[Danukem]

Here is a video I made showing some dynamic lighting using Polymer, the new renderer for EDuke32 being programmed by Plagman. For the video, I made Ruins.map very dark and gave the player some flares that act as dynamic lights. I also placed some colored fireflies in a few places. I did this using an unreleased test build of EDuke32, and my Duke Plus mod with mostly the original 8-bit art. As you can see, the lighting works quite well, even without the HRP!

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=LZJE9paygY0

Don't ask me why I didn't see the shotgun lying on the ground.

EDIT: And keep in mind this is just a very early attempt using an unfinished version of the renderer with a few simple CON code hacks to add lights. I didn't even use the spot lights that cast shadows.


EDIT2: Some people have asked me how to place dynamic lights in maps. I will explain how it currently works in test builds of EDuke32 using polymer (note: this has almost nothing to do with the lights in the movie above)

There are currently two types of lights: point lights and spot lights. A point light emits light uniformly in all directions, and does not cast shadows. A spot light emits light in a certain direction and does cast shadows. Both can be placed in maps via SECTOREFFECTOR (SE) sprites.

PLACING POLYMER LIGHTS IN MAPSTER

SE 49 = point light
A SECTOREFFECTOR with lotag 49 is a point light.
HITAG = light distance
The HITAG of the SE is the maximum distance, in build units, that the light will travel. Note that it is impossible to enter a number higher than 65535.
XVEL/YVEL/ZVEL = RGB values
To edit these, press F8 on the SE in 2D mode, then select them and type in numbers. Numbers should be in the range 0-255
TRANSPARENCY = priority
a solid sprite is a high priority light, press T once (33% transparency) for lower priority, again (66%) for lowest priority

SE 50 = spot light
light distance, color and priority are as above
ANGLE = LIGHT ANGLE (duh)
SHADE = width
shade values are between -127 and 127, each gives a different width....experiment
EXTRA = horiz (up/down angle)
set EXTRA by pressing 'M on the sprite. 100 is straight ahead, higher positive values angle up, and values lower than 100 (including negative values) angle the light down.

Currently, there is no way to make blinking lights or other lighting effects (the flickering lights in the movie were accomplished with CON code that constantly changes the HITAG of SEs). I plan to add more lighting effects in Duke Plus, if this isn't done in the source code.

[Mblackwell]

Yes it really does. The fun thing about Polymer is that any object can be made to spawn certain colored lights, so for example previously a mapper would have had to do a lot of work to make a nice red glow on the walls around an EXIT sign, if they even thought of it. Now it can be done automatically. And even small lights add a lot to the mood and detail of levels. So it's quite easily to have something that feels like classic Duke, yet somehow more "full".

[TerminX]

Yeah, Polymer really looks good no matter how you're using it, whether it's with a map made to be incredibly dark and lit only by dynamic lighting, or a classic shade based map with dynamic lights thrown on top.

Btw, that video was cool. Who was the background music by?

[Reaper_Man]

This is extremely impressive! I can't wait to play around with this. Great work.

[Danukem]

TX, on May 7 2009, 01:15 PM, said:

Btw, that video was cool. Who was the background music by?

Erotomania by Dream Theater: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-MoL1ON2hM...feature=related

[KillerBudgie]

TX, on May 7 2009, 09:15 PM, said:

Yeah, Polymer really looks good no matter how you're using it, whether it's with a map made to be incredibly dark and lit only by dynamic lighting, or a classic shade based map with dynamic lights thrown on top.

Btw, that video was cool. Who was the background music by?

Yeah, I thought that video clip was good as well. Can't wait for the new renderer!

[SkullHacker]

Nice way to brighten a dark day a little. It surely improves the mood of the map. Looking forward to toying around with it.

[ReaperMan]

I can't wait for this to come out

[johndough]

This renderer got me thinking.
If 3DR doesn't make DNF, what if the fans tried to?

[The Commander]

Polymer IS the new DNF.

[Alan]

Polymer is the sex. If only I had the power to run it...

[Parkar]

Here are a few more Polymer shots with some dynamic shadows in action.

http://img4.imagesha...?g=duke0044.jpg

[Reaper_Man]

Now THAT is impressive.

[William Gee]

Awesome shots awesome vid too. Love how the glow bugs have a light.

