Additional Pixel and vertex shaders.

I would like to see some more Linden created pixel shaders available for people to use. I am not referring to any 30 instruction behemoths here, just the relatively simple ones. Such as...

Small simple ones....
Fresnel transparency
Normal mapping (user definable map)
Cubic reflection mapping (user definable map)
Blending shaders (additive, multiply,devide etc)
Cartoon cel shading shader
Multi-texture (with blending) so we can do lightmapping, neon etc.
Glow
Turbulence (applies a basic perlin noise distortion to the texture)
(feel free to expand this list)

More complex ones.....
Reflection mapping (toggleable in preferences for users with higher end cards)
Volume fog (definable alpha)
Hemispherical lighting
Water pool

Thats about all I can think of at the moment. These I feel could greatly enhance the overall visual quality.

As for the performance concerns, like other things have it be a performance option. Either A) Have a user defined number of shaders to display (with a recommend default) or B) Have an enable/disable check box. Anyway, just a few thoughts.

I strongly support this idea and/or suggestion.

-Adam

The only problem with the line of thought (and I agree we need more shaders wholeheartedly) is that it increasingly creates a world where it looks radicly different to different people. What we have now isn't *too* bad, but what looks great on one setup can still look like absolute crap on another. Builds that rely on reflective surfaces, for example, can often look like total crap when you turn them off. A person who doesnt run with lighting on can create a crappy glowing neon monstrosity and not even know how annoying it is to everyone else. Etc. The more specific options we have, the more and more SL is going to be be this way, until eventualy the "haves", that is, people with the uber-systems who can handle all the options, will have one SL experience, but the "have-nots" will have something very, very different.

Well rei thats pretty much the standard with games these days. Some people run them at 640x480 and like it. Others rush out to buy the newest and greatest so they can run at 2048x1536 with 16X aniso and FSAA...
I dont see this as a very big problem, though I would definitely prefer to get more features and less bugs, rather than improved eye candy.

The difference is, even if I take, say, Quake 3, and turn every feature off, it looks 'essentialy' the same as with every feature turned on. Fuzzier, lower-resolution, maybe not some of the eyecandy like lense flares and what not, but 'essentialy' you have the same thing.

With some of the features *already* in SL, this is not the case.

For example. High-reflective white makes a nice metal texture. So I used to design planes using that.

Then someone who doesnt run bumping on their system asked me why I was making these cool models that were shapeless white blobs.

how about we fix the shaders we do have first, so that a) they don't screw up and lock machines (mainly with ati cards) and b) they actually look like they're supposed to without screwing other stuff up (the ripple water)


in general shaders can be cool but only really in a STRUCTURED environment such as an actual 3d game... SL there simply wouldn't be the cohesiveness to make shaders anything but a mostly useless gimmick

that and SL is already WAY over-stressing clients as people increasingly use overly dense and ineficient building methods (actual polygon wise) such as massive distortions of curved prims with transparency

Try applying a subtle chrome texture before you turn on reflectivity. That way they'll get the point across even on lower end systems.