Textures or lights? New problem. Shadowmaps. Post 8

Hello.

I’m wondering which is better to have, lights that cast shadows, or many many textures with shadows right on them?

Thanks.

In almost every case, textures.

Okay thanks. Thats what I thought. Cause right now I want to make a little village, but the houses will all be pretty much the same, but then each one would still need its own texture so that it has its own shadows.

If you want to real time shadows, you can bake the shadows on a texture and use spotlights in strategic points to give the impression that the shadows are real, likei n resident evil 5 for example. I think that this is the best way to create a realistic enviornment.

Cool. Alright then thanks.

Could you give a link on how to do that?

digiman

Not so, Use a regular sized texture for the houses and then a lightmap for the shadows of the village. then layer the textures in the material

Shadow maps are fine, but what if you want destructable walls, if you destroy the wall of a house that is shadowmapped the map would no longer reflect a valid lighting condition, you could try to avoid using shadowmaps for these but if they’re concealing secrets than they could be an easy find for the player.

Ah yes shadow maps. Good idea. And I see what you mean CD, but that wont be a problem for me right now. This will be very simple. But just wondering, what is the proper way to make and apply a shadow map? I’m guessing just hit shadows under the bake tab, but then how do you make it so that spots that aren’t in the shadow have zero alpha?