Software Renderer (WinQuake-ish): Assembly Versus No

[Baker]

Resolution: 320x200

Commandline: -dibonly

Maxfps: Set to 999

Processor: 2.0 Ghz Dell from 2002


Non-assembly build maximum fps attained: 104 fps
Assembly build maximum fps attained: 572 fps (!)

Just wanted to test it. Yeah, assembly is relevant with the software renderer even today. I did a similar GL build test ... same FPS = irrelevant.

[leileilol]

well duh, they didn't hire Michael Abrash to cook up the asm for nothing. (check UT2004, his pixomatic software renderer there is his more recent work) It's all Pentium optimization, and it was controversial in 96-97 because the K5 and 6x86 didn't perform the same as the Pentiums despite being the same generation. They performed more closer to a 486 in Quake than the "better than Pentiums!! PEE ARE 200!!!" they were going for. Now, if Quake ever had MMX asm thrown in for the surfaces, things would get damn fast.

Assembly is always going to be faster that's a no brainer, but assembly is always CPU architecture specific, so don't expect it to be portable. Portability is all the rage these days, so you'll find a ton of advocates arguing against that.

Why don't you go to , download a bunch of demos from 1992-1997 and just place your jaw on your desk so you don't break it from excessive dropping?

Makes me wonder, why hasn't a demoscener taken the Quake source and rewrite the renderer already... software quake needs reflective shiny toruses, credits scrollers, a decent 2d backend for the hud and menu that doesn't panic so easily, exploding menu graphics and specular shading and voxel water and lava surfaces and stencil shadows, with tracker soundtrack playback, and a random Deluxe Paint pixeled picture of a mythical creature for a loading screen with a colorful palette fade call. and a long list of greetz to a bunch of psuedonyms and groups that reside mostly in the Scandanavian regions of the world. and pack in some nfo files with bbs numbers on where to pick up the latest cracked warez. oh the cracktro too, even if quake doesn't need cracking. You gotta have a ghetto graffiti logo in everything too since you're so rebellious. While at it just inject the anarchy A in everything too, in blood because it's quake. and quakeguy's an anarchist, and shub should explode into a flag of Finland which turns to reveal Bill Gate's face which is then morphed and twirled to death because Quake is a big metaphor on how Microsoft is evil for Windows 95 because it doesn't allow coders to "directly tap into the hardware and make full use of it" like their precious DOS and that's why Windows 95 sucks and 3d cards are for lamerz who can't write a renderer or a raytracer and should be burned.

Ironically, the demoscene is all windows xp, dx9 dependant these days. So much for that "assembly defense" argument.

[Labman]

[mh]

[Spike]

[frag.machine]

[Ranger366]

[leileilol]

[Downsider]

[Baker]

[Spike]