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  • #21
    Originally posted by Dragonlord View Post
    A "platform" consists of the operating system, the software installed and the hardware installed. Hence if you only port over some different OS but not different hardware then you are not really cross platform. The term is often though used in a very loose way to hype a product which is why nowadays suddenly tons of engines call themselves cross platform but actually are not ( or only partially, which though is better than nothing ).
    By your definition, a program with optional SSE3 support isn't cross platform because it can't run on an old Pentium 3. No matter that it does run, just without the optional support. VLC doesn't count as cross platform?

    This engine is completely cross platform, if you try to use an optional feature on hardware that doesn't support it, it's going to fail unless you're silly enough to package an entire software-based OpenGL stack, like Mesa.

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    • #22
      Originally posted by smitty3268 View Post
      By your definition, a program with optional SSE3 support isn't cross platform because it can't run on an old Pentium 3. No matter that it does run, just without the optional support. VLC doesn't count as cross platform?
      The keyword here is "optional". If something is optional, no problem, that's why it's optional. But if it's mandatory then it's not cross platform since it prevents it from running on a different platform.

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      • #23
        Originally posted by Dragonlord View Post
        The keyword here is "optional". If something is optional, no problem, that's why it's optional. But if it's mandatory then it's not cross platform since it prevents it from running on a different platform.
        Exactly. The engine doesn't require newer cards, it just has optional features that do. To do anything more would mean requiring the engine to only target the least common denominator that all cards could support. And how far back should they go? Should they not even allow shaders? There are still plenty of people running old R100 cards out there.

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        • #24
          Which is why current engines are not cross platform. To understand this though one has to think outside the existing engines.

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          • #25
            Originally posted by Dragonlord View Post
            Which is why current engines are not cross platform. To understand this though one has to think outside the existing engines.
            You just said that if something was optional, it could be considered cross platform. Now you say the opposite. Which is it?

            Hint: Only one makes any kind of sense in the real world, although if you are an english major you might be able to argue the other way.

            P.S., if you're really going to parse through the language like that rather than what's meant by it, then I would note that it says 'cross-platform', not that it runs on every single platform out there. In other words, you could claim that if it ran on only 2 different platforms out there, like a 5870 card and a 5850 card, then by your definition, those are different platforms that both support the engine, so it can claim it. Not that it really makes any sense to do so, because that's not what the term really means.
            Last edited by smitty3268; 14 November 2009, 07:01 PM.

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            • #26
              Read what I wrote before talking crap. It's all in there. Optional means it won't break your app if something is missing. That's okay. If it breaks then it's not. So leave me the fuck alone if you insist on playing the dumb-ass game like that. I really can't stand people playing the dumb-ass game.

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              • #27
                Originally posted by Dragonlord View Post
                I really can't stand people playing the dumb-ass game.
                Then perhaps you should stop playing it yourself. This will be my final post on the subject, it's pretty clear we've both said everything there is to say.

                Originally posted by Dragonlord View Post
                Optional means it won't break your app if something is missing. That's okay. If it breaks then it's not.
                Are you even sure it does break? For all I know, the engine turns those tesselation commands into noops if the hardware doesn't support it. (Or maybe not, and it relies on the programmer to detect that)

                Either way, I stand by my statements - you are the one changing the definition of the term "cross platform", not me.

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