The Shadow
Member
I remember the first time I saw shader effects in a game when I first got my Radeon 8500LE and tried out Morrowind. On my GeForce 2 Pro, the water was just a flat plane that would have little splash textures when something made contact with it. With the Radeon, the water looked 3D. Stepping through would make little ripples that would radiate from where you were. Once you went into the water so that your viewpoint was level with the water, you'd see that it was all just an illusion and that the water was still a flat plane and wasn't really wavy like it looked.
Obviously shader effects have been used on a lot more than just water since. So what's been your favorite use so far?
Mine, and mind you if you haven't finished Half-Life 2 then don't read this.
Just as impressive and similar effect would be the occasional door that had that wavy glass on it. Everything behind it was distorted and blurry. It's not really all that noticeable until you see something moving behind it, which is when you realize how nicely done it is.
Obviously shader effects have been used on a lot more than just water since. So what's been your favorite use so far?
Mine, and mind you if you haven't finished Half-Life 2 then don't read this.
I'd have to say the most interesting use has been those columns of energy you find in the citadel walking around. Everything behind it is blurry and distorted and when you toss people in them, they further distort making for a really cool effect.
Just as impressive and similar effect would be the occasional door that had that wavy glass on it. Everything behind it was distorted and blurry. It's not really all that noticeable until you see something moving behind it, which is when you realize how nicely done it is.