[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Ray traced environments

[Adam Martin]

On 22/03/07, John Buehler <johnbue at msn.com> wrote:
> One thing about raytracing is that it's different from scanline rendering.
> It has its own pros and cons.  Today's games are predicated on the strengths
> (and weaknesses) of scanline rendering.  If that technique doesn't do
> something, you stay away from it.  What would games be like if their
> appearance was predicated on the strengths of raytraced rendering?
>

More dynamism in the environment (more deformation - fewer Adamantite meshes!).
More curves, especially higher-order curvatures.
More mirrors ;) (and reflections off surfaces)
Much richer lighting, less "primary colour wash" lighting and much
more smooth rich changes in lighting.
More environmental material changes ("wet" vs "dry" etc)
More "sculpting" in games (shaving away chunks of objects; knocking
corners off; roughing-up objects in general wear-and-tear)

...but the last three are on the horizon for scanline games too, as
people throw more and more hardware at the problems :)

Adam