Shadows of Doubt graphics and controller settings

We’re having a look at the Shadows of Doubt graphics and controller settings. With these, you’ll know what to tweak and what to leave.

The Early Access for Shadows of Doubt has been released and it is all already being tipped as one of the top indie games of the year. Whether you’ve got your copy yet or not, it’s a good idea to get a sense of the kind of settings the game gives you control over.

This can be especially important for controller compatibility, as there are many PC gamers out there who exclusively use a controller or gamepad. The good news for them is that controllers are supported. The developer also confirmed in an FAQ that ‘improvements will be made throughout Early Access’.

This will also be music to many gamers’ ears, with several complaining that controller use has been poorly implemented.

The graphics of this game are definitely one of its strong points, though the catch is they may be contributing to the poor performance many gamers are experiencing. Knowing more about the graphics settings can help you know which ones to dial up and down to balance graphic quality and game performance. Let’s get into what we know so far.

Best Shaodws of Doubt graphics settings

There aren’t actually many graphic settings available in Shadows of Doubt. Whether the amount of customizability changes with the full release remains to be seen. Gamers would certainly appreciate the ability to lower the graphics settings, considering the number of users reporting fluctuating and low frame rates.

For example, you cannot disable ray tracing, and the game has a lot of it. This is part of what makes it so graphically impressive but also definitely a large part of what is limiting players’ frame rates. There are some things you can alter such as resolution and texture quality. The higher these settings are the higher quality the graphics will be, but also the more strain that will be placed on your system.

One novel way a Steam gamer recommended to improve performance was simply to turn off some of the lights within the gameplay itself. It makes sense that this would improve the frame rate as the computer has fewer light sources to keep track of. Besides forking out for one of the best GPUs for ray tracing this might be the simplest way to access higher frame rates.

Controller settings for Shadows of Doubt

It seems like you need to start using the keyboard and mouse in order to navigate to the menu where you can change over to controller settings.

Even then the default controller inputs bring with them their own issues. The evidence board is a headache to navigate, and some people are reporting being unable to pass the first lock-picking tutorial without being forced to switch back to the keyboard and mouse.

Remember, though, that this is an early access game, and the devs seem committed to fully integrating controller settings from the fully released game, so hopefully these issues will be eventually rectified.

It is also possible to rebind the settings yourself, and there are also some community settings available. While we haven’t had a chance to try these out for ourselves yet, the reports we are seeing online are that these make playing the game on a controller much more feasible.

Should you use a keyboard and mouse or controller for Shadows of Doubt?

If you are happy using either keyboard and mouse or controller, it seems that the game is much better optimised for keyboard and mouse. This might change when the game is fully released, but considering that altering and exploring the evidence board is a key aspect of the gameplay, it seems likely that using the mouse will remain more intuitive.

That said if you do want to play on a controller, this will only become simpler as time goes on. The developers have committed to making the game fully compatible with the controller. While the default settings have some issues for now, it seems likely they will be tweaked and improved for the full release.

Because this game is single-player and relies more on logic than precise movements, its worth keeping in mind that you won’t benefit so much from the best pro controllers or from the best gaming keyboards too.

Frequently asked questions

Can you remap Shadows of Doubt controller settings?

Yes, you are able to fully remap the controller settings for Shadows of Doubt, you can also use some tried and tested community settings.

Does Shadows of Doubt have ray tracing?

Yes, there is full raytracing in Shadows of Doubt and it looks brilliant.