Wargasm and Descent 3

Wargasm and Descent 3
Wargasm, released just this week, is a beautiful 3D game that features some intense combat action. I won't say any more about the game until we review it in full, but speaking to Jim Belcher, Director of Simulations at Infogames, who told us:

Wargasm has Katmai-specific code in it, and I believe that Outcast does as well, although I will have to confirm that. BTW, Intel was very involved in Wargasm's development, and DID was one of the first developers to be seeded with Katmai machines.

Although he doesn't divulge too much information on any performance issues, it is a good indication that Intel is actively going out there to convince developers to implement the SSE technology into their software. That's obviously a good sign of things to come.

I also had a chance to briefly speak with Jason Leighton of Outrage Entertainment, engine programmer and head of SSE development for Descent 3. Here's what he had to say:

Firingsquad: Are you using Katmai New Instructions (SSE) in Descent 3?

Jason Leighton: Yes, we're currently developing SSE for Descent 3's indoor engine.

FS: Is SSE code included in the released D3 Demo?

JL: No, unfortunately there wasn't enough time to implement it in the demo.

FS: Is SSE used in the outdoors rendering engine?

JL: No, currently we're only using it indoors, where we have a lot of complex vertex manipulation.

FS: John Carmack mentioned that at least for Quake III, SSE optimizations must be done on the driver side. Are you experiencing the same thing?

JL: Not really; our engine works very differently, and we're essentially vertex-limited, so having SSE code in the main graphics routines helps greatly.

FS: What kind of performance increase are you seeing/expecting with SSE?

JL: About 10-15%

This is certainly a testament to Intel's dedication to get SSE-supported products out into the market simultaneously with or before the processor itself ships. While 10-15% (and roughly 25% for graphics drivers) may not seem like a giant leap in performance, it's honestly more than I expected. As more developers commit to SSE, and as the P3 grows in popularity, expect to see SSE slowly blend into the background rather than take center stage.

Now that we have the skinny on SSE, the biggest question remains: How fast can we push it?