Author Topic: 24-bit Color Rendering  (Read 5168 times)

LysleShields

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24-bit Color Rendering
« on: March 09, 2014, 02:23:15 PM »
I took some time here last night and a bit of today to change the 8-bit color rendering into a 24-bit color rendering.  I've been having problems with OpenGL and wanted to know what the game would look like if I went with a software renderer into 24-bits.  The results are interesting.  For example, take the following scene in the 256 color (8-bit) output:



I set it to gamma 3 to help us see in this dark dark room, but you can see that it is very splotchy.

Going to the 24-bit renderer, we get:



Again, both are gamma level 3, so the dark areas come out.

All in all, very nice.

What does it do for the lighter areas?  Not as much as you would think.  Mostly the water looks better.

If you want to play around with the 24-bit version (there are some bugs in this), then you can download it from here: http://www.amuletsandarmor.com/download/AA_24Bit.zip

What this experiment has shown me is that I need to just keep going forward with the OpenGL version.  The color increase is nice, but the resolution increase is going to be nicer.  Plus, one of my goals of doing 24-bit texture images will be also come along automatically too.  I'm basically still facing some of the same problems I had before, so OpenGL is still the way to go over a software renderer.



Taxxi

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Re: 24-bit Color Rendering
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2014, 08:22:36 AM »
I truely support your effort to a better graphic.

I'm an oldgamer, not that I'm old but I love to play old games: I love the era when the actual contents were more intriguing, thought provoking, full of experimental challenges (of game makers) and when those were not be concealed by outer materials, such as graphics. So it might be not logical for me to eager for a better graphic of this game.

However, for some reasons the graphic of this game is actually quite bad that it sores my eyes sometimes. For me, the mixture of 2D and 3D is OK. But the main problem I think is that the makers didn't distinguish the texture of the walls and the floors appropriately so it gets me really confused even unconsciously. The finest example might be the level 1-1. We all know that there is a small path to the hidden druid temple, and the texture of wall and the floor is so much similar that it just looks like a bunch of greens and browns - seems like someone has puked on it all over. 

The second problem I think can be solved by your project - the graphic gets even worse when there is not enough light. This is why I always cast glow even when I'm outside a dungeon. I used to watch my magic map rather than the actual game screen when it's dark and I couldn't cast glow, and later I figured out that it was because of this phenomenon.

I just guess (since I don't know that much about anything) that the first problem should be solved on its own way, but of course could be subdued by upgrading the graphics overall. I really cannot remember if Hexen had the similar problems because I had played it relatively long time ago.

Anyway I think what you're doing is wonderful. Just my two cents on it :)

TXI

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Re: 24-bit Color Rendering
« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2014, 04:39:40 AM »
I totally agree with Taxxi.
AA4E