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Mad Poster
#26 Old 24th Aug 2016 at 10:26 PM
This sure is a pain in the ass - much like the light being cut off not only across floors, but at the lot boundary!

I've heard that the game's shaders are stored in a .precomp file. Could that file be of any use here?

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Mad Poster
Original Poster
#27 Old 25th Aug 2016 at 1:58 AM
The funny thing is that exterior lights worked across multiple levels until World Adventures when they broke it introducing basements- but they never fixed it!

Definitely the close shadow crop is one of the main detractions against the graphics in the game.

If it could be fixed it would make the game look much better.
Field Researcher
#28 Old 25th Aug 2016 at 5:41 AM
I literally have no clue where to start in trying to figure out how to fix these issues.


I would like to know if the .precomp file can be of use as GrijzePilion mentioned.
Virtual gardener
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#29 Old 25th Aug 2016 at 6:57 AM
I was planning on doing that since It bothers me to not know if it's just a game thing or a graphics thing, so I'll post screens later. ^-^
Field Researcher
#30 Old 25th Aug 2016 at 7:02 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Greenplumbbob
I was planning on doing that since It bothers me to not know if it's just a game thing or a graphics thing, so I'll post screens later. ^-^



So you don't have the issue?
Virtual gardener
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#31 Old 25th Aug 2016 at 8:15 AM
Quote: Originally posted by GrijzePilion
This sure is a pain in the ass - much like the light being cut off not only across floors, but at the lot boundary!

I've heard that the game's shaders are stored in a .precomp file. Could that file be of any use here?


Yup they're right in there. I do know it's possible to get certain shaders out of it by adding the code it needs, a bit like Wes's ghost radio: http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=367086
It does... take a 'way around' to make it all though, since selecting shaders is waay easier these days. (I'm not sure if the same method was used back somewhere in 2009-2010)

I might actually try unpacking the files and see if there is anything promising. Notepad++ does show me shader names, so i'm pretty sure all the shader data is stored right in there.

Quote: Originally posted by Goodywood
So you don't have the issue?


Nope, I just boosted up my game to see if I'm having the issue as well. ^-^
Virtual gardener
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#32 Old 25th Aug 2016 at 8:26 AM
It seems that I just have never noticed, but I guess it does seem to be indeed the shadow mapping issue that @douglasveiga mentioned
Screenshots
Mad Poster
#33 Old 25th Aug 2016 at 10:33 AM
I've heard, and I might be mistaken, that .precomp files can only be opened with Maya, which isn't exactly a cheap program. If anyone here is a student, they might be able to get it for free, but otherwise there's no legal way of acquiring it.

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Virtual gardener
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#34 Old 25th Aug 2016 at 12:27 PM
Quote: Originally posted by GrijzePilion
I've heard, and I might be mistaken, that .precomp files can only be opened with Maya, which isn't exactly a cheap program. If anyone here is a student, they might be able to get it for free, but otherwise there's no legal way of acquiring it.


It might be the solution of opening it, but it's compiled with Directx which means that it's pretty locked when it comes to decompiling. I might buy Maya in the future for educational purposes and I did had a trail version of it which I loved to use but... trails >-> You know how they work XD Apparently the OpenGL were easier to open, which might (and I can be wrong) work with a mac version of the sims since the mac version works with OpenGL so far I know. In fact, it's not even possible to create a game the same way like windows for mac unless it's either a work-around or a OpenGL game. Not sure if that affects the shader file though. I could take a look since I've both mac and windows.
Mad Poster
#35 Old 25th Aug 2016 at 1:22 PM
Well please do! If you manage to decompile the files maybe we can all have a tinker with it.

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Inventor
#36 Old 26th Aug 2016 at 12:18 AM Last edited by douglasveiga : 26th Aug 2016 at 12:30 AM.
The outdoor shadow "issue" is a technical limitation of the shadow mapping algorithm, so it's very difficult to "fix it" without the source code of the shader (and probably the game engine too)...

A quote from Wikipedia, explaining the algorithm:
Quote:
Shadows are created by testing whether a pixel is visible from the light source, by comparing the pixel to a z-buffer or depth image of the light source's view (the Sun for example), stored in the form of a texture (the shadow map texture).

