I upgraded my computer today from a 350mhz P2 to a 1.7gig P4 and a GeForce3. It’s the GeForce3 that’s making me pee my pants. Oh, my GAWD!!! It comes with a few demos from NVidia to show off what the thing can do. You can check out videos of the demos here. Unfortunately you won’t get the full “pee in your pants” effect from watching the videos since they are much lower resolution then the real thing so you can’t see the details but seriously, we’re, talking RENDER quality. Okay, maybe 1996 render quality but seriously, if you see the Zoltar demo live, except for a few problems around the edges (like for example the transition from eyelid to eyeball), this is the kind of image I’m used to seeing from most pre-rendered scenes. All his wrinkles, wiskers, blemishes etc on his skin, the embossed cloth on his robe. Jaw dropping. Here’s a close up screenshot where you can see some of the details but again, live it’s just amazing.
The Chameleon demo is also pretty impressive though not quite as high poly as Zoltar and again it’s hard to see the details in the video. Try this still to get some idea of what you are missing.
One thing in the demo that’s not on the video unfortunately, there’s a part where they texture the chameleon in like arteries and veins. On a previous generation 3D card it would clearly look like cellophane wrapping paper with veins drawn on it wrapped around the chameleon but on the GeForce3 with realtime bumpmapping and pixel shaders the effect is like the veins actually have volume. Like you are looking at a model of veins and not just a texture of veins. It’s a whole new level of realtime detail.
This one is not as cool as a demo but it’s probably easier to see some of the effects that a GeForce3 can do.
I’m wondering what effect it will have on games. When will the first games that really effectively use the GeForce3 hit the shelves and also, is this the chip in XBOX or is XBox one generation behind?
Regardless, this kind of technology leaves the current consoles in the dust. It’s like night and day. PS2 was supposed to be a huge increase in power but if you compare the majority of Dreamcast games to PS2 games it just doesn’t seem like that big of a jump but this, this is truely a jump. This is *next generation 3D*
Even John Carmack said something to the effect that he hasn’t seen this kind of jump in coolness since Voodoo 2 which was like what 4 years ago?
Did you ever find out whether or not it’s the same as the XBOX chip? I am by no means a M$ fanboy, but I bought an XBOX last week and I am thoroughly impressed with its graphical power.
I believe the XBox uses something like a GeForce3. There’s a more techincal description here.
The XBox has couple of things going for it over the other consoles. One, it’s got 64meg. The PS2 has 36 and the Gamecube has like 24. Probably the single most important thing in making something look good is textures and more memory allows more textures. Textures are arguably more important than polygons and that extra memory generally allows for more textures. 20000 polygons and 32meg of textures will usually look better than 100000 polygons and 4meg of textures.
The other is that it’s possible on the XBox to do more special effects than the other consoles because of special features in it’s graphics chips.
The problem of course is all the textures and effects in the world don’t make a good game. While I wish there were some good games on the XBox I haven’t bought one yet because there is no game I personally want to play. On Gamecube this year there is Mario Sunshine, Mario Party, Metroid Prime, Star Fox Adventures and The Legend of Zelda. All games I really really REALLY want to play.
I’m sure that will change at some point. Some friends of told me I have to get an X-Box just to play Halo but I haven’t quite been able to get myself to spend the money for that yet. Of course good teams and make great games on