4 ms·

Id as Super-Ego: The Creation of Duke Nukem 3D (2001) [pdf]

113 points by nodivbyzero 10y ago

gavanwoolery 10y ago
I also highly recommend this piece by the same author: http://fabiensanglard.net/duke3d/build_engine_internals.php http://fabiensanglard.net/duke3d/build_engine_internals.php (skipping to page 2 which I think is more interesting) The software renders of yore actually got me thinking about them in a modern context, how they could be extended, and in what ways they could compete with GPU-based algorithms on a per-cycle basis. I think there is still much area to be explored here, given we mostly stopped researching realtime software rendering as GPUs became dominant - I think there is a lot of unexplored area left. Also one piece of software I think is severely underrated is Ken Silverman's Voxlap: http://advsys.net/ken/voxlap.htm http://advsys.net/ken/voxlap.htm Released in 2002, it was way ahead of its time.
- MrRadar 10y ago
  It looks like Ken is currently employed by a company called Voxon Photonics which is developing glasses-free 3D holographic displays: http://voxon.co/about-voxon-photonics/ http://voxon.co/about-voxon-photonics/
MrRadar 10y ago
Those web page printouts at the bottom of the PDF are incredible! Most of the time the Internet Archive's snapshots are missing images or other assets but these are complete and excellent examples of the web design of the era.
aynsof 10y ago
According to his website (bottom of the pdf), Ken Silverman's favourite optimisation is: sub eax 128, add eax -128 Can anyone explain this to an assembly rookie?
- jpollock 10y ago
  http://advsys.net/ken/add-128.htm http://advsys.net/ken/add-128.htm
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    Now that's attention to detail.
jmcgough 10y ago
For anyone who finds this interesting, I strongly recommend "Masters of Doom" by David Kushner, which focuses on the history of iD software, John Carmack and John Romero.
acoma 10y ago
I took an interest in programming in high-school and ran into Todd (mentioned in the article) in the lobby of an online first-person shooter. The topic of programming came up, and I explained where was at in this whole coding-thing. After a few games, Todd gave me a challenge: Thoroughly understand multilevel pointers, and then explain it back. In doing that, there would be a cash reward. Hell yeah! So, I studied. Eventually, something clicked and I was able to answer those interview-style questions he threw at me. I ran the whole “money from a video game” thing past my parents, and Todd followed through on his promise. That small gesture fueled an understanding that projected into a career. Interesting article, it's worth a read; there are good people behind it. Thanks again.
Zardoz84 10y ago
> Chief of these was the level editor that he designed along with the engine, which, for the first time and surprisingly the last time, allowed a level designer to “walk” through the level in 3D as he was designing it. This WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) mode allowed the designers to create levels in a far more natural way then they would be able if they were merely using lines on a grid. Not was the last. Obvisuly, the guy that wrote this on 2001, not know UnrealEd. The map editor for Unreal engines have this capability. Eventually, even map editors for classic DooM would have it (Check DoomBuilder for example)
- howerj 10y ago
  The Serious Sam engine also had this capability: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bmTUgySSyk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bmTUgySSyk, which I thought was pretty neat. I don't have any experience with Game design, but I thought this more dynamic behavior would've been more common? It certainly seems useful.
bluedino 10y ago
You never hear anything about other 90's 3D engines like Dark Forces, Marathon, or Descent.
- douche 10y ago
  There's open-sourced source code available for two of those. http://www.codersnotes.com/notes/the-man-behind-the-curtain/ http://www.codersnotes.com/notes/the-man-behind-the-curtain/
Rondom 10y ago
If you like this, the following videos are quite interesting: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8BB189B81A301EEB https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8BB189B81A301EEB https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv-byZAauAs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv-byZAauAs

113 points by nodivbyzero 10y ago

I also highly recommend this piece by the same author: http://fabiensanglard.net/duke3d/build_engine_internals.php http://fabiensanglard.net/duke3d/build_engine_internals.php (skipping to page 2 which I think is more interesting) The software renders of yore actually got me thinking about them in a modern context, how they could be extended, and in what ways they could compete with GPU-based algorithms on a per-cycle basis. I think there is still much area to be explored here, given we mostly stopped researching realtime software rendering as GPUs became dominant - I think there is a lot of unexplored area left. Also one piece of software I think is severely underrated is Ken Silverman's Voxlap: http://advsys.net/ken/voxlap.htm http://advsys.net/ken/voxlap.htm Released in 2002, it was way ahead of its time.

MrRadar 10y ago
It looks like Ken is currently employed by a company called Voxon Photonics which is developing glasses-free 3D holographic displays: http://voxon.co/about-voxon-photonics/ http://voxon.co/about-voxon-photonics/

MrRadar 10y ago

Those web page printouts at the bottom of the PDF are incredible! Most of the time the Internet Archive's snapshots are missing images or other assets but these are complete and excellent examples of the web design of the era.

aynsof 10y ago

According to his website (bottom of the pdf), Ken Silverman's favourite optimisation is: sub eax 128, add eax -128 Can anyone explain this to an assembly rookie?

jpollock 10y ago
http://advsys.net/ken/add-128.htm http://advsys.net/ken/add-128.htm
- digi_owl 10y ago
  Now that's attention to detail.

jmcgough 10y ago

For anyone who finds this interesting, I strongly recommend "Masters of Doom" by David Kushner, which focuses on the history of iD software, John Carmack and John Romero.

acoma 10y ago

I took an interest in programming in high-school and ran into Todd (mentioned in the article) in the lobby of an online first-person shooter. The topic of programming came up, and I explained where was at in this whole coding-thing. After a few games, Todd gave me a challenge: Thoroughly understand multilevel pointers, and then explain it back. In doing that, there would be a cash reward. Hell yeah! So, I studied. Eventually, something clicked and I was able to answer those interview-style questions he threw at me. I ran the whole “money from a video game” thing past my parents, and Todd followed through on his promise. That small gesture fueled an understanding that projected into a career. Interesting article, it's worth a read; there are good people behind it. Thanks again.

Zardoz84 10y ago

> Chief of these was the level editor that he designed along with the engine, which, for the first time and surprisingly the last time, allowed a level designer to “walk” through the level in 3D as he was designing it. This WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) mode allowed the designers to create levels in a far more natural way then they would be able if they were merely using lines on a grid. Not was the last. Obvisuly, the guy that wrote this on 2001, not know UnrealEd. The map editor for Unreal engines have this capability. Eventually, even map editors for classic DooM would have it (Check DoomBuilder for example)

howerj 10y ago
The Serious Sam engine also had this capability: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bmTUgySSyk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bmTUgySSyk, which I thought was pretty neat. I don't have any experience with Game design, but I thought this more dynamic behavior would've been more common? It certainly seems useful.

bluedino 10y ago

You never hear anything about other 90's 3D engines like Dark Forces, Marathon, or Descent.

douche 10y ago
There's open-sourced source code available for two of those. http://www.codersnotes.com/notes/the-man-behind-the-curtain/ http://www.codersnotes.com/notes/the-man-behind-the-curtain/

Rondom 10y ago

If you like this, the following videos are quite interesting: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8BB189B81A301EEB https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8BB189B81A301EEB https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv-byZAauAs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv-byZAauAs