From: crlehew@eos.ncsu.edu (CHRISTIAN ROBERT LEHEW)
Subject: Gaming Operating System (GOS)
Originator: crlehew@c00809-247dan.eos.ncsu.edu
Keywords: GOS
Reply-To: crlehew@eos.ncsu.edu (CHRISTIAN ROBERT LEHEW)
Organization: North Carolina State University, Project Eos
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 21:04:42 GMT


Lets face it.  The computing power average is on the rise.  I'm sure
that there are a few people out there playing Wing Commander on a
286/12/EGA, a 40M HD, and a PC Beeper, but serious gamers have upgraded
their systems in order to improve the quality of their gameplay.  Many
of you may feel confident that DOS will be around for quite some time and
don't worry about the changes taking place in the operating system
world.  But I'm sure alot of gamers realize that Microsoft is shifting
away from DOS and towards a Windows based operating system.  From what I
can tell there are alot (about half) of us out there that use Windows
despite the slowdown.  We (Windows users) don't run our games out of Windows
most of the time (some games are starting to come with PIF files and Icons
eg. Indy and the Fate Of Atlantis-->which ran beautifuly under Win) but we
use Windows for file management and productivity software.  Let's say that
DOS was already dead, and when we start up our computer Windows is the only
OS there.  If there were no DOS based animation stuff, what would would we not 
be able to accomplish with Windows. There are a lot of shareware apps that
are written for DOS but consider how much better they could be if they were
written for Windows.  Maybe some of you might consider Windows if you had
the money to upgrade you machine.  A friend of mine uses Windows on his 
386SX/16 and has a little slowdown but he considers it a good trade off
since he can download a few files from a local BBS and UNZIP and use the first
file while he is still d/ling the next.  Like it or not, I predict that inside
of 6 years most PC users will have enough power to use some type of Windows
base OS and will make the switch.

Microsoft has also realized that the average computing power is rising.  They 
are trying to develop an OS with enough muscle to use the horsepower of todays
machines.  Their answer to DOS's limited abilities is of course NT and
the NT-Lite version for DOS.  Originally NT was supposed to support most
DOS apps but from what I hear the number of apps it will support keeps
getting smaller as the release date gets farther away.  The question is:
WHY SUPPORT DOS APPS AT ALL.  Anyone using NT to get work done is going to
use an application written for NT or Windows.  People using DOS programs will
opt for the DOS/Windows NT until their app decides to jump into a window.  Who
cares if DOS dies!  GAMERS.

What we need is a new operating system.  Not designed for a GUI.  Not designed
for text output to the screen at blazing speeds.  Gamers need an OS that is
solely designed for FAST HI-RES graphics.  Foremost it must be a 32-bit OS with
flat memory.  The OS must be designed with sound and CD-ROM drives in mind.
It should also be written to support a wide variety of VGA-accelerator
cards and a math co-processor.  Almost all gamers sit in front of a
32-bit CPU and better than a 300x200 res monitor.  Those who don't may
be forced to upgrade soon because games will no longer run on their
machines.  I could not find many new computer's in the latest issue of
PC Magizine that did not come with some type of graphics accelerator.  And if
you don't have one, there are some that are not very expensive and will
do amazing things for your slow Windows redraws.  CD-ROM support is a must.
I believe that this would be the best way to boot to the Gaming Operating
System (GOS) to boot.  Every game that is written a CD-ROM already has the GOS
at the begining of the CD.  All you do is stick the game in the drive and
reboot.  Games installed on the HD could possibly be installed on a D:\
partion (If NT will allow a boot from specified drives).  I think that support
for multi-processors is a must b/c by the time the GOS was finished mult-
processors will not be nearly as new as it is now.

Development could be jointly managed by the major gaming companies (EA, Sierra,
Lucasarts, Origin) with an open input system that allowed game companies to
develop games alongside the development of the GOS (much like NT).  It would be
a major project and would take a few years to develop.  Most gamers will
be sick of the limitations of DOS and would probably accept the GOS with open
arms.  Hopefully the GOS could propell computer gaming forward enough to keep
up with  current Nintendo technology.  Or maybe we should just leave the
computers to the business world and all buy a 32-bit SNES-CD-ROM.  I don't
think we will let that happen.



Opinions are welcome: praise along with the tons of dissagreement I'm sure.

Thanks,
Rob Lehew
crlehew@eos.ncsu.edu