Real Time radiosity on GPU!

[Shaw]

Saw this and thought it was pretty dang cool. I suspect we'll see this in the next generation of computer games!

http://www.geomerics.com/index.php?page=lighting

Just imagine the savoriness of real time lighting effects WITH radiosity in games. Flashlights, swinging lanterns all with realistic environmental interactions... you name it! Seems the pull this off by using 'geometric algebra' - fascinating approach!

[Ryan Patrick O'Hara]

I used to play Half Life 2, and the lighting looked better than this demo....
I guess I don't see what was new. Check out some HL2 footage.

I didn't mean to poop on this, but my honest opinion.

This is the FIRST trailer they released... the new episodes are even better.

http://storefront.steampowered.com/video/HL2_Trailer01.wmv

[Shaw]

The demo was meant to display radiosity only not the many other things that go into making a 3D scene look great. I'm 99.9% certain there hasn't yet been a game that has implemented radiosity. It's difficult and resource costly to compute. The HL2 trailer definitely doesn't have radiosity rendering. All one need do is ask a 3D artist if radiosity is important instead of simple direct lighting. ;)

Here's an example of a scene lit with direct lighting and direct lighting + radiosity:

http://freespace.virgin.net/hugo.elias/radiosity/radiosity.htm

You'll need to scroll down a little bit to see the images I'm talking about.

[Ryan Patrick O'Hara]

I think I just don't know what it is, or appreciate it. I hope they get better graphics to demonstrate with.

[Kholi]

Real Time radiosity is completely different from the mechanics you see in Half-Life 2.

The Radiosity Shaw is excited about is similar to the dynamics that got everyone so hyped up about HL2 in the first place. Just like those drums and barrells fall and explode in all types fo realistic ways, the light that's in this video does as well.

You'll see it bend and shift in real time, as a model shines his flashlight on the corner of a wall that's got a statue on the other side... and you'll see rim-lighting and everything else.

It's neato.

[MalcolmOng]

Yeah - Half Life 2 had great graphics but no real radiosity lighting. I noticed that when i tried using Garry's mod to duplicate real world lighting...heh

[Kholi]

This kind of thing implemented in Counter Strike would be so dope. I'd probably die a lot more than I already do, but it'd be fun.

I can see myself jumping out of my seat when I see a terrorist just barely lit off the edge of his nose, hiding at spawn. Scary.