Hello Jonathan ! 
 NC>> bloated, sloppy code that software houses chuck out to the
 NC>> consumer.
 JF> It's not "bloated code" at all.  It's called "extra detail!"  If you
 JF> want something that requires a P60 to play, then be prepared to play
 JF> Quake I all over again.  If you want a game that looks good, play
 JF> Quake II - but it requires more.
I believe you, thousands wouldn't. :)
 JF> Take a look at those games, for example.  You might think that Quake
 JF> II is "sloppy" for its higher requirements.  But consider the
 JF> optimizations: 10-15% from converting QuakeC to DLLs; 'areaportals'
 JF> allow for larger rooms; frame interpolation allows for smoother
 JF> animation with the same 10 FPS animation code.  It runs beautifully;
 JF> if you doubt that, take a look at Hexen II to compare.  It only uses
 JF> a "Quake 1.5" engine, and I have to run it in 512x384 to get the same
 JF> FPS I do in Quake II at 640x480, despite the greater detail.
Its getting a 'little bit' PC heavy here and I don't want Troy stamping on 
mine or your head. So I'll drop a bit more consoles into the mix:
 JF> I think you're just more annoyed that it's hard to keep up with
 JF> graphic enhancements on the PC!  The only reason PSX games seem to be
 JF> improving graphically is because Sony adds effects to the graphics
But its still the same base PSX hardware, with better, more effient code, so 
my arguement does hold, you've just backed it up! To add those extra effects 
on the PC you'd need another upgrade of memory, a vast pool of HD space and 
probably a new whizz-o-card :)
 JF> libraries, and coders have had 3 years to get things right (which
 JF> they still don't always do, BTW).  If that had been the case for PCs,
 JF> we would probably all have been using non-3D-accelerated P90s with 16
 JF> MB of RAM; not a pretty sight compared to today.
Well, you've had to wait for the console custom chip technology to get 
plonked onto a PC card in order to give a none-game platform some 
game-related hardware. 
 NC>> I'm sure it looks great, sounds great and plays great,
 NC>> it can still be sloppyily coded, taking up far too much
 NC>> resources for what is presented to you on screen.
 JF> If that was the case, then the PSX version was sloppily coded too!
If the code is the same size, uses the same amount of memory and CDrom space, 
then yes. I doubt it very much though, the PC version will certainly use 
more, due to the inherent flaws in trying to get a glorified spread sheet 
machine playing games. It /can/ do it, but it needs a lot of muscle, memory 
and HD space in order to do it: sloppy code! :)
CheeryBye
 |\|eil
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I'm looking for something in an engagment ring... gold...
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