Newsgroup: it.comp.giochi.simulatori
Titolo: Intervista a Chris West sulle nuove tecnologie

Eric Cote : «ô¿ô»
Chris West : Ello
P rimo question: will WSC have SSE/SSE2 code built in for the P4 and
eventually AMD next CPU generation due Q4 2001 ??
Intel yes for release thats why they gave me the nice new computers, other
processors will be catered for hopefully before launch otherwise very soon
after.
O k.. very good... people are anxious about the fact what SSE2 means for WSC
, can you briefly tell the gain coming from those 144 new instruction ??
Well according to Intel it should at least double the speed of the code
compiled for it, so as far as I can see most of the code can make use of it.
Need to do some tests to get exact figures. But thats the reason the P4 is
getting bad coverage at the moment, its only when we see stuff coded for the
chips will its sheer power come through.
At the moment I dont even have a proper compiler to handle it
P arallel to this... putting that extra code (SSE2), does that impact
performance on P3 and AMD processor ? Or is it just a gain if the processor
can do it ???
Not at all, the latest Intel compilers do a clever job of compiling each
function for whatever chip and at runtime it puts it all together so support
for SSE will not downgrade performance for other users.
But you will see no improvemnet on a P3 as it just wont use the P4 code.
M any people feared that it could degrade performance on none SSE2 optimized
CPU...
There is a very good new compiler out from Codeplay that show huge increases
over Visual C on compiled code.
Indeed they have virtually promised me a 25-40% improvement in speed over
the Visual C code. My Watcom compiler gives me a 10% at least improvemnt,
but I cant use it as Staccato dosnt work with it.
H mmm yummy :)
Chris, another tech quest... something different from all other interview, I
wanna bring fresh news but at the same time not asking you the obvious
question... of when it will be release...{g}
ok, you think the Staccato (for the sound in WSC) will be able to overcome
this problem ??
They said they can but there is no point as I wont be using Watcom now (a)
as it is not suppported anymore so dosnt handle new chipsets. (b) the
codeplay compiler is better than Watcom
And staccato works with Codeplay
T hinking.... ok Codeplay is the new way of compiling SSE2 ??
Yes, they are adding support now 
www.codeplay.com
T his is a little bit technical... don't want to get lost nor the viewers
{g}
ok Chris... another one.. this time about DX8...
we all read at large what DX8 was an improvement over DX7...
Ok
B asically, what new features of DX8 does WSC uses ??
or will use... I should say
Mmm, right well it will be using the vastly improved DirectPlay stuff which
is now very stable and greatly optimized and can handle large number of
players/spectators.
The DirectVoice stuff as well will be used.
T hat's good news for the online part... «ô¿ô»
The only part of the 3D side we are yet undecided about is the vertex
shaders, they are very good and fast but there is a learning curve envolved
and a rewrite of the 3d engine to make use of them properly, and that will
rule out some of the T&L hardware.
W hat's Direct Voice ?? like the MS Sidewinder game voice controller??
Yes Eric, basically Roger Wilco type code, good for team mates to talk to
each other etc.
H mmm.. nice ideas like with Direct Voice... calling the pitcrew to tell
them to get prepared, because I just flat spots the tyre {g}
Direct Input isnt used much, purely to find devices and get raw data, I dont
use it all for getting values as it has too much stuff layered on it, like
dead zones etc.
The use of compressed textures is a good side effect of DX8
O k Chris, basically about Direct 3D, you're in a wait to see what comes
next from Nvidia and other video manufacturer that will fully use DX8
Indeed, obviously DX8 is keyed towards XBox and Nvidia
A s you mention before wuth Direct input... the way WSC will handle various
type of controllers or even multi-controllers will be done differently ?
hmm the future is all promissing, WSC will be probably one of the first race
sims to take full advantage of it :)
I do input stuff my own way, si DInput is used to find devices, poll them
for raw values and thats it, all other stuff is done by my opwn systems, so
it will be extreemly flexible in what it can use.
It works very well, every input in the pc can be used for anything no
trouble, so custom wheels etc are all no problem.
T hat's good news about the way WSC will be "controlling" the race
controllers... how many time I try a demo to find that my specific wheel
doesn't work...
It is Eric, they find a joystick and then stop, and assume thats what you
want, it dosnt take much to do the job properly.
Y eah understand... what they do not know (other so-called sims makers) is
the serious hardcore virtual racer uses steering/pedals unit, most of the
time split axis for the gas and pedals, etc..
S o Chris, with DX8 and SSE2 combined, these extra codes will greatly
improves let's say frame rates, thus we can put more details in ?? If the
hardware supports it of course :)
Indeed, I should think the cars and tracks that come along after the game is
out will put the original ones to shame, its going to fun to see where it
all goes, Tony has a huge list of stuff hes dying to do.
P oor Tony, he has only one brain to do all this he wants {g}
Its hard work keeping him on one item at a time :O)
W ell Chris, on behalf of all WSC fans out there, don't give up, we all
support you :)
:O)
I promissed not to extend this too long, you're generous enough to answer
these :)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Conclusion
Intel won't be happy to read this... but I recommend anyone wishing to
upgrade his PC (more of total revamp of the entire package) to WAIT. If you
were planning to buy an AMD processor with VIA motherboard in a near future
or a new Intel P3 processor, just be patient. SSE/SSE2 are here to stay,
since AMD will be in the game with these in about 1 year... If you plan to
buy a P4, I suggest to wait around the end of Q1 or early Q2 2001, if you're
really patient then wait at the end of Q2 2001... My little finger tells me
that since AMD is continuing to attack Intel on all front, the prices will
continue to drop, can't tell by how much, but recent history confirms this
rule...
We can't be certain until all benchmarks are done how SSE2 and DX8 will
improve WSC by so much compared to no SSE/SSE2... but I believe it could
make a significant changes, that means higher resolution, image quality,
more sounds and higher or steadier Frames Per Second...
--
**********************************************
Matteo Calestani
Driver profile
http://home.c2i.net/zlark/racing/drivers.htm
GP500 Hot Laps
http://www.multiplayer.it/sbk/hot_lap.htm
GPL Italian Championship 2000
http://www.racesim.net/gpl/index.html
***********************************************

