   Shadow play (from top-down view)
  Hi!I've got a question for a little project I'm working on about calculating shadows that are cast when a game object (e.g. a wall or a pillar) is blocking an incoming light source (e.g. from a flashlight or such). So far I only came up with a very simple algorithm that 'shoots' at all the spots that are covered by the line of sight of the light source and try to track its way back to the light source, using the shortest way possible (incrementing the position of the pointer on the x-, y-axis as long as necessary until its position and the position of the light source match). If the line of sight turns out to be blocked, the area between the examined spot and the obstacle are blacked out. This works as long as the looking distance is not very far like 5 or 6 fields. However, if I try it from a larger distance, the shadows turn out way too wide and some spots that should have been blacked out are not, since the program always calculates the shortest route and therefore hit an obstacle more often when either the x- or y-axis of both the light source and the obstacle are the same while if that's not the case some blind spots are overlooked. Since I won't have the time to study the subject matter at large I was hoping to find some tips or at least pointers where to look for helpful material.   
  Hello! You could check out this article here at gamedev if you haven't already:Dynamic 2d soft shadows.Hope it helps!   ;  Yay, goldmine! Thanks a lot :)   ;  I'm actually working on something very similar to the method you originally described and I wonder if you could post a couple screens of your original method.   