3D Hardware heeft een interview on-line gezet met Rémi Arnaud van Intrinsic Alchemy. Dat bedrijf is van plan een nieuwe API voor videokaarten op de markt te brengen, concurentie voor DirectX, OpenGL en Glide:
3DHW: How is it different from already present APIs, like Direct3D or OpenGL? What are it's edges?
RA: Direct3d and OpenGL are hardware low-level APIs. Some come and go, like 3Dfx Glide. They need to evolve as the hardware evolves; creating all the non-compatibility problems that we're all aware of. Having a good interface to the hardware is a necessity. In the case of the Playstation 2, for instance, there isn't a ready-to-use library. Intrinsic provides hand microcoded libraries to the graphics, audio, and other components of the console.
Alchemy is a game development software platform that encapsulates the complexity in higher level concepts; these concepts are then "compiled" and "optimized" according to the hardware on which the game is running. As stated in our press releases, we're working closely with hardware vendors to take advantage of the latest capabilities and have the best possible performance on different platforms.
3DHW: How is it with the ease of programming, compared to the already existing API's? Is the migration easy?
RA: Migration and the exchange of code and features between games, even on the same platform, is a complex issue on which every game publisher and developer spends a great deal of time and energy. Currently, there isn't much choice -- acquire the source code, give it to your best programmers, and cross your fingers. This is even the case when a game developer wants to use two third party products, such as a physic engine and a scene graph. Alchemy packages features so they can be migrated between platforms and different games, with little or no effort. In the near future, there will also be a variety of separate components available for the Alchemy platform so a game developer can build an application in a very short time.
Je kan het hele interview hier lezen.
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