So thanks to Steam and all the wonderful documentation found on the net, I've been playing older games and learning how to run them optimally.
There is an area of contention though with regards to software vs hardware rendering and which is necessarily better.
Is there consensus on some of these games and which rendering method one should use?
(Quake Engine)
Quake (see, I've heard/seen that OpenGL makes everything blurry due to texture filtering)
Hexen II
(id Tech 2)
Quake II
Heretic II
(Unreal Engine 1)
Unreal
Unreal Tournament
Deus Ex
(GoldSrc)
Half-Life
Posts
Basically I'm looking for examples of games where HW acceleration doesn't just improve performance (irrelevant on modern hardware), but changes the way the game looks (for better or for worse)
Also Unreal adds some effects when run with HW acceleration that are not present in software rendering. I can't remember what all they are, but just as an example, there are certain floors that are a shiny marble surface that are reflective with HW acceleration, but are not with SW acceleration.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
I got that one running right here. Could you tell me what level or where I could see the difference?
For the Unreal Engine stuff, there's always the DX10 renderer.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
So software might actually better for HL1, you should still be able to max out everything regardless with today's processor speeds. I don't remember whether you'd be missing out on other visual effects by doing so though.
I think you can tell on just about any level. It's been many years but even the first level should have some various colors in lighting.
Though I can't recall if the first level is the most dramatic but I'm pretty sure every level has colored lighting.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
I'm noticing all these early openGL games are really dark and that the in game brightness doesn't help... anyone know the cause and solution to this?
Most accelerated games after Q2 look really much better (Higher game resolution, higher res textures, colored lights, transparencies, better geometry) on hardware accelerated mode.
And i use OpenGL rendering (hardware) its better for me than software mode
I even play heretic and hexen in OpenGL