New Release D3D9Client Development

[Phoenix]

I am glad to see you're back working on the D3D9Client again.

My D3D9 programming is a bit rusty, but would it be possible to implement micro-texturing of planetary surfaces, so that a better sense of lateral and vertical velocities can be seen visually when close to the planet's surface? This might be implemented as a repeating texture, or maybe as a simple, non-repeating 3D-noise function in the pixel shader.

Thanks.

 

[SolarLiner]

As seen on the Beta thread, atmospheric scattering seems a not-too-long feature to implement. I'd be glad to participate, but knowledge in D3D is close to zero ... And I only coded small GLSL shaders ...

 

[DaveS]

After checking around on the net some, one graphical feature that seems to offer quite some visual improvement is ambient occlusion (AO). Is that something that could find its way into D3D9Client?

 

[jarmonik]

After checking around on the net some, one graphical feature that seems to offer quite some visual improvement is ambient occlusion (AO). Is that something that could find its way into D3D9Client?

I have been thinking about it but one major problem is that a virtual cockpits are build using emissive textures/materials because of a lack of ambient light and AO won't work well with emissive materials. Maybe that could be fixed from the next Orbiter.

 

[DaveS]

I have been thinking about it but one major problem is that a virtual cockpits are build using emissive textures/materials because of a lack of ambient light and AO won't work well with emissive materials. Maybe that could be fixed from the next Orbiter.

Isn't that really just a problem on the part of VC designers? Doesn't local lights solve the ambient light issue? With proper local lights there's no need for emissive textures/materials since they're a band-aid of sorts for the lack of local lights.
At least that's my perspective on the matter.

 

[Donamy]

Isn't that really just a problem on the part of VC designers? Doesn't local lights solve the ambient light issue? With proper local lights there's no need for emissive textures/materials since they're a band-aid of sorts for the lack of local lights.
At least that's my perspective on the matter.

Yes, just turn on the overhead light.

 

[jedidia]

Isn't that really just a problem on the part of VC designers?

Not quite. There's also a very hard limit on local lightsources (8), so lighting a cockpit properly and provide thruster lights can get problematic. Also, I don't even know if they actually work in VCs... ??

 

[DaveS]

Not quite. There's also a very hard limit on local lightsources (8), so lighting a cockpit properly and provide thruster lights can get problematic. Also, I don't even know if they actually work in VCs... ??

The number of light sources can be configured in the D3D9Client.cfg file:

LightSourcesInUse = 12

 

[jedidia]

Yes, but in the inline client it's a maximum of 8.

 

[orb]

Yes, but in the inline client it's a maximum of 8.

It isn't the maximum you can set. "8" is only the maximum of the hardware accelerated light sources. You can set more and use them in the in-line client as well (with some performance drop).

 

[jarmonik]

D3D9Client for Orbiter Beta 2014

Here is a client build for the latest beta of the Orbiter. Martin's 3D Terrain code is translated to DX9 and an improved atmospheric rendering is implemented. Currently only a terrain is effected by the new haze. I'll start working on a skydome next. Atmospheric control panel has all necessary controls to adjust the visual appearance. There are a lot of bugs and the build is potentially unstable !!! No need to report CTDs or other glitches. However, feedback from the terrain rendering is welcome.

 

[jarmonik]

Isn't that really just a problem on the part of VC designers? Doesn't local lights solve the ambient light issue?

Yes, I suppose. Having AO enabled for every mesh by default might cause some unwanted side effects. Therefore, meshes should be flagged somehow to enable AO for them.

 

[DaveS]

Yes, I suppose. Having AO enabled for every mesh by default might cause some unwanted side effects. Therefore, meshes should be flagged somehow to enable AO for them.

How about using the D3D9Client cfg files? That way you could set it without actually touching the meshes directly.

It would be same as environment reflections, they're set to 0 by default.

 

[SolarLiner]

Pretty self-explanatory. :lol:

Other than that, that is looking awesome! I love this Earth much better than what the "old" D3D9 renders.

 

[gattispilot]

Should we have 2 threads? One for 2010p1a and the other for the beta 2014?

 

[Loru]

Didn't have time to play with setting yet but mountains in california look great:

 

[jarmonik]

How about using the D3D9Client cfg files? That way you could set it without actually touching the meshes directly.
It would be same as environment reflections, they're set to 0 by default.

I suppose that's a good idea.


Here's a shot from a development version. Starting to look good.

 

[SolarLiner]

I thought the screenshot was from Space Engine before seeing the HUD! Amazing work here, I love it!

 

[jroly]

How is the performance & visuals compared to dx7 version?

 

[Zatnikitelman]

How is the performance & visuals compared to dx7 version?

For the Beta or 2010? For 2010, it usually far exceeds the performance of the inline client, but that is dependent on having the right hardware. For either, the visuals should far exceed dx7.