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*** Vendetta 1.8.317
*** Vendetta 1.8.317
- Very "beta" prototype implementation of Shadows, for DirectX 11 only (OpenGL will require some changes and will come later). Contains numerous known artifacts, bugs and things that need tweaking. Made available as a demo-prototype only, to let people see something we have cooking.
To disable shadows if the framerate is too low, type "/set rdoshadows 0" (without quotes) in the console or chat.
For those interested in rendering tech, this is a test using cascaded variance shadow maps, and is not necessarily the final algorithm we may choose (and even if we did choose to use this, there would be many tweaks and fixes). We're in an R&D phase on much of this rendering technology.
- Very "beta" prototype implementation of Shadows, for DirectX 11 only (OpenGL will require some changes and will come later). Contains numerous known artifacts, bugs and things that need tweaking. Made available as a demo-prototype only, to let people see something we have cooking.
To disable shadows if the framerate is too low, type "/set rdoshadows 0" (without quotes) in the console or chat.
For those interested in rendering tech, this is a test using cascaded variance shadow maps, and is not necessarily the final algorithm we may choose (and even if we did choose to use this, there would be many tweaks and fixes). We're in an R&D phase on much of this rendering technology.
So us shady types will finally be able to lurk in the shadows.
+yay :D
+yay :D
So, a couple of things:
- The shadows are too dark. They were supposed to be clamped at a higher brightness, but Ray had it commented out for testing and then accidentally released it as-is. So, they're SUPER BLACK right now, until we update that. Technically speaking (in terms of pure space realism), the degree dynamic range is probably "true" to a lot of cases that don't have nearby objects re-reflecting light (and contributing to a certain degree of global illumination). But, anyway, I feel the shadows look at lot better clamped to a minimum of about 15% over "zero". They look more like shadows, and less like mysterious black.. blankets on the asteroids.
- The shadow edges are supposed to be blurred (not really "softened", but rather it reduces the visible aliasing from the limited shadow-map resolution). For whatever reason, Ray released it with the blur barely enabled. You can change this with "/set rblurshadow 0" to disable, or any other number to increase the edge blur. Ray has it set to 1. I think it looks better around 3 or 4. The higher the number, the more the shadow map is being blurred, so it has a framerate impact. Over 5 and it will start to really slow things down, and doesn't necessarily look better (much more blobby). I think 10 cuts my framerate in half on my AMD 7970.
There's also lots of other issues.. like flickering distant shadows, or the cascades not matching up properly, and so on. But that's all developmental. The above things were supposed to be one way, and were not shipped that way, so I'm posting the heads-up.
- The shadows are too dark. They were supposed to be clamped at a higher brightness, but Ray had it commented out for testing and then accidentally released it as-is. So, they're SUPER BLACK right now, until we update that. Technically speaking (in terms of pure space realism), the degree dynamic range is probably "true" to a lot of cases that don't have nearby objects re-reflecting light (and contributing to a certain degree of global illumination). But, anyway, I feel the shadows look at lot better clamped to a minimum of about 15% over "zero". They look more like shadows, and less like mysterious black.. blankets on the asteroids.
- The shadow edges are supposed to be blurred (not really "softened", but rather it reduces the visible aliasing from the limited shadow-map resolution). For whatever reason, Ray released it with the blur barely enabled. You can change this with "/set rblurshadow 0" to disable, or any other number to increase the edge blur. Ray has it set to 1. I think it looks better around 3 or 4. The higher the number, the more the shadow map is being blurred, so it has a framerate impact. Over 5 and it will start to really slow things down, and doesn't necessarily look better (much more blobby). I think 10 cuts my framerate in half on my AMD 7970.
There's also lots of other issues.. like flickering distant shadows, or the cascades not matching up properly, and so on. But that's all developmental. The above things were supposed to be one way, and were not shipped that way, so I'm posting the heads-up.
Awesome! How about some Wintendo users post pics for the rest of us to see? :)
They also have no mechanics impact, like ship occlusion or anything, right?
Awesome! Here's a quick and crappy video of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC71UKwZBN4
Edit: And another with shadowy roids looking pretty weird https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6LMYgWZZb0
Edit: And another with shadowy roids looking pretty weird https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6LMYgWZZb0
Yeah, unfortunately we have like waaay better shadows all of a few hours later. Soo much better. Ray totally changed the way the cascades work, and fixed a ton of the problems with them (and also properly clamped the brightness).
