Re:Steam: Half-Life 2 Hardware Survey (2004)
by qwery on Wednesday April 06, 2022 @05:04AM
(#30929987)
> elbow grease and ingenuity can remove theoretical hardware limitations
Of course, 'theoretical' hardware limitations aren't hard limits -- they're soft[ware] ones. However, if you find yourself battling concrete hardware limitations, what you need is to put your back into it and a little know-how.
Re:Steam: Half-Life 2 Hardware Survey (2004)
by bayindirh on Wednesday April 06, 2022 @05:19AM
(#30930077)
The thing is, HDR is considered too expensive and impossible on these cards without specific hardware capabilities and relevant API support.
Valve said "Ha, let's see!" and implemented great HDR visuals with integers only. So it's not just let's hack together and see how it goes. IIRC, it took three re-implementations to get it right and performant.
Similarly, I'm not a stranger when it comes to hardware and its limits, but what deemed impossible by many, even knowledgeable people, doesn't mean it's a hard, cold truth (e.g. demoscene and PoC||GTFO).
Also, I remember that quote (from Gabe himself, I think): "We may have polished graphics further, but that game won't be Half Life anymore.", a direct stab taken at linearity of Doom of that time.