Lighting Effects & Shadows

[100Coogn]

 I notice we already have lighting effects in our cockpits.  I think they look great, but
I'm wondering why the lighting effect seems to have no impact on game performance,
or frame-rate loss.
 Now, turning on shadows appears to make a pretty big difference in game performance.
A lot of it has to do with my PC.  Not top of the line, but not quite a dinosaur yet either.
Guess I'm just curious as to why the shadows would need so much more from the CPU
than the lighting effects seem to...

Coogan

[Soulyss]

Here's just my layman's guess, the lighting effects we have are more or less static effects, the guns fire and certain parts of the plane light up regardless of what you're doing at the time.  Shadows on the other hand  have to be calculated in real time on the fly.  Roll the plane and watch the shadows from the cockpit shift across the wing for example. 

[Tigger29]

Yes it's the physics and angles calculations.. the stuff that you don't see.. that bogs things down so much.

[grizz441]

Don't you mean Lighting Effects Vs. Shadows?

[100Coogn]

Don't you mean Lighting Effects Vs. Shadows?

I guess it could be titled that way.  

Here's just my layman's guess, the lighting effects we have are more or less static effects, the guns fire and certain parts of the plane light up regardless of what you're doing at the time.  Shadows on the other hand  have to be calculated in real time on the fly.  Roll the plane and watch the shadows from the cockpit shift across the wing for example.  

I thought there was something more to it than I was thinking.  I see now that the default lighting effect doesn't block the light from the canopy frame.
Thanks for clearing that up for me.

  Coogan


  Grizz.  I just noticed all the VS's in the General Forums.   

[Raptor05121]

lots of smoke will kill my frames. if I'm vulching on a field with everything on fire, forget it