8 May 2008 - 15:18, By E. LutenThe Ghost of OpenGL 3.0
OpenGL 3.0 seems to become more and more of a promise that’s bound to be broken; like a friend who promises you to give back the money you loaned him, always tomorrow.
The expected API promises many new features, enhancements and is the first total rewrite of the existing OpenGL Standard. The API promises an interface compatible with the next generation of computer graphics programming and is set to compete with Microsoft’s DirectX 10.
Well, that’s the plan at least. OpenGL 3.0 has been delayed tremendously since its scheduled release in October of 2007. On October 30th of 2007, ARB member Barthold Lichtenbelt (NVIDIA employee) made an official announcement on the OpenGL.ORG forums claiming that the release date was postponed until further notice because “[the OpenGL Working group] don’t want to spend time fixing mistakes made in haste.”
The announcement settled fine with most of the OpenGL community since at least there was news. But after 7 months of neither news nor updates, some of the community is giving up on (or dismissing) the possibility of a new API at all.
But is it really possible to give up on OpenGL? The API is pretty much the only viable hardware accelerated option on platforms other than Microsoft Windows, and even on Windows many developers are reluctant to switch from XP to Windows Vista in order to take advantage of Direct3D 10.
The Khronos Group have been putting out updates on the other software which they maintain the standards of with the exception of their most popular/anticipated one, OpenGL.
So what does that mean? Either OpenGL is being actively developed on and public discussion is prohibited per NDA, or development has halted and there is reluctance in releasing the bad news. My hopes are up for the former option since the OpenGL API is without a doubt the most flexible Graphics API available today.
Of course, there is a third option which is quite scary and different. Khronos has been publishing information on a new API called OpenKODE which bundles several APIs in a DirectX-like manner of platform abstraction. Maybe the OpenGL API will become a part of this which would set back the development even more, but this is (as are the other options) a wild guess.
If there’s one thing to consider, it’s the fact that OpenGL is a standard (a definition), not an implementation. Which means that the actual source code for 3.0 would have to implemented by: A. the independent hardware vendors or B. the platform developers. So even if the OpenGL 3.0 API would be released today, the actual libraries wouldn’t be available yet since the implementation would be missing.
All in all, I think we’re still very far away from seeing a workable OpenGL 3.0 implementation that’s supported ‘cross-platform. For now we’ll just have to do with OpenGL 2.1 or Direct3D 10, which in many cases, is a limited set of options that’s impossible to choose from.
11 Comments | Tags: Tagged with: direct3d 10 • directx 10 • opengl • opengl 3.0
09 May 2008 - 4:26
what about the possibility of microsoft (a member of the board) introducing mistakes to prevent opengl from being able to compete with dx10?
09 May 2008 - 5:36
A implementation is required, but I would think a software implementation would be done first, so that the hardware manufacturers would have something to base their work on. A reference for standardization.
There is not much point just putting the standard out there, it’s open for too much interpretation.
09 May 2008 - 6:29
I think they want to kill OpenGL. I am speculating here, but I believe Microsoft is hugely interested in becoming the de-facto standard for 3D games, and if OpenGL just plain sucks, people will more and more use the Windows solution (and Windows XNA license ties you to Windows products too)
I think we should stop expecting OpenGL to be the solution. To me, OpenGL is beginning to become the problem. How long has this been going on, and how many current games still use OpenGL?
A dying horse should be left to die if it refuses to be cured in my opinion.
09 May 2008 - 9:21
At Reddit , it is alleged that a Khronos member is hindering OpenGL by assertion of patents. That would explain it.
09 May 2008 - 10:38
Why in this day are important standards being developed in secret? I thought it was bad enough that the specs for ECMAScript 4 aren’t publicly available, but at least the people who are working on it get to talk about it and release lots of preview material. What possible reason could there be for prohibiting public discussion? Are they afraid somebody else will steal all their ideas or something? This is ridiculous.
09 May 2008 - 10:57
Microsoft is no longer a member of the Khronos ARB.
09 May 2008 - 13:21
I’m on the ARB mailing list and I can assure you they are working hard for a release (I’m not a contributor for the spec though I just follow it). While I also feel they should released more news, things like patents hindering or someone wanting to kill OpenGL are totally false. Stop being paranoid :D. Some game developers are also actively contributing to the spec. There are a lot of difficulties with the coming up with a new OpenGL spec-they would like it to have a long life, so they try hard to revise the proposed object mechanisms so they interact well with other parts of the API. They have been tirelessly revising the specs to iron out the issues (no really, coming up with a proper design really *is* hard - don’t jump into conclusions like the new OpenGL is also ill-designed). They are doing a pretty good job with the current kind of organization- members from different companies contributing. Probably the best way would be to have some people working together in the same physical location with their whole time dedicated to it, but such a thing would be hard to realize.
09 May 2008 - 13:27
[...] the rest HERE Social [...]
09 May 2008 - 14:01
@Anon: Thanks for the info, feel like shedding some more light on disclosable affairs?
09 May 2008 - 19:07
Siggraph 08 is when I expect most of the stuff to be unveiled. I don’t really know if they plan to release any information before Siggraph.
15 May 2008 - 11:51
[...] El fantasma de OpenGl 3.0scriptionary.com/blog/2008/05/08/the-ghost-of-opengl-30/ por peeler hace pocos segundos [...]