R showShadowCount (cvar)
Description
The r_showShadowCount cvar provides diagnostic information by colouring pixels based on the number of shadow volumes calculated for that pixel. The colours used are the same as those given by r_showLightCount , although the shadow-count is per-pixel rather than per-poly.
Usage
At the console type…
r_showShadowCount [int]Parameters
- [int]
- 0 - Disable.
- 1 - Enable.
Flags
| Flag | Enabled | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CVAR_ALL | all flags | |
| CVAR_BOOL | variable is a boolean | |
| CVAR_INTEGER | X | variable is an integer |
| CVAR_FLOAT | variable is a float | |
| CVAR_SYSTEM | system variable | |
| CVAR_RENDERER | X | renderer variable |
| CVAR_SOUND | sound variable | |
| CVAR_GUI | gui variable | |
| CVAR_GAME | game variable | |
| CVAR_TOOL | tool variable | |
| CVAR_USERINFO | sent to servers, available to menu | |
| CVAR_SERVERINFO | sent from servers, available to menu | |
| CVAR_NETWORKSYNC | cvar is synced from the server to clients | |
| CVAR_STATIC | X | statically declared, not user created |
| CVAR_CHEAT | X | variable is considered a cheat |
| CVAR_NOCHEAT | variable is not considered a cheat | |
| CVAR_INIT | can only be set from the command-line | |
| CVAR_ROM | display only, cannot be set by user at all | |
| CVAR_ARCHIVE | set to cause it to be saved to a config file | |
| CVAR_MODIFIED | X | set when the variable is modified |
Notes
This CVar is the used similarly to r_showLightCount for optimisation purposes. Excessive shadow volumes can cause a drop in performance, while an even greater excess causes ugly rendering artefacts caused by overflow in the stencil buffer. Shadow count can be reduced by
- disabling shadow-casting on some lights
- adding the key noshadows with value 1 to func_statics
- reducing polycount, such as by subdividing patches .
