A r t i c l e b y P E T E R C O H E N
Introduction
Several years ago 3D games began their ascent to the top of the game food chain. Games like Doom and Marathon blazed the trail that successive games like Quake and Unreal would follow. Today, 3D technology is almost ubiquitous in mainstream action gaming, and game companies anxious to build new niches for themselves are using complicated 3D rendering technology as a way to differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded and bombastic market.
Today's market is comprised of a bewildering array of products, even in the smaller Mac market. Gamers are faced with a dilemma when they go to purchase a video board for their system: what features should they look for? How well will the card they're interested in work in their system? Gamers have to make some tough choices, which is why we have put the Mac Gamer's Guide to 3D together.
3D games on the Macintosh are not much different from 3D games on the PC: developers usually create a software renderer for the game, and then add support for one or more hardware acceleration standards to provide extra performance for Macs so equipped.
Software Rendering
Software rendering enables any Macintosh with the minimum necessary system requirements to run the game regardless of how the Mac's hardware is configured. Software rendering requires the CPU to calculate all the movement, shape, lighting and special effects produced in the game. As a result, software-rendered games rarely have the same level of real-time effects that their hardware-accelerated counterparts do, thus producing a lower-quality image. Software-rendered games usually don't run as smooth on machines closer to the publisher's minimum suggested requirements, also. Outside of buying a faster Mac or replacing your Mac's CPU daughtercard (if so equipped) with a faster one, there's not much that Mac gamers can do to improve this sort of performance.
The alternative is to add hardware to your Macintosh to enable it to render images using one of several different popular software development kits presently in circulation. Two API's are at the top of the Macintosh heap at the moment: Glide and RAVE. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. There's a third as well, called OpenGL. While OpenGL is gaining strength on other platforms, it's just starting to be recognized by Mac developers.
RAVE
RAVE, or Renderer Accelerated Virtual Engine, is a technology developed by Apple to work alongside its QuickDraw 3D technology. Apple developed QuickDraw 3D as a method for manipulating and displaying 3D objects and information. RAVE can interact with QuickDraw 3D and other high-level system software (such as OpenGL, for example) to provide a bridge to hardware accelerators. Additionally, games that need as much of a performance boost as possible can communicate with RAVE directly, although it limits the software's ability to call complex routines that add realism to 3D images. RAVE acceleration is now almost ubiquitous in modern Mac 3D games, although there are some exceptions.
Although a variety of manufacturers have produced RAVE-compatible graphic accelerators and RAVE drivers for their boards, ATI's graphics chips are now utilized on all Macintoshes in production today. ATI's history on the Macintosh includes both their RAGE II chipset- a slower chipset too underpowered to handle today's modern games, and the RAGE PRO, a next-generation technology that incorporates a vastly improved architecture more suitable for today's games. Most recently, ATI has also incorporated RAGE 128, the newest in the RAGE line. So far, ATI's RAGE 128 architecture has been adopted into one shipping Mac product (the blue and white G3 models) and ATI is expected to roll out three RAGE 128-derived PCI boards for Macs by the end of March.
Because of the company's close ties as an Apple manufacturing partner, ATI's RAVE drivers offer better support for special gaming effects than any of the competition. If you use a Mac without RAGE PRO integrated into the motherboard (anything prior to latter-day iMacs, PowerBooks and Power Mac G3's), you can also acquire a RAGE PRO-derived card like the Nexus GA, XClaim VR or XClaim 3D for your system. RAVE boards are usually general-purpose cards that can also be used to accelerate QuickTime playback and conventional 2D QuickDraw imagery, as well. ATI is the only company that produces RAGE PRO-derived third-party expansion cards.
With Apple's incorporation of RAGE PRO into the architecture of most currently shipping Macs, there's been a marked increase in the number of RAVE-compatible games. This trend appears to be continuing as Apple's RAGE PRO-based computers continue to sell well. RAVE is also supported by other Mac-compatible video card manufacturers, but these manufacturers have yet to distinguish themselves as a presence in the burgeoning Mac game market.
RAVE is increasingly becoming a standard for graphics acceleration on the Mac, but it's not ubiquitous: last year's releases of Myth: The Fallen Lords and Hornet: Korea both featured Glide acceleration, exclusively. That was prior to the incorporation of effective graphics acceleration across the Macintosh platform, however. Users familiar with both Glide and RAVE have occasionally decried RAVE's image quality. ATI's RAVE drivers continue to be improved to support a wider range of features.
With Apple's adoption of OpenGL as a graphics standard for future versions of the MacOS (see below), Apple's developer relations representatives are actively encouraging Mac game developers to adopt the new standard for future products. As this adoption grows more widespread, RAVE support will diminish.
