I have been thinking about having the ability to adjust the dynamic range of lightmaps for a while, and only just got the time to sit down and get something working. I have implemented gl_minlight and gl_maxlight cvars which allow you to set a minimum and/or maximum light level. The original lightmap is scaled linearly to fit within these bounds.
I think the best example of gl_minlight is the DM2 nailgun stairs.
original: gl_minlight 0, gl_maxlight 255
slightly brighter shadows: gl_minlight 20, gl_maxlight 255
looks like death32c: gl_minlight 100, gl_maxlight 255
I have a bunch of other random pictures here in case you want more examples.
Ethical Issues?
I'm not going to decide if this is a 'cheat' or not, but here are some points
* fullbrights exist, players and items are not hidden in shadows
* in dark maps like dm2, it is much easier to fight around the 'full-dark' areas where terrain can be ambiguous from certain angles.
* lower maxlight in dm3 makes the pent area easier on the eyes, especially for high gamma/gl_modulate users
* gl_minlight 255 + gl_maxlight 255 = r_fullbright
* r_fullbright is flagged as a cheat cvar (did somebody forget about the smackdown-compliant setup of glqwcl 2.33 + qizmo had -lm_4??)
* it looks nicer?
Basically I wanted to open a discussion on lightmaps by showing some examples. I'm not distributing this code, but keen hackers can play around in gl_rsurf.c R_BuildLightMap and try it out for themselves.
I think the best example of gl_minlight is the DM2 nailgun stairs.
original: gl_minlight 0, gl_maxlight 255
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slightly brighter shadows: gl_minlight 20, gl_maxlight 255
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looks like death32c: gl_minlight 100, gl_maxlight 255
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I have a bunch of other random pictures here in case you want more examples.
Ethical Issues?
I'm not going to decide if this is a 'cheat' or not, but here are some points
* fullbrights exist, players and items are not hidden in shadows
* in dark maps like dm2, it is much easier to fight around the 'full-dark' areas where terrain can be ambiguous from certain angles.
* lower maxlight in dm3 makes the pent area easier on the eyes, especially for high gamma/gl_modulate users
* gl_minlight 255 + gl_maxlight 255 = r_fullbright
* r_fullbright is flagged as a cheat cvar (did somebody forget about the smackdown-compliant setup of glqwcl 2.33 + qizmo had -lm_4??)
* it looks nicer?
Basically I wanted to open a discussion on lightmaps by showing some examples. I'm not distributing this code, but keen hackers can play around in gl_rsurf.c R_BuildLightMap and try it out for themselves.
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