Openmw Moving To C++

[fischju2000]

This might not deserve a new thread, but the port request ones are long dead: OpenMW is currently being rewritten for C++ from D. All the details and discussions can be found on the group page. It is still using Ogre:
http://groups.google.com/group/openmw?hl=en&pli=1
And they could use coders. Also, wouldn't C++ make it easier to port to other devices like the Pandora?

 

[mindlord]

I find everything about the OpenMW project exciting. Not only does it bring a badly aged engine forward onto modern hardware, but it gives people a mature and highly configurable 3D RPG engine. I am seriously considering throwing my hat into the ring, and working with these guys with the goal of a Pandora port in mind.

 

[MrBlais]

Mindlord, you are the exact person I was trying to address when I've mentioned repeatedly about the OpenMW project. I wish I knew my way around C++ so I could help also.

I contacted the guy heading the project and he expressed some interest; give him a shout.

Supposedly, a lot of the mods will work with OpenMW?

 

[mindlord]

I've given a lot of the material a once over, and the goal of the project is to fully support all existing mods. provided they worked nicely on the original engine. Plus extending the existing engine to allow more modding opportunities.

The mods that won't work are the ones that needed external applications to run. Unfortunately, those are the really good ones.

 

[SiegfriedCroes]

It would be awesome to see this on Pandora, it would be a dream coming true seeing Morrowind run on the Pandora!

 

[alucart1984]

I am hoping that by the time this is released that a even faster device that is like the Pandora will be out that can run it in most if not all its glory. I just don't think the pandora could handle this. Of course I am basing my opinion off of what PCs can run Morrowind as is. If it did run on the Pandora than it would be at very low graphics settings. I hope it will be able to at least handle what the Xbox handled, I would be more than satisfied with that.

 

[mindlord]

Okay, there is one major difference between OpenMW's engine and the original. The original did almost everything in the CPU. All the rendering was done without the help of the 3D acceleration of your video card. Yep. 100% software driven 3D. That's why it takes such a beefy machine to play at decent resolutions and draw distances.

OpenMW is using Ogre to handle all the rendering work, which takes advantage of your 3D hardware, freeing up the CPU to do all the script work. PC's will be able to run Morrowind WAY WAY WAY better using OpenMW. The Pandora should be able to play OpenMW at least as well as the recommended spec of the original game thanks to hardware acceleration.

 

[Kramy]

Okay, there is one major difference between OpenMW's engine and the original. The original did almost everything in the CPU. All the rendering was done without the help of the 3D acceleration of your video card. Yep. 100% software driven 3D. That's why it takes such a beefy machine to play at decent resolutions and draw distances.

Are you sure about that? I know many games from that era used Software rendering as a fallback, but almost all of them had some form of acceleration available. The ones that didn't had a reason - such as being voxel-based games.

 

[lulzfish]

Okay, there is one major difference between OpenMW's engine and the original. The original did almost everything in the CPU. All the rendering was done without the help of the 3D acceleration of your video card. Yep. 100% software driven 3D. That's why it takes such a beefy machine to play at decent resolutions and draw distances.

Are you sure about that? I know many games from that era used Software rendering as a fallback, but almost all of them had some form of acceleration available. The ones that didn't had a reason - such as being voxel-based games.

I think he's wrong. The Wikipedia says it used DirectX with GPU-accelerated T & L, and was made for Geforce 4-level cards.
I don't think the Geforce 4 used the CPU for rendering.. It was before my time, so maybe I'm forgetting something.

 

[mindlord]

Mostly wrong, apparently. Rendering is still heavily CPU bound in the old engine. It doesn't matter how good your video card is, about 15-20 FPS is all you're getting outside with the everything turned up. That is if you're not using a utility to manage the FPS dynamically.

OpenMW, using more modern techniques will definately speed things up.

 

[Enverex]

Mostly wrong, apparently. Rendering is still heavily CPU bound in the old engine. It doesn't matter how good your video card is, about 15-20 FPS is all you're getting outside with the everything turned up. That is if you're not using a utility to manage the FPS dynamically.

OpenMW, using more modern techniques will definately speed things up.

Erm, on my PC BEFORE my recent upgrade I was getting 300+ FPS with all the graphics turned up to max. Had to turn on the framerate limiter to lock it to 60FPS as it was creating issues with the mouse response whenever it went over 300 FPS.

 

[Kramy]

Yeah, I remember having ludicrous framerates too. On my Athlon XP, it was in the hundreds, with 8xAA enabled. :lol:

Lots of games are CPU-bound. Two examples: Warcraft III, Left4Dead

That doesn't make them "software rendering".