Hi
I didn't know exactly about where to put this topic since it covers many different areas : i have feature requests, and a bug report, but since this is something which very few people would actually use right now, and involves installation of 3rd party software and hacks, i think it should go to the modding section.
if it's not in the right section , feel free to move the topic.
What is stereoscopic 3D ?Stereoscopic 3D is a technique which allows the viewer (or player) to percieve depth in an image (or video or game). This is done by showing a slightly different image to each eye produced by 2 diffrent cameras separated by a few centimeters, to imitate human vision.
Stereoscopic 3D gaming applies the principle of the 3D cinema to your games, it's been around for quite a few years but never really took off because of lack of a way to display high quality 3D images at home at an affordable price.
For years, the only affordable way to do it was to use special glasses (called shutter glasses) which worked well but required ultra-high grade CRT monitors working at 120Hz or the flicker effect from the monitor would be too strong and cause serous headaches after a few minutes of use.
But 3D technology is coming back, some TV and monitor manufacturers are now making new 3D-ready plasma TVs and 3D LCD monitors at a more affordable price, drivers have also improved a lot and even hollywood is now pushing for more and more 3D technology in theatres, and home is next.
So what about audiosurf ?
Well i've tested audiosurf with the most advanced 3D driver called "iZ3D" (yes, nvidia is no longer n°1 in stereoscopic 3D), and actually audiosurf works quite well in 3D.
I've taken some screenshots, i've uploaded them in their original format (dual images, side by side, full colour) here :
http://blacksharkfr.free.fr/media/images/Tra3d/iz3dbeta/audiosurf/i have also assembled one of the images in anaglyph so you can see how it looks like if you've got one of those cheap red&blue 3D glasses
You'll notice i've changed the block colours to reckognize them in anaglyph.
Now, everything isn't perfect and Dylan, there's something you can do about it :
In order to properly draw a 3D scene in stereoscopic 3D, you need to think about the depth of every object and every special effect.
That's something you don't necessarely do when you draw a scene which will be projected on a traditionnal 2D screen, so if you aren't careful, some visual anomalies appear.
The less visual anomalies, the better the depth effect becomes because the illusion of depth is perfect.
3D driver creators can help a little by doing some profiling each game and applying some tweaks to their drivers, but takes a lot of ressources for them and they can't correct everything, while you could do it much better and much more efficiently since you know your game and you're the only one who owns the source code of your game.
I've noticed four visual anomalies in Audiosurf :
1 - HUD depth (major anomaly) :
most of the menu interface and a big part of the hud is projected at a random depth because when you draw these HUD elements in 2D, you don't specify the correct depth. In order to avoid this, there is a convention which states that all HUD elements should be drawn at a specified depth (i think it's z=0, not sure) so that 3D drivers reckognize the HUD and draw it at the correct depth (the depth of the screen)
There is one element which is drawn at the correct depth though : it's the title of the song. You draw this element every time at the correct conventionnal HUD depth.
Dylan, i wish you would check though your code about which depth you used to draw this HUD element, and apply it to the rest of the hud (menues, options, etc...) so that Stereoscopic 3D drivers would know it's the hud and draw it correctly.
2 - Particles' depth = 2D hud (major anomaly)Although this is a logic thing to do when you draw for a conventionnal 2D screen, when it comes to stereoscopic 3D a visual anomaly appears.
That's because the particles are hidden by the road, so your brain thinks they're behind, but your eyes tell you it's drawn at the same depth as the HUD which is in front, this products a contradiction between what your eyes see and what your brain thinks and this tends to distract you, so if you could solve this by forcing the particle effects to be drawn very far in the back, it would make Audiosurf play a lot better in 3D
3 - Trails effect, premium graphics (minor anomaly)The trails seem to be strongly disturbed by the tiny camera displacements that Stereo 3D drivers use.
Just look at this screenshot :
http://blacksharkfr.free.fr/media/images/Tra3d/iz3dbeta/audiosurf/Audiosurf%200005.jpgIt's not a major issue because you can only see this for a few seconds when reaching the end of a level, but if you could correct it, you'd get a flawless 3D rendering.
I don't know exactly how or why this happens (i'm just a player), it must be something with the fullscreen postprocess effect, 3D drivers hate them because 3D drivers never know whether to draw these effect separately for each eye (slower) or to draw both eyes at the same time (to draw it faster) but you could ask iZ3D engineers about it and they would probably tell you exactly why this happens and how to solve it.
4 - The mysterious vertical bar (minor anomaly)There is a mysterious vertical black bar floating in the center of the screen, I have absolutely no idea about where it comes from or what it is supposed to represent.
I isn't very disturbing at all, it's just that... it shouldn't be there, but since i have absolutely no idea about why it's there can't tell you how to remove it.
As i just said before, i'm just a gamer interested in Stereoscopic 3D, i'm playing anaglyph right now but i intend to buy a 3D monitor for christmas, and i'd really like to enjoy Audiosurf in the best conditions.
If you have any technical questions about 3D drivers you can contact their authors.
The most advanced 3D driver right now is the one from iZ3D
www.iz3d.com it works under windows XP or vista and with any gaphics card,
next is nvidia's one it's a little behind but it's become windows vista only and of course only works with nvidia graphics cards.
I really hope you'll get interested into Stereoscopic 3D and see if you can improve Audiosurf to display better in 3D.
Thanks
