MiniGL
Encyclopedia
The term MiniGL was applied to a wide range of incomplete OpenGL
implementations provided by graphics card hardware companies including 3dfx
, PowerVR
and Rendition
in the late 1990s. They owe their genesis to the computer game Quake.
In 1996 id Software
announced that the Rendition Vérité was to be the only hardware 3D accelerator targeted by Quake. Partly because of the perceived hassle in supporting chipset specific API
s and partly because Quakes development heritage on high-end workstations made such a thing easy. They also released a Microsoft Windows
port of their OpenGL version of Quake, even though no consumer chipset had OpenGL support at the time.
In response, 3dfx developed and quickly released the first MiniGL — a quick implementation of the bare minimum amount of the OpenGL API that was required to run the OpenGL version of Quake. By obtaining a copy of the OpenGL Quake executable and a copy of the relevant MiniGL, 3dfx owners could easily modify their copies of Quake to play with full 3D acceleration, giving a smoother and better looking display than was possible with the Quake software renderer. After the success of the 3dfx original, several other manufacturers followed 3dfx in producing MiniGL drivers.
At the time, the OpenGL API was almost universally agreed to be superior to the then new and immature Direct3D
system from Microsoft
, so following the arrival of the various MiniGLs, many programmers sought to use them in other programs as an easy way of supporting multiple 3D chipsets. Unfortunately, id Software had not released any official list of OpenGL calls and parameters used by Quake and none of the MiniGL implementors had released lists of what their implementation would and would not support.
In practice, this led to a very cautious use of OpenGL features by programmers and new releases of MiniGLs with slightly more functionality every time a major game came along that did not work on the previous generation.
All major 3d card manufacturers now support complete OpenGL implementations, negating the need for any sort of MiniGL.
See also: MiniGLX
OpenGL
OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...
implementations provided by graphics card hardware companies including 3dfx
3dfx
3dfx Interactive was a company that specialized in the manufacturing of 3D graphics processing units and, later, graphics cards. It was a pioneer in the field for several years in the late 1990s until 2000 when it underwent one of the most high-profile demises in the history of the PC industry...
, PowerVR
PowerVR
PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and Direct X, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL acceleration....
and Rendition
Rendition (company)
Rendition was a maker of 3D graphics chipsets in the mid- to late-90's. They were known for products such as the Vérité 1000 and Vérité 2x00 and for being one of the first 3D chipset makers to directly work with Quake developer John Carmack to make a hardware-accelerated version of the game ....
in the late 1990s. They owe their genesis to the computer game Quake.
In 1996 id Software
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
announced that the Rendition Vérité was to be the only hardware 3D accelerator targeted by Quake. Partly because of the perceived hassle in supporting chipset specific API
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
s and partly because Quakes development heritage on high-end workstations made such a thing easy. They also released a Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
port of their OpenGL version of Quake, even though no consumer chipset had OpenGL support at the time.
In response, 3dfx developed and quickly released the first MiniGL — a quick implementation of the bare minimum amount of the OpenGL API that was required to run the OpenGL version of Quake. By obtaining a copy of the OpenGL Quake executable and a copy of the relevant MiniGL, 3dfx owners could easily modify their copies of Quake to play with full 3D acceleration, giving a smoother and better looking display than was possible with the Quake software renderer. After the success of the 3dfx original, several other manufacturers followed 3dfx in producing MiniGL drivers.
At the time, the OpenGL API was almost universally agreed to be superior to the then new and immature Direct3D
Direct3D
Direct3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface . Direct3D is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems , and for other platforms through the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems...
system from Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, so following the arrival of the various MiniGLs, many programmers sought to use them in other programs as an easy way of supporting multiple 3D chipsets. Unfortunately, id Software had not released any official list of OpenGL calls and parameters used by Quake and none of the MiniGL implementors had released lists of what their implementation would and would not support.
In practice, this led to a very cautious use of OpenGL features by programmers and new releases of MiniGLs with slightly more functionality every time a major game came along that did not work on the previous generation.
All major 3d card manufacturers now support complete OpenGL implementations, negating the need for any sort of MiniGL.
See also: MiniGLX
MiniGLX
MiniGLX is a specification for an application programming interface which facilitates OpenGL rendering on systems without windowing systems, e.g. Linux without an X Window System or embedded systems without a windowing system...