DOOM 2016 “cleverly re-uses old data computed in the previous frames…1331 draw calls, 132 textures and 50 render targets, ” according to a new article which takes a very detailed look at the process of rendering one 16-millisecond frame. An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: The game released earlier this year uses the Vulkan API to push graphics quality and performance at new levels. The article sheds light on rendering techniques, mega-textures, reflection computation… all the aspects of a modern game engine. Some of the information came from “The Devil is in the Details, ” a July presentation at the SIGGRAPH 2016 conferences on graphics by Tiago Sousa, id’s lead renderer programmer, and senior engine programmer Jean Geffroy. (And there’s also more resources at the end of the article, including a July interview with five id programmers by Digital Foundry.) “Historically id Software is known for open-sourcing their engines after a few years, which often leads to nice remakes and breakdowns, ” the article notes. “Whether this will stand true with id Tech 6 remains to be seen but we don’t necessarily need the source code to appreciate the nice graphics techniques implemented in the engine.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
See the original article here:
A Very Detailed Dissection of a Frame From DOOM
An anonymous reader quotes The Verge: GoldenEye: Source received its first update in more than three years this week. It’s free to download and it features 25 recreated maps, 10 different multiplayer modes, and redesigned versions of the original game’s 28 weapons. It was created using Valve’s Source engine, the same set of tools used to create Counter Strike and Half-Life games. So it’s a massive step up in both visuals and performance for one of the more drastically dated gaming masterpieces of the last 20 years… GoldenEye 007, the beloved N64 first-person shooter, has been recreated in high-definition glory by a team of dedicated fans over the course of 10 years…the attention to detail and the amount of effort that went into GoldenEye: Source make it one of the most polished HD remakes of a N64 classic. With 8 million copies sold, Wikipedia calls it the third best-selling Nintendo 64 game of all-time (although this version doesn’t recreate its single-player campaigns). Anyone have fond memories of playing Goldeneye 007? Read more of this story at Slashdot. 
MojoKid writes from a report via HotHardware: Following rumors of a more powerful console in Sony’s not-too-distant future — one that will be capable of playing games at a 4K resolution — the Japanese electronics maker last month opted to confirm it is indeed in development. Called PlayStation 4 Neo, the upgraded system will bring better hardware to the console scene to meet the needs of gaming on a television with four times as many pixels as a Full HD 1080p display. What’s it going to take to game at 4K in the living room? A leaked internal document outlines some very interesting specs of the new model PS4 console. Assuming the leaked document is up to date with Sony’s current plans, the PS4 Neo will use the same Jaguar cores as the original PS4, but clocked 500MHz faster, with 8 cores at 2.1GHz (up from 1.6GHz). The more significant upgrade will be the GPU. According to the slide, the PS4 Neo will use an improved version of AMD’s GCN compute units (CUs), with twice the number of CUs at 36 instead of 18. They’ll also be clocked faster — 911MHz versus 800MHz. The net result is a 2.3x improvement in floating point performance. Read more of this story at Slashdot. 
