[Icik]

Hi Chris,
as gpz mentioned, XNA does not support vs_4_0_level_9_3 and ps_4_0_level_9_3 and without this it is not possible to improve Shaders for shading such surrounding vegetation. And yes ReShade does not support XNA.

[cjakeman]

 Icik, on 25 August 2020 - 06:25 AM, said:

And yes ReShade does not support XNA.

Thanks. That's very clear.

Would you be able to post an XNA version of one of those ReShade images - as similar as you can manage?

For some releases of Open Rails, we issued a little video on YouTube. Not done that for 7 years but I might have time to do it again for v1.4. If so, then your before and after images would certainly come in handy.

[Icik]

It is not possible to compare completely identical scenes because the saved game positions are not compatible. I've tried similar scenes, which I think are completely telling.
However, I must emphasize that this is not just about using ReShade filters, but about completely tuning the Shader * .fx code directly from the game.

On the left are scenes from the XNA version and on the right is the MonoGame version.

Attached File(s)

•  1_xna.jpg (1.96MB)
  Number of downloads: 23
•  1_MG.jpg (1.52MB)
  Number of downloads: 23
•  2_xna.jpg (2.2MB)
  Number of downloads: 18
•  2_MG.jpg (1.86MB)
  Number of downloads: 19
•  3_xna.jpg (1.96MB)
  Number of downloads: 15
•  3_MG.jpg (1.51MB)
  Number of downloads: 16
•  4_xna.jpg (2.37MB)
  Number of downloads: 18
•  4_MG.jpg (2.27MB)
  Number of downloads: 19

[mrmosky]

That is most impressive. How exactly do you do that? I would be interested to know.
Geoff

[steved]

 mrmosky, on 26 August 2020 - 04:36 AM, said:

That is most impressive. How exactly do you do that? I would be interested to know.
Geoff

You can start here,
http://www.elvastowe...__1#entry252963

Steve

[James Ross]

 cjakeman, on 23 August 2020 - 12:19 AM, said:

I don't know much about graphics but I understand that this is all potential benefit and that switching to Monogame in OR v1.4 will not deliver any immediate and visible improvements to users.

So I was wondering if there is some small but distinctive capability that could be added to Monogame for v1.4 which is not possible in XNA v1.3.1? Something we can promote as the first of many improvements to come?

The primary change that people will notice is with memory usage; the way XNA uses the DirectX 9 APIs means that we get a copy of every texture and model (vertex buffer, etc.) in our process (in addition to the copy on the graphics card). MonoGame uses the newer DirectX 9.0c through 11.0 APIs (not actually sure which one it's targeting, but all of these are Windows Vista and later) which have improved graphics memory management support and do not need that copy in our process.

The result is that the Open Rails program (and whole operating system) will use a lot less memory and much larger textures, more objects, and more detailed objects, should all be possible on the same computer hardware (assuming it's not running Windows XP).

The other improvement is multi-sampling, where we have much more control over this than in XNA, and people should both be able to get prettier graphics by turning it up, and not need to use their graphics card's custom control panel to do so.

[cjakeman]

 Icik, on 25 August 2020 - 11:29 AM, said:

I've tried similar scenes, which I think are completely telling.

This is exactly what I was hoping for.

Many thanks, Jirka, for your time and expertise.

[Eldorado.Railroad]

 Icik, on 25 August 2020 - 11:29 AM, said:

However, I must emphasize that this is not just about using ReShade filters, but about completely tuning the Shader * .fx code directly from the game.

Could you clarify what you are doing with the .fx code and where. As an example, I see little if any jaggies on the dynamic shadows. In my experience this requires very large shadow maps and a few other tweaks to get the dynamic shadows to "connect" to the object that casts them.

Thank you,
Steve

[cjakeman]

 mrmosky, on 26 August 2020 - 04:36 AM, said:

That is most impressive.

I do wonder how this works. I read that ReShade is described as a post-processor and achieves its improvements without much reduction in frame rate.

That leaves me wondering:

1. How can it do this without reducing frame rates. Perhaps the work is done in the GPU whereas most of the work in OR is done in the CPU and the GPU has spare capacity?

2. How can ReShade improve shadows or smooth jaggies just by analysing a single frame. Does it process the polygons that get sent to the GPU before they ever appear in the final frame?

Does anyone know?

[Eldorado.Railroad]

 cjakeman, on 07 September 2020 - 10:12 AM, said:

Does anyone know?

You can only hope that Jirka clarifies what he wrote, from what I can tell, the .fx files have been "tampered" with to create higher contrast images. I hope you can persuade him to "divulge" what he did to achieve those screen shots.
Steve