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AMD Adds OpenGL 3.0 Support To Graphics Drivers
arcticstoat writes "Just a few months after The Khronos Group unveiled the Open GL 3.0 spec last year, AMD has included full support for the new API in its first WHQL driver of 2009 — Catalyst 9.1. OpenGL 3.0 requires DirectX 10-level hardware, such as AMD's Radeon HD series of GPUs. However, unlike Direct3D 10, OpenGL 3.0's features can be enabled on both Windows XP and Vista, as well as Linux and Mac OS, which could be a bonus for game developers looking for a broad base of customers. The Khronos Group claims that OpenGL 3.0 has a 'rough feature parity' with Direct3D 10, and it provides Shader Model 4.0 support, including features such as the Geometry Shader. The Khronos Group also says that the new API will interoperate with the GPGPU API OpenCL, which could allow OpenGL 3.0 to compete with the Compute Shader promised in Microsoft's DirectX 11 API."
Lets not forget the 10% approaching Mac OS X. While game developers may think otherwise, users _hate_ bootcamp to run games or Cider (Windows) games under OS X. Under OS X, native 3d is OpenGL.
Uhm. PS2/PS3 and the Wii do not support OpenGL, so not sure how you figure that's even an issue? (There is a truly awful OpenGL ES wrapper for PS3, but nobody sane would ever use it....)
In actual fact, porting between GL3.0 and DX10 isn't that hard. It's all SM3.0/SM4.0 shaders that just need to be ported. Everything else is more or less createBuffer/createTexture etc. Porting legacy OpenGL code is a royal PITA though. There just aren't any equivalents for immediate mode/display lists/fixed function etc. Sadly, it's easier to port a DX10 app to GL than it is to go the other way around...
Assume for sake of discussion that game companies using DirectX is a bad thing.
It's OK. No console developers are writing code using DirectX (barring those targetting windows) - We have XDX for the xbox, but's thats not the same thing at all.
Also I'm not sure where this myth about openGL being used on consoles has come from, because the truth is very different. We are actually writing rendering code in SDK's specific to Wii and PS3. There is no OpenGL support. (There are some really crappy openGL wrappers that are too in-efficient to be useful if that's what you mean?)
Not really all that surprising. I predict there will be many posts saying, "Ha, so when do the open-source drivers get this support?" so let me say it here, first.
OpenGL 3.0 support will be added to Gallium3D as it becomes supported, and Radeons will gain that support when they are added to Gallium3D. There is no timetable for this support.
~ C.
Hope ATI fans won't get mad at me but from what I read and watch, it will be a nvidia unreleased card. VIA/S3 started to do really interesting things too as releasing a DirectX 10 card and having Linux support pages for some products too.
They (S3) say their hardware already supports OpenGL 3.0 http://www.s3graphics.com/en/products/desktop/chrome_530gt/ , I bet it works too... Issue is, there isn't any sign of Linux driver for it. See what I mean?
The GPU supporting it is one matter, having a decent/supported driver on all systems is another. Drivers really, really matters. Let me give a example, on Tiger OS X (10.4) I get 130 FPS from same benchmark executable while on Leopard (10.5) which has way better kernel and OS architecture, system chokes to 50-60 fps. I still run Quad G5 (PPC) so I suspect lack of interest/time from Apple/Nvidia.