Pocketeers Be Interested In 3d Engine!

[nubie]

^^TYPO! should read Might be interested. /edit


http://www.pocketeers.co.uk/

I just got this email:

Hi XXXXX,

I forwarded your email to my business partner shortly after receiving
it - I
wasn't sure if he'd sent you a response, so I thought I would drop you
a
quick email just in case he hasn't.

Thanks for taking the time to forward these details to us.  And also,
thanks
for the positive feedback on Porsche Unleashed.  We have no plans as
yet to
develop for the GP2X, however we wouldn't rule it out.  It certainly
looks
like an interesting bit of kit, we will keep a close eye on the
platform...

Best Regards

Dave Garrison
Co-Director
Pocketeers Ltd.

----- Original Message -----
From: "XXXXX XXXXX" <XXXXXXXXX@yahoo.com>
To: <enquiries@pocketeers.co.uk>
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2005 10:03 PM
Subject: [SPAM?]: GP2X, would a 3D engine port be possible?


>I purchased your NFSorsche Unleashed for GBA and was
> amazed at what you were able to do with a ~16mhz ARM
> processor.
>
> Would you be interested in doing a game engine for the
> GP2X?  At the moment it is using Linux, but there are
> many developers getting a purely hardware Dev kit for
> it.
>
> It sports:
>
> 64MB of Ram (SDRAM)
> 64MB of flash memory
> DRM for SD cards
> A very nice LCD at 320x240,
>
> An MMSP2 SOC processor:
> (http://www.mesdigital.com/Products/product_mmsp2.asp)
>
> "0.18um, 1.8V CMOS technology
> Dual CPU Cores
> ARM920T : Host processor
> ARM940T : Programmable Coprocessor
> CPU Performance: 400+ MIPS with dual ARM9 processor
> Operation frequency :200MHz
> 16 channel DMA
> Interrupt, 4 Timers, WDT, Power management
>
> Display Controller
> LCD controller
> YPbPr , RGB, CCIR 601/656
> Composite Sync
>
> Video Performance
> MPEG1 Decode
> - Video CD
> MPEG4 SP/ASP Decode @720 x 480, 30fps
> - DivX 3.11, 4.X, DivX 5.x with Q-PEL
>
> Graphics
> High Performance 2D Graphics Accelerator
> -Resolution up to 1024 x 768 @ 60Hz
> 2 video overlay surface support "
>
> An onboard video interface chip with many
> modes(http://www.conexant.com/products/entry.jsp?id=794)
>
> "True international support for NTSC, PAL and SECAM
> output
> HDTV output capability
> Adaptive flicker filtering
> Supports resolutions 320 x 200 to 1024 x 768
> Programmable overscan ratios from 0% to 25%"
>
> I realize it may not be possible, but I believe many
> (8,000 units sold since it was introduced in late
> November) would like to purchase high-quality
> retro-style (NFS 1, 2, and 3 for instance) games
> exactly like their original favorites in every way,
> something not possible with the GBA.
>
> For more information, please see:
> http://www.gp32x.de/  forums for many
> English-speaking enthusiasts,
> http://www.gbax.com/  UK distributor
>
> Thank you for a good product,
>
> XXXXX XXXXX
(signed)

It could be good news for us, I PM'd Craigix so he knows about it now.

 

[nickspoon]

Good good, more commercial games can only make things better. I seem to remember that Porche Unleashed was rather amazing in a graphical sense. Gameplay was OK too.

 

[Rayek]

This is good news, I hope they aren't at all dissuaded to work on the 3d engine because of the 'buggy hardware', because this could certainly help devs. That is, if they release a source...

 

[nubie]

This is good news, I hope they aren't at all dissuaded to work on the 3d engine because of the 'buggy hardware', because this could certainly help devs. That is, if they release a source...

​

I don't think source releases will happen, they are commercial after all.

Craigix pm'd me back to say he thinks he might know some people who were involved with them in producing games, and that he would speak with them.

I don't know if this will pan out, but it could only be good for getting commercial 3d games.

 

[Radek]

It's just good because they responded. At least this company is aware of gp2x and it's using similar cpu to the GBA's one (it should make porting much easier). However it's making (only?) EA's titles and I'd not bet that EA is willing...

 

[nubie]

However it's making (only?) EA's titles and I'd not bet that EA is willing...

