Originally posted by TurboNed
Out of curiosity (and at the risk of derailing the topic, though I feel I'm mostly in-context) what would DX8 and OGL 1.3 support do for this engine? I'm not arguing that it's not something that'd be way cool (even more than cool), I'm just a gamer who fancies himself knowledgable about hardware and software....but really isn't. (-: What do DX8 and OGL 1.3 do (besides hardware T&L) above and beyond...DX5 (or whatever FS2's required DX version is)?
--TurboNed
For this question it is best that someone that does have experience about FS2 source, like Avenger or Kazan answers.
But, support for latest DirectX and OpenGL can bring us many features that are used in latest games, for example:
-animated textures
-bump mapping
-T&L
-high-poly and high-res support
In short, those of us who have Voodoo 4/5, GeForce 2 (or newer), first generation Radeon or later or Kyro2 will get better graphics and atmosphere.
BUT! Coding a support for DX8 and OGL 1.3 is not a priority, there is much more important stuff to be done.
For example:
-fixing all remaining bugs of FS2/FRED2
-increasing .tbl file limitations
-more event-commands for FRED2
-more options to FRED2 (like selecting ships and going to "Misc" and then selecting beam-free)
-unfinished features of FS2/FRED2 will be finished