Progress Thread - New demo - Cobra Mk III (18-May-08)
Moderator: qarnos
Nice seeing something stirring up some interest
My main concern with 3D on the calc so far has been world management and representation; do you plan on writing a 3D game with static environments that fill up the entire viewport?
BSP trees (quake-style) split geometry a lot so the number of draw calls will grow pretty fast (meaning loads more initialization code) and BSPs only order convex groups of polygons in half spaces. With software rendering, overdraw should be extremely low. I would like to hear your ideas about your simplified version.
The most useable approach for worlds with software rendering afaik is based on portals and sectors, like Descent, which minimizes the amount of overdraw to zero. Portals are widely used even with current computer gfx accelerators, since shader programs are becoming rather intricate and portals reduce the number of visible fragments just like in the old days (portals are crap though, there are better solutions for computers but they are _not_ useable on calcs ).
Some more general info would be nice.
And good work!
My main concern with 3D on the calc so far has been world management and representation; do you plan on writing a 3D game with static environments that fill up the entire viewport?
BSP trees (quake-style) split geometry a lot so the number of draw calls will grow pretty fast (meaning loads more initialization code) and BSPs only order convex groups of polygons in half spaces. With software rendering, overdraw should be extremely low. I would like to hear your ideas about your simplified version.
The most useable approach for worlds with software rendering afaik is based on portals and sectors, like Descent, which minimizes the amount of overdraw to zero. Portals are widely used even with current computer gfx accelerators, since shader programs are becoming rather intricate and portals reduce the number of visible fragments just like in the old days (portals are crap though, there are better solutions for computers but they are _not_ useable on calcs ).
Some more general info would be nice.
And good work!
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I wonder though if it can handle more geometry or a true 3D environment, not like Gemini but y'know like Quake.
"Not long ago, the Black Gate of Armonk swung open. The lights went out, my skin crawled, and dogs began to howl. I asked my neighbor what it was and he said, 'Those are the nazgul. Once they were human, now they are IBM's lawyers.'"
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Yes. One thing I have to say is that a true 3d fps is not feasible on calc, not even on an SE, not even on an 89TE. The simple reason why, is the number of accessible buttons. With a good (modern) game controller, you have a stick and a directional pad, or two sticks, as well as buttons. On the calc, we can only use our thumbs for pressing buttons, and we don't really want to press anything except in the top 3 or 4 rows during an action game. So if you have buttons for movement (the calc's "d-pad") and buttons for actions, like firing or jumping, what buttons while you use for looking?
Of course there are dozens of other applications to which a true 3d engine could be put, such as a 3d air or space shooter, without the need for movement controls.
Of course there are dozens of other applications to which a true 3d engine could be put, such as a 3d air or space shooter, without the need for movement controls.
"You're very clever, young man, but it's turtles all the way down!"
why not turn the 2nd,Alpha, Quit, section of the keyboard it's own keypad? quit could be move forward, alpha could be strafe left, stat is right, and apps is left. The only problem is that they probably aren't in the same groups, slowing the checking process.
Is anybody going to tell me what ray cast is?
Is anybody going to tell me what ray cast is?
This should help .
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