you very much for the feedback and congratulations for the work! I almost freaked out when I was told you made it available, I was talking about it in my video 3 minutes before I knew more or less! Congratulations!!
Boring Bones Tv
2022-01-12 20:15:05 +0000 UTCHi, thank you! Maybe the DistanceMin value in the cfg is still too low, try playing around with it, increasing it little by little. You might have to increase your graphics rules shadow res if it ends up looking too jagged that way.
Lazy Duchess
2022-01-12 19:41:52 +0000 UTCHi, this mod is amazing! However, I ran into an issue where my shadows from map view work fine, just like in the screenshots (tho I am using the 4k preset) it's just that the shadows seem to fade away when zoomed in as if I didn't install this?
Britney Lunar
2022-01-12 18:37:12 +0000 UTCHi! You can try the 4k preset, and also try playing around with the "DistanceMin" setting, having it too high can cause jagged edges. The shadows are inevitably going to look a little lower resolution with this mod, however.
Lazy Duchess
2022-01-12 18:09:34 +0000 UTCHow wonderful! It was live, I closed the game and installed the live modification to show the guys and I just LOVED the result!! I would just like to ask how to configure the shadow quality, I used 8K preset but my shadows are jagged, is this normal?
Boring Bones Tv
2022-01-12 18:03:37 +0000 UTCThe "after" pics look infinitely better! You said Early Access was going to be good, I wasn't expecting it to be this exciting! Downloading right away, so excited to test this in my game tonight. Thank you LD <3
NadineNB
2022-01-12 17:11:41 +0000 UTC
