[PATCH] Shadowing: Selectively disable/enable for actors through properties

[Nicolai Hähnle]

Basically the default for actors would be that they would cast a shadow and they would recieve a shadow. Only need flags if they don't in either case. Something like:

<not_recieve_shadows /> <not_cast_shadow />

[Michael D. Hafer]

Replying to nicolai:

Basically the default for actors would be that they would cast a shadow and they would recieve a shadow. Only need flags if they don't in either case. Something like:

<not_recieve_shadows /> <not_cast_shadow />

This would be excellent if this is applicable to items such as grass sprites, because they cast ugly shadows, but I'd still like them to receive shadows.

[Philip Taylor]

Some of this is almost implemented already.

See source/graphics/ObjectBase.cpp for loading the actor XML files - currently it detects <castshadow/> elements, which most (all?) actors (in binaries/data/mods/public/art/actors) set. Shadow-casting is enabled by default anyway, so it's never going to be disabled.

Maybe the best approach is:

• Change the m_CastShadows default to false.
• Make sure all actors have <castshadow/>.
• Verify that the property is pushed through to the renderer, and rendered correctly.

As a second stage:

• Add support for a <noreceiveshadow/> (or use <receiveshadow/> and add it to all the current actors and to the Actor Editor tool), which will probably require renderer changes too.

[Lubosz]

Patch for ActorEditor, Model, ObjectBase and ObjectEntry to support receiving shadows

[Lubosz]

Changes in actors. Every actor now contains <castshadow/> and <receiveshadow/>

[Lubosz]

Python script which walks the actors and adds the tags

[(none)]

Milestone Environment Demo deleted

[historic_bruno]

updated version applied to r11037

[historic_bruno]

This ticket can be unmarked for review and sent to backlog, because the patch lacks the renderer changes needed to make <receiveshadow/> work.

[Philip Taylor]

Hmm, this got delayed a bit...

The renderer is finally capable of per-object disabling of shadow-receiving. I no longer think it makes sense as an actor flag, though - disabling shadow-receiving seems ugly and wrong and unnecessary except for objects with emissive materials (i.e. glowing, so it's lit by itself rather than by the shadowable sun), and in that case it's more appropriate to set a flag in the material XML files instead.

So, r11500 lets materials say <define name="DISABLE_RECEIVE_SHADOWS" value="1"/>, though we don't have any that use that yet.

r11499 makes the engine respect the actor <castshadow/> flag properly (as per the patches here), and r11497 and r11498 add that flag to all the current actors.