rd-rend2 (old thread)

[Xycaleth]

So a tiny bit more progress today... I've removed all but one of the possible methods used for calculating diffuse/specular so there's less to maintain. The one remaining should be the same one used by UE4, but I still need to double check I haven't broken anything. This includes the image-based lighting which makes use of the cubemaps that I've mentioned in the past. Ghoul2 models weren't making use of the IBL, but now are. I'll try and get a new build for people to play with tomorrow.

 

As far as visuals go, it looks pretty much the same, so this is more of a code update than a visuals change  

[Guest KENNITHH]

Pitty that RCF isn't working on his SOF2 version for a while, I'm reall anctions to start using this, wondering how the weapons look and how my maps would look

 

Anyway, once again , keep up the good work, really liking that you guys are using modern things like Cryengine and UE4 features

[Xycaleth]

For those interested, I have an updated version of the rend2 DLL. Before downloading, please download and install the Visual Studio 2013 Redistributable from http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=40784. Select Download and then select the vcredist_x86.exe file to download. The rend2 DLL can be found here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/874909/rd-rend2_x86.zip

[Xycaleth]

Here's an interesting and useful read for artists interested in using rend2:

 

http://www.marmoset.co/toolbag/learn/pbr-practice

[DT.]

So I take it rend2 is going to have PBR?

 

 

Also, will we be able to use more triangles/verts with rend2 without the game bogging down/crashing or giving errors? Not sure exactly what would happen to base JKA if you put in the amount of detail in a scene that you could do in UDK.

[Boothand]

Using a misc_cubemap in my map, with cube mapping enabled in rend2, causes this to happen (with and without a specular stage):

 

[DT.]

This is so picture of the week, even if it's just cuz of that avatar.

[Xycaleth]

@@DT85: Yeah, aiming for PBR.

 

@@Boothand: Well that's interesting Where did you put the cubemap?

[Boothand]

@@DT85: Yeah, aiming for PBR.

 

@@Boothand: Well that's interesting Where did you put the cubemap?

 

Over the water surface, once right above, once higher up in the air. Might have been small differences, but same thing essentially happened. It's on dropbox if you wanna try.

[ensiform]

Also, will we be able to use more triangles/verts with rend2 without the game bogging down/crashing or giving errors? Not sure exactly what would happen to base JKA if you put in the amount of detail in a scene that you could do in UDK.

Thought this was already addressed; not likely to be raised.  I really don't see the point in comparing UDK to q3 engine regardless of advanced rendering.  The engine itself is still crusty.

[Xycaleth]

The renderer can still be improved to push more triangles though I'm not going to say a definite yes to increasing the limits cause of compatibility with base but I will look at improving the efficiency so huge maps won't bog down fps so much.

[DT.]

Yeah I was meaning the amount of detail in maps, not the limits placed on MD3/GLM.

[dvg94]

Using a misc_cubemap in my map, with cube mapping enabled in rend2, causes this to happen (with and without a specular stage):

 

 

I had that before I got the cubemaps working, I had to set r_basespecular to 0.4 (default) in order to fix it.

[Boothand]

I had that before I got the cubemaps working, I had to set r_basespecular to 0.4 (default) in order to fix it.

 

Mine was already set to 0.04 (assume you meant that). Are you sure you didn't do something else to fix it?

[eezstreet]

Curious...how many of these effects (specular mapping, bump mapping, etc) can be applied to already-existing maps without the need to recompile them? I figure cubemapping probably requires an -onlyents compile (if anything) but I could be wrong on that.

[ensiform]

The map limits are constrained by the compiler too.

[Xycaleth]

All of them can if you recreate the textures and write up appropriate mtr files (existing textures won't look as good as a lot of the detail is already in the image itself). And yeah, cube maps would be an ent only compile but on the client side, not the server side

[Xycaleth]

Some more progress:

 

[Boothand]

Cool. How did you fix it? Hmm it doesn't reflect in straight angles though, or how to put it, if you look at the right tree and statue.

[Xycaleth]

There's some problems with using cube maps when there's no light grid (the lack of shadow receiving and/or shadow casting surfaces prevents a light grid from being built by q3map2). I'm going to see what happens if I remove the _rs key but leave in the _cs key.

 

It won't always reflect perfectly because the cube map is placed at a single point above the water so it won't have all point of views to reflect from any angle.

[dvg94]

is the a specific reason why it doesn't work for SP yet?

[Raz0r]

Because it would have to be added to SP manually, duplicating a lot of code. There are still differences between the SP and MP renderers, so it's unlikely to appear in SP until their it's "completed" or the SP/MP renderers are merged.

[Archangel35757]

When will normal maps be completely implemented for Ghoul2 animated models in SP/MP engines???

[Xycaleth]

Normal maps should already be implemented on Ghoul2 models but I think DT said there were a few bugs. SP support is still a very long way off.

 

As an aside, features like normal mapping or specular mapping aren't added for specific models or model formats. They're generic rendering techniques that, once implemented, apply to anything that you can see. If it's not working in some cases then it's a bug unless stated otherwise.

[Archangel35757]

Normal maps should already be implemented on Ghoul2 models but I think DT said there were a few bugs. SP support is still a very long way off…

So normal maps are working for animated Ghoul2 creature/player models? @@DT85 -- can you provide a quick rundown on what the bugs/issues are?

 

…As an aside, features like normal mapping or specular mapping aren't added for specific models or model formats. They're generic rendering techniques that, once implemented, apply to anything that you can see. If it's not working in some cases then it's a bug unless stated otherwise.

@@Xycaleth -- I disagree… normal and specular maps (textures) are unique to a creature/character/vehicle model. The normal/specular maps must be created for each Ghoul2 character skin. Perhaps you're talking about the rendering engine that uses those unique texture maps.