You're correct that the software will eventually catch up. However, my point is that without the software existing, the pressing need to buy a Voodoo4 is not yet there. (A classic chicken or the egg, which came first?, question.) My personal feeling is that demand for a hardware product is much greater when it is the software that is driving the demand.
Example 1: CD-ROM drive sales took off after Myst was released since it couldn't be played otherwise.
Example 2: Without the ever increasing size and complexity of Microsoft Windows and Office software and the consumers desire to play games, people don't need to buy a PIII 550MHz computer because most software doesn't even come close to needing a P200 Mhz.
Look at various interesting features that have been introduced on current generation cards (S3TC, environmental bump mapping) and tell me again how they are key features when few if any games will support them before competitors introduce their cards which offer the same feature. With a six month development cycle in hardware and a year (or more) development cycle in software, there is no need to be "ahead of the competition" unless the lead is greater than six months. The last major lead anyone had was 3dfx with its multitexturing capability and that was only because Quake supported multitexturing when Voodoo2 came out. That lead dwindled to less than six months due to 1) vaporware announcements about TNT by NVIDIA and 2) NVIDIA stole the implementation from 3dfx.
Getting back to my point, if 3dfx wants to drive demand of its hardware, it needs to have been working with software developers to ensure they are designing these features into their software now so it will be ready by Christmas. I've always thought that 3dfx has done this well in the past with its various alliances but now NVIDIA is also doing the same thing. Given 3dfx's paranoia about releasing any info about its silicon roadmap, I'm wondering if this exchange of info is occuring early enough to do any good.
BTW, IMHO 3dfx's draconian use of NDAs is not working except to keep its shareholders and the public in the dark. I have no doubt that in a community as small as the gaming software development industry, any tech breakthrough is immediately spread to the various major parties that have an interest in keeping track of this. All a developer has to do to step around NDA's is ask our competitors if their cards can do "this" or "that" without mentioning exactly how. Our competitors immediately pick up on these clues which don't breach the NDA itself.
As for Carmack being on the TAP, he has clearly stated in his interview at Gamecenter.com that he has been trying to convince developers to allow the API to control the transform and lighting functions BUT IS RUNNING INTO HEAVY RESISTANCE. He didn't even mention geometry acceleration so its even more unlikely that they would release that to API control.
Obewon
Waiting for next big event: Release of full OpenGL (non-beta) drivers! |
