[Mr_Maniac]

Hi there!
Some people are using HDRish to make Bloom-effects in OpenGL-Games (ATI only).
nVidia users can look at this, if they want blooming, too:
http://doom3.filefront.com/file/DOOM_3_Bloom;50594

It should work with any OpenGL-Game. At least, it got tested with jfDuke3D:
Screenshot

I can't test it, because it needs at least a GeForce 4 Ti and I only have a GeForce 3...
But I hope that it'll be useful for some of you guys

[karajorma]

Incidentally file this under reasons why you should check the Dev site occassionally

[Pnakotus]

Well I can't get it to work - although it does break the HUD and crash my game. 

[Kaine]

Incidentally file this under reasons why you should check the Dev site occassionally

am i missing something here? that link goes straight to http://scp.indiegames.us/forum.php

[neoterran]

This doesn't work - it breaks the HUD and that's it. I have spoken with the developer of this plugin. He told me he'd take a look at Freespace Open and see about compatibility for it, but don't hold your breath as I get the impression the developer is not really actively developing the plugin.

[karajorma]

Ah. Looks like you have to have logged in to get access to the Feature Requests forum.

[itay390]

if you have good gfx its mainly useless if you want to play at normal fps. but if you don't have gfx and still want bloom. so that's the solution for you.

[taylor]

Of course, everyone could just wait until we actually get the shader code ready for daily use.  Then it won't matter which friggin video card you have so long as it supports shaders.

[neoterran]

yes taylor, but we want results NOW!!!! you know the score - users don't care about your hard work and the nifty things you've done to make the code elegant - they just want it to work x way all the time, and ASAP!!! 

[neoterran]

Of course, everyone could just wait until we actually get the shader code ready for daily use.  Then it won't matter which friggin video card you have so long as it supports shaders.

Taylor, I have a question. My Geforce FX has problems running shader code in DirectX 9 in 2.0 mode. But i was looking at the wiki for Geforce FX and apparently the performance problems dont' exist in OpenGL because OpenGL interfaces with the shaders in a different method (i don't know mcuh about Direct3D or OpenGL btw)

Can you comment on this and let me know what the score is ? I have too many expenses right now to buy a new card for this machine and when i have extra money for computer it's going to be to upgrade to second generation PCIe anyway, so there is no point in wasting cash on an AGP card this late, so i have to suffer along for a while.

[taylor]

yes taylor, but we want results NOW!!!! you know the score - users don't care about your hard work and the nifty things you've done to make the code elegant - they just want it to work x way all the time, and ASAP!!! 

Actually, the shader work is being done by wolf.  I'm cleaning up his diffs and adding more error checking/handling (I'm pretty anal about that, makes debugging a lot easier for me), plus a few other minor things, but the bulk of the work is being done by him.  And he's doing a great job too, I just haven't had the time to keep up with him.  3.6.9 isn't going to get this though and that's where all of my attention is focused.  But after 3.6.9 ships then I plan to get the shader code in CVS for all of the bleeding-edge builds.  The code does use GLSL (since that works best in OpenGL), so I don't know how we are going to deal with D3D and the user-made shaders yet, but then I don't much care either.

EDIT:  wolf posted these shots to the scp.indiegames.us forums:

http://team.pld-linux.org/~wolf/krtqavv.png
http://team.pld-linux.org/~wolf/zgqgapi.png

"These are pure in-game screenshots, no smartshaders or anything were used. The effect is not final." - wolf

Taylor, I have a question. My Geforce FX has problems running shader code in DirectX 9 in 2.0 mode. But i was looking at the wiki for Geforce FX and apparently the performance problems dont' exist in OpenGL because OpenGL interfaces with the shaders in a different method (i don't know mcuh about Direct3D or OpenGL btw)

Can you comment on this and let me know what the score is ? I have too many expenses right now to buy a new card for this machine and when i have extra money for computer it's going to be to upgrade to second generation PCIe anyway, so there is no point in wasting cash on an AGP card this late, so i have to suffer along for a while.

I think you'll be fine with what you've got.  There will be initial test builds in the next month or so in order to get a quick peformance rundown of the code before it hits CVS.  We'll all have a better idea of how it will perform at that point, but optimizations and performance tuning will certianly follow since I like to tinker with that stuff. 

[Admiral Nelson]

That is outstanding stuff.  Can't wait to see it when it's completely!   

[itay390]

(( but i wanted to be the first to bring bloom into freespace source
anyway, ive been searching the recent days a way to make my software bloom into hardware.
then i found the GLSL but unfortunely when i searched for a tutorial  i just couldn't find one descent tutorial. they all just began with "void main" function and then the shader code and i was like "what the hell? but there is already a main in the program!"
and there wasn't one tuorial which explained where to write this "void main" thing.

[taylor]

then i found the GLSL but unfortunely when i searched for a tutorial  i just couldn't find one descent tutorial. they all just began with "void main" function and then the shader code and i was like "what the hell? but there is already a main in the program!"
and there wasn't one tuorial which explained where to write this "void main" thing.

"Shaders" is a generic term that's largely used incorrectly.  OpenGL names it properly "vertex program", rather than "vertex shader" like D3D does.  I generally use the "shader" term to describe it all since most people seem to understand it's reference more readily.  A shader is a program though, so it is layed out like a program, with a main() function and everything.  It is then compiled (when loaded the first time) and executed at a particular point in the rendering pipeline.

I don't really know of any good tutorials (I'm still looking to understand it better myself), but if you go over the docs for ARB_vertex_program and ARB_fragment_program then there are some examples and much of the terminology/functionality used.

[itay390]

you didn't have to say all that.  i knew everything you said except the last part, the only thing i need is where to compile the void main function. or at least, where to include it and how to call the shader from the opengl program itself. i.e. beam.cpp
ill look tomorrow for the ARB_fragment_vertex_program whatever the name is. because now its night and i need some sleep.

[neoterran]

coder toes-stepping 

[taylor]

you didn't have to say all that.  i knew everything you said except the last part

Not everyone else does though.  It's better to be descriptive enough to help everyone understand what we're talking about.

the only thing i need is where to compile the void main function. or at least, where to include it and how to call the shader from the opengl program

You don't compile it, the GL does.  You just have to send the program as text to the card via the extension functions and it compiles it.  But don't go re-inventing the wheel here, the interface for this was been in the works for about 3 weeks now.

[neoterran]

great, looking forward to it when it is in. It keeps getting better.

[Mr_Maniac]

I already see Shader-TBMs coming to fs2_open
That'll be great...

What GFX-Card do I need to make use of GLSL?
Because my GeForce 3 does have shaders already... But an old Version...

Hell... I really need a new PC 

[itay390]

i think you need pixel shader 2.0 but im not sure.