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Raspberry Pi Running Quake 3
First time accepted submitter phonewebcam writes "Here's something to liven up your weekend: a video of the Raspberry Pi running Quake 3. We're still working on ironing a few kinks out (specifically, there seems to be a library issue which means our framerate, while good, isn't quite as spectacular as we know it can be; we're working on it as I post this) – but this is what test boards are for, and we're making great progress getting the boards running smoothly."
From their FAQ.. I had no idea what this device was, so I figure a bunch of others don't either.. Essentially an ARM based tiny computer that can apparently play Quake 3 among other applications. Lots of Linux support too. (This is not the full FAQ)
When will the device be available to purchase?
We anticipate the device will be available to the general public later in 2011 – at the moment that looks like November.
How much will it cost?
We hope to be selling the Model A for $25 and the Model B for $35.
How do I connect a mouse and keyboard?
Mice, keyboards, network adapters and external storage will all connect via a USB hub.
What display can I use?
There is composite and HDMI out on the board, so you can hook it up to a digital or analogue television or to a DVI monitor.
What about audio?
There’s a standard 3.5mm jack, or you can use HDMI. You can add any supported USB microphone via a hub.
Does the device support networking? Is there Wi-Fi?
The Model B version of the device includes 10/100 wired Ethernet. There is no Ethernet on the Model A version (which we expect to be taken up mostly by the education market), but Wi-Fi will be available via a standard USB dongle.
What are the power requirements?
The device is powered by an external AC adapter, and the Model A consumes around 1W at full load.
Holy Crap I want one! Or a few!
And people barely notice. This computer is as powerful than anything I had 10 years ago. It can do almost anything you could need - and what it can't do is mostly down to bloated software. Sometimes I have a hard time shaking off the feeling that we've almost stood still for the last decade - but then again, that's a good thing, because it allows the rest of the world to catch up to the high-income countries, by benefiting from ever lower prices.
The real question, as after any dream that has become true, is: what's next? And I have no idea.
Is it due to the video quality, or is the Raspberry Pi itself rendering Quake 3 in horrendous shades of blue and pink?
Heroic efforts for marginal improvements in graphics don't help polishing the turd that computer games have become. They barely changed, AI is still crap despite a gazillion fold increase in computing power budgets of games companies.
Your thinking is perfectly representative of the way how games ended up being they crap they are these days.
This thing isn't meant for playing "games of today". It's just a nice deminstration of the power of this incredibly cheap device. They were only getting about 20fps (albeit in 1080p) in the video, but it's still cool as a hobbyist project.
which is totally what she said
I reckon oolite will run on that.
"... and more and more now there are all kinds of electronic goodies available" -- Pink Floyd 1972
Well, that means that it can run much better games since better code can be created for modern GPUs, right ?
I'm positive, don't belive me look at my karma
Still, its a 1 Watt, $25 thing that apparently can render Quake3 at 1920x1080 with 4xAA. That's impressive.
If they can fix the bug they claim to have that reduces performance, it'd be a great hobbyist thing. I'd buy one to hook up to my TV, just because I can.
This is very relevant considering big Intel with their integrated GMA (graphics my ass) cards were barely capable to render OpenGL until recently. And this little thing really renders Q3@120fps ?! Hmm, that puts Intel to shame, but still kinda unbelievable...
make a $60 version with dual GbE and I'll by 2-5 of the things. It would make a great router. I can't seem to find a linux friendly ARM (read low power board) with >=128MB ram, and dual GbE ports. It also would have to low cost enough to pass the wife test.
All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
will run on a pentium MMX and a voodoo2
I'm a huge fan of this little device, It's basically a glimpse on the future of computing.
Imagine atrix-like devices where you can just carry around a core system in your pocket, it scales down to the smaller screen and you can do all kinds of activities on it. Plug it in to an dock and get a full desktop. Imagine work computers like this.
Also once windows 8 comes out, I see ARM really taking off. A system like this is already pretty much what 80% of offices really need for everyday tasks. A few additional connectors are naturally needed (plus practicality).
Imagine $60 or even sub-$50 office computer cases (Or small computers that you can carry in the pocket) that eat under 10 watts of electricity and run a full windows desktop. (Yes I know that ARM and x86 apps aren't compatible, but they are porting office over).
This time computing gets personal again, it's probably your own phone that powers your work-desktop in the future.
Sorry for the "market speech", but I am just so excited myself.
ARM is the future, plus it runs quake3.
A fully functional general-purpose computer with decent power for $35 is absolutely groundbreaking. I can't wait to be doing productive work (and maybe retrogaming!) on a little stick of circuitry that eats less power than a freakin' christmas light. My only gripe with it is that it runs Ubuntu; I'd much prefer it to run Debian - though I guess it'll be a question of (little) time before someone makes Debian work on it.
WANT WANT WANT. I think I'll buy two or tree $35 ones. Hell, it's the first computer you can buy more than one of just because, hell, why not?
Sorry you feel that way. I still can't wait.
I RTFA and I looked up the raspberry pi on wikipedia, but I must be dum cuz I still don't know if it has any special hardware for rendering. Is it cpu only?
Wikipedia mentions only OpenGL ES 2.0 in the pi's specs.
Does OpenGL ES imply any hardware acceleration or specific chips?
Bad news, that's how it is for pretty much every mobile device in existence.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Interesting point on thumb2. I've been working with a radio module running an Atmel AT91SAM3U, whose processor core is a Cortex-M3. Totally an embedded SOC, but its lack of tons of RAM and MMU is a function of its application market positioning, not the ISA. Upon beginning the project, I was doubtful about the thumb2 ISA, but it has surprised me:
The fact that it's not the original ARM ISA has never been an impediment. In fact I would say that its code density is likely a contributor to performance, as it either runs well with small cache, or runs really well with larger caches.
Our project has been implemented using a normal GCC 4.3 series compiler, and I have not hit any compiler/ISA strangeness at any time. This includes our use of some software floating-point arithmetic (not much, though).
The Raspberry Pi would be a *fabulous* micro-server. (I am not a gamer or media enthusiast, YMMV)