The IC value represents the desired accuracy, which is inverse to how much the cache is used. When IC=100, you're saying you want 100% accuracy, which means 0% use of cached values. Lower values use the cache more, accepting less accuracy in exchange for greater speed.

When you lower the IC value, you're accepting huge inaccuracies, which predominantly express themselves as missing shadows in a lot of places. Which is another way to avoid shadows, right? So in a sense a very low IC does improve consistency, because it consistently fails to react to occlusion. This does not contradict anything I said, but does provide an alternative explanation to why you thought your results contradict what I said.

Basically you turn turn off small-scale occlusion when IC is set very low. If you elide all but the biggest and most obvious shadows, then yes it is very consistent. However, highly inaccurate.

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Renderosity forum reply notifications are wonky. If I read a follow-up in a thread, but I don't myself reply, then notifications no longer happen AT ALL on that thread. So if I seem to be ignoring a question, that's why. (Updated September 23, 2019)