DbD's Graphics Settings are Outdated
DbD's graphics settings or, more accurately, lackthereof are outdated and need modernised.
This a problem that's been bothering me for a long time in DbD, but I don't feel like gets enough attention from the community. I understand why, given that there's a constant stream of more pressing issues (like Krasue's overpowered release or the Reverence Rift being empty), but I feel like with the "health" update underway, now is the time to bring this up.
Unlike every other game I play, DbD has no in-game options to adjust individual graphics settings like texture quality, post-processing effects, foliage, shadows, reflections, etc. The only way to adjust shadow quality, for example, is to change the overall graphics quality preset, which changes every other graphics setting too. Which is undesirable because not every graphic setting has an equal performance cost. The performance difference between high and low texture quality in games for me is usually very minimal, whereas something like shadows has a very steep performance cost.
With every new major update, DbD is getting harder to run for those of us on old hardware, and I think it would be enormously beneficial to the game's health for us to be able to independently adjust graphics settings to match the capability of our hardware.
Shadows, for example, are enormously taxing on resources in any game but are something I personally don't care about looking good. I'm very happy to have my shadows look blocky in exchange for smoother performance, but I have no way to adjust Shadow quality alone without also hurting texture quality, post-processing etc. too. This "all or nothing" approach to graphics is incredibly outdated. We're either forced to:
- Play the game on a higher preset but have it run poorly.
- Play the game on a lower preset and have EVERYTHING look atrocious instead of being able to just sacrifice the performance-intensive stuff like shadows.
DbD has no reasonable middle-ground options, and it's not acceptable for a live-service game in 2025. Especially considering that DbD is an Unreal Engine game, which means these options are baked into the engine. All they need to do is make them accessible from within the game's menus.
Comments
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Agreed, the graphics need a upgrade to look better
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More than anything, I want some kind of other AA option. The TAA in this game is incredibly ugly. It makes everything blurry and grainy, but if you disable it then everything looks incredibly jagged and plastic. I actually don't think I've seen worse TAA than in DbD.
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I feel like people would get very upset about these options, thinking they'd give you a huge advantage. 😭 But they're reasonable changes and I'd welcome them.
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My personal take on this is that it's not a competitive advantage if everyone has access to the same settings.
Some people might find it objectionable, but it's 2025. Not being able to indpendently lower my shadow quality is crazy 😭
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dbd2 for 10 year anniversary pls
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Manifesting rn 🕯️🙌
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Aside foliage settings, these all sound like welcome additions.
Shame BHVR instead opted to sacrifice things like the fog to make the game smoother.
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Aside foliage settings
Thought I'd clarify that I don't want the ability to be able to scale down foliage that serves a gameplay purpose (like bushes or whatever that Survivors can hide in). Just the extraneous stuff like the quality of leaves on trees on Greenville for example. They're way above the head and only serve as background decor. I don't think it would hurt to be able to reduce their quality.
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