Implement shadow maps

[ikabod-kee]

Something I noticed that was missing from Cubyz was shading. The trees don't have any shadows, making everything look quite flat.

[IntegratedQuantum]

When you talk about shadows, are you referring to ambient occlusion? You could change that by just increasing the absorption of leaves.

[ikabod-kee]

No I don't mean the ambient occlusion. When sunlight hits the ground, it basically acts like a full white light block, spreading in every direction. Trees ought to have stronger shadows beneath them.

[IntegratedQuantum]

I don't think you really can achieve this with floodfill lighting.
I think shadow maps would be correct solution here, and given how little we are actually graphics bound now, they might even be viable.

[ikabod-kee]

:O Oh my god, they would look amazing in Cubyz. My friends have been complaining about how flat it all is anyways

[IntegratedQuantum]

just to clarify, I'd only use a shadow map for sun and moon though.

[ikabod-kee]

That makes sense to me

[ikabod-kee]

If you are going to implement these, please don't apply it to entities. Trust me, it'll save you a lot of trouble.

[IntegratedQuantum]

What's the problem with entity shadows?

[ikabod-kee]

(Possibly) Laggy to calculate and look bad in my opinion. In 3d games like mario, shadows are cast directly down to the ground from the top to help gauge distance.

[IntegratedQuantum]

Well, the mario method would require more resources because it would require evaluating two shadow maps for each pixel, one for terrain and one for the entities.

We'll see how it looks once we get there. It might not be that bad in a first person game.