Shader Generations Question, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0
by dsfsd · in Torque Game Engine Advanced · 06/02/2004 (7:06 pm) · 6 replies
Is there anyway to determine up to what generation your chip can support?
I'm curious because I run an NVidia GeForce 4 chipset but it seems like some features aren't working for me, but some do.
Example, Specular lighting and bump mapping don't seem to be working, but glow, cubemapping, all the texture animations work fine etc.
I'm curious because I run an NVidia GeForce 4 chipset but it seems like some features aren't working for me, but some do.
Example, Specular lighting and bump mapping don't seem to be working, but glow, cubemapping, all the texture animations work fine etc.
About the author
#2
You can query the GFX layer with the getPixelVersion() function to determine what the card supports and what to do for each case. The Materials automatically handle it, CustomMaterials have to be explicitly set up for each level of support. It's designed to be flexible and easy to set up, read the docs and take a look at Materials and CustomMaterials for more info.
06/02/2004 (8:51 pm)
The Geforce 4 is a pixel 1.x version card, so it can't do the per pixel refraction and specular effects. The engine falls back to other effects or drops the feature if the card doesn't support it.You can query the GFX layer with the getPixelVersion() function to determine what the card supports and what to do for each case. The Materials automatically handle it, CustomMaterials have to be explicitly set up for each level of support. It's designed to be flexible and easy to set up, read the docs and take a look at Materials and CustomMaterials for more info.
#3
Besides querying the GFX layer, you can also get detailed information on your gpu's capabilities by going the direct route and testing the hardware caps exposed through DX9.
These are pretty technical suggestions, if you need more info let us know. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a doc around which details the shader features available on each popular gpu.
edit: fixed bad url, added last paragraph
06/02/2004 (9:17 pm)
As Brian says, the Geforce4 supports 1.x shaders. Specifically it supports vertex shaders 1.0 and pixel shaders 1.3. For technical information on what different shader versions are capable of, see the appropriate shader specs.Besides querying the GFX layer, you can also get detailed information on your gpu's capabilities by going the direct route and testing the hardware caps exposed through DX9.
These are pretty technical suggestions, if you need more info let us know. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a doc around which details the shader features available on each popular gpu.
edit: fixed bad url, added last paragraph
#4
Ah, waiting til that 1 gig GF6800 comes out in early august so I can take advantage of those PS3.0 effects. :) Thanks for the tech knowledge guys I appreciate it hehe
06/02/2004 (9:34 pm)
Ah I figured it was my GF4 that was messing up the specular. ;)Ah, waiting til that 1 gig GF6800 comes out in early august so I can take advantage of those PS3.0 effects. :) Thanks for the tech knowledge guys I appreciate it hehe
#5
Stuck in the same GeForce 4/PS1.3 boat here, too.
06/03/2004 (10:40 am)
Ahhhh, so that's what those effects are supposed to look like! Damn it, makes me want to go run out and buy a Geforce FX...Stuck in the same GeForce 4/PS1.3 boat here, too.
#6
06/03/2004 (12:03 pm)
Also, TSE posts the pixel and vertex versions in detects in the console when it starts up. These will be in red near the top of the log. 
Torque 3D Owner dsfsd
Actually, the bump mapping works I believe, at least it does on the twirly curly thingy.