I hate stencil shadow

[CaptainBazza]

Nice work, Sly, can't wait to hear the workaround. I, too, agree with the punters, the shadows don't do a lot for me they are done at the moment.

Cheers Bazza

[vlado960]

Hi Guys

I have a workaround for the stencil shadows.. that may be of interest to you
It is simple to implement and gives a consistent output.... I just need to do some more testing but results look promising.

Sly

I can't wait. I'd like to see and I hope that will be benefit from that. Can you say a little more about it, right now?

[keber]

I absolutely hate them, not just in Railsim but all games that use them.
Crytek's CryEngine uses a technique called Cascaded Shadow Maps (they dropped stencil shadows after FarCry).
In my opinion, if RS were to switch to using some kind of modern shadow map technique, that would totally transform the graphics side of the game (if done properly).

It would also substantially transform your wallet if you wanted to run RS with modern shadow map technique smooth. Stencil shadows are (if done properly) still quite easy regarding "system resources vs. realism" issue. CryEngine shadows are really much more realistic, but they kill your computer. Nowadays there is no computer enough powerful that would run RW satisfactory with CryEngine type of shadows.

[Dataman]

Nowadays there is no computer enough powerful that would run RW satisfactory with CryEngine type of shadows.

That might have been true two years ago but not now.
I have a GTX 280. The frame rate for RS jumps around, but is typically between 200 and 400.
That indicates to me that there is plenty of horsepower left in the graphics card to be doing more.

Furthermore, I have implemented my own version of Cascaded Shadow Maps (which is all Crysis is using) so I have a good feel for how much overhead they have (and you are right, they are not cheap).
The stencil shadows take care of older hardware, but what I am saying is, it would be nice to have an option for higher quality shadows for those of us with better hardware.

On DirectX 10 hardware, there are other types of shadow map methods that are less costly and might be more appropriate for RW (namely VSM) but I have not implemented these so can't comment.

[SaMa1]

What resolution are you using Dataman? I get 20-100fps in 1920x1200 with AA 4 under Windows 7 using HD 4890. Its interesting that FPS gets down in faster train driving speeds meaning data reading from HD is the bottleneck. People have many gigs of memory in their computers, perhaps bigger portion of routes could be loaded at once to stop the constant stuttering at higher speeds.

[Sly401]

I have posted an alternative method of using and applying Stencil Shadows in the Rolling Stock Forum.

Sly

[TheTazman]

Just looking at the pic of the 8f screenshot. How come that has no messed up shadows on it?

[vlado960]

Just looking at the pic of the 8f screenshot. How come that has no messed up shadows on it?

The image is too small and can't see anything.

[TheTazman]

Unforuntately due to a limitation of these forums i could not post it at full screen.

Its on this page http://www.railsimulator.com/en/downloa ... ots?page=2, top right corner.

Just looking at the pic of the 8f screenshot. How come that has no messed up shadows on it?

The image is too small and can't see anything.

[vlado960]

There is no stencil shadow. The shadow is turned off, I think.

[TheTazman]

I can only wish that we had this as an option. we only really need the shadow under the engine.

There is no stencil shadow. The shadow is turned off, I think.

[RSderek]

That shot was taken at about 6.30am
You can turn off the stencil shadows in the front end menu system high shadow detail off.

regards

Derek

[TheTazman]

Derek

Is there any way that these stencil shadows.... or what ever they are called to work better in the shadows? There are clearly some issues with them.

That shot was taken at about 6.30am
You can turn off the stencil shadows in the front end menu system high shadow detail off.

regards

Derek

[RSderek]

They are what they are for now until we dedicated code time on them.

Leave them on if you like them or turn them off if you don't.

regards

Derek

[vlado960]

...You can turn off the stencil shadows in the front end menu system high shadow detail off.

For me, a shadows are very important part of the realism of 3D world, and IMPO they should have been made in another way.