What is STALKER's dynamic lighting?

I mean why do they call it that?  "dynamic lighting"... What does that even mean?  Is it Bloom or HDR or both and why don't they just call it what it is instead of using a generic term like "Dynamic lighting" that just confuses people.  Every possible shader/lighting effect they could be using has a real name and they could just let everyone know what the game is really using.

I mean why do they call it that? "dynamic lighting"... What does that even mean? Is it Bloom or HDR or both and why don't they just call it what it is instead of using a generic term like "Dynamic lighting" that just confuses people. Every possible shader/lighting effect they could be using has a real name and they could just let everyone know what the game is really using.

basersx

[QUOTE="basersx"]

I mean why do they call it that? "dynamic lighting"... What does that even mean? Is it Bloom or HDR or both and why don't they just call it what it is instead of using a generic term like "Dynamic lighting" that just confuses people. Every possible shader/lighting effect they could be using has a real name and they could just let everyone know what the game is really using.

way2funny

I mean why do they call it that? "dynamic lighting"... What does that even mean? Is it Bloom or HDR or both and why don't they just call it what it is instead of using a generic term like "Dynamic lighting" that just confuses people. Every possible shader/lighting effect they could be using has a real name and they could just let everyone know what the game is really using.

basersx

Dynamic lighting isn't something that GSC simply made up. It's been within the industry for a good 3 years now(some examples of games that use dynamic lighting include FEAR, BF2, COH, and Doom 3) Basically dynamic lighting(A DX9 effect) is when a shadow isn't just a pre-defined set that just hangs over a building. If you go over that shadow it will then be applied to you and depending on the lighting changes within the game the shadow can change shape(As in become bigger, smaller, or longer) Before dynamic lighting, static lighting was used, a DX8 effect where a shadow was simply set on an object and nothing happened to it. If you shone a flashlight over it, it would stay exactly the same.

The funny thing is that STALKER's dynamic lighting shouldn't give close to as much of a performance hit than it seems. All the other dynamic lighting games I enabled don't really affect your framerate that much when enabled(An exception goes out to BF2) So it's pretty clear that GSC simply tacked the effect on as well as parallax shaders and HDR at the very last second before the games release. It's actually pretty funny because die-hards of the game really try hard to act as if dynamic lighting is something that GSC created and since it's such an advanced and new effect, the game gives a considerable performance hit. The bottom line is that the game is that the games dynamic lighting system is just poorly coded due to rushed work.(If anyone actually remembers, their dynamic lighting, HDR and parallax shaders didn't come into media releases until a few months before the games release. Before then it was just everything that you see within the games static lighting mode) 

Ahh ok, so Dynamic Lighting is a real effect?  Got it.   So why does it cripple the game performance so much more than it does in FEAR, etc.?

Ahh ok, so Dynamic Lighting is a real effect? Got it. So why does it cripple the game performance so much more than it does in FEAR, etc.?

basersx

 post updated

It gives the game a big bog down because of exactly what was just said earlier. It was a rushed coding process in the final stages. Also keep in mind that the game has been in development for years. Therefore not factoring in things like DirectX 10 video cards like the 8800 series from the start, which for some reason EVERYBODY is having problems with in STALKER.

To sum it up, 8800 GTA,X and S series cards are experiencing problems with this rushed act of coding in STALKER's final stages of development and to top it off, it doesn't look like there will be any more official patches to fix it. There is no feedback from any of the THQ tech support and everybody that has bought a supersonic pc have now got a mouthful of gunk when it comes to playing STALKER at Full Dynamic lighting on all bars to the top.

DYnamic lighting is an odd hybrid tickle of somewhere between Bloom and Hdr and yes, your question has been very valid for we are supposed to be confused with everything that comes our way especially with new tech coming out every 2 months.

It really should be called something else, there was a "Dynamic Lighting" option in quake 1 which was just lighting that could move around and change.PwningStick

Well... That is dynamic lighting just in a very basic form. 

looks pretty damn good on max graphics.....too bad it plays only on 0-5 fps :?

anyway i play it only on low graphics and it runs fast - 60 fps (i'm kinda happy....only kinda....:| )

[QUOTE="PwningStick"]It really should be called something else, there was a "Dynamic Lighting" option in quake 1 which was just lighting that could move around and change.XaosII

Well... That is dynamic lighting just in a very basic form.

That was funny.

That's dynamic lighting, a moving light source.

Older games had static light. Like when you shot a lamp on older games, it would move, but the light would stay fixed.

Now, if you shoot a lamp, the light it casts moves with it. But dynamic lighting is really old now. Donkey-Kong 64 has that. 

The funny thing is that STALKER's dynamic lighting shouldn't give close to as much of a performance hit than it seems. All the other dynamic lighting games I enabled don't really affect your framerate that much when enabled(An exception goes out to BF2) So it's pretty clear that GSC simply tacked the effect on as well as parallax shaders and HDR at the very last second before the games release. It's actually pretty funny because die-hards of the game really try hard to act as if dynamic lighting is something that GSC created and since it's such an advanced and new effect, the game gives a considerable performance hit. The bottom line is that the game is that the games dynamic lighting system is just poorly coded due to rushed work.(If anyone actually remembers, their dynamic lighting, HDR and parallax shaders didn't come into media releases until a few months before the games release. Before then it was just everything that you see within the games static lighting mode)

onemic

Dynamic lighting isn't an "effect", and GSC had been developing the deferred renderer from the start.  

