Firmament

Faster shadows, steadier sunsets. A maintenance release for 0.3.0: the same look and settings, more frames per second and four lighting fixes.

Performance

• More FPS: the shadow map is drawn only from chunks within the shadow distance instead of everything up to your render distance. In our test scenes (1920 × 1080, High, render distance 16) that gave about 10 % more frames per second, and up to 30 % at dusk with the light behind you.

Fixed

• Calm dusk and dawn: light, shadows, light shafts and the sparkle on water no longer jump to the other side of the sky the moment the sun sets. Sunlight fades out, then moonlight fades in.
• Sunset clouds keep their warm afterglow after the sun has gone down.
• Backlit plants: grass, flowers and leaves glow softly against the sun instead of turning dark.
• Clear caves: rain haze and morning mist stay outside.

Compatibility

• The same 29 Minecraft Java versions as 0.3.0: 1.18.2; 1.19, 1.19.1, 1.19.2 and 1.19.4; 1.20–1.20.6; 1.21–1.21.11; 26.1, 26.1.1, 26.1.2, 26.2 and 26.3. Tested in Minecraft 1.21.1 / NeoForge 21.1.228 / Iris 1.8.12 / Sodium 0.6.13 on the High preset.

Known issues

• After reloading chunks with F3+A, shadows of blocks outside your view appear once you look at them: Iris only builds chunks the camera sees.

Notes

• Use the Iris and Sodium builds matching your Minecraft version; 26.2 and 26.3 target the OpenGL renderer. Keep the ZIP intact, place it in shaderpacks, select Firmament in Iris, start with High and adjust the preset for your setup.
• From 0.3.0 Firmament is licensed under the MDFL 1.0; 0.1.0 to 0.2.2 stay MIT.