How to do 3D graphics development on the Amiga?

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This is completly off topic but it's really been bugging me. 3D on AMIGA is really important for games, game share is really important for making money. Sony and M$ know this.

You know, I was really dissapointed in the Australian Melbourne OS4 roadshow. There was this one guy who got up the front plugging his products, used to be some sort of truck engineer. Anyway, he was acting like a guru of new AMIGA hardware and he's saying stuff like "I speak to people all the time about what card they should get for their new AMIGA, can they use the latest ATI 9800 card etc, and I tell them, it's just not worth it. You don't need that kind of power. The OS is so efficiant and small, graphics will fly on even the older cards. You don't need all this big 3D hardware to run under AMIGA OS, I tell them $50 or $800, the price difference, same performance, so buy it now" lblahh blahh blahh. I was so over it I didn't say anything, but this is what it was like. I don't know about you but 3D graphics ability has everyhting to do with the grapics hardware. You don't have transform and lighting shaders, then you emulate it in software and boy , you slow down. I know AMIGA may not have a DirectX 3D type enviroment, but If a game uses the latest 3D and your card can't do it, well it won't look as good and will    
run slowere. No matter how efficant the OS is.

Sorry, it's been bugging me for quite some time. This bloke had no clues and was the Australian contact for AMIGA hardware and helping push forward designs into next revisions.  Really scary if this is the development cycle for Australian AMIGAs I may buy a peg yet!

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@lempkee No, that's ok. I wasn't dissagreeing with you.
I was having a go at the Aussi OS4 Road show. The man up the front was trying to tell me that you don't need to update your graphics card to harness the power of 3D enviroments because the OS is so small and efficient. That it would run just as fast on a ATI 7500 to a 9800 and I wouldn't notice the speed. Made me really wonder why he is the sole Aust distributer and why he is pushing for new designs for AMIGA lite and ATX vers on hardware.

I agree the OS won't run faster, it's not 3D but if we want to play the latest games if Software companies want to port to us, we will need the latest hardware!.

The man was a fob off.
I can't beleive he was trying to sell to us. I wouldn't buy from him as he had no idea on what he was trying to talk about.

I'm glad that Nova is on its way.

I did say I was off topic.  OS4 would have been so much more convincing as a viable product if this bloke didn't talk at the show.  

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@lempkee
Yep, I agree, Wuake would look the same using the less complex 3D work,  but I did say latest 3D games.

I'm not too worried about not having the platform with the OS as of yet, I'm more worried about people that are promoting the product in a way that makes consumers feel as though it's not being developed by people who know what they are talking about.  It  just gives consumers lack of confidence in the platform. This man had no clues! He was trying to tell me the latest game would run just as well on a say a tnt2 card as they would on a ATI 9800 because the OS (OS4) was so small and efficent. He was using the multitasking cenero comparison in 1MB ram aMiga Vs the Microsoft IBM PC 16 Mb.

I was floored, that he would be recomending to people this type of hardware and that it would be enough for future gaming. Imagine, you want a gaming PC, you choose AMIGA, your told the 7500 is all you will need for games, you get the AMIGA vers of Doom3 or whatever and it fails.

This man is recomending to developers on what hardware should be included onto future revisions of the AMIGA mainboard, and apparently, some of his suggestions were acted apon. I was just really scared that somone who dosen't know what he is talking about is pusshing these points forward when consumers may not be aware how to vertx shaders are better than one. Just as an example. I wish I could remeber this burks name. Thing is, no one said anything, I should have, I was just confounded. I was waiting for the AMIGA OS dude to say something, like NOVA is on it's way and will support higher functions later on etc...  I mean even ATI won't stop at the 9800 series. 3D is going to go further and games will get more complex. I doubt too many people are going to be interested in a port of Quake whan others are playing Quake 8 or whatever it will be.

I should have said something. I wish I had.

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@EntilZha

>>
Believe me, I share your concerns. And believe me, I don't share this opinion about the "uselessness" of powerful 3D hardware.

Development in that direction is on it's way, but I can't talk about this right now. If it works out, though, there'll be an optimal solution for the Amiga in terms of 3D graphics, at least for ATI cards, and maybe for others as well.


I'm so glad. We need people like yourself plugging the AMIGA product, people who do know what they are talking about. Not hacks!. If you had have been the person to have shown off the product and talked at the OS4 show, I'm sure a lot more people would have taken the whole show more seriously. I hope this bloke didn't give the same speach at Bris, Canb, Sydney as well.

Bad or incorrect marketing could seriously hurt the re-launch of AMIGA as a serious and viable solution. that's what really scared me, that and the fact this person was being taken seriously and responsible for showing and explaining the product! Oh and telling us he was in direct contact with people responsible for future H/W development. :-(

As for not being able to talk about the software development of future 3D platform,. I completly understand, and that's fine, the fact that there is this product under development/intergration is all that needs to be said really. This alone should be enough to sack this bloke, mind you he's from a non-profit organisation.  I'd like to see his ATI 7500 do the more advanced 3D abilities of the 9800. What a whacker, really bad news having him there without the correct info.