Can there be a 'middle' shadow option?

[Dinjoralo]

I really don't like how both the current shadow options look. On minimum, the resolution for the shadow map is absurdly low, but on high the shadows flicker a lot in the distance, and it just looks really messy. Couldn't there be an option between the two, higher than minimum, but still blurred out a bit?

[steeffeen]

on high the shadows flicker a lot in the distance, and it just looks really messy.

can't confirm that, for me shadows are fine!
(medium shadows might be useful though)

[Dinjoralo]

Okay, a lot might be exaggerating it a bit. When there are shadows on a wall you're driving towards, it's pretty noticeable.

[TMarc]

It really depends on the type of shadows you're looking at.
Some shadows are calculated with the lightmaps.
Others are created in realtime using the 3D models ("Stencil shadow" or other techniques).

So you could have either option:
- no shadows at all
- only lightmap
- fake calculated shadows (some kind of blurred darkening)
- realtime calculated shadows

One display issue is the availabilty and the use of AA on those realtime shadows.
Here possibly it is a limitation of the GPU hardware as well.

Also check this thread http://forum.maniaplanet.com/viewtopic. ... 65&start=0

[dreammyw0w]

It really depends on the type of shadows you're looking at.
Some shadows are calculated with the lightmaps.
Others are created in realtime using the 3D models ("Stencil shadow" or other techniques).

So you could have either option:
- no shadows at all
- only lightmap
- fake calculated shadows (some kind of blurred darkening)
- realtime calculated shadows

One display issue is the availabilty and the use of AA on those realtime shadows.
Here possibly it is a limitation of the GPU hardware as well.

Also check this thread http://forum.maniaplanet.com/viewtopic. ... 65&start=0

Tmarc...
I asked this in another topic. I thought we concluded that 'no shadows' was no option.
Tell me how to get no shadows pls

[Dinjoralo]

Yeah, the "High" shadows are definitely real-time, which seems a bit pointless on the stages.
What happened to the shadows that were calculated when you started the stage, from United? I'm guessing they were removed so people wouldn't be late on matches/have to wait for people with higher settings?

Oh yeah, and the lightmap quality setting in the config doesn't seem to do anything. All the options look the same, including "none", which I think shouldn't 'have' shadows.

[TMarc]

Tmarc...
I asked this in another topic. I thought we concluded that 'no shadows' was no option.
Tell me how to get no shadows pls

dreammyw0w...
I know that currently shadows cannot be switched off,
what I wrote above was just taking up and evolving the idea with different kinds of shadow calculations

[Dinjoralo]

Really, what I think would work is taking the method used at minimum setting, and bumping it up to the next power of two, if that is possible. If it is, then I think that would look perfect.

Also, I'm a bit confused at the term "fake" calculated shadows. Is that the kind of shadow-mapping I was talking about in United?

[TMarc]

I'm not sure about United, as there are some more shadow settings there.
Both games seem to use stencil shadow at high setting, but TrackMania² has much more detailed objects, so also the shadows are much more detailed.
At low setting the shadows are of course not detailed, and might even look a bit more natureal due to the not so sharp edges the stencil shadows produce, especially when no antialiasing is used.

Fake shadows are based on very rough calculations and blurred a lot with a filter function.

I just checked highest and lowest setting (one above none) in TMUF, and at lowest, the shadows are hardly noticeable, but still existing somehow. Even for speedup I wouldn't use this setting.

Like with anything else, it is always a tradeoff between quality and performance, but agreed, the choice of shadow is not large in ManiaPlanet