Glide More recently, 3Dfx Interactive has introduced a proprietary rendering technology it calls Glide. Glide is a software library licensed by game developers. Users of Macs equipped with boards derived from Voodoo Graphics, Voodoo2 or Voodoo Banshee technology are then able to run Glide-enhanced games. Voodoo Graphics was the first 3Dfx chipset that Mac gamers were exposed to. Voodoo Graphics-derived boards offer roughly comparable performance to RAGE PRO-derived boards. Voodoo2 is the most recent incarnation of the chipset, and it offers roughly three times the processing power as Voodoo Graphics. It also incorporates support for SLI, or Scan Line Interleaving, which enables users to connect two cards together to share the processing burden. Voodoo Banshee is a general-purpose video technology that uses a 3D core based on Voodoo2. Glide-enhanced games offer a wider range of special effects than RAVE games do, but Voodoo-derived boards have suffered from one major problem: they're incapable of accelerating- or even displaying- conventional 2D imagery. This is changing with the introduction of Voodoo Banshee, a 3Dfx product which combines the core Voodoo2 engine with a powerful 2D accelerator, as well. As MacGaming.com went to press with this primer, the comparative benefits of Banshee's 3D acceleration on the Mac versus the competition (or Voodoo2) were inconclusive; we'll update as we get more information. Although most Voodoo-derived boards can display RAVE using a RAVE driver designed especially to work with them, RAVE-compliant software will often display information incorrectly when used with a Voodoo-based board. Voodoo was first brought to the Macintosh with the introduction of TechWorks' Power3D. The 4 MB Voodoo Graphics-derived board was discontinued earlier this year, and Tech Works has not returned to the Macintosh 3Dfx market since then. VillageTronic has kept the market open with its professionally-oriented Voodoo Graphics-based MacPicasso 540 with 3D Overdrive, and more recently with its MacMagic card. Additionally, the company has announced plans to introduce a Voodoo Banshee card by year's end. Micro Conversions introduced a Voodoo2-based card called the Game Wizard. The Game Wizard is available in 8 and 12 MB configurations. The company has also suggested that it too will produce a Voodoo Banshee card sometime in the new year. Best Data recently indicated that it would enter the Mac market with its Voodoo Graphics-derived ArcadeFX. Griffin Technology also produces a cable and driver kit called the NE3D. Using the NE3D, Mac gamers are able to connect a variety of Voodoo Graphics-derived boards that are designed especially to work on Windows-compatible PC's. Glide- especially paired with Voodoo2- presently represents the fastest possible game graphics acceleration presently available for the Macintosh, and many games that feature RAVE support also incorporate support for Glide. Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo2 card buyers do have some trade-offs: The cards are dedicated game graphic accelerators. Banshee may open 3Dfx to a new market of consumers looking for general-purpose graphic acceleration with an emphasis on gaming. People who do make the plunge to get Voodoo2 are rewarded with current state-of-the-art graphic acceleration for their Macs.
On the horizon for Mac gamers today as this version of the primer goes to press is the Voodoo3 chipset. Announced late in 1998, Voodoo3 has not been released for any platform yet, although early indications from 3Dfx suggest that Mac gamers will be able to enjoy the technology. Voodoo3 will run significantly faster than Voodoo2 cards do, and a single Voodoo3 card is purported by the manufacturer to outpace even two Voodoo2 cards connected together using SLI, 3Dfx's parallel processing architecture.
OpenGL OpenGL was originally developed by Silicon Graphics Inc., a manufacturer of high-end graphical workstations. Up until recently, OpenGL remained the domain of high-powered workstations, but with the advent of more powerful consumer-oriented graphic accelerators OpenGL has picked up a groundswell of public support and support from the developer community. Apple announced at Macworld Expo in San Francisco this past January that OpenGL would be incorporated into future revisions of the MacOS. Apple's developer relations staff has also been actively encouraging support of OpenGL by game developers as well, so there's no question that Apple is committed to seeing OpenGL succeed on the platform, perhaps to RAVE's ultimate demise. OpenGL is not used in many mainstream Mac games yet, but it has been adopted as an alternate standard for some PC games. One of its biggest proponents has been John Carmack of id Software, the developer responsible for the Quake series. Carmack has demonstrated his support for Apple's efforts to adopt OpenGL by announcing that his forthcoming Quake game, Quake 3 Arena, will be simultaneously released for PC, MacOS and Linux.
OpenGL's success or failure as a Macintosh game acceleration standard has yet to be proven, but the technology is definitely more optimized for the scalable performance generally available to computers which utilize dedicated graphic acceleration hardware. Most graphics acceleration cards available for Macs should be able to incorporate OpenGL support with updated drivers.
Glossary ATI Technologies: Makers of the RAGE IIc, RAGE PRO, and RAGE 128 graphic accelerator chipsets. RAGE PRO and RAGE 128 chips are built into current-generation Power Macs, PowerBooks and iMacs. Best Data: A manufacturer of the ArcadeFX Voodoo Graphics-derived board. Conix Enterprises: Makers of OpenGL for Macintosh. Glide: A software development kit (SDK) developed by 3Dfx Interactive to accelerate graphics using boards based on their Voodoo technology. Griffin Technology: A maker of the NE3D cable and driver kit. Micro Conversions: A manufacturer of Voodoo2-based cards for the Macintosh built under the Game Wizard marque. OpenGL: An open, multiplatform standard for image rendering used on UNIX, Windows NT and 95, and now MacOS. QuickDraw 3D: A technology developed by Apple that enables applications to use 3D object models. RAGE: The shared name of a family of chipsets designed by ATI. RAVE: Renderer Accelerated Virtual Engine. Acts as a bridge between high-level system software, like QuickDraw 3D and OpenGL, and the Mac's hardware. 3Dfx Interactive: The name of the company that has developed Glide software as well as Voodoo Graphics, Voodoo2 and Voodoo Banshee acceleration chipsets. TechWorks: Manufacturers of the now-defunct Power3D, the first Voodoo Graphics board targeted especially at Macintosh users. VillageTronic: Manufacturers of Macintosh video cards based on 3Dfx's Voodoo technology.
Voodoo: The shared name of a family of chips developed by 3Dfx Interactive.
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Lynda Engstrom: editor & designer |