Unified lighting and shadowing
Encyclopedia
Unified shadow and lighting is the lighting model used in the Doom 3
game developed by id Software
.
Previous 3D games like Quake III Arena
, used separate lighting models for determining how a light would illuminate a character or a map
. Lighting and shadow
information for maps would be static, pre-generated and stored, whereas lighting and shadowing information for characters would be determined at run-time.
Doom 3 uses a unified model that generates the lighting and shadows for everything at run-time. This means that any lights will affect the whole scene and not only certain parts. This may include self-shadowing
via shadow volume
s, where characters can cast shadows on themselves (for example, the shadow cast by the marine's chin
onto his neck
).
Doom 3
Doom 3 is a science fiction horror video game developed by id Software and published by Activision. An example of the first-person shooter genre, Doom 3 was first released for Microsoft Windows on August 3, 2004. The game was later adapted for Linux, as well as being ported by Aspyr Media for Mac...
game developed by id Software
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
.
Previous 3D games like Quake III Arena
Quake III Arena
Quake III Arena , is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game released on December 2, 1999. The game was developed by id Software and featured music composed by Sonic Mayhem and Front Line Assembly...
, used separate lighting models for determining how a light would illuminate a character or a map
Level (video gaming)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
. Lighting and shadow
Shadow
A shadow is an area where direct light from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an object. It occupies all of the space behind an opaque object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, or reverse projection of the object blocking the...
information for maps would be static, pre-generated and stored, whereas lighting and shadowing information for characters would be determined at run-time.
Doom 3 uses a unified model that generates the lighting and shadows for everything at run-time. This means that any lights will affect the whole scene and not only certain parts. This may include self-shadowing
Self-shadowing
Self-Shadowing is a computer graphics lighting effect, used in 3D rendering applications such as computer animation and video games. Self-shadowing allows non-static objects in the environment, such as game characters and interactive objects , to cast shadows on themselves and each other...
via shadow volume
Shadow volume
Shadow volume is a technique used in 3D computer graphics to add shadows to a rendered scene. They were first proposed by Frank Crow in 1977 as the geometry describing the 3D shape of the region occluded from a light source...
s, where characters can cast shadows on themselves (for example, the shadow cast by the marine's chin
Chin
In the human anatomy, the chin is the lowermost part of the face.It is formed by the lower front of the mandible.People show a wide variety of chin structures. See Cleft chin....
onto his neck
Neck
The neck is the part of the body, on many terrestrial or secondarily aquatic vertebrates, that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The adjective signifying "of the neck" is cervical .-Boner anatomy: The cervical spine:The cervical portion of the human spine comprises seven boney...
).