TDM Engine Wishlist

[HMart]

2.07 has shadow maps but do we have a single transparent shadow casting entity to make use of it?

 

Imo you have plenty, they just don't cast shadows now or they are faked with projectors. Any texture with alpha will be a potential "transparent" shadow casting entity, for example trees canopies will be able to cast shadows on the floor, small bushes/plants has well, a grate texture in a flat plane will be able to cast shadows now with no need to use fake projectors or real geometry, etc.

Edited August 26, 2018 by HMart

[duzenko]

 

Imo you have plenty, they just don't cast shadows now or they are faked with projectors. Any texture with alpha will be a potential "transparent" shadow casting entity, for example trees canopies will be able to cast shadows on the floor, small bushes/plants has well, a grate texture in a flat plane will be able to cast shadows now with no need to use fake projectors or real geometry, etc.

Potentially yes, but currently?

[HMart]

Potentially yes, but currently?

 

Currently, using stencil shadows the only way for textures with transparent parts (alpha), to "cast" shadows, is to use shadow/light projectors, for that you need to create a extra texture that is meant to simulate the shadow that will be, projected, that is how those small rotating fans are made in Doom 3 for example, with shadow maps, you remove this extra steep, the shadow is automatically created for you, for everything.

 

Here is a example in fhdoom:

 

with stencil shadows

 

https://github.com/eXistence/fhDOOM/blob/master/doc/screenshots/shadowmapping1_off.jpg?raw=true

 

With shadow maps

 

https://github.com/eXistence/fhDOOM/blob/master/doc/screenshots/shadowmapping1_on.jpg?raw=true

Edited August 26, 2018 by HMart

[RPGista]

When I wrote my color grading shader the reference material I was using called for using 3D textures. I found code in TDM's source to support loading such images but no corresponding material keyword to invoke it. Having that keyword would have saved me a ton of time.

Would be fantastic to have your color grading program absorbed into the game somehow, and be something the player can choose in the settings to add flavour to their game (and mappers would be able to choose different ones as defaults for their missions).

 

In case someone didnt get to see the thread:

 

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/18972-color-grading-shader/?do=findComment&comment=408635

[peter_spy]

One thing that is probably being worked on already: the use of gradient textures, in both surface and light materials. Right now looks like as if TDM uses 16-bit images instead of 32-bit, and the usual methods of masking texture banding (like using noise) simply don't work.