🚀 Lumina Shader Lite v1.2.8-rc.2 — Compatibility & Shadow Stability

This release candidate focuses on expanding Minecraft compatibility, strengthening shadow rendering, and preventing mathematical errors across demanding visual effects. The result is a safer, cleaner, and more reliable foundation for the upcoming stable release. ✨

🌍 Compatibility & Stability

• 🧩 Improved version-dependent conditions for Minecraft 1.16.5 through 26.3.
• 🧱 Corrected identifiers for blocks, cauldrons, vegetation, and boats across different Minecraft versions.
• 📐 Improved line-rendering compatibility.
• 🔍 Strengthened anisotropic-filtering safeguards.
• 🌌 Fixed calculations that could produce invalid values in certain End effects.
• 🌿 Removed interference between biome transitions, improving environmental consistency.

🌑 Five Shadow-Related Fixes

Shadow rendering received five focused stability and accuracy improvements:

• ☁️ Unified the depth calculation used by terrain shadows, cloud shadows, and volumetric light rays.
• 🌿 Fixed foliage-shadow displacement when the Sun is positioned directly overhead.
• 🌤️ Corrected cloud-shadow projection when sunlight arrives at an inclined angle.
• ✨ Prevented invalid light-ray calculations at extremely low frame rates.
• 🛡️ Prevented division by zero when no valid volumetric samples are available.

These corrections provide more consistent shadows throughout the day while protecting the shader from rare numerical errors.

🧪 Stronger Validation

• ✅ Added new automated regression tests.
• 🖥️ Added shader compilation and linking checks to GitHub Actions.
• 📚 Added dedicated compatibility documentation.
• 📦 Prepared and verified the distribution ZIPs for rc.1 and rc.2.
• 🔎 Expanded validation across version-dependent and optional shader paths.

📊 Final Validation Results

• 20 automated tests passed
• 5,628 shader compilation and linking combinations validated
• 0 compilation errors
• 0 linking errors

🚧 Release Status

Lumina Shader Lite v1.2.8-rc.2 is now prepared and available on the luminalitedev branch for final visual testing.

This release candidate brings Lumina Lite closer to complete Minecraft 26.3 support while preserving its lightweight design, broad version compatibility, and performance-focused identity. 🚀💙