Principle of a shadow and a shadow map:
If you looked out from a source of light (the Sun for example), all of the objects you can see would appear in light. Anything behind those objects, however, would be in shadow. This is the basic principle used to create a shadow map. The light's view is rendered, storing the depth of every surface it sees (the shadow map). Next, the regular scene (the Player's view) is rendered comparing the depth of every point drawn (as if it were being seen by the light, rather than the eye) to this depth map.


So, the quality and the distance of the shadow is limited by the amount of 3d objects you could see through the light source's view. One possible solution is to increase the light source's view visible area, but probably this parameter is defined inside the shader and/or game engine.

Screenshots
Mad Poster
#37 Old 26th Aug 2016 at 10:18 AM
Doesn't sound impossible to fix. The source code's right there, you just need the key.

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Field Researcher
#38 Old 26th Aug 2016 at 6:27 PM
Quote: Originally posted by GrijzePilion
Doesn't sound impossible to fix. The source code's right there, you just need the key.



Very interesting. How do we get the key?
Virtual gardener
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#39 Old 26th Aug 2016 at 7:46 PM
As far as I can tell, EA made a separated Engine for the sims 3. although, the camera edits might be either in a file within the Fullbuild/deltabuild packages but then if you would use S3PE it has some 'unknown' data tags in it. or fallback data. But I do know Fullbuild0 seems to have some serious INI files that could be edited, if needed. Even some camera settings. I just haven't really looked and focused on the camera files or the lighting files.
Inventor
#40 Old 26th Aug 2016 at 7:59 PM
Its a orthographic projection, so you need to look for 6-tuple (left, right, bottom, top, near, far), which defines the clipping planes for the sun's camera.

Btw, I still think these parameters are compiled in the game engine.
Mad Poster
#41 Old 26th Aug 2016 at 10:38 PM
The game engine, the game engine. We're not exactly sure what it is, yet we all want to know. Where is this game engine, how do we mess with it, and how do we make sure it won't blow up in our faces afterwards?

But most importantly, where and how?

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Mad Poster
Original Poster
#42 Old 27th Aug 2016 at 1:28 AM
Still curious though is that far shadows seem to work in Map Mode.
Field Researcher
#43 Old 27th Aug 2016 at 1:39 AM
Is anyone looking at the files douglasveiga mentioned? Is anyone actual working on these files?I would but I have no clue what to do with it once I get it. As GrijzePilion said, we need the "where and how".
Field Researcher
#44 Old 27th Aug 2016 at 1:42 AM
Quote: Originally posted by jje1000
Still curious though is that far shadows seem to work in Map Mode.


Yes, as mentioned before, when you zoom out the shadows are much better and no fading (but I do think the distant shadows are a bit blurry (low render)), but when you zoom in thats when the fading starts - which makes no sense IMO (as you guys said before).
Inventor
#45 Old 27th Aug 2016 at 2:53 AM
Quote: Originally posted by jje1000
Still curious though is that far shadows seem to work in Map Mode.


Exactly the same way, just take a look at the edges of the screen, the shadow from the lots are fading away... The Sun's camera is constantly moving through the scene to follow where the player's camera is focusing, of course this approach isn't perfect that is why the shadow is constantly fading away specially near the edges of the screen.
Field Researcher
#46 Old 27th Aug 2016 at 5:07 PM
So is anyone actually trying to edit the files to fix this? Or can someone please tell me what to do so I can attempt to try this myself.


Where I find the "6-tuple"?
Field Researcher
#47 Old 27th Aug 2016 at 5:36 PM
What about the Sky_Common file? Can that help stop the fading? (I'm sorry if this was mention, I'm trying to research this).
Mad Poster
#48 Old 27th Aug 2016 at 6:01 PM
Sky_Common doesn't contain any useful settings that I know of. It's used to control certain world ambiance parameters but none of them will make the lighting engine any more advanced. It's just sunrise/sunset times, ambient light and that sort of guff. Lighting mods are essentially tweaked versions of this file...they can subjectively make your game look nicer, but won't add anything.

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Field Researcher
#49 Old 27th Aug 2016 at 6:04 PM
Mad Poster
#50 Old 27th Aug 2016 at 9:25 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Goodywood
I was reading this thread http://modthesims.info/showthread.p...5#startcomments

That tutorial won't be of any help here, unfortunately.

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