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
Two surprising studies reveal new information about what genes do after death. Slashdot reader gurps_npc writes: You think your body stops after death, but up to two days later certain genes may turn on and start doing stuff for another two days before they give up the ghost. We are all zombies for up to four days after death. Gizmodo reports that in fact “hundreds” of genes apparently spring back to life. “[P]revious work on human cadavers demonstrated that some genes remain active after death, but we had no idea as to the extent of this strange phenomenon.” Read more of this story at Slashdot. 
An anonymous reader writes: Humble Bundle announced a special “pay what you want” sale for four ebooks from No Starch Press, with proceeds going to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (or to the charity of your choice). This “hacker edition” sale includes two relatively new titles from 2015 — “Automate the Boring Stuff with Python” and Violet Blue’s “Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy, ” as well as “Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering” by Andrew “bunnie” Huang, and “The Linux Command Line”. Hackers who are willing to pay “more than the average” — currently $14.87 — can also unlock a set of five more books, which includes “The Maker’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse: Defend Your Base with Simple Circuits, Arduino, and Raspberry Pi”. (This level also includes “Bitcoin for the Befuddled” and “Designing BSD Rootkits: An Introduction to Kernel Hacking”.) And at the $15 level — just 13 cents more — four additional books are unlocked. “Practical Malware Analysis: The Hands-On Guide to Dissecting Malicious Software” is available at this level, as well as “Hacking: The Art of Exploitation” and “Black Hat Python.” Nice to see they’ve already sold 28, 506 bundles, which are DRM-free and available in PDF, EPUB, and MOBI format. (I still remember Slashdot’s 2012 interview with Make magazine’s Andrew “bunnie” Huang, who Samzenpus described as “one of the most famous hardware and software hackers in the world.”) Read more of this story at Slashdot. 
Amazon’s celebrating Christmas Eve by giving away 40 premium Android apps via the Amazon App Store. The full list is below, and a lot of them are actually really popular apps, including Terraria , djay 2 , and Plex . Read more… 
On Monday, Portland sued Uber ; now, L.A. and San Francisco are joining in, too. The cites have sued the ride-hailing company on the grounds that it misleads consumers about their safety as well as overcharging them. Read more… 
You’re looking at some of the most intricate images of live nerve endings ever captured, in which it’s possible to make out individual nerves and touch receptors in unprecedented detail. Read more… 
Don’t listen to the naysayers. The zombie apocalypse is real—and imminent. Fortunately, Tiger Log Cabins is on your side with a state-of-the-art, high-tech Zombie Fortification Cabin. Because those goddamn trick-or-treaters zombies never stood a chance. Read more… 