Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Standalone
is a build that is its own executable on Windows or application on
a Mac.
Web Player
is a build destined for the web and includes some partner
html files.
Editor
is the space we are currently working in. Editor refers to both
the Scene window and the Game window.
So with the Editor Quality set to Good, it is important to know what Good
means. In
Figure 7.19
the Good settings are expanded. Note that there are
four sections focused on shadows: Shadows, Shadow Resolution, Shadow
Cascades, and Shadow Distance.
Shadows:
This actually has two meanings. First, here you can turn off
all shadows (No Shadows) and choose what types of shadows will be
rendered (Hard only or Hard and Soft Shadows). Hard Shadows are
cheaper to render in realtime although Soft Shadows often have a more-
refined look, especially in interiors.
Shadow Resolution:
When it's understood that a shadow map is really a
sort of image, a shadow resolution starts to make more sense. A higher-
resolution shadow map means there are more pixels to define a shadow.
Take a look at
Figure 7.20
to see a quick illustration of this idea. At higher
resolutions, there are more pixels available to describe any one shadow,
which means the individual pixels are smaller, which means the shadow is
cleaner.
Shadow Cascades:
These are used only for Directional Lights. The idea
is that Unity divides the viewing area into sections (cascades) that get
larger as they get further from the camera. Yet each section uses the
same-sized shadow map. So areas far from the camera are much lower
resolution (larger area covered by a map), and areas closer are higher
resolution (smaller area covered by a map). Four Cascades looks better
than Two Cascades as the viewing area is split up into smaller sections
with each section having the same amount of shadow information.
More information in one cascade (the nearest) means higher-quality
shadows (
Figure 7.21
). Remember though that the additional cascades
means additional calculations, so there is a bit of a performance hit with
higher cascades, although for well-equipped systems this hit may not
be noticeable. It's just one more of the performance/quality balance
considerations that are forever a part of game creation.
Shadow Distance:
This refers to how far away from the cameras shadows
are rendered. By decreasing the shadow distance, the surface area that
the shadow map is covering becomes smaller and thus the quality
of the visible shadows increases. But (and this is important), it means
that shadows further than the Shadow Distance setting are simply not
rendered. An illustration of this idea is seen in
Figure 7.22
. A Shadow
Distance of 5 means the shadows right in front of the camera look great,
but the spheres stop casting shadows further away. The shadows that
used to define the area under the overhang are gone altogether.
However, a Shadow Distance of 5000 means that all the shadows are
there, but since the shadow map is being shared by such a long distance,
the quality is horrible.
