Settle an argument - D3D or OpenGL

[Steve]

Doom 3 is opengl.

Ask Howard, who now knows the truth...

[Howard]

Ok I stand corrected with regards Doom3, I just found out it uses OpenGL. Lol. Still doesn't convince me that it's better than D3D with current consumer hardware though

Is it me or are the textures in Doom3 lower quality than those of Far Cry?


And Kez... Leave me alone. LOL

[Byatt]

Is it me or are the textures in Doom3 lower quality than those of Far Cry?

Haven't seen either but this would surely be due to the fact that the textures were either created at lower resolution, or you're running at a lower quality in doom3 than in farcry, or the texture maker for doom really wasn't that great.

[Zak33]

Doom , like lots of OpenGL games, scales well, so you can get it very high on the texture stakes

[directhex]

people are getting a little ahead of themselves really.

most games aren't written explicitly for opengl or direct3d, they're written for a custom, intermediary step - which can then have opengl or direct3d sat on top. howard uses far cry as a direct3d example, if he opens his config file & changes a couple of values he can change to opengl from direct3d

i suspect the crux of his argument is that ati's opengl support blows, hard, compared to nvidia's (which is felt particularly hard here in linux land, where ati users get screwed)

[Zak33]

ati's opengl support blows, hard, compared to nvidia's

*WW2 fighter pilot wanders in*

You know what....in IL-2 that is not troooo....but cos I'm in a minority of players, I shall keep it short.

ATI's drivers and overall performance in OpenGL in IL-2 Forgotten Battles totaly owns NVidia.

Now...I'll get my flight jacket

[Steve]

Perhaps true Zak33, but you've never had to install fglrx onto debian!

That makes WW2 seem like afternoon tea and biscuits.

[Zak33]

most games aren't written explicitly for opengl or direct3d, they're written for a custom, intermediary step - which can then have opengl or direct3d sat on top.

*deep breath, cos he's out of his depth on this one too*

I dont agree with that Directhex....I thnik that most design houses already have preferences and aim that direction. The Finance houses behind them wil have links with certain manufacturers, AND the design team themselves will be heavily influenced one way or the other.

The whole idea of an API is that it can stand between the game engine and the hardware, so that is fair enough, but you need to take into account which direction the game play is gonna be aimed, at which market and try to second guess the hardware of the future AND it's support on certain cards.

In an equal world, where both ATI and NVIDIA's card could perform equaly well on both API's then you WOULD get a certain level of "lets just design the game and sort out the API hooks/links/trigger later"

But it doesnt work like that. A card manufacturer leads the way, by doing a deal and saying to the devolopers "we want you onboard, and we'll help you sort your inage and screen beauty.....and for that we expect our card to work better than their card"

I didnt say it was fair. I just said it was like that. The recent debacle with ATI and NVIDIA with HL and DOOM 3 proves it.

If I was a game designer, with a multi million pound debt to pay off, I'd want to use the API that offered my programmers the most flexibility. And I'd want it to be the most scaleable so that it was still in use on future hardware. I am not sure I'd want it to just be easier to programme. Winoows Moviemake is easy to use. But Vegas is better. But complex.

Right...I have my Nomex Flame Proof suit on...and I know you know better how it works. SO if I need torching, do it

But if not.....watch my head swell

[Zak33]

oh cack...Kez is watching now....oh well......

*hides*

[UKMuFFiN]

so....

who is open GL maintained by? is it being developed? is it going to be taken out by M$?

doesnt it suck that microsoft make D3d exclusive to windows? im a noob on this but i wanna start using linux for games, but it seems really complicated, even just installing the ATi drivers.... oh im so confused

im reading up on it tho, learning how to do it all for myself, dont worry wont be asking any "do it for me" Qs

i just found out tho that you gotta pay for Cedega??

[Olly1234]

Lol a 14 Month old thread, was there any need

[Grey M@a]

I wonder how I missed this thread the first time round. I spent my whole dissertation on this exactly concept but for the need of animation and games programming. I must admit, OpenGL walks over DirectX on many fronts, and to be perfectly honest D3D is a horrid broken, backwards API for graphics programming. I also find that OpenGL gives you a hell of a lot more freedom that DirectX does. I won't go into the subject to much as this is a thread from the past, but if anyone is interested I do have the dissertation somewhere, don't know about the code/applications I coded though, would have to look for them.

[UKMuFFiN]

he he, sorry didnt realise it was that old, i jus did a search for linux, as i said im reading up on it, so this thread appeard in search results, can i have a copy of that dissertation?

ta

[Nox]

Thanks for thread revival - time to vote opengl but only because D3D is not cross platform.

Nox

[noTHINGface]

Wooohoo zombie thread! I'd have to say OpenGL, from my old programming days I used to write opengl widgets for Irix boxes to perform chemical structure and confimer rendering here at work (oh how time flies).

<mind, since I havent touched d3d ever I guess my opinion is moot at best!>

[UKMuFFiN]

Thanks for thread revival
Nox

no probs, i try my best