| This book is a collection of articles that explain the foundations of shader programming, from the High Level Shading Language and version 3.0 shader models to shadow mapping and stencil shadow volumes. The following provides a brief overview of these articles: Jason L. Mitchell and Craig Peeper, one of the creators of HLSL and the compiler, have written the best introduction to HLSL there is in “Introduction to the DirectX High Level Shading Language.” Because it comes from the official source, this article covers everything that an HLSL programmer needs and a lot more.
The vs_3_0 and ps_3_0 shader models will be available in thirdgeneration shader graphics hardware. These shader versions are much more flexible and powerful than the previous versions, offering vertex texturing capabilities, predication, static and dynamic flow control, vertex stream frequency, and much more. Nicolas Thibieroz, Kristof Beets, and Aaron Burton from PowerVR have written an introduction to this shader model that explains every new feature and includes a source snippet.
Michal Valient’s article “Advanced Lighting and Shading with Direct3D 9” covers some more advanced lighting models including Phong, Oren-Nayar, and Cook-Torrance. He implements these algorithms with ps_1_4, ps_2_0, ps_3_0, and HLSL. This is the most extensive treatment of this topic available.
There are several different ways to use fog to produce a specific mood in games. Markus Nuebel shows all possible ways to implement fog in a way that is easy to understand. The six example programs make using fog as easy as possible. |