Can someone explain to me what SSAO does?

[bblaze]

Not that much of a tech guy, so I don't quite understand what it does. I certainly don't see a difference going from 8 to 16 samples, except that it makes my game turn from exceedingly smooth to horrifyingly laggish.


Thanks in advance!

[Thomas]

Work log on the feature
http://frictionalgames.com/forum/thread-2179.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_Spac..._Occlusion