eVGA 7900GT manufacturer-overclocked to 550/1580 at Newegg @359 !!

Higher-order surfaces have been around since DX8. (There's a hacked Truform
patch for Quake II, looks pretty good on the character models.) However, in
modern titles the "dynamic" geometry generation screws with the real-time
shadows, so it cannot be used.

More detailed meshes will just take some time to appear, and it seems to be
purely limited by the sheer horsepower available to today's cards, not
waiting on some new, unsupported feature.

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

"McGrandpa" wrote in message
...
Higher resolution meshes in the models. But that's the base end stuff,
the building block. At the upper rendering end, I don't know.
Softshadows give an awfully realistic (and sometimes creepy) feel to the
whole scene. The lighting/shadowing *did it* for me in FEAR. It went
from ' it's ok, ho-hum' to 'oh hell!' just that quick.
That's going from 6800GT 256 single card to 7800GTX 256 SLI. When I
turned on Softshadows for the 6800GT, things slowed to molasses in January
in game. Nothing in FEAR slowed down the 7800GTX's though. And the
softshadows and ultra quality lighting do make a huge difference in both
quality of the scene and in performance hit.
We've now got real looking effects of all kinds. fire, smoke, water,
rain, mist, shadowing, lighting. More realistic looking / shaped models
would help.
McG.

"John Lewis" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 11:47:37 GMT, "McGrandpa"
wrote:


"First of One" wrote in message
...
Come to think of it, what tangible features is DX10 supposed to offer
anyway? FP48? Game developers are barely scratching the surface with
Shader Model 3.0. What could they possibly do, graphics-wise, to make a
game like F.E.A.R. look more realistic?

Higher resolution meshes in the models. But that's the base end stuff,
the
building block. At the upper rendering end, I don't know. Softshadows
give
an awfully realistic (and sometimes creepy) feel to the whole scene. The
lighting/shadowing *did it* for me in FEAR. It went from ' it's ok,
ho-hum' to 'oh hell!' just that quick.
That's going from 6800GT 256 single card to 7800GTX 256 SLI. When I
turned
on Softshadows for the 6800GT, things slowed to molasses in January in
game.
Nothing in FEAR slowed down the 7800GTX's though. And the softshadows and
ultra quality lighting do make a huge difference in both quality of the
scene and in performance hit.
We've now got real looking effects of all kinds. fire, smoke, water,
rain,
mist, shadowing, lighting. More realistic looking / shaped models would
help.

... make FEAR a better game ?? Or give a more realistic (uh..) 'feel'
to Lara's curves when she is in motion ? Preordered the latest
version of Tomb Raider yet ? Gramps, come clean now; you are
amongst friends...

John Lewis

Heh! John i've been in alt.games.tombraider since 97. I have not
pre-ordered it yet. Not decided on GameStop or EBGames. Plenty of both
here in the area
It's looking good so far.
McG.

"First of One" wrote in message
...
Higher-order surfaces have been around since DX8. (There's a hacked
Truform patch for Quake II, looks pretty good on the character models.)
However, in modern titles the "dynamic" geometry generation screws with
the real-time shadows, so it cannot be used.

More detailed meshes will just take some time to appear, and it seems to
be purely limited by the sheer horsepower available to today's cards, not
waiting on some new, unsupported feature.

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

"McGrandpa" wrote in message
...
Higher resolution meshes in the models. But that's the base end stuff,
the building block. At the upper rendering end, I don't know.
Softshadows give an awfully realistic (and sometimes creepy) feel to the
whole scene. The lighting/shadowing *did it* for me in FEAR. It went
from ' it's ok, ho-hum' to 'oh hell!' just that quick.
That's going from 6800GT 256 single card to 7800GTX 256 SLI. When I
turned on Softshadows for the 6800GT, things slowed to molasses in
January in game. Nothing in FEAR slowed down the 7800GTX's though. And
the softshadows and ultra quality lighting do make a huge difference in
both quality of the scene and in performance hit.
We've now got real looking effects of all kinds. fire, smoke, water,
rain, mist, shadowing, lighting. More realistic looking / shaped models
would help.
McG.



I heard The Guy (an interview vid clip) SAY they could dial Lara Crofts
level of detail up so high the looks make them nervous. I WANT that kinda
detail! Probably none of us have the horsepower to play a game with the
world modelled that high, but to have Laras mesh that high sounds....pretty
darn good to me! When i get Tombraider: Legend installed and running, the
first thing I want to do is two of her signature moves: pull up walkover
(handstand) and Swan Dive! Next, give the Screenshot key a workout
THEN: Let's Go Adventuring!
see ya over in a.g.t. John
McG.