2012/08/09 - Shader Update Released

Notes

Shaders are OFF by default for compatibility. You have to turn them on by selecting a shader quality setting in the options menu. The shader quality settings are as follows:
- Off - Fixed function rendering, the same as before except you should see much better performace
- Minimum - You get per-pixel lighting, fog, specular hilights, and shadow coloring (the dark side of objects can be colored differently than the light side) but no shadows.
- Low - 2x 1024 pixel shadow maps. You are rendering the scene 2 extra times per frame to get shadows. Expect performance to decrease accordingly.
- Medium - 3x 2048 pixel shadow maps. You are rendering the scene 3 extra times.
- High - 4x 2048 pixel shadow maps. You are rendering the scene 4 extra times.
Game modes exist
A game mode is a specially packaged add-on that will automatically load a list of add-ons, load a save file, and start a default minigame automatically. It allows users to easily switch between different gameplay styles without having to manually select add-ons and it allows content creators to ensure that their creations are run as they designed them. You can find out more in Rotondo's game mode reference thread. Don't panic, you can still manually pick which add-ons by selecting the "custom" game mode.
New admin menu buttons
- Server Settings - You can change things like the server name and player limit without resetting the server.
- Game Mode - You can change the game mode to any game mode that is on the server, you can even change to the custom game mode and manually select add-ons. This works on a dedicated server as well. After selecting a new game mode, the server will restart itself (everyone is disconnects and rejoins automatically, this is a bit hackish but it is best for compatibility).
- Environment - You can change the environment settings in real time as seen here. Everyone sees the changes as you make them.
Demo mode changes - This doesn't really effect anyone here, but the demo mode no longer has a brick limit. Instead, the demo now limits you to the add-ons and save files that come with the game. You can run all of the things that come with the game but you cannot use 3rd party game modes, saves, or add-ons. A side effect of this is that you can build a huge thing and save it, but you cannot load it because it is then considered a 3rd party save file. I realize that this is somewhat diabolical.

Change log

Added shaders
Fixed bugs

Known Issues

Erroneous shadow culling - You may occasionally see dynamic objects such as players and vehicles stop casting a shadow when you look at certain angles. This is entirely kompressor's fault and you should pm him about it.
Alt-tab from fullscreen or switching from windowed to fullscreen mode repeatedly may cause the shaders to stop working or strange texture mix-ups. This is a long standing issue with torque and many other 3d engines, but now it may cause the entire scene to turn white due to the shader not working. If this happens, just go into the options menu and change your shader detail to something else and back again.
After using the mission editor, you may crash when you disconnect from a server. It's some sort of client/server object mix-up that I haven't looked into yet. There is no real reason to use the mission editor anymore anyway.
Sometimes shadows will get messed up after taking a screenshot. If this happens, just go into the options menu and change your shader detail to something else and back again.