Software rendering?
Author
Has anyone here ever tried it??
I am making my stuff in OpenGL and everything but when I went over to my friends house to show him what I had done, the demo didn''t work cause of his garbage videocard. I decided that since my project is gonna eventually be a commercial app I would like it to run on all systems.
Has anyone ever attempted such a feat?
If so is it open source? Can I ask you questions though email concerning that subject?
It''s not too hard, everyone used it before the likes of Glide, OpenGL and D3D. Just takes a lot of time. That''s why I haven''t done it yet.
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#pragma twice
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#pragma twice
Author
Ok, I got most of my software engine is functional accept for the rendering part. I was thinking about writing directly to hWnd but the example I saw simmilar to this had a huge memory leak that used up all of windows resources within 30seconds 
I will keep working on it. I will post source and example when finished.
Besides writing to hWnd is there any other ideas here?
Thanks Furby100
I will keep working on it. I will post source and example when finished.
Besides writing to hWnd is there any other ideas here?
Thanks Furby100
Is it possible to get a pointer to video memory with the OpenGL API? I know it is with DirectX, and that''s what I do...
I don''t think it''s worth it. Unless your target platform is something like an old 386, there shouldn''t be a problem with OpenGL. Of course, I don''t know what kind of a demo you tried to run on your friend''s computer, but my guess is he had an older computer without OpenGL on it? I don''t think the first version of Win95 had OpenGL packaged with them. My OpenGL apps have always worked (assuming opengl32.dll is present), even if there''s no hardware acceleration present. They obviously run slower without special hardware, but they still run.
wcreviston:
that''s the point, though, isn''t it? i have a Win95 P233 with no hardware acceleration, and OpenGL runs slower than all hell if you''re doing anything more than showing a couple of solid colored polygons.. what does it matter if a program will technically run on a platform if it won''t run reasonably well?
I''m all for software rendering (since i have no hardware acceleration)
all you really need to do is use something like DirectDraw to get access to the video memory, or if you need/want cross platform compatibility, then something like OpenPTC. How do you program graphics without knowing how to do something in software? (granted, perspective correct texturing and such ain''t easy)
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IUnknown *pUnkOuter
that''s the point, though, isn''t it? i have a Win95 P233 with no hardware acceleration, and OpenGL runs slower than all hell if you''re doing anything more than showing a couple of solid colored polygons.. what does it matter if a program will technically run on a platform if it won''t run reasonably well?
I''m all for software rendering (since i have no hardware acceleration)
all you really need to do is use something like DirectDraw to get access to the video memory, or if you need/want cross platform compatibility, then something like OpenPTC. How do you program graphics without knowing how to do something in software? (granted, perspective correct texturing and such ain''t easy)
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IUnknown *pUnkOuter
Hi All,
I''ve spent the last few months writing a software renderer, learning the whole 3D graphics programing area from scratch.
I graduated a couple of years ago with a software engineering degree from Manchester. I spent two years as a commercial programmer, but I''ve always wanted to be a games programmer.
Anyways, I''ve stayed well away from any H/W API (D3D and Open GL) simply because I want to take this demo to a prospective employer next month and, with the documentation, say "I know the mechanics of how 3D engines work"
I can see the advantages of using H/W acceleration, but in terms of learning exactly how an engine works, software rendering (using Direct Draw) has to be the sane choice.
The performace of the engine is "reasonable" - it''s perspective texture mapped with BSP rendering and portal clip. It''s also got moving platforms.
I was gonnna post it on the engine site, but no one seems to be posting there these days, and I''m not so sure of the advantages of putting it up there?!
Software rendering rocks!
Martin, aged 29 and feeling it..
I''ve spent the last few months writing a software renderer, learning the whole 3D graphics programing area from scratch.
I graduated a couple of years ago with a software engineering degree from Manchester. I spent two years as a commercial programmer, but I''ve always wanted to be a games programmer.
Anyways, I''ve stayed well away from any H/W API (D3D and Open GL) simply because I want to take this demo to a prospective employer next month and, with the documentation, say "I know the mechanics of how 3D engines work"
I can see the advantages of using H/W acceleration, but in terms of learning exactly how an engine works, software rendering (using Direct Draw) has to be the sane choice.
The performace of the engine is "reasonable" - it''s perspective texture mapped with BSP rendering and portal clip. It''s also got moving platforms.
I was gonnna post it on the engine site, but no one seems to be posting there these days, and I''m not so sure of the advantages of putting it up there?!
Software rendering rocks!
Martin, aged 29 and feeling it..
quote:Original post by martin smith
I was gonnna post it on the engine site, but no one seems to be posting there these days, and I''m not so sure of the advantages of putting it up there?!
I''d be interested...What are the disadvantages? I am slowly working on my 3d software renderer, and would like to see other''s...
Mike
I use to be big on software rendering, but I see the fally of my ways. My four elements contest used software rendering with Direct Draw, and that serverly limited what I could do. To get a good amount of polygons, I had to lower the resolution. I see the light now. You can make next generation games on your grand father''s computer. Learning how to make software renderers is good and not a waste of time.
It took time for me to realize this, but the people that are really going to buy the new 3D games are the ones that have invested in the new 3D accelerators. Think of video game consoles. Why program for the 8bit nintendo, when you can make games for the Playstation 2. The best compromise is to make a software renderer and use hardware, and give the user the ability to switch between them.
Domini
Rastagon 2 Engine
It took time for me to realize this, but the people that are really going to buy the new 3D games are the ones that have invested in the new 3D accelerators. Think of video game consoles. Why program for the 8bit nintendo, when you can make games for the Playstation 2. The best compromise is to make a software renderer and use hardware, and give the user the ability to switch between them.
Domini
Rastagon 2 Engine
I messed around with some softwared rending like a month ago, and got a torus rotating, with flat shading. I haven''t had much time to code because of school, so I have''s paused the project for now. I intend to start working on a new software engine in DirectX in a couple of weeks. I''ll play around with some ideas until then.
Anyways, I made it with GDI, and that''s why I will not add a single line of code to that project. It was just for testing purposes.
Take care!
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I'll screw up whoever screws around with the gamedev forum!
..-=gLaDiAtOr=-..
Anyways, I made it with GDI, and that''s why I will not add a single line of code to that project. It was just for testing purposes.
Take care!
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I'll screw up whoever screws around with the gamedev forum!
..-=gLaDiAtOr=-..
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