Alrighty...I've been coding up this test app for the last 2 days...I'm using it to help me develop the shadow map shaders for the game. Now this shader isn't for skinned meshes, I've still got to combine this shader with those shaders...ugh.

Right now I'm running through a 2048x2048 shadow map. I've already tested it in game, and it runs like a charm when I render the scene to a offscreen 2k by 2k render target, so there shouldn't be any overhead implementing this.

This assumes that that single shadow map will be big enough for my entire scene. I'm probably going to have to break my view frustum up into several shadow maps, since the view distances can be pretty big in the game. I plan on resizing the shadow map's render frustum to optimally fit the scene, whenever the player moves the camera.

On to the screenshots...these are still WORKS IN PROGRESS of my test app...I was just so excited I had to post something tonight, I've still got a lot of tweaking to do, specifically with the blending of the shadows and texture. :-)

Untextured, lit and shadowed version of the test environment.


Same thing, just different perspective....


Textured, un-lit version of the test environment


All together now! In a sort of overexposed "fake HDR" looking way.


Really dark shadows...I think it looks cool though.


Eh...I should probably take another 5 minutes and fine tune the blending of the shadows and textures...I'll just update the screens later :-)

This was a sort of personal victory for me...I've been so scared to tackle shaders...but I finally just faced it and, I really like them! I'm using "ShaderX Vertex & Pixel Shader Tips and Tricks" as my litte reference book, it only goes up to PS 1.4 though. It wasn't much help implementing these shadow maps, but overall it was a great reference. I've ordered a new book, and it should be here in a few days! I'm excited.

Also the other day I posted a little image of myself on the "Information" page of my website...it was taken in a club downtown...so it's not the most professional thing, but I think it gets the job done lol.

Here's my mug shot for those who are curious :-D


Ah...anyways, next up on the chopping block is the real-time environment mapping on vehicles...and some badass reflective/refractive water!

- Dan