Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: 100Coogn on July 08, 2011, 03:14:52 PM

Title: Lighting Effects & Shadows
Post by: 100Coogn on July 08, 2011, 03:14:52 PM
 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
Title: Re: Lighting Effects & Shadows
Post by: Soulyss on July 08, 2011, 03:32:20 PM
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. 
Title: Re: Lighting Effects & Shadows
Post by: Tigger29 on July 08, 2011, 05:05:42 PM
Yes it's the physics and angles calculations.. the stuff that you don't see.. that bogs things down so much.
Title: Re: Lighting Effects Vs. Shadows
Post by: grizz441 on July 08, 2011, 05:08:05 PM
Don't you mean Lighting Effects Vs. Shadows?
Title: Re: Lighting Effects Vs. Shadows
Post by: 100Coogn on July 09, 2011, 12:22:06 AM
Don't you mean Lighting Effects Vs. Shadows?

I guess it could be titled that way.  :aok

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.

 :cheers: Coogan


  :lol :lol Grizz.  I just noticed all the VS's in the General Forums.   :lol :lol
Title: Re: Lighting Effects & Shadows
Post by: Raptor05121 on July 09, 2011, 01:57:08 AM
lots of smoke will kill my frames. if I'm vulching on a field with everything on fire, forget it