[Alan]

I'd like to see your crystal cave map in Polymer, WG. <3

[Jimmy]

I think this is pretty awesome. As with anything, it probably wont always be used the best way possible, but there is definitely some cool stuff here. I really like the way it looks in 8-bit, too. Im kind of anxious to toy with it, but my computer doesnt support shaders (yeah, it sucks, I know.) Would the renderer still load and just not render any lights? (Half Life 2 does this for example)

[Sobek]

As I mentioned on the video, I LOVE it. I can think of some truly devious 'survival horror' type scenarios that the dynamic lighting could play into quite nicely.

On a side note, this is just the most bizarre exodus ever.

[zchri9]

Polymer looks fantastic, Ive had a bit of a play around with it.
You defiantly need a modern system to run this.

[Tea Monster]

I am slightly worried about Polymer. If its really requiring a fat rig to get anything out of it now when its just running a lot of 64x64 textures, then whats it going to be like when we load it up with next-gen game assets?

[The Commander]

Tea Monster, on May 8 2009, 05:35 PM, said:

I am slightly worried about Polymer. If its really requiring a fat rig to get anything out of it now when its just running a lot of 64x64 textures, then whats it going to be like when we load it up with next-gen game assets?

It doesn't require a fat rig, people just seem to think this because they still use 10 year old computers and refuse to upgrade.

[Reaper_Man]

It looks like Parkar was running it with HRP at 81 FTP. Parkar, what's your system specs?

I imagine most people are going to have to sadly upgrade from their Pentium II's and such, but it's probably time to get a modern PC.

EDIT
Commander beat me to the joke.

[TerminX]

Tea Monster, on May 7 2009, 10:35 PM, said:

I am slightly worried about Polymer. If its really requiring a fat rig to get anything out of it now when its just running a lot of 64x64 textures, then whats it going to be like when we load it up with next-gen game assets?

It hasn't been optimized or anything yet. Don't worry!

[zchri9]

Im running a fairly old rig at the moment and polymer doesnt like it.. Runs very slow.

AMD Athlon 64bit @ 2.2GHZ
1.5GB DDR2
60GB IDE HDD
DVD burner (broken, only reads dvd) (doesnt read cd's or burn dvd's)

Screen - Asus VW192T (19" 16:10 LCD screen) @ 1440x900

In about a month Ill have this PC along with (parts may change)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHZ (May OC to 3ghz)
Asus P5Q motherboard
4GB OCZ Vista Upgrade Edition (800MHZ)
640GB Western Digital Caviar Black
Antec 300 Case
Gigabyte GTX260+
Corsair HX-520 520Watt PSU

[Danukem]

Tea Monster, on May 7 2009, 10:35 PM, said:

I am slightly worried about Polymer. If its really requiring a fat rig to get anything out of it now when its just running a lot of 64x64 textures, then whats it going to be like when we load it up with next-gen game assets?

I used 8-bit for the movie for two reasons. One, it actually looked just as good in 8-bit, at least in that map, especially when you consider that it gets compressed down to a lower resolution for YouTube anyway. Two, recording with fraps is a huge drag on my framerate, and with the extra load of the hrp it would not have been worth it.

The fact that my rig, which is just an average computer, can record at a decent framerate using polymer, which hasn't even been optimized yet, is good news.

[Parkar]

msleeper, on May 8 2009, 07:59 AM, said:

It looks like Parkar was running it with HRP at 81 FTP. Parkar, what's your system specs?

I imagine most people are going to have to sadly upgrade from their Pentium II's and such, but it's probably time to get a modern PC.

EDIT
Commander beat me to the joke.

An i7 at 2.6ghz 6gb of RAM and an 8800gt. At the moment it's quiet demanding but as TerminX said there is optimizations to do. It's still quiet uncommon that it goes under 30 fps with the settings in the shots posted though.

[Plagman]

Nice video. Did you hardcode these lights in the source code?

[diehard]

Awesome vid! nice choice of music ..with the classic DT!

[Sangman]

I've been thinking of getting an all-new PC soon-ish. Until then I'll have to stick with Polymost. (I think my PC downstairs can run Polymer but I don't really find that to be a comfortable place)

Let's be careful with statements like "Polymer will make Duke3D look like DNF". From what I've seen the lighting effects are nice but it can not be compared to any of those DNF shots..

[Danukem]

Plagman, on May 8 2009, 11:14 AM, said:

Nice video. Did you hardcode these lights in the source code?

Nah, the lights were added by CON code. The actors spawn and control light producing SEs.

[Jimmy]

I don't refuse to upgrade my PC, its just that I'm poor and its impossible to afford it at the moment.