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OpenGL 1.3 Spec Released

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the for-the-graphics-guru-and-the-wannabe dept.

JigSaw writes "The OpenGL Architecture Review Board announced the new OpenGL 1.3 specification (1.8 MB pdf). In OpenGL 1.3, several additional features and functions have been ratified and brought into the API's core functionality. New features include Cube map texturing, multisampling, new texture modes that provide more powerful ways of applying textures to rendered objects, compressed texture framework etc. Let's all hope that GL can catch up with Direct3D now, as with the latest DirectX8, Direct3D has done some big steps towards feature-set, speed and even non-bloatiness when it comes to coding for it, while OpenGL 1.2 was released more than 2 years ago and it did not offer as much."

5 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. No one can. by BradleyUffner · · Score: 3, Informative

    Ummm. no one can. 32 bit color and 24 bit color both use 8 bits for red, green, and blue. The extra 8 bits are used for alphablening or just to align the color to something the computer can copy faster. With 3d cards the bit depth is important because of the way colors are combined with textures and all kinds of funky stuff, but after all the rendering is done 24 bit and 32 bit are exactly the same.

  2. A little bit offtopic but... by stikves · · Score: 4, Informative
    Some people claim the death of opengl, while others want the community to keep it alive.

    But the "evil" API Direct3D is already (mostly) available for Linux. Haven't you heard of trasgaming (http://www.transgaming.com/)?

    They are currenly working on D3D port to WINE.

    (If you don't know, their license is not fully "free", but they will make it "free" when they get enough "support".)

    [ By the way, I don't think opengl will die anytime soon. Because "serious" graphics work is not only "games". have you used SGI? they do not support D3D or whatsoever ]

  3. Um... by Penrif · · Score: 5, Informative

    Give OpenGL some credit here. In some ways, it's D3D that has to catch up. Here's how it was discribed to be by a Very Smart Person who works with nVidia a lot. nVidia comes to Microsoft saying "we want these features", Microsoft says "Okay, do it this way". The engineers at nVidia get frustrated about being limited by Microsoft's model and implement new features anyway and put them in OpenGL extensions. So, D3D has a better spec (arguably), but OpenGL has access to all the features.

  4. Look at that list... by lowe0 · · Score: 3, Informative

    2 of those are Carmack games. He loves GL (can't remember what pissed him off about D3D, maybe he'd like to tell us?)

    Tribes2 is multi-API. So are some other biggies (Unreal Tournament comes to mind.)

  5. like deja vu all over again by Proud+Geek · · Score: 5, Informative

    Thanks for the info . That's very informative. Please do tell, though, what's the difference between a "spec" and a "specification" that makes it worth repeating?

    --

    Even Slashdot wants to hide some things