Rain, fog and Bloom: the lighting and weather changes in Forever’s beta notes

Forever’s changes to the look of Azeroth are meant to be small. In its What’s Next panel recap on 12 September, Blizzard gave three examples: rivers running through Elwynn Forest, mist on Darkshore’s waters, and moonlight breaking through Ashenvale’s trees. The recap says all of it keeps original Azeroth’s timeless art style.

The beta development notes then recorded how parts of that work changed during testing. These are changes reported by Blizzard staff in beta builds. We have not checked them in game, and the launch client may differ.

1 October: rain and shadows

The 1 October build notes list improved rain visibility as a bug fix. They do not say what exactly changed.

The same build removed the Ray Traced Shadows option. Blizzard says the setting will be re-added in a future update once its functionality is fixed. The notes give no date for that, so it is one to check in the graphics options at launch.

15 October: fog and Bloom

The notes posted on 15 October, Pacific time, include two lighting changes. The first fixes fog that was extra bright at lower shadow settings, which matters most to players running reduced graphics. The second turns the Lighting option for Bloom Intensity into a slider and moves it to the Advanced graphics section.

The thread’s opening post covers fog and water as well. It was created on 24 September and has been edited since, so these items cannot be dated to a particular build. It lists the removal of a setting that could switch fog off when it should not, and fixes for water and other display problems on Mac.

Weather inside a dungeon

One of the new dungeons builds weather into its encounter. Blizzard’s dungeon guide of 20 October says the open-air Drowned City, off the coast of Stranglethorn Vale, shifts around the group as mist and rain grow into a full storm ahead of the final encounter.

What to check at launch

These checks are ours, drawn from the notes above:

• Graphics options. See whether Ray Traced Shadows is back, and find the Bloom Intensity slider under Advanced.
• Low settings. If you run lower shadow settings, check whether the fog still looks too bright.
• Rain. Stand in a storm and judge its visibility for yourself.
• The three examples. Visit Elwynn’s rivers, Darkshore’s mist and Ashenvale by moonlight.
• The Drowned City. Watch the weather change as your group reaches the end.