​

go here: http://www.pocketeers.co.uk/ and click on history, excerpt follows:

In 1998, they started work on their own PC game design, entitled "Zero Tolerance". Set in an anarchic future, the player had the task of policing a number of dark cityscapes with no-holds-barred firepower and gadgetry. This was long before Grand Theft Auto series, and featured many innovative technical features. At the time, they were unable to secure publisher backing for the PC game. However, Pocketeers still plan to bring Zero Tolerance to the gaming public - albeit for the handheld environment.

 

[Ravnos]

Hey, these are apparently the people who did Doom on GBA. Not bad.

Also, there was a FPS for Sega Genesis that was called Zero Tolerance. It was not bad.

 

[moz]

goodwork, and a british company to!

 

[Paradox]

i have also been in contactwith those guys, they said they had no plans in developing for the 2x, but they will consider porting etc

 

[God Ginrai]

Hey, these are apparently the people who did Doom on GBA. Not bad.

Also, there was a FPS for Sega Genesis that was called Zero Tolerance. It was not bad.

​

I was planning on posting that ZT for the Genesis existed... then I scrolled down and saw your post. ;P

Also, doom for the GBA?

 

[PSyMastR]

Woah, the C3 engine on a 67mhz arm looks great. Lets see a C4 on 2x 200mhz Arm's

 

[nubie]

Woah, the C3 engine on a 67mhz arm looks great. Lets see a C4 on 2x 200mhz Arm's

​

Rember the C3 engine is for the DS:

The C3 Engine, developed for the Nintendo DS utilises some of the original C2 GBA functionality, with many new features to make use of the new DS hardware.

That is from the website (italics mine), notice that they would appear to be using the DS hardware 3D support.

I would imagine that the new engine (if it is ever made) would more likely be C2.5 in that it hasn't any 3D hardware.

 

[sam fisher]

Woah, the C3 engine on a 67mhz arm looks great. Lets see a C4 on 2x 200mhz Arm's

​

Rember the C3 engine is for the DS:

The C3 Engine, developed for the Nintendo DS utilises some of the original C2 GBA functionality, with many new features to make use of the new DS hardware.

That is from the website (italics mine), notice that they would appear to be using the DS hardware 3D support.

I would imagine that the new engine (if it is ever made) would more likely be C2.5 in that it hasn't any 3D hardware.

​

But IT HAS THE POOOOOOWWWWEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bmilleker]

Wow. This news is awesome. Lets hope something comes of it.

 

[craigix]

I never got into deving on the DS, exactly what 3D hardware does it have?

 

[Tobriand]

Nintendo don;t seem to publish any info on it anywhere, although I'm assured reliably that it does have some 3D accelleration (see my thread about the DS in Off Topic some months back), just that anyone who knows what it is has to sign an ND agreement

 

[nubie]

I never got into deving on the DS, exactly what 3D hardware does it have?

​

DS specs

CPU:
- Main processor is an ARM 9 (running at 67 mHz)
- Cache: 8 KB Instruction Cache, 4 KB Data Cache
- Other processor is an ARM 7 (running at 33 MHz)

Memory/RAM:
- Main memory is 4 MB
- ARM 9 and ARM 7 each have 16 KB
- The internal RAM is 64 KB and the VRAM (Video RAM) is 656 KB.

Graphics and Hardware Engine:
- The geometric transformation can go up to 4 million vertex per second.
- The polygon rate can go up to 12e 0,000 polygon.
- Finally, the pixel fillrate can go up to 30 million pixels per second.

I am not sure of the type of accelerator, although it is clear the GP2X packs quite a lot more brute processing power.

Although More specs from here, seem to say that it is a graphics engine. so I guess the Video chip is in question.

3-D: With the newly developed graphics engine, DS can reproduce impressive 3-D renderings that can surpass images displayed on the Nintendo 64. Games will run at 60 frames per second, and allow details like fog effects and cel shading.

 

[chris_r]

It packs a lot more brute processing power but it is unlikely that this power can be used to produce a 3d engine of the same quality as the n64 or ds' 3d hardware

 

[nubie]

It packs a lot more brute processing power but it is unlikely that this power can be used to produce a 3d engine of the same quality as the n64 or ds' 3d hardware

​

Agreed, More info on the Video chips seems to indicate the nature of the Geometry and Rasterizing engines by exposing their registers so you can see the capability.

 

[rokdcasbah]

3d pffffft. back in my day the most 3d game we had was q billion, and i'll tell you something else, we liked it that way.