dynamic shadows only on objects you can manipulate

[Apos]

Sure, there's tons. The most important one to me any way though is the one where projected shadows overlap and double dark. It all look pretty darn good if they could fix that.

 

[Apos]

Have to say, too, that the lighting in Theif3 really is quite good. You can tell that the environments suffer in complexity because of it (basically the problem with the method is that too many pointy things and polies multiply the drain of the lighting engine exponentially) But it makes for some pretty visuals.

 

[denlife7]

agreed.

I dloaded the demo the other day, and being an old Thief fan, I was very pleased to see that they have maintained that 'Thief feel', and I thought the shadows etc was great (so much better than DX:IW... have you played the full Thief3?

 

[Apos]

Just the demo. DeusEx2 had exactly the same lighting system, but the characters seemed less detailed, and they didn't really use the lighting system to good effect. The textures in this aren't all that detailed, but Garret's face and hands look pretty good. Definately looks to be a better game than DeusEx2 tho. I might pick it up, tho I need to save my cash.

 

[Camajlen]

Anyway, Thief 3 doesn't have soft shadows, right? I think that's a feature that looks very nice in, for example, source! =)

 

[Runteh]

Can you lot see the error in the topic of this thread?

dynamic shadows only on objects you can manipulate

What would be the point in having non dynamic shadows on objects that don't move?

wait...

I know what you come back is going to be, "but what about walls". Yeah, but if they can explode, they still move, or can be manipulated.

 

[Crusader]

Yes, shadows are too sharply defined in Doom 3 and Thief. It looks weird. Not as weird as shadows shadowing through other objects, but still weird

 

[Crusader]

Kinda the only real reason is so you can have swinging lights, and bsp brushes could then have their shadows casted by the swinging light realistically. I don't see much use for it other than this, but I would like to hear if anyone knows anything about this in greater detail.

Edit: meh double post..urgs

 

[Rupertvdb]

In FC when you twat one of those neon lights and they swing wildly throwing light everywhere...is that dynamic?

If so i got bored of it after being really impressed at first, i have liked what i ahve seen of the lighting in HL2.

 

[wayne white]

maybe this can help:according to gamespy ,the journalist that played the demo of vampire:the masquerade (which uses the same engine)said that the lightning and physics looks like no other game he has seen before,and my guess is they`ve seen doom3

 

[Apos]

Now, where is that pesky Rouge Shadow, he needs his comeupance.

In FC when you twat one of those neon lights and they swing wildly throwing light everywhere...is that dynamic?

Yes.

Anyway, Thief 3 doesn't have soft shadows, right? I think that's a feature that looks very nice in, for example, source! =)

I'm not sure, actually, Some shadows do seem to fade with distance and look soft, but most are hard. Though some shadows _should_ be somewhat hard, really.

 

[Sorze]

I'm not sure, actually, Some shadows do seem to fade with distance and look soft, but most are hard. Though some shadows _should_ be somewhat hard, really.

I've noticed the fading in Thief3 too, but I think it's just a matter of fading the shadow as the distance increases, not the actual edges of the shadow...

I can´t wait to get my hands on source though, I´m dying to take it for spin by now..

 

[Rupertvdb]

ah excellent, i thought that effect in FC was good but wasn't worth my computer dying when it saw it, spec : Geforce 2 P3 550 and 312 meg of ram.

I liked what i saw in HL2 with the awesome light effect on the people moving around, e.g. that awesome combine walking down the corridor bit.

 

[RogueShadow]

Now, where is that pesky Rouge Shadow, he needs his comeupance.

It's Rogue Shadow, and why do I deserve punishment?

I'm still confident Doom3 is unique. Even if the technology isnt' unique, it will do it in a unique way. And better than everyone else.

 

[Apos]

It's Rogue Shadow, and why do I deserve punishment?

Cus you claimed Theif3 didn't have direct lighting like Doom3 and said I didn't know what I was talking about. What I've seen of Theif3 shows that it can do everything that we see in Doom3 screenshots and from what's in the alpha, which shows the basic method. In fact, it also has a nice bloom effect and this pretty cool soft "moonlight" effect that's cast out of some windows and shades the characters.

I'm still confident Doom3 is unique. Even if the technology isnt' unique, it will do it in a unique way. And better than everyone else.

Everyone will do it in some unique way with minor variations, but the basic method is the same in both games. Personally, I don't see much of a visual difference between the shadowing effects in both games. I'm sure Doom3 will be a great engine in its own, but it's pure speculation at this point to guess what might make it different from other direct lighting games. The point is that Doom3's lighting method is neither unique nor obscure.

Some developers are jumping to direct lighting early (before hardware is widespread to do more complex and full-featured lighting simulations in real time the same way that engines like Unreal 3 are going for) because they believe that their game types can trade off complex environments for a neat visual feature that fits their gameplay. And that's probably a good choice given the game types they are after. But it isn't the only choice, and there is no "best" choice for all games to get the max visual quality out of the sort of environments they want to create.