[QUOTE="onemic"]

The funny thing is that STALKER's dynamic lighting shouldn't give close to as much of a performance hit than it seems. All the other dynamic lighting games I enabled don't really affect your framerate that much when enabled(An exception goes out to BF2) So it's pretty clear that GSC simply tacked the effect on as well as parallax shaders and HDR at the very last second before the games release. It's actually pretty funny because die-hards of the game really try hard to act as if dynamic lighting is something that GSC created and since it's such an advanced and new effect, the game gives a considerable performance hit. The bottom line is that the game is that the games dynamic lighting system is just poorly coded due to rushed work.(If anyone actually remembers, their dynamic lighting, HDR and parallax shaders didn't come into media releases until a few months before the games release. Before then it was just everything that you see within the games static lighting mode)

Teufelhuhn

Dynamic lighting isn't an "effect", and GSC had been developing the deferred renderer from the start.

Fine, rendering technique. Anyway they just recently implemented it into their game. If you've been following STALKER at all you would know that. The fact remains that their deferred renderer is poorly coded. I don't think anyone can deny that.  

[QUOTE="Teufelhuhn"][QUOTE="onemic"]

The funny thing is that STALKER's dynamic lighting shouldn't give close to as much of a performance hit than it seems. All the other dynamic lighting games I enabled don't really affect your framerate that much when enabled(An exception goes out to BF2) So it's pretty clear that GSC simply tacked the effect on as well as parallax shaders and HDR at the very last second before the games release. It's actually pretty funny because die-hards of the game really try hard to act as if dynamic lighting is something that GSC created and since it's such an advanced and new effect, the game gives a considerable performance hit. The bottom line is that the game is that the games dynamic lighting system is just poorly coded due to rushed work.(If anyone actually remembers, their dynamic lighting, HDR and parallax shaders didn't come into media releases until a few months before the games release. Before then it was just everything that you see within the games static lighting mode)

onemic

Dynamic lighting isn't an "effect", and GSC had been developing the deferred renderer from the start.

Fine, rendering technique. Anyway they just recently implemented it into their game. If you've been following STALKER at all you would know that. The fact remains that their deferred renderer is poorly coded. I don't think anyone can deny that.

How would you know its poorly coded?  Have you seen the source?  Have you compared its performance to other games that use deferred rendering (good luck finding any, only other game I know of that uses it is Crackdown).

Having developed a deferred renderer myself, I can tell you its performance is right about where it should be.

well then it's pretty obvious that they shouldn't have used it if it would cause that much of a performance hit. Like I said before that renderer isn't that good for implementing in games, especially when in the end STALKER doesn't even look as good as HL2 an almost 3 year old game. onemic

It's plenty good, if used right.  STALKER's graphical issues have less to do with its renderer, and a lot more to do with some nasty textures and models.  And like I said its meant for high-end, not for your 7600.   You can't expect to max out a brand new game with a mid-range video card that's already a year old.  If you don't like the performance hit, don't use dynamic lighting.  

[QUOTE="onemic"]well then it's pretty obvious that they shouldn't have used it if it would cause that much of a performance hit. Like I said before that renderer isn't that good for implementing in games, especially when in the end STALKER doesn't even look as good as HL2 an almost 3 year old game. Teufelhuhn

It's plenty good, if used right. STALKER's graphical issues have less to do with its renderer, and a lot more to do with some nasty textures and models. And like I said its meant for high-end, not for your 7600. You can't expect to max out a brand new game with a mid-range video card that's already a year old. If you don't like the performance hit, don't use dynamic lighting.

I can max out sup com, COH, R6: vegas and a variety of other games with dynamc lighting that look much, much better than STALKER does with a minimal performance hit. Actually I can run STALKER on max with full dynamic lighting as well (1024x768 ) and get a framrate of around 30-35FPS, but it sttuters and hangs like crazy. Plus the loading time become extremely long.

What I'm trying to say is that the hit on performance really isn't worth any gamers time(unless they have extremly high end GPU's) for the quality of visuals the game pumps out 

simply put at night you will be in the bush,

with it, you will see a little bit of everthing but never to sure what it is until your up close

without it, everything will be black except the flash light lit area 

How would you know its poorly coded?Teufelhuhn

It doesn't work fine, too slow. If it doesn't work nicely on a great PC, it's badly coded. Great example is HL2. OK IT DOESN'T have deferred rendering, but the effects it uses were really new at the game's release date and they were really well coded (WORKED IN ACCEPTABLE SPEED).

Have you seen the source? Have you compared its performance to other games that use deferred renderingTeufelhuhn

If this game is well coded and has the proper speed for deferred rendering, I'm glad only Crackdown and this use it.

Idunno what HDR is technically, but practically all it means is that when you look at the sun or a light source, your screen goes white, and instead of stuff reflecting sunlight, it glows instead.  Just look at Oblivion...Ive never seen stone buildings glow before.

Nah, Im not really that pesimistic.  HDR is nice I just think its more of an "enhanced" realism than a "realistic" realism, if that makes any sense.  Definately adds or takes away a lot from the atmosphere.