Misc Fresnel shader 1.1

[Bjarne Hansen]

Bjarne Hansen submitted a new resource:

Fresnel shader - Added reflections

This is a a shader that has been missing in Race 07 since it came out.
I believe this is how Simbin intended the cars to look like.
But for some strange reason nobody never noticed they didn't include the shader with the sim.
It adds nice reflections to cockpits and paint. The files for that are already in the game just not used.

To install:
Open archive
There are a text file inside explaining in details what it does.
Copy the folder Shaders over to the Shaders folder in your Race 07...

Read more about this resource...

 

[abrimaal]

I think it is just a question of the high contrast emap, that the cars look more shiny. If the object uses T1 or specular T1 or even bump specular T1, this shader will change nothing. There must be a shader that is using a cube map.
To see the difference, the shader should be replaced, but the results may be unpredictable.
I think the fresnel shader is implemented, because the Race07 cars differ from GTR2 cars, that use a greyscale emap.

 

[Bjarne Hansen]

I think it is just a question of the high contrast emap, that the cars look more shiny. If the object uses T1 or specular T1 or even bump specular T1, this shader will change nothing. There must be a shader that is using a cube map.
To see the difference, the shader should be replaced, but the results may be unpredictable.
I think the fresnel shader is implemented, because the Race07 cars differ from GTR2 cars, that use a greyscale emap.

Yes the included emap is way to much for most cars. When I check i did in some Evo GT cars that are pretty dark.
Will delete the CubeMap again.

The point is there isn't any Fresnel shader included in the shaders!
Can't even find a reference to them in the .exe's so must be scrambled somewhere in the .exe's?

Having gone over most of the EVO GT cars I have not seen a single part on any cars that didn't use the L2CMapSpecMapFresnelT0 shader!

My guess is the fresnel shader in the .exe are a software shader that runs on the Cpu.
With the Fresnel shader i uploaded I see an average of 6% load moved from CPU to GPU,
Checked with MSI.
For me the reflections is also better (in most cases) with the Gpu based Fresnel shaders.

But again that might depend on individual computers and opinion for that matter.
It is about moving load from Cpu to Gpu as lower load on Cpu means more Cpu time for Ai.
Found a few other things that can help with that.

I do think it was a mistake they use the same emap for everything it does special on the skins and glass were Emap_paint and Emap_glass gives a much more realistic reflection effects and not the on/off effect of the basic Emap.

 

[HansDG]

Thanx for this, it was great. I tested with a basic cubemap from forza & assetto corsa...
Assetto was absolutely the best for this game.
Although static still looked great on a few tracks I drove and If one want to remove the tree reflections just edit the map like the default one.
Cheers!

 

[Bjarne Hansen]

Will try the AC one.
I do realize that changing a base file will always have some unwanted side effects.
Some cars lack or low reflections got a lot to do with the spec maps are not always made correctly.

 

[HansDG]

I'm a pro modder for AC, so I understand exactly what you mean, lol!
Unfortenately it seems you have to have a separate map for each car & track.
I'm not very familiar with Simbin files... I do love the driving feeling in
those games though & wish there was a Shader patch for them as for AC.
Still you guys made some big improvements.

BTW.. do you know how to clean up the cars LCD glass from all the 'noise'?
The only thing that looks a little off in the cockpit..
I think it's an universal .dds file or similar but can't find it..

 

[Bjarne Hansen]

There will not be a shader patch for the Simbin files as shaders are more general than in AC.
And we are few left playing around the titles.

Did notice some noise on some LCD but forgot to investigate.
A lot of LED (Motecs) do use an cmap alpha reflect for the led so that might be the issue.

Upgrading the Gtr2 Mod for Race 07 right now but after I do plan on work over all the cars at least up to Gtr Evo.
Even with just the textures already there that can get to look much better than now just with shader correction and sharping of texture bias.

Do have some more shader upgrades for Race 07.
Nothing new just some are still just Dx7 while some of the special dx9 shadow shaders do not compile and downgrade to dx8 or even dx7.
Will not make a big difference but when you know you notice!

 

[Bjarne Hansen]

Bjarne Hansen updated Fresnel shader with a new update entry:

Fresnel Shaders +

More than an update as it included several other shaders and files.
But it does make the Fresnel shaders work better.
New set of Fresnel shader are also included but are the same as 1.0
This small update forces Race 07 to DX9 something that is not always happening.
It will make the display more clear and better lighting.
I was playing with some other Shaders when I first saw the effect and want to share is with everybody
Included are the Fresnel shaders, a set of SRPL_Shaders with the sky...

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[Boreas558]

It seems to make quite a noticeable overall improvement now.