Published in Graphics

Ray Tracing will happen when Microsoft decides

by on06 June 2008


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Computex 08: The big daddy of gaming


Some very cool chaps opened our eyes on one particular subject. Many people have said that Intel is going to push Ray Tracing and that Larrabee will actually be a Ray Tracing chip; but in reality it looks that we will stick with Rasterising for a few years to come.


The answer why is incredibly simple. It is Microsoft and its DirectX and Direct 3D who rule the gaming market, and it will be up to Microsoft to implement and boost the development of Ray Tracing renderer and API. OpenGL is rather insignificant these days, as it is used in only a few games and survives only because of John Carmack and its engines. Glide from 3DFX has been dead for more than eight years and DirectX or Direct 3.0 is the only API that survives and rules the gaming world.

DirectX of the future will get Ray Tracing support, but despites Intel's power, Microsoft will decide on this one. The scary part might be a possible WinTel strategy / conspiracy, but Nvidia and ATI are sitting on the Board and they should decide whatever suits the companies.

We’ve heard that some sort of Ray Tracing might find its way to DirectX 11 but certainly not as dominant and the only way of Rendering. If we have to pick the number we would say that Ray Tracing might be a dominant rendering method by at least 2011, and possibly even later.

Last modified on 07 June 2008
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