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HDR for Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:59 pm
by Strudders
Hey All -

I bring to all HDR (High Dynamic Range) for Rail Simulator!!! HDR will allow Rail Simulator to more accuatly recreate the high contrast lighting conditions seen in the real world.

Requirments:
Technically as I understand if u can play Rail Simulator you can render HDR,.. HDR is a shadermodel 1.0 effect and RS uses shadermodel 1.0. However that said I would recommend a fairly new GPU for this (Geforce6, ATi x800 or Better) somthing with a bit of grunt! :)

Notes:
I am anticipating that initially there is going to be quite a few people who may not be able to get this to work straight away, but time will tell on this.

Download:
http://www.railsimdepot.com/HDR/


Here's a few screenshots;
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Enjoy! And Have A Good Xmas All!

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:01 pm
by drwho200
Looks great! As long as our GPUs can handle it.

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:11 pm
by TheTazman
two words: holy :bad-words: lol

If you wish please feel free to PM me and i will gladly upload some full size screenshots to my server for you.

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:15 pm
by drwho200
I have just thought: have you contacted RSDL? I'm sure this would make a superb update :D Also, I would like to offer my route as a testing ground for this. I have a brand new version on the way in time for 2009 and if I could include HDR it would make it just that little bit special.

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:18 pm
by TheTazman
I would also like to ask would users be able to manipulate the glare to suit their desired requirements?

Edit:

Wonder if lightening effects are also possible?

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:27 pm
by Darpor
Especially liking the XC Voyager with the glare!!!!!

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:29 pm
by Strudders
drwho200 wrote:I have just thought: have you contacted RSDL? I'm sure this would make a superb update :D Also, I would like to offer my route as a testing ground for this. I have a brand new version on the way in time for 2009 and if I could include HDR it would make it just that little bit special.
No I've not contact RSDL, I dont think its really my place to. As I said the most of the work rewriting the directx dll to make this happen was done for a different game all together,.. All i've litrally done is . it into working with RS and getting the HDR and bloom curves just right :)
drwho200 wrote:Looks great! As long as our GPUs can handle it.
If your computer can play RS with DirectX 8...basicly any gfx card that has been bought in the last 5years can technically do Bloom and HDR. As for performance I've got a GeForce 8800GTX running at 3280x1024(tripplehead) and I took about a 10fps hit... still very playable at 30-40fps
TheTazman wrote:I would also like to ask would users be able to manipulate the glare to suit their desired requirements?
Yes, a simple text config file is used :)

as a side note also.. motion blur and a simple depth of field maybe possable.. but early tests I've done on this was a bit hit and miss...

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:47 pm
by drwho200
Ah so it's from a different game. So it doesn't mean we have to distribute HDR versions? People just install as another layer.

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 11:10 pm
by Strudders
drwho200 wrote:Ah so it's from a different game. So it doesn't mean we have to distribute HDR versions? People just install as another layer.
Yeah, it was a adaptation for another game that HDR was added after release by a 3rd party. No addional work is required by any add-on developers,..and is backward compatible with any previous version of RS and should be compatible with future versions of RS as long as they dont update the DirectX DLL of course :)

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 11:50 pm
by overmarze
Was there a reason that we dont know about why RDSL didnt apply this to the finial build of RS?

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:17 am
by simuk
overmarze wrote:Was there a reason that we dont know about why RDSL didnt apply this to the finial build of RS?
Maybe because it wasn't part of the product specifcations to have it?

Like it wasn't part of the product specifications to have a chalk outline effect or a black and white sketch effect...?

Looks interesting though and something I'll definitely check out - would be interesting to see some night shots to see how the signal glow looks. I presume this can/does make the signal lights show a bit brighter too, like it does for the sun haze?

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:08 am
by drwho200
Yeah it would do which would be good. This looks quite good. I wonder if anyone from RSDL will reply with the possibility of including HDR in another update? :lol:

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:37 am
by pendolinofan
Signal glow would really make it for me. I can see myself now, coasting down Freshfield Bank on Dave's Bluebell route with a late night train, leaning out of the cab and seeing the Sheffield Park outer home looming up ahead :D

Hows that for atmosphere? :)

Adam

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:56 am
by smarty2
Looks fantastic, looking forward to trying it out, those screenies look beautiful.

Cheers & merry xmas

Mart

Re: HDR coming to Rail Simulator!!!

Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 11:42 am
by Strudders
There is signal glow... but its very minimal... I may fiddle with the signal textures to make them brighter and a more pronounced glow but for now I'll leave it alone and just worry about getting it out the door.