[Csantucci]

Thanks James.
Sorry, but I give it up. I see I should learn from scratch how to handle .fx files, and that's too much for me :lol2: .

[James Ross]

Csantucci, on 13 December 2014 - 08:39 AM, said:

Thanks James.
Sorry, but I give it up. I see I should learn from scratch how to handle .fx files, and that's too much for me :lol2: .

.fx files can be thought of as a derivative of C, so pretty similar to C# in terms of basic syntax, but the most annoying bit is learning the available functions. You're welcome to ask questions in the forum if you'd like help learning them.

If you want to try another approach, adjusting the code in SharedMaterialManager.UpdateShaders and SceneryShader.SetHeadlight to pass a different lighting value in to the shader (see headlightPosition.SetValue in Shaders.cs on line 155) is an option. It's probably better than doing it in the shader. If you'd rather not try that, let me know and I'll give it a go. :)

[Csantucci]

Ok, this is simpler, thank you :lol2: . I'm doing some test.

[Csantucci]

In release 2709 there is my solution. At nighttime nothing changes. At daytime brightness is a fifth of nighttime. In the meantime (sun height between 0.15 and -0.05) there is a linearly interpolated value. Thanks again to James for the indispensable hints.

[James Ross]

Csantucci, on 13 December 2014 - 01:44 PM, said:

In release 2709 there is my solution. At nighttime nothing changes. At daytime brightness is a fifth of nighttime. In the meantime (sun height between 0.15 and -0.05) there is a linearly interpolated value. Thanks again to James for the indispensable hints.

:lol2:

I think something's up with the interpolation, e.g. if you speed the game up to ~12,000% and watch the light during sunrise or sunset. At least for me, it doesn't seem to transition smoothly at all, instead jumping between a few different brightness levels. Not entirely sure why it jumps so much, but looking at the code I think the interpolation might be backwards. :)

[Csantucci]

I'll check tomorrow morning, sorry.

[Csantucci]

James, as - almost ;) - always you were right. The interpolation formula was reversed. After all reasonments, I had in mind that the interpolation should give out max value when sunset begun and min value when sunset ended ... exchanged sun brightness with headlight brightness... Corrected in release 2714. (Release 2713 doesn't build).

I think I will do some further test involving also distance when in daylight.

[Csantucci]

In release 2716 I introduced also distance in reducing headlights effect at daytime, while increasing headlights brightness with respect to my previous release.

End of daytime (not yet twilight), long shadows, no headlight:


End of daytime (not yet twilight), long shadows, headlight: the headlight is able to increase brightness of near shadowed terrain, without influencing unshadowed terrain:


Twilight, no headlight:


Twilight, headlight: the headlight effect now arrives at longer (but not yet maximum) distance


Nighttime, headlight: effect as usual

[markus_GE]

That looks awesome, Carlo :thumbdown3:

Cheers, Markus

[That Genset Foamer]

That looks BEAUTIFUL! Also I like what kind of opportunities this could open up with lighting...

[scottb613]

Hi Carlos,

Really nice work - just wondering - can you increase the lights effectiveness during heavy fog, rain, or snow ? That will save some entries in the ENG file...

Regards,
Scott

[elvasleis]

Hi,
The brightness of light being cast on the trees and ground from the head lights appears to have been cut back.
Looks good now.

Regards from a happy customer.

[Csantucci]

Thank you all!
@ elvasleis: Yes, at daytime it is so, as in reality. When darkness advances, also the effect of the headlights increases.
@ Scott: I'll look at what could be done in case of disturbed weather conditions.

[RTP]

Very good job about the lights.

But, spawned cars and some other objets do not shadow.

The shadow of the loco is lighter than the sadows of the buildings.

Regards.

[EricF]

I appreciate all the work so far -- the lighting is looking much better now!