What Language are Console Games?
Author
My question is, ( pretty much the title of the thread ), what language are console games, especially X-Box and PS2 games wrote in?
Just wondering
Thanks
As jpetrie says, mostly C and/or C++. Additionally:
PS2: VU (vector unit) microcode assembly language (for graphics and things like optimised math routines). Occasionally some MIPS assembly language.
Xbox1: HLSL and/or shader assembly (for graphics - shader 1.1 with a few extra instructions). Occasionally some x86 SSE assembly language and/or intrinsics (for things like optimised math routines). Occasionally some plain x86 assembly language.
Xbox360: HLSL and/or shader microcode (for graphics - shader 3 capabilities [and a few special extras], totally different assembly). Occasionally some VMX [AltiVec] (for things like optimised math routines). Occasionally some PowerPC assembly language or intrinsics.
Some games also use interpreted scripting languages such as Lua.
PS2: VU (vector unit) microcode assembly language (for graphics and things like optimised math routines). Occasionally some MIPS assembly language.
Xbox1: HLSL and/or shader assembly (for graphics - shader 1.1 with a few extra instructions). Occasionally some x86 SSE assembly language and/or intrinsics (for things like optimised math routines). Occasionally some plain x86 assembly language.
Xbox360: HLSL and/or shader microcode (for graphics - shader 3 capabilities [and a few special extras], totally different assembly). Occasionally some VMX [AltiVec] (for things like optimised math routines). Occasionally some PowerPC assembly language or intrinsics.
Some games also use interpreted scripting languages such as Lua.
Quote:Original post by S1CA
As jpetrie says, mostly C and/or C++. Additionally:
PS2: VU (vector unit) microcode assembly language (for graphics and things like optimised math routines). Occasionally some MIPS assembly language.
Xbox1: HLSL and/or shader assembly (for graphics - shader 1.1 with a few extra instructions). Occasionally some x86 SSE assembly language and/or intrinsics (for things like optimised math routines). Occasionally some plain x86 assembly language.
Xbox360: HLSL and/or shader microcode (for graphics - shader 3 capabilities [and a few special extras], totally different assembly). Occasionally some VMX [AltiVec] (for things like optimised math routines). Occasionally some PowerPC assembly language or intrinsics.
Some games also use interpreted scripting languages such as Lua.
I like the way people argue that the assembly is dead ! Apparently,it's not! [smile]
Quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
I like the way people argue that the assembly is dead ! Apparently,it's not! [smile]
It has found its niche, and a renaissance in GPU programming.
Quote:Original post by ThygrrrQuote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
I like the way people argue that the assembly is dead ! Apparently,it's not! [smile]
It has found its niche, and a renaissance in GPU programming.
The niche is in high performance code that cannot afford the overhead that normally compiled code generates.
Normally that is code in tight inner loops that will be run millions (or even trillions) times per second. In those cases, a few badly chosen or unneccessary instructions cause a noticable slowdown. As computers get faster, we as developers choose to take more wasteful approaches in exchange for easier and faster development. C and C++ over raw asm, on the PC languages like Java, C#, and Python. The overall development speed is worth the relatively small performance penalties.
As graphics hardware performance and tool quality continue to improve, all but the tiniest fraction of GPU assembly will move to higher level shader languages.
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