Quote: Are there any other ways to achieve those fancy effects(including that style of lighting and shadows) without shaders?
1st off epic is working with future tech and cards we dont even
have avalble to us now
so they runnin alot more polys then we can
but if you take the cathredral shot 2nd pic
i think alot of that could be done in unreal 2(only some though)
lets disect
example
the building to the left that has the tree limbs casting
nice shadows on it
if that building was built with bsp unreal 2
and light placed right the shadow from the tree static
mesh would cast the shadow from the limbs the same way on that building
this kinda tech has been shown before around here
but notice tree is also getting shading as well
this wouldnt be possble with unreal 2 since the static mesh model
dont recieve shadow
i could keep going further but im sure you get it(only part possible)
point i make is even the basic shadin in these shots
are so far away for 3dgs
very talented like matt might be able to code it in
but what good is that really for a small indie game
when an indie game can use 2.0 or 3.0 shader model it will be years an years
down the road
latest steam report was geforce4 mx most popular card(it doesnt support shader!!)
if you expect to make a game with GS that needs 2.0 or 3.0 shader model
to look halfway current most likely that where all time will be spent(playing with shaders)
good lighting and shadow maps can make great lookin game
but models need to work with this
not just WED geometry
John made the lighting pack for torque working on 1999-2000
based engine
and he did it fast
i guess my complaint is and alway will be model lightin and shading
with this engine
it funny how ppl just dont seem to get this i just dont understand it
it is very very plain to see when plainin with it
plop a model in the lvel and watch it turn fully dark black
because there is a shadow on the floor under it
materials and dynamic lights could fix it
but oops only 8 dynamic light an so on an so
i hope i made my point im not trying to bash just trying to get things
lookin better without havin to shader everything
