CryENGINE 3

[L. Scofield]

You know , this is really classic stuff...
It's just a cubemap lookup.Diffuse is last mip map ,what you call diffuse + specular is just full rez of the same cubemap and this is not really specular just the sun rendered into cubemap .

Yes, the lighting information is stored in a cubemap but it's used to project such lighting from infinity onto any object (somebody with higher level knowledge please chime in xD) within the radius set by the IBL probe. This allows complex lighting environments and reflections (witjh correct directionality) for objects of any kind (static and dynamic) with just a few clicks and almost no precomputation (cubemaps are quick to make). Not to mention not having to add cubemaps individually for each object's material.

Are there any other games on the market using something like this?

 

[_phil_]

Yes, the lighting information is stored in a cubemap but it's used to project such lighting from infinity onto any object (somebody with higher level knowledge please chime in xD) within the radius set by the IBL probe. This allows complex lighting environments and reflections (witjh correct directionality) for objects of any kind (static and dynamic) with just a few clicks and almost no precomputation (cubemaps are quick to make). Not to mention not having to add cubemaps individually for each object's material.

Are there any other games on the market using something like this?

You just described cubemap look ups ,and yes ,a hell lot of games are using it ( a car game like gt5 generates one per frame).They just made it easy to generate and edit in sandbox.

 

[L. Scofield]

While it's true that games nowadays all use cubemaps for reflections and some even generate them at runtime (like car games) I wasn't aware of them being used for diffuse lighting (probably there are some that do it, I just haven't heard of them).

 

[NotTarts]

While it's true that games nowadays all use cubemaps for reflections and some even generate them at runtime (like car games) I wasn't aware of them being used for diffuse lighting (probably there are some that do it, I just haven't heard of them).

I haven't seen it being used for diffuse lighting either. But maybe I'm just not noticing it in other games.

 

[MJP]

Using cubemaps as a source for diffuse irradiance and specular reflections has been done since the dawn of time. For the former case they're typically referred to as irradiance environment maps, and they're usually compressed to SH representation.

 

[AlNom]

I wasn't aware of them being used for diffuse lighting (probably there are some that do it, I just haven't heard of them).

Ahem, maybe not the same terminology, but um... irradiance storage in a cubemap ring a bell?

Damn! Beaten.

 

[L. Scofield]

In any case, it's a fabulous improvement over CryEngine 2's uniform ambient lighting.

 

[NotTarts]

In any case, it's a fabulous improvement over CryEngine 2's uniform ambient lighting.

It's amazing how many basic features CE2 was missing.

But still, I have not noticed this is any other game I've played.

 

[L. Scofield]

It's amazing how many basic features CE2 was missing.

But still, I have not noticed this is any other game I've played.

Yeah, me neither. I've only seen it in tech demos.

 

[_phil_]

The diffuse is juste an heavily bured version of the hirez cubemap.In practice ,no need to blur it , just use the smallest mipmap.Most games do the low frequency dynamic lighting with lightprobes grids or hand placed.

http://eriksunden.com/projects/image_based_lighting/IBL_Report.pdf

http://www.crymod.com/thread.php?postid=501366&sid=c6ed718c9a008c2df7d062786707f2e2#post501366

 

[L. Scofield]

The difference with KZ2/3 method would be that there's no need to bake the lighting nor hand place probes.

 

[_phil_]

The difference with KZ2/3 method would be that there's no need to bake the lighting nor hand place probes.

*big rolleyes*
you don't bake the lighting , your render a cubemap.In both cases.
You can also automaticaly generate them automatically ,or hand place them. not a big deal to say the least....

 

[L. Scofield]

I never said this was a major advancement in realtime graphics in general, just for CE3 xD

 

[homerdog]

*big rolleyes*
you don't bake the lighting , your render a cubemap.In both cases.
You can also automaticaly generate them automatically ,or hand place them. not a big deal to say the least....

Since they are automatically automatically generated, they could in theory pop into existence out of thin air with no developer input at all. Impressive!

 

[Neb]

Since they are automatically automatically generated, they could in theory pop into existence out of thin air with no developer input at all. Impressive!

Wow amazing tech Crytek develops! /hehe

 

[_phil_]

Since they are automatically automatically generated, they could in theory pop into existence out of thin air with no developer input at all. Impressive!

Yeah ,Crytek is breaking thermodynamics laws.Amazing...

 

[Neb]

Crysis 2/CE3 rendering features explained. Interesting part regarding edge AA solution espcially for PC at higher settings.

http://crytek.com/sites/default/files/c2_ce3_key_rendering_features_final_2.pdf

Such a technique is quite a novelty in the video game industry and it’s very likely Crytek will release improved versions as it has potential to also be merged with different techniques - for example, it’s currently also combined with Nvidia’s FXAA in “Extreme” spec, in order to improve quality further with sub-pixel accuracy results from post MSAA.

 

[Kaotik]

This means that extreme looks better on nV than on AMD, or is the same algorithm run on both?

 

[KKRT]

This means that extreme looks better on nV than on AMD, or is the same algorithm run on both?

The same, they dont use direct computing because its DX9, so its just rewritten algorithm for shaders.

 

[MfA]

Yes, well ... we know how that turned out before with Batman.