Right, this might be a bit late for a comment but I’ll give it a go.

An interesting article I must say, but one thing you might have overlooked (you didn’t seem to mention it in the article) is that all Blizzard games (including those under development) run both on OS X and Windows. In other words; the engine has to be able to render in both OpenGL and DirectX. That said, I have limited experience in programming with either of those two APIs but I’m fairly sure there’s at least a slight difference. I know OpenGL 2.0 is supposed to feature broadly the same functions as DirectX 10, however I’m guessing that this also is a limiting factor as to what shader models are being used.

Anyway, thanks for a well written and interesting article!

Right, this might be a bit late for a comment but I’ll give it a go.

An interesting article I must say, but one thing you might have overlooked (you didn’t seem to mention it in the article) is that all Blizzard games (including those under development) run both on OS X and Windows. In other words; the engine has to be able to render in both OpenGL and DirectX. That said, I have limited experience in programming with either of those two APIs but I’m fairly sure there’s at least a slight difference. I know OpenGL 2.0 is supposed to feature broadly the same functions as DirectX 10, however I’m guessing that this also is a limiting factor as to what shader models are being used.

Anyway, thanks for a well written and interesting article!

Seems like I managed to double post!

Seems like I managed to double post!

[QUOTE=BarneyBear;6668]Right, this might be a bit late for a comment but I’ll give it a go.

An interesting article I must say, but one thing you might have overlooked (you didn’t seem to mention it in the article) is that all Blizzard games (including those under development) run both on OS X and Windows. In other words; the engine has to be able to render in both OpenGL and DirectX. That said, I have limited experience in programming with either of those two APIs but I’m fairly sure there’s at least a slight difference. I know OpenGL 2.0 is supposed to feature broadly the same functions as DirectX 10, however I’m guessing that this also is a limiting factor as to what shader models are being used.

Anyway, thanks for a well written and interesting article!

Not too late, comments are always welcome, lets me know someone actually reads this stuff and I should continue writing.

Indeed, I should have mentioned the OSX/OpenGL necessity, it would have further eroded the base for a developed DirectX10 mode being reasonable or perticularly better. It was just too long (already had Leord pressing me to cut down further). I mentioned the link in my first article of analysis Starcraft 2 System Requirements, but you are correct, it should have been referenced at least in passing as it is important.

The OpenGL link is perhaps one of the main reasons they’ve had to heavily work on their shaders, not just simply to get good effects but to get them to work in multiple graphical API options, not to mention Shader Model 2.0 can be discribed as being more neck-and-neck with the current OpenGL generation.

I am glad for the comment, it means something that readers are furtherning the ideas here and thinking as they read, and that is brilliant.