Voxel Mesh Material Updates Using Shadow Buffers and Ray Checks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing game technologies using voxel meshes lack effective control over material changes based on game determinations, leading to inefficiencies in rendering and processing loads.
Innovation Solution
A game system and method that updates voxel data to change materials based on game processing, using conditions such as light source shadows and contact with other shapes, reducing processing load through shadow buffers and ray checks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If material changes in voxels are implemented based on game determination, then game functionality and visual variety are improved, but processing load and rendering complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates and stores shadow information from light sources in shadow buffers before rendering. This preliminary action allows the game system to quickly determine whether a voxel is in shadow without performing complex real-time shadow calculations during material change determination, thus enabling versatile material changes while keeping processing load manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces shadow buffers as an intermediary data structure that mediates between the light source configuration and the material change determination process. Instead of directly calculating shadows during material updates, the system uses these pre-computed shadow buffers to efficiently determine whether voxels should undergo material changes, reducing the complexity of real-time processing.
2Measurement precision
If real-time shadow determination is performed for each voxel, then material change accuracy is improved, but rendering speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Shadow information is pre-calculated and stored in shadow buffers before the rendering process. This allows the system to achieve accurate shadow determination for each voxel without performing computationally expensive real-time shadow calculations during rendering, thus maintaining both precision and speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The shadow determination process is extracted from the main rendering pipeline and performed separately in advance. By separating the shadow calculation from the material change determination, the system can accurately determine shadows for each voxel using pre-computed data without slowing down the overall rendering process.
3Measurement precision
If multiple determination methods (shadow buffer and ray check) are used, then determination accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The determination process is segmented into two distinct methods: shadow buffer-based determination and ray check-based determination. Each method serves a specific purpose and can be applied independently or in combination. This segmentation allows the system to achieve high determination accuracy by selecting the appropriate method for each scenario without creating a monolithic complex processing system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically selects between different determination methods based on the specific game situation and performance requirements. Rather than using a fixed complex determination system, the patent enables flexible switching between shadow buffer and ray check methods, allowing the processing complexity to adapt to the actual needs of each scene while maintaining high accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
For each of a plurality of voxels included in a voxel space, voxel data in which at least a density and a material are set is updated based on game processing. Vertex coordinates of a mesh are determined based on the density. A material of the mesh is determined based on at least the material included in the voxel data. The mesh is rendered based on material data including at least rendering setting information. Of materials included in the voxel data in at least one voxel space for which a first determination shape set in a voxel space is determined to be located in a range that satisfies a first condition, a first material is updated into a second material.