My 1st GD Magazine Article - A Review of pureLIGHT
by Logan Foster · 02/10/2010 (4:24 pm) · 19 comments
I thought that I would pass along word that my very first article for game developer magazine has been published in the February issue of the magazine. This article is a very in-depth 3 page tool review of the awesome lightmapping solution 'pureLIGHT', which is available for Torque3D for a meager price of $500/seat (a far cry cheaper than the $15,000+ you will pay for similar lightmapping solutions for gamedev work). So if you are at all curious about pureLIGHT and want an in-depth description of how it works, how you work with it, what benefits it provides (from both a world flow and end result) over other solutions, why it's worth while investing in for your gamedev effots and much more then I recommend picking up this issue today.
#2
And congrats on the article!
02/10/2010 (5:07 pm)
Purelight is one of best things I have bought so far.And congrats on the article!
#3
02/10/2010 (5:36 pm)
Congrats on your first article. Now where did I put that digital issue email? 
#4
02/10/2010 (5:52 pm)
Congratulations Logan! I'll also pick this issue up. Probably time for me to subscribe too. 
#5
(and more Brett Seyler! that fellow gets everywhere!)
02/10/2010 (8:14 pm)
Well done on getting published.(and more Brett Seyler! that fellow gets everywhere!)
#6
02/11/2010 (12:49 am)
I'll read it as soon as it arrives. 
#8
02/11/2010 (3:26 am)
Congrats! 
#9
02/11/2010 (8:27 am)
Congrats! Finally subscribed after reading this blog - been meaning to for ages. Great article. 
#10
02/11/2010 (9:18 am)
Wow, that's cool. Congrats man! :) 
#11
02/11/2010 (12:34 pm)
But you didn't include a stereotypical raytraced teapot screenshot! Good article/review though :) 
#12
02/13/2010 (7:38 pm)
oh... so I thought the lighting in T3D was awesome. Why do I need pureLight? 
#13
02/14/2010 (8:51 am)
The lighting in T3D is awesome if you are aiming your game to the next gen market. I'm not. I'm trying to squeeze in video cards that were awesome 3-5 years ago, so I use basic lighting and purelight for amazing speed and results in my target area.
#14
The real time lighting in Torque3D is pretty awesome actually so don't look at this as some sort of silly admission of a problem. Using lightmapping (through a tool like pureLIGHT) is simply another very good option for developers to utilize depending on their needs & requirements.
The two biggest benefits of lightmaps are that they are based on realistic radiosity (bounce) based lighting (which just isn't feasible for real-time games and wont be for a long time yet) and that they are much lighter on system resources since they are simply static bitmaps.
Now with that said almost every AAA game that you are going to play uses a combination of lightmaps and dynamic lights. This allows for just enough smoke and mirrors to have a really awesome looking environment with a controlled amount of real-time lights to sell the game to you. Something that is now possible with Torque3D thanks to the hard work of the team.
Torque3D advanced lighting = pure awesomeness
Lightmapping via pureLIGHT = pure awesomeness
So really either way its a win-win scenario and combined you have visual crack.
02/15/2010 (12:57 pm)
@AndyThe real time lighting in Torque3D is pretty awesome actually so don't look at this as some sort of silly admission of a problem. Using lightmapping (through a tool like pureLIGHT) is simply another very good option for developers to utilize depending on their needs & requirements.
The two biggest benefits of lightmaps are that they are based on realistic radiosity (bounce) based lighting (which just isn't feasible for real-time games and wont be for a long time yet) and that they are much lighter on system resources since they are simply static bitmaps.
Now with that said almost every AAA game that you are going to play uses a combination of lightmaps and dynamic lights. This allows for just enough smoke and mirrors to have a really awesome looking environment with a controlled amount of real-time lights to sell the game to you. Something that is now possible with Torque3D thanks to the hard work of the team.
Torque3D advanced lighting = pure awesomeness
Lightmapping via pureLIGHT = pure awesomeness
So really either way its a win-win scenario and combined you have visual crack.
#15
for the magazine lovers out there..
www.3dartistonline.com I subscribe to this ;)
- USA residents can use code "USA" to get 13 issues for $6 each(I used to pay $15 an issue at the bookstore!!)
www.3dworldmag.com
..this mag is decent but lacks real pizazz. The one above is much better IMO.
02/16/2010 (6:16 am)
sort-of-on-topic:for the magazine lovers out there..
www.3dartistonline.com I subscribe to this ;)
- USA residents can use code "USA" to get 13 issues for $6 each(I used to pay $15 an issue at the bookstore!!)
www.3dworldmag.com
..this mag is decent but lacks real pizazz. The one above is much better IMO.
#16
02/17/2010 (9:38 am)
Congrats Logan, very cool!
#17
02/17/2010 (12:20 pm)
Got our copies of the magazine at the office today :)
#18
02/17/2010 (12:32 pm)
I got mine yesterday. Game Developer magazine did a really fantastic job at not gagging over the 3 page review and presented everything as I wanted it to be. Now to find a way to frame this... 
#19
Now I will have to pay a lot more due to my distractions.
Looking forward to reading the article.
02/19/2010 (6:31 pm)
I did not pick up pureLight when it was cheaper, now the price is higher. It dropped off my radar while I was knee deep in alligators.Now I will have to pay a lot more due to my distractions.
Looking forward to reading the article.
Torque 3D Owner Thanhda Tie
Digital Shock Inc.