Game Programming in C++: Creating 3D Games, First Edition

Chapter 13

Intermediate Graphics

There are a multitude of different graphical techniques used in games, which is why there are entire volumes and book series on the topic. This chapter explores a handful of intermediate graphics concepts: how to improve texture quality, rendering to textures, and a different method for lighting the scene, called deferred shading.

Improving Texture Quality

Recall from Chapter 5, “OpenGL,” that bilinear filtering can improve the visual quality of a texture as it gets larger on the screen. For example, suppose a wall has a texture on it. As the player gets closer to the wall, the size of the texture becomes larger onscreen. Without bilinear filtering, the texture will look pixelated. However, bilinear filtering ...