GeForce FX & UT2003: "Performance" Texturing A

[WaltC]

Epic is not just involved with that marketing campaign, Epic signed a deal way back before that campaign even started.

http://www.imgmagazine.com/news/story.php?ArticleID=808

Doom, I think you are reading way too much between the lines here. First, strike all of IMG magazine's editorial commentary on what the writer thinks the press release means, and you wind up with this:

Tuesday, September 5, 2000

NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq:NVDA - news) and Epic Games Inc.
today announced a strategic partnership aimed at producing next generation applications that take full advantage of
NVIDIA's latest 3D technology, including the new features of the GeForce 256(TM) and GeForce2 graphics processing
units (GPUs).

``Epic's latest game, Unreal Tournament, is one of the most popular games in the world,'' says Sanford Russell, senior
director of partner management at NVIDIA. ``We see this as an opportunity to work more closely with Epic Games to ensure current and future Unreal Engine
products run their absolute best on NVIDIA hardware.''


NVIDIA has been working with Epic Games and other leading game developers worldwide to help them leverage the high-impact visual features of the GeForce
family of GPUs including geometry processing power and radical per-pixel shading features.


``NVIDIA's dominant position in the PC market and their selection as the graphics platform provider for Xbox, clearly make them the most important graphics vendor
from a business standpoint. But even more importantly, they're first in bringing to market the kind of advanced technology we intend to build our future products
around, and that's what really drives us from a design standpoint,'' says Tim Sweeney, founder and lead programmer for Epic Games Inc.


Prior to this announcement, Epic Games had already begun targeting major new Unreal Engine features for NVIDIA's GeForce 256 and GeForce2 GTS(TM). One
such example is the engine's new high-polygon, large-scale terrain system. This feature specifically exploits the hardware transform and lighting features of the
NVIDIA GeForce family of GPUs. Several additional features are planned that line up strategically with current and future NVIDIA 3D graphics processors.

As part of their efforts to work more closely together, NVIDIA will provide Epic with early versions of new hardware and drivers, as well as extensive testing of those
drivers with existing Unreal Engine products and new unreleased versions of the engine. To facilitate this, the agreement calls for regular technical reviews and
exchanges between the two companies, so that each one has a clear understanding of the inner workings of the other's software and hardware technology.

First, notice the date--nearly three years ago. I don't know if you recall it, but 3dfx was still in business then and if I recall correctly this joint NVIDIA-Epic press release followed a joint 3dfx-Epic press release which said *almost exactly the same thing.*

What I recall happening was that after the 3dfx-oriented joint press release Epic was inundated with emails from people wanting to know if their software was going to run on their non-3dfx hardware. Epic made a statement to the effect that people without 3dfx cards need not worry because they'd have no trouble running Epic's upcoming software. I think this nVidia-Epic PR followed shortly thereafter. (I can be excused if my memory is a bit off as it was three years ago.)

But anyway, as I recall this was the background for these press releases.

A good software developer will be apolitical when it comes to supporting one IHV over another, because the smart software developer wants to sell his software to everybody--not just people with certain 3D cards. People read way too much in 3dfx's Epic games press release at the time, just as people today are reading way too much into nVidia's press releases concerning the direction 3D software developers are taking.

The goal of the ISV is not the same as the IHV--not remotely. People should not confuse these issues. All of the supposed "EA" press releases concerning how EA is going to "specialize" its software to support nVidia hardware have but one source--nVidia--as you won't find a supporting press release anywhere on EA's site. Now, when Epic and EA and anybody else starts making their own native press releases stating that they are going to write their software to run better on one company's architecture than another's, that's when I'll sit up and take notice. But I haven't seen that yet...

Last, consider the historical record...in the three years since this press release, how much of Epic's software has been written to run "better" on nVidia hardware in defiance of the APIs? That's why Sweeny states that people should never confuse marketing with software development--the two are often incongruent because they are formulated by different people having different objectives.

 

[Doomtrooper]

Games like Americas Army runs better on Nvidia Hardware(epic powered engine), 3DFX was on its last legs when this press release was released.