But we aren't going to release them until Weds, to hopefully include some other stuff (the release process soaks up a lot of time). If we're super lucky, perhaps also screen space ambient occlusion. Not sure though.
They also have no mechanics impact, like ship occlusion or anything, right?
Humm, well, objects are shadowed, whether it's your ship or whatever else. So, I mean, someone could "hide" in the shadows for a slight improvement in visual notice-ability, but relative to radar and all that I don't think it makes much of a difference. Plus dynamic lighting on ship engines would probably make someone more noticeable in a shadow area (greater contrast), so it would end up being a wash.
I don't really see this being a big gameplay impact, other than people's framerates dropping a lot, heh. And, FYI, we have a lot of optimizations still to do on all of this, just a first-generation prototype implementation, so it may still get quite a bit faster.
Oh, also: Current production shadows look horrifyingly bad in the fog. We know. It's using the wrong cascade level.. super low-res, we'll fix it. Ironic, since the clipping plane is so much closer in fog, that if anything we can make shadows look much better there, but that wasn't how the bug happened.
But we aren't going to release them until Weds, to hopefully include some other stuff (the release process soaks up a lot of time). If we're super lucky, perhaps also screen space ambient occlusion. Not sure though.
They also have no mechanics impact, like ship occlusion or anything, right?
Humm, well, objects are shadowed, whether it's your ship or whatever else. So, I mean, someone could "hide" in the shadows for a slight improvement in visual notice-ability, but relative to radar and all that I don't think it makes much of a difference. Plus dynamic lighting on ship engines would probably make someone more noticeable in a shadow area (greater contrast), so it would end up being a wash.
I don't really see this being a big gameplay impact, other than people's framerates dropping a lot, heh. And, FYI, we have a lot of optimizations still to do on all of this, just a first-generation prototype implementation, so it may still get quite a bit faster.
Oh, also: Current production shadows look horrifyingly bad in the fog. We know. It's using the wrong cascade level.. super low-res, we'll fix it. Ironic, since the clipping plane is so much closer in fog, that if anything we can make shadows look much better there, but that wasn't how the bug happened.
Hmmm. I'm going to have to figure out how to kill my current box so my wife will let me get a modern pc that handles all the new pretties.
The best option will be a desktop with a videocard that sounds like a jet engine when loaded. One of those things with huge fans that costs as much as the rest of the system. Or, if you get a laptop, one with a serious discrete GPU. There is no integrated video that won't suck with these new graphics (it may "support" DX11 or something, but it'll still be slow. This includes Intel "Iris" and newest-generation integrated stuff).
Wouldn't shadows in foggy sectors be less visible or at least very diffuse if you were going for "realism"?
@Inc: Yeah, these AMD APUs (A6-3400m) are having fits with the shadows prototype (as expected) and it becomes noticeably worse when "/set rblurshadow #" is not 0. But I can't complain, the DX11 driver works noticeably better even when in close visual proximity to textures. Also, Full Scene Glow Effect has a noticeable impact with DX11 in regards to frame rates. Excellent visual progress even if my hardware can only provide it in slideshow fashion.
Wouldn't shadows in foggy sectors be less visible or at least very diffuse if you were going for "realism"?
Yes, they will be. But that hasn't been written yet.
Excellent visual progress even if my hardware can only provide it in slideshow fashion.
Glad you like it! It is definitely a big framerate impact, but we still have a lot of optimization left to do. I'm pretty excited for the sort of visual environments we'll get to create.
Also, to those who have been tinkering with the "rblurshadow" numbers, be aware that the next release (coming later "today"), uses a 5-tap filter instead of a 3-tap, so basically your numbers are going to change (what was an rblur of "3" will become an rblur of "1", so higher numbers will be drastically slower). FYI.
Yes, they will be. But that hasn't been written yet.
Excellent visual progress even if my hardware can only provide it in slideshow fashion.
Glad you like it! It is definitely a big framerate impact, but we still have a lot of optimization left to do. I'm pretty excited for the sort of visual environments we'll get to create.
Also, to those who have been tinkering with the "rblurshadow" numbers, be aware that the next release (coming later "today"), uses a 5-tap filter instead of a 3-tap, so basically your numbers are going to change (what was an rblur of "3" will become an rblur of "1", so higher numbers will be drastically slower). FYI.
How many more graphical improvement features do you need before Steam release is happening?
"Just flood it with players. What could possibly go wrong?"
Well the game is designed to be filled with way more players than there are anyway, and it's fun when things go wrong!