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Devil Shadow System

Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Programming/Devil Shadow System

Subirenihil(Posted 2007) [#1]
Why can't I hide entities when I'm using the Devil Shadow System?


DareDevil(Posted 2007) [#2]
the entity comes automatically qualified from the motor of the shadows, would have to insert a flag in the object in order to hide in way permanete the object and to create one small function of for this ;)

you ask support DevilChild


bytecode77(Posted 2007) [#3]
hi
sorry, thats one of my tiny dis-compatible bugs.
i guess you have to use entityalpha ..., 0 yet *sorry*
and deleteshadowcaster()


Boiled Sweets(Posted 2007) [#4]
Does my gfx card have to support bump mapping for this engine?


bytecode77(Posted 2007) [#5]
yes.
but cards which are supporting stencil buffers are supporting bump mapping.


Stevie G(Posted 2007) [#6]
Not true ... my card supports both yet continues to fail due to your use of bumpmapping.

Stevie.


Mikele(Posted 2007) [#7]
On my notebook Ati x700 bump mapping (DSS 1.2) works fine but on my gf6600 not.


bytecode77(Posted 2007) [#8]
i dont know if it is your graphics card or the dx7 wrapper of tom. i think some problems could be caused by toms dx7 wrapper (i dont know)

if you have these problems, just comment everything out which contains words like 'enbm' or 'bump'.
there are only a few lines...


Subirenihil(Posted 2007) [#9]
But then when I want to show the entity again it doesn't have shadows. :(

What I want to do is if the entity is far enough off screen it is ignored by the shadow system (so it doesn't bother even building the shadow volumes). When I have 1000+ entities with 400+ polys each (50 entities is about the max I expect to be on screen at once), I don't want a shadow mesh to be updated for every single one of them.


Subirenihil(Posted 2007) [#10]
I have successfully allowed a shadow to be turned on and off without erasing the shadow data (does NOT turn the entity on and off - use "EntityAlpha". By not automatically using "EntityAlpha" it allows you to do some LOD stuff a.k.a. not having entities more than a certain distance from the camera casting shadows but still have the entity visible). The way I did it bypasses the shadowvolume creation, thus saving processing time and not drawing the shadow.

I added these two commands to "DevilShadowSystem.bb"
Function HideShadowMesh(ent)
	For etem.ETE_Mesh=Each ETE_Mesh
		If etem\ent=ent Then etem\hidden=True
	Next
End Function

Function ShowShadowMesh(ent)
	For etem.ETE_Mesh=Each ETE_Mesh
		If etem\ent=ent Then etem\hidden=False
	Next
End Function

Added the field "hidden" to the ETE_Mesh type in "ShadowVolumes.bb"
Type ETE_Mesh
	Field ent,hidden
	Field cnt_tris, tri.ETE_Triangle[ETE_MaxTriang]
End Type

And added a IF/Then to the "UpdateVolumes" function in "ShadowVolumes.bb"
Function UpdateVolumes(light, parallel = False, top_caps = True)
light_x# = EntityX(light, True) * (1 + parallel * 1000000)
light_y# = EntityY(light, True) * (1 + parallel * 1000000)
light_z# = EntityZ(light, True) * (1 + parallel * 1000000)
For etem.ETE_Mesh = Each ETE_Mesh
	If etem\hidden=False;					<---Added "If" here
		cnt_tris = etem\cnt_tris
		For v = 0 To cnt_tris
			etet.ETE_Triangle = etem\tri[v]
			
			...
			
		Next
	EndIf;							<---And "EndIf" here
Next
End Function


Please verify that my modifications don't cause problems (I don't seem to have any).


bytecode77(Posted 2007) [#11]
verified :)
in my eula is a special permission for mods ;)
cya


Carrot(Posted 2007) [#12]
Hi all,
I've been trying to incorporate the shadow system into our WIP game (Gizmo) and I've been getting strange problems.
The demos work fine, but when I try the same simple tests in Gizmo, the results look like they've been 'turned-inside-out'!
It's a z-buffering problem by the looks of it, with faces further away appearing in front of those closer to the camera. Any idea what could be going wrong?
Thanks.


bytecode77(Posted 2007) [#13]
i know those problems form the dss 0.6 version. the 1.35 update should not do this. please send me a screenshot with the error :)


Dock(Posted 2007) [#14]
Out of interest, is it yet possible to have a shadow caster without self shadowing?


bytecode77(Posted 2007) [#15]
no. except if you make it bright using the 1 flag


Dock(Posted 2007) [#16]
Thanks a lot for the reply.
Sorry for all the questions.

Is it possible to have a low-poly model for shadow casting only, and not be visible? For example, a low poly human would cast a shadow on the environment, whilst a normally lit human would walk around in the same position.


bytecode77(Posted 2007) [#17]
i dont think so. i would implement a lot more features if there wouldnt be that many limitations by blitz...


Dreamora(Posted 2007) [#18]
Just to mention GF6600 and GF6800 have a hardware restriction: non square non power of 2 textures will fail

Perhaps thats a reason its going wrong on that end ...


Nikko(Posted 2007) [#19]
your 2 demos are doing an amazing "memory error"...just let you know about it


bytecode77(Posted 2007) [#20]
well, there is no bugfix without a bug! you may turn your debugger on and see what line tells you an error.