Thanks guys, although some of u went off topic, i''ll try your suggestions. i guess that if i get a descent fps with less reflections i''ll have to eliminate some of the unseen reflections in relation 2 the the current rotation angle in each axis... although i''m sure my computer should handle this better.... correct me if i''m wrong?

Well fellas, after several tests i decided that i can''t use the stencil test without getting a performance hit, no matter how many reflections i draw: 0, 1, 2, 3, 100! doesn''t matter... further more, i discovered i didn''t even NEED the stencil buffer, blending is enough. glad i got u in2 this discussion though coz i learned some new things. Thanks guys! especially Lord Karnus!!

Well, I fear I have to disappoint you Anon, but I searched the OpenGL.org forums and look what I've found:
Post 1
Post 2
Post 3

So...


Yesterday we still stood at the verge of the abyss,
today we're a step onward!

Edited by - Vaporisator on January 26, 2002 7:04:53 PM

quote:

---

In window mode, the stencil buffer works ok (80 FPS). But in fullscreen mode, there is a fatal slow down of the application (1 FPS). The only difference between this two modes is, that the window mode runs in true color (32Bit/pixel) and the fullscreen mode runs with 16Bit/pixel.

---

80fps down to 1fps. Well, that''s what is commonly called a ''software renderer fallback''. Already heard about that ? It''s what I was saying from the beginning on.

Quote from Matt (one of the nVidia driver developers):

''There is absolutely no way to get a hardware stencil buffer in 16-bit color UNLESS YOU HAVE A GF3.''

Read the last 5 words please, esp. Maximus. Thanks.

Thanks for the links, they backed up the facts.

quote:

---

Original post by Anonymous Poster

''There is absolutely no way to get a hardware stencil buffer in 16-bit color UNLESS YOU HAVE A GF3.''

Read the last 5 words please, esp. Maximus. Thanks.

Thanks for the links, they backed up the facts.

---

Like I said from the beginning, 16bit mode (ok at least on pre-gf3 hardware.. no I cant explain the slowdown I get in in 16bit with stencil if its supposedly hardware accelerated on my card) has no hardware stencil buffer, and uses a software one.

You said to check with nvidia, well those posts confirm what I was telling you (apart from the 16bit issue with im having) about it using a software stencil buffer. Those posts confirm what I was saying about the software emulated stencil buffer which you totally denied and flamed about. Perhaps youll understand that people other than yourself DO know things.

>>Well fellas, after several tests i decided that i can''t use the stencil test without getting a performance hit, no matter how many reflections i draw: 0, 1, 2, 3, 100! doesn''t matter... further more, i discovered i didn''t even NEED the stencil buffer, blending is enough. glad i got u in2 this discussion though coz i learned some new things. Thanks guys! especially Lord Karnus!! <<

i havent been reading these posts just skimed through
see here http://uk.geocities.com/sloppyturds/games.jpg
the breakout game (rendered on a tnt2 no less )
true, reflections dont need a stencil buffer but using stencil u can keep the reflections where theyre meant to be (ie in this screenshot on the floor) if stencil was turned off u would see the bricks under the floor which slightly ruins the effect.
btw yes 16bit colour will give u software stencil on a tnt2, u need 24bit depth + 8bit stencil to get hardware support



http://uk.geocities.com/sloppyturds/gotterdammerung.html

quote:

---

Original post by Anonymous Poster
Quote from Matt (one of the nVidia driver developers):

''There is absolutely no way to get a hardware stencil buffer in 16-bit color UNLESS YOU HAVE A GF3.''

Read the last 5 words please, esp. Maximus. Thanks.

Thanks for the links, they backed up the facts.

---

Matt is only talking about the stencil buffer not the whole rendering process! This is exactly what you said would be impossible!
to clarify:
''There is absolutely no way to get a hardware stencil buffer in 16-bit color UNLESS YOU HAVE A GF3.''
==>so it has to use a software emulated stencil buffer.

Please stick to what was said there.


Yesterday we still stood at the verge of the abyss,
today we''re a step onward!

OMG. I''m really getting tired of this.

Just create an account on openg.org, and ask Matt specifically about your ''software emulation''. I doubt he will even answer you.

OK, I know I''m such an asshole bringing that back, but I really felt that this open discussion needed some closing words. This whole hardware/software/emulated stencil buffer issue has caused a lot of confusion. And not that I feel just a little bit satisfied about this ending, nooo not at all...

So here is what an OpenGL engineer from nVidia said to this issue:

quote:

---

If you have to do software emulation of a feature, it''s not feasible to use the hardware to do anything upstream in the pipeline.

GeForce2MX was the first NVIDIA hardware to support 16bpp color and Z24S8 at the same time. GeForce3 also supports that mode.

Note that you can get hardware acceleration when you have stencil testing disabled, but that''s not very interesting.

---

In other words: everything is full hardware or everything is full software, nothing inbetween, no emulated stencil buffer.

(Note, that I corrected Cass''s small depthformat typo in the quote above, to avoid further confusion).

To the people, that don''t have the slightest idea what I''m talking about: this discussion here suddendly switched over to the OpenGl.org forums, you can read the (still running) thread at: http://www.opengl.org/discussion_boards/ubb/Forum3/HTML/005365.html

EOF

So you see, he answered to my post!

Yesterday we still stood at the verge of the abyss,
today we''re a step onward!