When were Pixel Shaders introduced

Programmable shaders were introduced in DirectX8.0.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx

PS1.1 was introduced by the GeForce3 cards. They quickly added features to PS1.3 for GF4, but the GF4 MX is surprisingly shader-free again. Meanwhile, ATI Radeon 8500 supported PS1.4, which is considerably more powerful. With the Geforce5 series and the ATI Radeon 9 series, PS2.0 was introduced. And that's about the minimum I'd consider supporting nowadays for beginning projects. If you're close to publishing a game, you might want to stay on fixed T&L pipeline, but everything started today can easily demand PS2.0. Earlier Pixel Shaders aren't really worth supporting... not enough potential and a dimishing user base. Maybe PS1.4 is worth considering, it's quite widespread still due to the Radeon 9100 / 9200 cards which only support PS1.4.

Thanks guys, so DirectX 8.0 was introduced in 2000, should I consider (approx) that PC’s up to this old will support Pixel Shaders?
Is it that simple

Julian

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Original post by Talyrond Thanks guys, so DirectX 8.0 was introduced in 2000, should I consider (approx) that PC’s up to this old will support Pixel Shaders? Is it that simple

No, not at all! If it were that simple it'd be way too easy [lol]

As was mentioned, the GeForce 4 MX has NO vertex of pixel shaders - it appeared on the market in 2002 (iirc) and was very popular in low-end systems.

Quite a lot of integrated intel chipsets have limited shader support - some claimed HW vertex shaders, but were really executed by the CPU. Some had VS's but no PS's (not sure on that though)...

Ultimately, you need to define your target market. Low end hardware and laptops are VERY different to gaming-oriented systems.

hth
Jack

Thanks jollyjeffers good info.

Most current games (that sell in stores) assume shader support. So consider your audience. If you're targeting people who buy modern games, then they're likely to have cards with shader support. Also consider how long it'd take you until release. By that time, even more people will have shader support.

Jack, regarding cards with VS but no PS, the Radeon 7x00 series have VS support in software, but no PS support. I don't know about other cards.

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Original post by ET3D Jack, regarding cards with VS but no PS, the Radeon 7x00 series have VS support in software, but no PS support. I don't know about other cards.

Small correction here: EVERY card has software VS support, as VS is emulated by DirectX. Only PS are an issue since - for obvious reasons - PS are never emulated in software unless you're running the reference device.

Conclusion: using vertex shaders is always safe, provided you test for hardware support and pass the corresponding flag or use mixed processing all the time.

Regards,
Pat.

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Original post by darookie Small correction here: EVERY card has software VS support, as VS is emulated by DirectX.

True, but I was referring to VS support not requiring programmer intervention. With the Radeon 7x00, and, now that I think of it, the GeForce 4mx, you could create a device with hardware processing, and be able to use vertex shaders. They were implemented in software on the driver side, but this was hidden from the programmer.

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Original post by ET3D Quote: Original post by darookie Small correction here: EVERY card has software VS support, as VS is emulated by DirectX. True, but I was referring to VS support not requiring programmer intervention. With the Radeon 7x00, and, now that I think of it, the GeForce 4mx, you could create a device with hardware processing, and be able to use vertex shaders. They were implemented in software on the driver side, but this was hidden from the programmer.

I see. I seem to have misread your post then, sorry about that.