NVIDIA Lightning Demo (2000) – Real-Time Per-Pixel Lighting on GeForce 2 ⚡ (Flashing Images Warning)
26⚠ ️ Flashing images warning – this demo contains rapid lighting effects. ⚠ ️
Note: for some reason I thought this was DX7 but it is actually OpenGL 1.2.
Travel back to the year 2000 with NVIDIA’s Lightning tech demo, originally created for the GeForce 2. ⚡ This spooky showcase used the Lightning Engine to produce realistic sparks and flashes across a metal plate, demonstrating real-time lighting, bump mapping, and per-pixel effects at the dawn of the new millennium.
In this video, I dig into the installation and file structure of the demo, explore its haunting visuals, and break down the technical details behind its bump-mapped surfaces and early per-pixel lighting. A fascinating look at how NVIDIA set the stage for the next generation of real-time rendering.
🖥 ️ Links & extras below 👇
Some links from the research in this video:
📖 Info on the GeForce 2 seriehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_2_seriesrce.https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/tom,184-2.htmlws/.https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce2-mx.c792ecs...
📖 Info on OpenGL 1.https://www.khronos.org/opengl/wiki/History_of_OpenGL#OpenGL_1.2_(1998i/H...)
📖 Info on DXhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct3D#Direct3D_7.0ct3...
📖 Installing software with old 16-bit installerhttps://reactos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22c.p.https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/111-installshield-3-32-bit-generic-installer//fi.https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/364-installshield-5-32-bit-generic-installer/#goog_rewarded/fi...
❓ What’s the difference between Bump, Normal, Parallax maps? (AskAGameDehttps://askagamedev.tumblr.com/post/95739492476/could-you-explain-the-difference-between-bumpst/9...
Check out the NVIDIA Zoltar Demo:
• Zoltar the Magnificent (2001) – NVIDIA’s F...
NVIDIA demos hehttps://www.nvidia.com/en-gb/geforce/community/demos/rce/...
Deeper info on DX8 Shader programming and Matrix Palette Skinihttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/msdn-magazine/2001/june/directx-8-0-enhancing-real-time-character-animation-with-matrix-palette-skinning-and-vertex-shaders/archttps://www.ece.uvic.ca/~bctill/papers/mocap/Davies_2004.pdfaperhttps://registry.khronos.org/OpenGL/extensions/ARB/ARB_vertex_program.txtGL/ehttps://registry.khronos.org/OpenGL/extensions/NV/NV_vertex_program.txtGL/ehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARB_assembly_language_asshttps://developer.download.nvidia.com/cg/arbvp1.html.com...
📖 History of Direchttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectXDirectX
📖 History of NVIDhttps://www.nvidia.com/en-us/about-nvidia/corporate-timeline/t-nv...
📖 More advanced grass renderihttps://developer.nvidia.com/gpugems/gpugems/part-i-natural-effects/chapter-7-rendering-countless-blades-waving-grassems/...
📖 NVIDIA Turf Effects (Gameworks DX1https://developer.nvidia.com/turfeffectseffects
❓ What is bump mapphttps://www.reallusion.com/iclone/Help/iClone3STD/15_Multiple_Channel_Texture_Mapping/Types_of_maps.htme/Hehttps://studylib.net/doc/5718914/emboss-bump-mapping/embhttps://help.autodesk.com/view/ARNOL/ENU/?guid=arnold_user_guide_ac_legacy_standard_ac_bump_mapping_htmlRNOL/...
❓ What is Flat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shading#Flat_shadinghading...
❓ What is Gouraudhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouraud_shadingGouraud...
❓ What is Phonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phong_shading/Phong_s...
❓ What other types of shadinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_shading_algorithmsi/List_of...
#NVIDIA #LightningDemo #TechDemo #GeForce2 #RetroGaming #PCGamingHistory #GraphicsHistory #PerPixelLighting #BumpMapping #2000sGaming #RetroPCGraphics