Progress

[Cody]

Code: Select all

    float dp = abs(dot(nvEyeVector, vec3(0.0,0.0,1.0)));
    if (dp > 0.16) {
      newOpacity = min(1.0, pow(0.16/dp,2.0)) * quant;
    }
    else
    {
      newOpacity = pow(dp/0.16,5.0) * quant;
    }
    newOpacity *= 0.5;	// <--------- Add this line, adjust the number to your prefs
  }

  gl_FragColor = vec4(totalColor, newOpacity);
}

I presume this works okay with today's newer atmosphere shader, yes?

[another_commander]

It should work OK, just put the line multplying newOpacity with 0.5 just before the final gl_FragColor line and that should be all that's needed.

[Cody]

<nods> Thanks!

[another_commander]

In tomorrow's nightly, the limits for the SDL builds' screen resolution will be raised to 7680 x 4320. This will hopefully cover us nicely for 8K gaming, whenever it becomes a thing.

[Cody]

8K gaming? Crikey! <chortles>

[another_commander]

Hey, don't listen to me, listen to someone who actually did it.

[Cody]

Two Titan XPs and four 4K monitors? Good grief!

[spud42]

Two Titan XPs and four 4K monitors? Good grief!

but wait , there more...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Toft6fMvByA

16K Gaming!!!!!!!!!

[Getafix]

another_commander wrote:

...
Although Perlin3D textures are cool, there are two known issues at this time:
- Performance: There is a one or two seconds delay each time you press the F7 key for a P3D texture to be generated and displayed. Hyperspace jump sequence is also one or two seconds longer when entering a system sporting a P3D texture. This was observed on an old 2GHz Core2Duo, so on a more recent system this may not be such a problem. It would be good if this could be somewhat optimized though.
- The P3D textures appear to not be completely procedural. Sequential runs of the game produce slightly different textures each time for the same system. Land, sea and polar fractions, as well as cloud percentages are as expected, but the textures themselves do not repeat exactly between runs.
...

Following to the feedback we received on performance and
with a fix applied to make the textures procedural,
3D Perlin noise terrain generation is as of now a standard game setting,
when the in-game option Graphic Detail is set to Extra Detail,
and made available in trunk release for testing.

[Astrobe]

My personal opinion on the new texture generator is that it is over-doing the relief and makes the planet look smaller. I prefer:

Code: Select all

	float normalScale = 1 << (_planetScale/2);

... which gives a flatter look.

[another_commander]

My personal opinion on the new texture generator is that it is over-doing the relief and makes the planet look smaller. I prefer:

Code: Select all

	float normalScale = 1 << (_planetScale/2);

... which gives a flatter look.

Before anything, just wanted to mention that the algorithm does produce a bit intense relief, but not always Some planets seem to have smoother surfaces, or this might be simply an impression generated by higher percentages of water areas, but in any case the point is that some planets do appear rough and some less so.

Having said that, I think your method of relief control is somewhat too "binary", i.e. too much yes or no result. If I wanted to have a relief intensity somewhere in between your modification and what we have now, it would be very difficult to achieve. Instead, I experimented a bit with multiplying the standard normalScale with a factor and this is the result for factors between 10 and 90 percent of the current standard:

(4320 x 2700 res png here).

In the Test Release builds of the game, you can now use the user defaults parameter "p3dnsf" and set the intensity factor for the generated relief yourself. It is meant as a test feature only and there is no sanity checking for its value. You can make it even more intense than what we have now. Here is what it looks like for a factor of x2:

and, in case you would like to go completely gung-ho with it, here it is with a x5 factor:


Edit to add: Note, this is Celearen in G5, one of the most relief-intense systems I could find as an example. Other systems are normally a bit flatter than this.

[Cody]

More tweakability - thanks. Would this be correct: "p3dnsf" = 0.81; added to .GNUstepDefaults? If not, what and where?

[another_commander]

More tweakability - thanks. Would this be correct: "p3dnsf" = 0.81; added to .GNUstepDefaults? If not, what and where?

Yes, this is exactly how it is supposed to be done.

[Cody]

You see, I'm getting the hang of this coding lark. <sniggers>

[Commander_X]

A quick comment here: because the whole "3d" given by the Perlin texture is provided by the means of a normal map, the planet margin will still be as circular as ever. Thus the appearance of too high mountains, or ridiculous stone walls around the water surfaces (which should also be visible on the margin) will definitely affect the "credibility" of the planet geography (transforming it more in a carved disk, rather than a hinted sphere).