Game programming gems / dynamic lighting

Hey guys... again (:0) As well as other things, I''m attempting to write my own rendering engine again. This time, I really want to focus on the dynamic lighting and shadows part. I''ve been watching the Halo 2 trailer alot recently, and to a less extent, the doom 3 video interview with ID. And I''m mighty impressed with the lighting setup. Of course, I''m not trying to get the exact results, I mean these guys have been programming graphics for years now. I''m just curious as to how these ligting effects are produced... I''ve been reading the Game programming gems books lately, and I''ve come across attenuation maps, and 3d textures for dynamic lights. Would these methods give similar looking results? (in conjunction with normal/bump maps, and hw pixel shaders obviusoly). In my opinion, 3d textures (maybe with some filters to change the shape of the rendered light?) would give a good result. Calculating UV with a texture matrix maybe (something like u = light.x - light.radius...whatever (:0) cant think of the correct algorithm ) But one bug problem that I can think of, with this techniques, is say you have light R, polygon A and polygon B. A occludes B completely, but B still has a normal facing R, and is within the radius also. Surely it would be illuminated right? Casting shadows might solve the prob, but what if, whilst using shadows, A faced away from R and had a light G very close to it? It should be illuminated from G and have no shadow from R, but it would have a shadow, just as B would have a shadow from light G... Sorry if my hypothetical situation sounds convoluted, but hopefuly you get the idea (:0) Soooooo..... What do I search for on the net? I do want realistic lighting & shadows, with the use of hw vertex & pixel shaders... Any feedback would be greatly appreciated (:0) Thanks, all the best, Dan Transformers Rulez!!