Warp3D

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Warp3D
Developer(s)Sam Jordan, Hans-Joerg Frieden, Thomas Frieden, Hans De Ruiter
Stable release
53.22 / May 22, 2013; 8 years ago (2013-05-22)
Operating systemAmigaOS
TypeAPI
LicenseClosed source
Websitehttp://download.haage-partner.de/Amiga/3DWorld/
Warp3D Nova
Developer(s)Hans De Ruiter for A-EON Technology
Stable release
1.5 / June 30, 2019; 2 years ago (2019-06-30)
Operating systemAmigaOS
TypeAPI
LicenseClosed source
Websitehttp://wiki.amiga.org/warp3dnova

Warp3D was a project, founded by Haage & Partner in 1998, that aimed to provide a standard API which would enable programmers to access, and therefore use, 3D hardware on the Amiga.[1][2]

Its design was similar to that of both the Picasso96 graphics card drivers and operated in a similar fashion to the 3dfx Glide API, which provided a uniform and standardised way for programmers to create software for the 3D graphics cards that were available at the time.[1]

It was hoped that the creation of this API would not only encourage the development and release of more 3D graphics cards, but also move away from the situation where a new piece of hardware had been developed with no software available to run on it. If the particular piece of software used the Warp3D API (enabled through a shared library), any current or newly developed hardware would be able to be used.[1][3] Hyperion Entertainment developers created OpenGL subset called MiniGL sitting on top of Warp3D to ease porting of games such as Heretic II.[4]

At time of its release, Warp3D provided significant speed increase over software rendering.[5] Years later however, newer 3D APIs (e.g. TinyGL in MorphOS) offered better performance on the same hardware.[6]

In 2014, it was announced that Warp3D was now jointly owned by British company A-EON Technology Ltd.[7] On April 1, 2015, A-EON Technology subsequently released Warp3D for RadeonHD (Southern Islands chipset).[8]

In March 2016, A-EON Technology Ltd announced that they had developed the new Warp3D Nova featuring support for Shaders.[9][10] Warp3D Nova was originally mentioned as planned complete rewrite and Shader-centric design in the AmigaOS 4.0 Feature List more than decade earlier.[11][12] Development of the new release intentionally took some inspiration from this original Warp3D Nova plan.[13] The pre-release version 1.15 was published on 1 May 2016 in the Enhancer Software package for AmigaOS 4.[14][15] Apart from its name and being related to 3D graphics, Warp3D Nova has nothing in common with the original Warp3D.

Also in March 2016 A-EON Technology Ltd announced that Daniel Müßener / GoldenCode.eu had been hired to create an OpenGL ES 2 implementation on top of Warp3D Nova.[9] The first public version 1.4 was released on 31 August 2016 as part of the Enhancer Software package version 1.1.[16]

Running Requirements[]

Warp3D requires the following in order to work properly

  • An AmigaOS compatible system with CyberGraphX or Picasso96, containing:
    • At least a 68040 processor with FPU for AmigaOS versions predating 4.0
    • A PowerPC CPU for AmigaOS 4.0+
    • Optionally PowerPC supported on WarpOS[1]
    • Any of these graphics cards:
      • CyberVision 3D
      • CyberVision PPC
      • BlizzardVision PPC[17]
      • Any 3Dfx Voodoo card
      • ATI Radeon R100, R200
      • ATI RadeonHD Southern Islands graphics cards

It also requires 3D hardware to be present, and will not run with graphics cards that are 2D only, or AGA, ECS or OCS.[18]

Other implementations[]

Amiga 3D APIs

Alain Thellier created open source clone called Wazp3D.[19] MorphOS includes a Warp3D implementation known as Goa3D Graphics Library developed by Nicolas Sallin.[20]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "What is Warp3D". 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  2. ^ Vost, Ben (March 1999). "What's on your disc? At your fingertips, Go 3D". Amiga Format. No. 121. Future Publishing. p. 98. ISSN 0957-4867.
  3. ^ Šostý, Lumír (July 1999). "Warp3D". Amiga Review (in Czech). No. 46/47. Atlantida Publishing. p. 44. ISSN 1211-1465.
  4. ^ Vost, Ben (December 1999). "Previews, Heretic II". Amiga Format. No. 130. Future Publishing. pp. 28–29. ISSN 0957-4867.
  5. ^ Šostý, Lumír (July 1999). "Warp 3D: ADescent - tentokráte srovnání verzí". Amiga Review (in Czech). No. 46/47. Atlantida Publishing. p. 45. ISSN 1211-1465.
  6. ^ Brunet, David (September 2009). "Comparatif : Performances entre AmigaOS 4.1 et MorphOS 2.3 sur Pegasos II". obligement.free.fr (in French). Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  7. ^ "A-EON Software Update" (PDF) (Press release). AmiWest 2014 (Sacramento): A-Eon Technology. October 25, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2016.CS1 maint: location (link)
  8. ^ "New 3D drivers for AmigaOS 4.1" (PDF) (Press release). Cardiff: A-Eon Technology. April 1, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b "Introducing Warp3D Nova" (PDF) (Press release). Cardiff: A-EON Technology Ltd. March 22, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  10. ^ Förster, Moritz (2016-03-24). "Alternative Betriebssysteme: Neues 3D-Treibersystem für AmigaOS 4". iX magazine (in German). Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  11. ^ "AmigaOS 4.0 Feature List Revision 1.0" (PDF). intuitionbase.com. Hyperion Entertainment. January 7, 2003. pp. 11–12. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  12. ^ Williams, Robert (Spring 2003). "AmigaOS 4 Update" (PDF). Total Amiga. No. 14. South Essex Amiga Link. p. 15.
  13. ^ "Introducing Warp3D Nova for OS4". Amigaworld.net. March 23, 2016. Post 59 by Hans. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  14. ^ "Enhancer Software Released On AMIStore (OS4)" (Press release). Cardiff: A-EON Technology. AmigaWorld.net. May 1, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  15. ^ "Changelog". amiga.org. May 1, 2017. Amiga Kit. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  16. ^ "Enhancer Software v1.1 Released - Amiga.org". www.amiga.org. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
  17. ^ "Warp3D 3.0 Read Me". 27 March 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
  18. ^ "Warp3D 4.2a Read Me". 13 October 2002. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  19. ^ "Wazp3D". Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  20. ^ "Goa3D Graphics Library". Retrieved 17 July 2010.

Further reading[]

  • "Active Gamer - Warp3D 4.2 for Voodoo3". Amiga Active. No. 24. Pinprint Publishing. September 2001. pp. 50-. ISSN 1467-3533.
  • "Warp Factor 3D!". Amiga Active. No. 25. Pinprint Publishing. October 2001. pp. 46-. ISSN 1467-3533.
  • "Warp3D Masterclass". Amiga Active. No. 26. Pinprint Publishing. November 2001. pp. 48-. ISSN 1467-3533.
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