 as it is not suppported anymore so dosnt handle new chipsets.
Not so, fortunately :-). Support is still available by newsgroup on Sybase's
news server: news://
forums.sybase.com
Watcom C/C++ 11.0c is being worked on and will be available to download by
the public when complete. A bug fix to 11.0, 11.0a, 11.0b. Should be a few
months. I am currently using 11.0c.  Watcom C/C++/Fortran is being open
sourced and OpenWatcom 1.0 will be available for download several months
later.
See 
www.openwatcom.org
 for details.
Stephen Howe [TeamSybase]

Stephen Howe [TeamSybase]
Miiii alla Sybase ci guardano!!!
Sono anni che uso il loro compilatore ed il loro sql server!!!
Good Job Stephen! go on. Watcom always rulez.
--
Ciao
M.2fast4u Giorgio
Le FAQ di - it.comp.giochi.simulatori.volo - le trovi su:
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ICQ 28779230

Giorgio,
chi è il tipo che ha risposto ?
e cosa ha detto di preciso ?
ciao


e cosa ha detto di preciso ?
Ha detto, che non e' vero che lo sviluppo si e' fermato, ma che il
progetto si sta spostanto sull'open source (stile Linux per capirsi)
ed usciranno quindi nuove versioni di Watcom che, lo si legge fra le
righe, potranno anche supportare le nuove istruzioni Pentium 4 o Amd
che siano.
Insomma ci teneva a far sapere che c'e` chi ci sta lavorando.
Rappresenta quindi un altro capitolo della favola di Davide e Golia,
nella quale la Sybase (softwer house produttirce del Watcom) cerca di
portare avanti un progetto contro lo strapotere di Microsoft.
Tipo la lotta Linux-Windows, Netscape-Internet Explorer,
Opengl-Direct3d ecc...
Scusate la lungaggine ma ci ho lavorato 10 anni con il Watcom.
Ciao
M. 2fast4u Giorgio
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Grazie per il chiarimento.
P.S. Allora è vero che c'è qualche "capoccia" che ci guarda :-)))
MC