Lantern Engine

sadx-dc-lighting (Lantern Engine) is a mod for Sonic Adventure DX PC which implements the palette-based "Lantern" lighting engine from Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast.

What does it look like?

Here are some comparison shots using Dreamcast stages.

Vanilla	Lantern Engine

More comparison screenshots - Dreamcast comparisons screenshots - Video comparison

How do I use it?

Prerequisites

• A graphics card which supports vertex texture sampling (i.e a graphics card released more recently than the year 2000)
• Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015-2022 (x86!)
• DirectX 9.0c End-User Runtimes
• SADX Mod Loader
• d3d8to9 (included in the Mod Loader - no need to install)

Installing sadx-dc-lighting

To be able to run the mod, make sure Render Backend is set to DirectX 9 in the Mod Manager's Game Config/Graphics tab.

Installation through the Mod Manager

If you have 1-click install support enabled for the Mod Manager (usually enabled automatically), you can copy the highlighted text below, paste it in your browser's address bar and press Enter.

sadxmm:https://github.com/michael-fadely/sadx-dc-lighting/releases/latest/download/sadx-dc-lighting.7z,author:SonicFreak94,name:Lantern%20Engine,folder:sadx-dc-lighting

Manual installation

To install the mod manually, follow these steps:

• Download the archive from https://github.com/SonicFreak94/sadx-dc-lighting/releases/latest.
• Open the archive and extract the sadx-dc-lighting folder itself into your SADX mods folder. The mods folder should be in your game's root directory.
• Enable Lantern Engine in the Mod Manager's Mods tab.

Troubleshooting

Error message "SADX Lantern Engine will not function without Direct3D 9" on startup

Open the Mod Manager, go to the Game Config/Graphics tab and make sure Render Backend is set to DirectX 9.

Shader compilation errors on startup: "unexpected KW_SAMPLER_STATE" and others

If you are on Windows, install the DirectX 9.0c End-User Runtimes:

Web version

Full version for manual installation

If you are on Linux and running the game through Wine/Proton, the following tips could help:

• Run the game through Steam/Proton instead of Wine.
• Install the DirectX 9.0c End-User Runtimes manually to the same prefix as the game via Protontricks or Winetricks.
• Install the shader compiler manually using the following terminal command: winetricks d3dx9 d3dcompiler_43 d3dcompiler_47
• Extract d3dcompiler_43.dll and d3dcompiler_47.dll from the DirectX 9.0c End-User Runtimes redistributable, copy them to the game folder and add them as native library overrides in winecfg.
• Delete the folder ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/71250 and reinstall the game.