OpenSceneGraph - features

On 8 June 2011 , a new release of OpenSceneGraph (OSG) it is announce .
Today I read on internet about these enhancements:
Uniform variable performance enhancements.
Support for OpenGL multisample textures using the GL_ARB_texture_multisample extension.
OcclusionQueryNode support for multiple parent Camera nodes (including render to texture operations).
A new command line option for the osgconv application. "--use-world-frame" causes osgconv transformations to operate in the world, rather that the bounding volume, coordinate space.
New notification macros to avoid inefficiencies in STL stream implementations.
A new export option for the .OSG file format plugin. "OutputRelativeTextures" exports texture images to a subfolder of the exported model file.
Several updates and fixes to the .3DS file format plugin.
...

You can see some screenshots , here .
It seems that the development team is moving quickly, considering the evolution of this software.

Latest version of Blender 3D on Puppy Linux.

For users who use 3D software Blender good news. Beta version 2.5 is now present on Lucid Puppy version 5.2.5.
This distro released in April 2011, brings new improvements.
Here is a screenshot of it:

I've tested it with old Nvidia video card.
I had to install the driver for FX 5200 named "NVIDIA-173.14.25.lupu500k2.6.33.2".
I made ​​this easy with the software "Puppy Package Manager.
Everything went perfectly.

SlimDX and SharpDX frameworks.

These two applications come to support developers who use DirectX.
First SlimDX is a free open source framework that enables developers to easily build DirectX applications using .NET technologies.
SlimDX supports a wide range of APIs, operating systems, and configurations. All versions of Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003, Server 2008, and 7 are supported, for both 32 and 64 bit. There is a minimum requirement of .NET 2.0
See more here.
The second, SharpDX is intended to be used as an alternative managed DirectX framework. The API is generated automatically from DirectX SDK headers, with AnyCpu target, meaning that you can run your application on x86 and x64 platform, without recompiling your project or installing assemblies into the GAC.
Full support for the DirectX API.
Managed platform independent .NET API.
See more here.
What I don't like about the two programs and their official websites...
The tutorials are weak and few.
Documentation is not complete.
sharpdx comes with two zip archives that would be enough to develop an application.
SlimDX installation has two executables:
. NET Runtime 2.0 End User and Developer SDK
The result is the same as sharpdx, a lot of source code with some compiled binaries.
I tried to run the samples for DirectX 9 but failed.
I use DirectX 9c on a Asus Eee PC 1000H with 1GB RAM.
Although I was expecting more, these applications have disappointed me.

Newton Game Dynamics - open source from feb. 2011

Newton Game Dynamics is an integrated solution for real time simulation of physics environments.
The API provides scene management, collision detection, dynamic behavior and yet it is small, fast, stable and easy to use.

This API was created by Julio Jerez and Alain Suero.
Starting 02/15/2011 this API is open source and hoosted in google code.
See more here.

Allegro 5 library for game development.

Allegro 4 and Allegro 5 are cross-platform, open source, game programming libraries, primarily for C and C++ developers.

The Allegro library provides low level routines like input, graphics, midi, sound effects, and timing.
It is cross platform : Windows, OS X, Linux, DOS, and others.
The official website is here.
You can find some tutorials, and various articles for beginners.
Other information can be found here.

Play beta game to win an GTX 460 graphics card

Today I received an email from NVIDIA:

RIFT™ Beta Event: Warfronts
Catalin, be one of the first to check out RIFT™, a new fantasy MMORPG.
...

The email came with a promise to win a video card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460.
Unfortunately, my desktop uses the Linux Eee laptop has Windows XP installed.
We went to the site and looked a little under "Media. "
The game looks promising with strong effects worthy of a last generation video card.
It seems to me a kind of "Warcraft" more stylish.
Unfortunately, training developers and open source code not available yet allow monopolization of games development.
You can try a beta .here

OpenGL - Direct State Access

DSA is new OpenGL feature . Named "Direct State Access" give us the new options to programming with OpenGL.
This extension allows us to update OpenGL states in a direct way.
I saw a good article with example here.
See this pdf file about : OpenGL Bindless Extensions by NVIDIA.
One example is enough by removing cache misses then speedup is 7.5x up.
Nice .

WebGL - now in beta stage in Google Chrome

WebGL is now in beta stage in Chrome. WebGL is a 3D graphics API .
This JavaScript API can be use to create 3D web apps.
As we know it is based on the OpenGL ES 2.0 API
My verssion is 9.0.597.19 beta Google Chrome and run well the demo from here.
It moves a little hard but working on an Asus Eee.

Unigine - 3D engine

Tomsk, Russia - November 25, 2010 - Unigine Corp. announced a competition to support Linux game development. It will give a free license for its top-notch Unigine engine to an experienced team willing to work on a Linux native game.
Link : unigine.com
About Unigine Engine
Unigine  is a cross-platform real-time 3D engine (Windows / Linux / PlayStation 3) .
This engine unleashes the ultimate power for creating interactive virtual worlds (both modern games and virtual reality systems).
The engine is a complete solution with :

• Photorealistic 3D render
• Powerful physics module
• Object-oriented scripting system
• Full-featured GUI module
• Sound subsystem
• A set of flexible tools

gDEBugger - Now FREE!

A very popular OpenGL debugger is now available for FREE.
Named gDEBugger is an advanced OpenGL Debugger, Profiler and Graphic Memory Analyzer.
This 3D software saves you debugging time and helps you boost application performance.
We can download it from :here.

Unigine Engine - now cross-platform.

Tomsk, Russia - November 25, 2010 - Unigine Corp. announced a competition to support Linux game development. It will give a free license for its top-notch Unigine engine to an experienced team willing to work on a Linux native game.

Efficient and well-architected framework makes Unigine highly scalable:

• Cross-platform: Windows / Linux / PlayStation 3
• Multiple API render (DirectX 9 / DirectX 10 / DirectX 11 / OpenGL)
• Full support of 32bit and 64bit systems
• Multicore CPU support
• Powerful C++ API
• Comprehensive performance profiling system
• Flexible XML-based data structures

Read more on unigine.com.
I will try in future and i hope running well.
See screenshot bellow :

Fedora 14 - Ember the new game client

Today I saw that Fedora 14 comes with a client for online games.
Named Ember is a modular client framework using Ogre for graphics.
Who wants to have fun, here is the web address.
gallery

New 3DMark 11

Starting November 30, 2010 will launch the new benchmark from Futuremark video. It is called http://store.futuremark.com/shop/cart.jsp?addedproduct=true
3DMark 11 is the latest version of most popular benchmark.
Prices for this software are based on its functions and are
* Free!
* $19.95
* $995.00
We can pre-order this software from here.