[SDL] 2D API evolution (SDL 1.3/2.0)

[Torsten Giebl]

Hello !


> Actually, software rendering and support for targets without OpenGL or
> Direct3D is just a "might be nice to have around" thing IMHO. Though
> I can certainly see uses for software rendering with transforms,
> blending and whatnot, on it's own, or together with accelerated 3D, I
> realize that one size just does not fit all. For real time rendering, you
> need something fast - be it awfull looking, if that's the only way it can
> work. For "pseudo real time" background rendering, you'd need something
> pretty fast and reasonably good looking, or there isn't much point,
> really. And for off-line rendering, you're probably better off pulling in
> MesaGL, or even a serious raytracing engine.
> (These days, you can probably use either to render still backgrounds
> "page by page" in a game - sort of like The Last Ninja series did it
> on the C64, only upgraded to current graphics standards...)

I have not tested it but a software OpenGL impl. with Mesa only
using Textures and only blitting small Nr. of Polygons with these
textures maybe also fast. Especially on newer powerfull systems.
Windows Vista for example has even with only D3D drivers
an OGL emulator.

> Anyway, I can certainly see why you don't want to go beyond the
> current feature set of SDL 1.3. However, I (and many others) still need to
> deal with this OpenGL vs Direct3D issue, and most of us just don't want
> to, or simply cannot, implement our own backends for both.
>
> So, maybe the most sensible way is to have SDL explicitly support both
> OpenGL and Direct3D from the application side? Are there technical
> problems with doing this for Direct3D the way it's done with OpenGL?

Sure. For me that is no question. SDL 1.3
has to do the same things in Direct 3D than in OpenGL for the simple
2D blitting stuff and uploading of Textures and so on.

The Video Part of SDL 1.3 has the 2D loading and blitting functions
using Textures and the rest the user has to implement. That would be my
personal way for SDL 1.3 I want a lib that easysily sets up D3D and/or OGL
for me, delievers events and so on and i code the 3d engine stuff.

When i need things like rotation for 2D or other things that SDL not has,
that i can use an add. SDL helper lib.


CU