(Redirected from
Software Rendering)
Software Rendering
Software is the default graphics render and also the only officially supported rendering method of SRB2.
Software Features
- Software allows for the use of transparent walls and floors using ten different levels of translucency.
- Software contains a default gradient fog, as well as having the player act as a minor light source.
- Software contains a vast array of colormap and fog effects that can be used to add extra atmosphere to levels.
- Software also supports a host of lighting effects, such as pulsating and flickering lights.
- Software supports midtexture repetition, which allows any midtexture to be repeated a fixed number of times, rather than once or repeat as many times as it takes to fill in the space from the floor to the ceiling.
- Software has support for transparent pixels in multi-patch textures.
- Software has full polyobject support.
- Software has a number of post image effects including water ripple, screen flipping and a heat wave effect.
Software Limitations
- Software has no built in clip-distance. This means that levels must be confined to a certain size or a variety of graphical glitches such as Slime Trails will result. Thus, levels must be made smaller to fit within this limitation.
- Software does not have any additional choices of texture filtering.
- Software uses the CPU exclusively which causes SRB2 to run slowly on computers who have older processors despite how powerful their video card might otherwise be.
- Software has no perspective correction. Therefore, the further one looks up or down the view is more and more distorted. The viewing angle is limited to approximately 60 degrees up or down to prevent what is drawn on screen from being completely unrecognizable.
OpenGL Rendering
OpenGL is SRB2's alternative graphics render. This rendering mode is not included in the default SRB2 build and must be obtained through other means. One can either compile the source code with OpenGL enabled, or download an OpenGL enabled build from the ports topic on the SRB2 Message Board. Though OpenGL is otherwise relatively stable, it is not "officially" supported by Sonic Team Jr. and is missing many of the features sported by the official render.
OpenGL Features
- OpenGL renders the terrain with perspective correction. This allows players to look straight up and down without any visual distortion.
- OpenGL also has a great deal of built in error correction that deals with the vast majority of Software's potential graphical problems. Hall of Mirrors and Slime Trails rarely, if ever appear, even in some of the most glitchy maps ever made for SRB2.
- OpenGL has a built in clip-distance, which allows levels to be made much larger and more open than can ever be supported in Software.
- OpenGL allows for special fog effects that can be increased or decreased in the Options menu, under 3D card options. It draws fog in the distance and the color and density can be changed in the options.
- OpenGL allows for 256 levels of transparency in its translucent walls and floors.
- OpenGL has many texture filtering modes that it uses. By default, OpenGL starts by rendering in Bilinear drawing. The other options are Mipmap Nearest, Linear Nearest, Nearest, and Trilinear. These can be changed in the options menu, and changing the filter settings.
- OpenGL contains other minor graphic options, such as Anisotropic settings, special Mouselook option, camera distance, and translucent wall settings.
- OpenGL has the ability to replace many sprites with 3D models, known as MD2 models, via a console command. These models require that you download the actual model and a skin. Said downloads are available in the Sonic Robo Blast 2 Forums.
OpenGL Limitations
- OpenGL renders Colormaps in such a way that FOFs above the affected sector will render its bottom and side textures as if they were in the COLORMAP sector. In addition, sprites that are in contact with the ceiling of a sector with COLORMAP will also be rendered as if they were inside the sector using the effect.
- OpenGL does not render any of Software's fog effects. These can cause problems in certain maps as critical obstacles may wind up being invisible.
- OpenGL renders most of Software's lighting effects but in a much less pronounced fashion.
- OpenGL has no support for repeating midtextures.
- OpenGL periodically has issues drawing midtextures in tandem with transparent walls and floors.
- OpenGL has sorting issues against walls and floors and will periodically draw objects and level geometry through other walls, usually thok barriers.
- OpenGL has polyobject support, but it has not been fully tested.
