*BSD News Article 71983


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From: akin@tuolumne.asd.sgi.com (Allen Akin)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.api.misc,comp.graphics.algorithms,comp.windows.x.i386unix,gnu.misc.discuss,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.development.apps
Subject: Re: Freeware community needs 3d library NOW
Date: 25 Jun 1996 22:59:49 GMT
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA
Lines: 23
Message-ID: <4qpr15$6fv@fido.asd.sgi.com>
References: <4qlf04$7pj@guysmiley.blarg.net> <31D027F3.2781E494@FreeBSD.org>
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In article <31D027F3.2781E494@FreeBSD.org>,
Jordan K. Hubbard <jkh@FreeBSD.org> wrote:

[jkh's thoughtful comments omitted for brevity]

|                 ... even with that degree of backing I think it's fair
| to say that Direct3D is going to bury it [OpenGL].

That's definitely a possibility, though not a certainty.  D3D
immediate-mode is lacking quite a few of the features that commercial
3D applications need, and as people get more experience with its
hardware support model, they're going to discover that it has a few
interesting shortcomings.  :-)

D3D retained-mode is a good solution for certain classes of games, and
it will succeed in that market until it falls behind the technology
curve due to Microsoft's long development cycle, or until someone
comes up with a great new incompatible idea that takes the gaming
world by storm.

My opinion only, of course.

Allen