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General => Image Sharing => Topic started by: dandelO on October 30, 2009, 10:06:36 AM

Title: Dense City Shader...
Post by: dandelO on October 30, 2009, 10:06:36 AM
Say it quick... ;) :D

Just a caricature style basic planet with a test of the new shader. :)

[attachimg=#]

Thanks for looking! :)
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: cyphyr on October 30, 2009, 10:11:10 AM
Great :)
But how on earth did you manage to get the city pops to run perpendicular to the surface of the planet, every time I've tried they always end up perpendicular to the ZX plane, independent of their global position :(
Or is it not a population at all?
Richard
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: Henry Blewer on October 30, 2009, 10:15:32 AM
New Shader? That's interesting! It looks cool, though a bit Lexx like. More details please? :D
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: dandelO on October 30, 2009, 10:26:48 AM
Not any populations, no. It's all displacement.

I'll try and make it streamlined to share, it's a mess just now...
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: cyphyr on October 30, 2009, 10:49:43 AM
Ah got it :)
Voronoi Cell Shader ?
Richard
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: Gannaingh on October 30, 2009, 11:59:08 AM
That is SO cool!
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: dandelO on October 30, 2009, 12:03:41 PM
Hmmm, no but there's an idea with the voronoi...

The displacements come from 2 default shaders, the displacement function of these is 2 fake stones shaders.
If you make a FSS the displacement function of a shader it displaces only the outline of each stone, directly upwards(along normal). The stones have no shape as such, they are just white colour information that drives the displacement.

There's a white fractal luminosity function in there, too, which adds the white lines and dots that appear a bit like lights.
The coloured 'lights' are postworked in after.

The density shader of the dense city shader here is driven by a painted shader. I did have two opposing cities in this but one side didn't look as good and couldn't be fixed without messing up the look of both cities.

I have some tests going with regular-scaled scenes for this aswell, the middle planet here only has a 1m radius(;)) I'll be working on it for a wee while longer...
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: aymenk2003 on October 30, 2009, 12:35:40 PM
Hi dandelO...
I guess you are preparing a new dandelO's pack 5 ?
you never stop to surprise us...

N.KAID 
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on October 30, 2009, 12:58:03 PM
cool.  8) 8) 8)
I'd like to see a version that covers the whole planet.... like Coruscant or Trantor
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: domdib on October 30, 2009, 02:06:04 PM
Not those pesky fake stones AGAIN! Is there anything they can't fake?  ;)
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: dandelO on October 30, 2009, 02:07:01 PM
Aymenk: It would actually just be vol.4. The new grass shader was a pre-release for that. I'm actually behind on the making of that, kind of forgot about that for the moment. My plan was to release the grass, 2 different scaled voronoi cracks(like in my Crato render), a default project(an easy way out of making an entire scene. ;)) and  this city shader would have been in. Another project I hadn't decided on yet, too.
Only the cracks haven't been added already to the forum, the rest is all here so, I'm back to square-one, really. :D

Z: I could easily remove the dense city shader's density shader and it would cover the planet.

This is far from pretty, by the way, in most scenes. You must meet certain requirements for it to hold up well at all; It is really just displaced terrain and the textures/luminosity from the terrain are horribly stretched and are best kept at a bare minimum of one colour, not a mixed fractal,(including the luminosity functions, they become luminous vertical lines on the walls, which is actually pretty cool but not ideal) it works well in the dark, being backlit and at a far distance. I'll upload something soon hopefully...
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: schmeerlap on October 30, 2009, 06:32:36 PM
Just got my lug skelped (for reading it too quick . . . aloud)  ;D

Amazing (can't-wait-to-try-that-out) info here. When's your book, "How To Cheat With Terragen2", coming out?  ;)

John
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: dandelO on October 30, 2009, 06:40:17 PM
Quote from: schmeerlap on October 30, 2009, 06:32:36 PM
Just got my lug skelped (for reading it too quick . . . aloud)  ;D

Amazing (can't-wait-to-try-that-out) info here. When's your book, "How To Cheat With Terragen2", coming out?  ;)

John

:D :D :D
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: aymenk2003 on October 30, 2009, 06:49:41 PM
Quote from: dandelO on October 30, 2009, 06:40:17 PM
Quote from: schmeerlap on October 30, 2009, 06:32:36 PM
Just got my lug skelped (for reading it too quick . . . aloud)  ;D

Amazing (can't-wait-to-try-that-out) info here. When's your book, "How To Cheat With Terragen2", coming out?  ;)

John

:D :D :D
Why not ... ;D
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on October 30, 2009, 07:24:24 PM
Quote from: aymenk2003 on October 30, 2009, 06:49:41 PM
Quote from: dandelO on October 30, 2009, 06:40:17 PM
Quote from: schmeerlap on October 30, 2009, 06:32:36 PM
Just got my lug skelped (for reading it too quick . . . aloud)  ;D

Amazing (can't-wait-to-try-that-out) info here. When's your book, "How To Cheat With Terragen2", coming out?  ;)

John

:D :D :D
Why not ... ;D
:D
will there be a cheat render times chapter?

:D :D :D :D :D
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: old_blaggard on October 30, 2009, 07:28:45 PM
Clever work! It reminds me a little of a shader that Volker put together at some point.
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: dandelO on October 30, 2009, 08:31:05 PM
Yes, I've seen Volker's city attempts with perlin functions... Ridiculously too complicated for such a small brained one as me! ;)

I'm clearly not the first one to have made displacement buildings, it's actually quite common.
It's the way you incorporate them into a scene that will make the most impact. These would look really, really ugly in daylight and up close.
In this dimly lit setting though, I fancy I can even see streets and traffic and such! :D
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: Dune on October 31, 2009, 04:45:38 AM
Very interesting. The FSS as a displacement input was exactly the way I used to make some ice floats. The problem was the jagged sides. Thinking aloud, perhaps a population of small planes could be used as a displacement input... then projecting an image map at the X or Z. Or some functions creating random squares and rectangles, but I am hopeless at functions.

---Dune
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: j meyer on October 31, 2009, 10:23:55 AM
Seems to be a good approach to use the FSS like that!
Got to play with that as soon as possible. ;)Thanks.
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: Mr_Lamppost on October 31, 2009, 06:52:16 PM
I had a couple of goes at displaced cities a while back but was never happy with the results in close up.  From your comments I guess you are having similar problems with the vertical sides.
Title: Re: Dense City Shader...
Post by: TheBlackHole on November 01, 2009, 09:50:40 PM
That small planet woud fit perfectly in Super Mario Galaxy.  :D