Who remembers 2d video cards

[theoakwoody]

Remember when the first video cards came out? They were 2d accelerators before they were 3d accelerators and then I think you could actually have both at the same time. Ahh yes, you gotta love the ISA cards. I know that there are rumors going around that the N64 didn't have many 2d games because its graphic architecture was designed for any kind of 2d games. Is that true and does anyone know whether the current generation systems would have problems with a 2d graphics.

[SoulBlazer]

Were the old AdLib and SoundBlaster cards considered 2D?

I DO recall my first SB card had dip switches on it that you had to manualy use to change the settings....ah, those were the days. :D

[goatdan]

The reason the N64 didn't have any 2D games is because no one thought they would sell. And it isn't true that it had none -- Killer Instinct Gold, Yoshi Story, Star Soldier and a handful of other titles were 2D on it.

It all comes down to what the manufacturers want to do with it.

And if the system is powerful enough to display sweeeeet 3D graphics, it is more than ample to have a beautiful 2D game like Street Fighter or KoF on it.

[Jorpho]

I read once that in the end, a 3D accelerator just draws triangles really quickly. I don't know if that's really true today, but it can't be too far off.

[goatdan]

I read once that in the end, a 3D accelerator just draws triangles really quickly. I don't know if that's really true today, but it can't be too far off.

I believe it still is. If I recall correctly, creating a game where you play in 2D on a 3D system requires you using two triangles per sprite, and then drawing the character on those. I read something about that when the PSX was going big. I don't know if that is still the standard, but I assume it is?

[Retsudo]

I guess it can do 2D. It had Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

[crazyjackcsa]

On the subject of the N64, I do know that it didn't have a dedicated sound processor, and had to use the main processor to create the sound.

On the 2d/3d thing. I think there are differences on the way the hardware can handle it. IE the Saturn Vs. the Playstaion. The Saturn was a 2d Powerhouse the Playstation, not so much.

[Dimitri]

And it isn't true that it had none -- Killer Instinct Gold, Yoshi Story, Star Soldier and a handful of other titles were 2D on it.

I don't recall the N64 Star Soldier being 2D...and what about Mischeif Makers? All the interactive stuff in that game was just sprites... A lot of puzzle games are fully 2D...Bust-a-Move '99, The New Tetris, Pokemon Puzzle League...not exactly Castlevania: SOTN here, but it could do respectable 2D.

That said, a 3D graphics system can be used to generate 2D graphics. I do believe most (if not all) of the HUDs, sprites, and 2D overlays on the N64 and PSX on up were just strategically used polys. ;)

[soniko_karuto]

actually, you don't need to do real 3d mate, just do what paper mario has done, do a flat poligon, place a texture on it, done.

That way 3d machines can handle *a lot* of what would be called 2d.

But yeah, i still have my s3 trio 64, 2 megs of pure 2d acceleration goodnes.

[Sothy]

I remember Throwing down big money for my voodoo 2 that you had to connect to the existing 3d card. heh.

Oh ya Retsudo made me jealous, chain gunner back. in yo face.

[robotriot]

Well, the basic difference is that old 2D consoles and computers could handle sprites in hardware mostly, which is a sequence (for animation) of 2D bitmaps. They had limits on how big the sprites could be in pixel dimensions, and how many could be displayed on screen simultanously. Today's 3D accelerators display 2D graphics by drawing flat polygons and applying (animated) textures to them, with bilinear filtering disabled to make them look pixeled instead of blury. Which also means that in theory, 2D games now on 3D hardware can do a whole lot more than the old 2D games could, because there's virtually no limit to the amount of "sprites".

[Berty]

Old consoles used a Blitter chip for there graphic capabilites. bassically the blitter chip is just a chip that moves items really quickly in and out of ram/rom and into the frame buffer.

That is one of the reasons why there is such a big difference between the x68000, Genisis and Neo Geo, even though they used the same processor they all had different graphic abilites thanks partly due to their Blitter chips

[blue lander]

Remember when the first video cards came out? They were 2d accelerators before they were 3d accelerators and then I think you could actually have both at the same time.

Yup, I remember 2D accellerator cards, back from the 486 days. I believe I actually had one, a Hercules Dynamite. I don't remember why I bought it or if it actually made a difference, though.


Old consoles used a Blitter chip for there graphic capabilites. bassically the blitter chip is just a chip that moves items really quickly in and out of ram/rom and into the frame buffer.

That is one of the reasons why there is such a big difference between the x68000, Genisis and Neo Geo, even though they used the same processor they all had different graphic abilites thanks partly due to their Blitter chips

At least in the Genesis, the VDP was what did the graphical capabilities, not the blitter. You could use the VDP to transfer a chunk of data into VRAM or CRAM or SRAM, but the main CPU had to stop while you did it. You can easily do graphics on the Genesis without using the blitter at all.