Re: Still waiting... :)

[philip@labtam.OZ.AU (Philip Stephens)]

Colin Williamson wrote:

>I'm not sure how closely guarded id software keeps their source code, but with
>a bit of work I'm sure that Doom GS would be a definite possibility.

  It's unlikely that id will release their source code for Doom in the near
future, but if you want to see how my Doom-like engine works, then you can
get it from:

	ftp://polaris.ibm.com/pub/WebView3D

  This FTP directory contains the source code for the Unix version.  The GS
version will be available Real Soon Now.

>But only if the second sight has hardware graphic effects -- are their chips
>which handle rotation, scaling, and such?

  This is a common misconception about Doom--the algorithm it uses to render
in 3D draws each frame pixel-by-pixel into a frame buffer very quickly; you
couldn't get Doom to use hardware rotation and scaling without rewriting the
entire game from scratch.

  Based upon my own experience in porting my Doom-like engine to the GS, it
*may* be possible to get it running fast enough to be the basis of a game,
but I'm inclined to think that I'm going to have to get both the 65816 and
the Z180 on the Second Sight board running in parallel, sharing the math
between them.  There is no doubt in my mind that the 65816 on it's own just
doesn't have the grunt to render even one frame per second.