Voxel Space: The 1992 Terrain Rendering Engine That Pushed 3D Graphics Forward
By
davikr
Toasted golden, schmeared with insight. Top of the rack.
Summary
This article discusses the Voxel Space terrain rendering engine, a groundbreaking 3D graphics technology developed by NovaLogic for the 1992 game Comanche. It highlights how the algorithm achieved impressive 3D terrain rendering on CPUs that were 1000 times slower than modern processors, without GPU acceleration. The article presents a web demo of the engine and notes that the rendering algorithm can be implemented in less than 20 lines of code, showcasing its elegance and efficiency for its time.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledThe graphics were breathtaking for the time being and in my opinion 3 years ahead of its time
The CPUs were 1000 times slower than today and the acceleration via a GPU was unknown or unaffordable
3D games were calculated exclusively on the CPU and the rendering engine rendered filled polygons with a single color
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