Where's the buffer?

I use the stencil buffer to identify objects, by setting the correct flags and values. As the cursor moves over the window, all I have to do is get the value out of the stencil buffer and I know which object is underneath the cursor. It works great! The problem is that the stencil buffer on every machine I’ve checked is limited to 8 bits; so I’m limited to identifying 255 distinct objects. I’d use the auxiliary buffer(s); but they aren’t implemented for Windows. Why the %$#@! not? Is there anything that can be done to increase the depth of the stencil buffer? This is really a pixel format or device context limitation rather than an OpenGL problem. When using the stencil buffer I need only draw things once. The feedback buffer functionality seems to require drawing things more than once plus some confusion on how the depth buffer is updated and fits into the whole picture. Got any ideas?

This topic was automatically closed 183 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.