Development principles - Revision history

Hendricks266 at 02:24, 17 October 2025

2025-10-17T02:24:44Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:24, 16 October 2025
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	**Visual aesthetic accuracy:		**Visual aesthetic accuracy:
	***The shading and tint of the game world are preserved even when running with modern hardware-accelerated graphics, which is vital in order to present the game's atmosphere true to its creators' original intent. This technique is called [[palette emulation]].		***The shading and tint of the game world are preserved even when running with modern hardware-accelerated graphics, which is vital in order to present the game's atmosphere true to its creators' original intent. This technique is called [[palette emulation]].
	****This shade and tint information is incorporated directly into the graphics rendering pipeline logic, rather than clamped on at the end as an inaccurate approximation.		****This shade and tint information is incorporated directly into the graphics rendering pipeline logic, rather than clamped on at the end as an inaccurate approximation such as "tonemapping".
	***The classic software renderer is fully supported.		***The classic software renderer is fully supported.
	**Sound & music accuracy:		**Sound & music accuracy:

Hendricks266 at 07:43, 16 October 2025

2025-10-16T07:43:29Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:43, 16 October 2025
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	***Texture filtering on pixel art is turned '''off''' by default.		***Texture filtering on pixel art is turned '''off''' by default.
	***A modern WSAD-based control scheme is the default. (The original MS-DOS keyboard layout is also available.)		***A modern WSAD-based control scheme is the default. (The original MS-DOS keyboard layout is also available.)
			***The user's screen resolution and refresh rate are automatically detected to provide the best presentation and make the most of their hardware.
	**Options menus should be simple and clear to avoid confusing new users, while allowing advanced customization through [[console commands]].		**Options menus should be simple and clear to avoid confusing new users, while allowing advanced customization through [[console commands]].
	**Widescreen resolutions are supported natively with a ''horiz-plus'' field of view, extending what the player can see to the sides, rather than the lazy approach of ''vert-minus'', cropping off the top and bottom of the screen, frequently seen even in commercially released games of the 2000s.		**Widescreen resolutions are supported natively with a ''horiz-plus'' field of view, extending what the player can see to the sides, rather than the lazy approach of ''vert-minus'', cropping off the top and bottom of the screen, frequently seen even in commercially released games of the 2000s.
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	***Translation: You are playing the same game!		***Translation: You are playing the same game!
	**Visual aesthetic accuracy:		**Visual aesthetic accuracy:
	***The shading and tint of the game world are preserved even when running with modern hardware-accelerated graphics, which is vital to present the game's atmosphere true to its creators' original intent. This technique is called [[palette emulation]].		***The shading and tint of the game world are preserved even when running with modern hardware-accelerated graphics, which is vital in order to present the game's atmosphere true to its creators' original intent. This technique is called [[palette emulation]].
	***The classic software renderer is ~~still~~ supported.		****This shade and tint information is incorporated directly into the graphics rendering pipeline logic, rather than clamped on at the end as an inaccurate approximation.
			***The classic software renderer is fully supported.
	**Sound & music accuracy:		**Sound & music accuracy:
	***The ports use the games' original sound mixing library, providing full support for [[EMIDI]] functionality used by the music, and the so-called "reverb" effect used for in-game worldbuilding.		***The ports use the games' original sound mixing library, providing full support for [[EMIDI]] functionality used by the music, and the so-called "reverb" effect used for in-game worldbuilding.
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	**The limiting factor of modern computing performance tends to be [[Wikipedia:von Neumann bottleneck\|the cost of moving data around]]. In a game, that can mean from disk into memory when loading assets, and from the CPU to the GPU in the course of drawing a frame, just to name two examples.		**The limiting factor of modern computing performance tends to be [[Wikipedia:von Neumann bottleneck\|the cost of moving data around]]. In a game, that can mean from disk into memory when loading assets, and from the CPU to the GPU in the course of drawing a frame, just to name two examples.
	***We refactored our texture system to read all the pixel art in the game into a texture atlas and send it to the GPU once at the beginning of execution so that performance would not be interrupted by unnecessary synchronization points in the course of gameplay.		***We refactored our texture system to read all the pixel art in the game into a texture atlas and send it to the GPU once at the beginning of execution so that performance would not be interrupted by unnecessary synchronization points in the course of gameplay.
	***We replaced our emulation of indexed shading lookup tables: while previously we generated a separate texture for each shade index, we now perform the lookup on the GPU with a shader program, drastically reducing our video memory footprint.		***We replaced our [[palette emulation\|emulation of indexed shading lookup tables]]: while previously we generated a separate texture for each shade index, we now perform the lookup on the GPU with a shader program, drastically reducing our video memory footprint.
	**The ports are [[Wikipedia:code generation (compiler)\|compiled]] to [[Wikipedia:machine code\|machine code]], and not run as an interpreted language such as Java.		**The ports are [[Wikipedia:code generation (compiler)\|compiled]] to [[Wikipedia:machine code\|machine code]], and not run as an interpreted language such as Java.
	*Portability		*Portability

Hendricks266 at 06:26, 16 October 2025

2025-10-16T06:26:44Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:26, 15 October 2025
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	*Maintainability & Sustainability		*Maintainability & Sustainability
	**The source code to the ports is publicly accessible by everyone.		**The source code to the ports is publicly accessible by everyone.
			**The project welcomes contributions from anyone, sometimes called ''merge requests'' or ''pull requests''.
	**There is a distinction between port and mod: Changes like artistic revisionism and tweaking the game balance are not the job of a port. Instead, the port provides a platform for modifications to do these things, clearly communicated to the player.		**There is a distinction between port and mod: Changes like artistic revisionism and tweaking the game balance are not the job of a port. Instead, the port provides a platform for modifications to do these things, clearly communicated to the player.

	[[Category:EDuke32 project information]]		[[Category:EDuke32 project information]]

Hendricks266 at 19:23, 16 August 2025

2025-08-16T19:23:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:23, 16 August 2025
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	***The ports use the games' original sound mixing library, providing full support for [[EMIDI]] functionality used by the music, and the so-called "reverb" effect used for in-game worldbuilding.		***The ports use the games' original sound mixing library, providing full support for [[EMIDI]] functionality used by the music, and the so-called "reverb" effect used for in-game worldbuilding.
	***The original games primarily used low-quality sound effects (8-11 KHz) lacking the higher frequencies necessary to be perceived as crisp and clear, paired with simple ''linear interpolation'' that technically introduced artifacts in these higher ranges, but had the positive side effect of giving them more apparent detail. Modern computers are now capable of performing ''[[Wikipedia:sinc\|sinc]] interpolation'' approaching mathematical perfection, avoiding these artifacts, but also exposing the formerly obscured low quality. Not accounting for this is why releases like the Xbox and PlayStation ports of [[Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour]] still have muffled sound to this day.		***The original games primarily used low-quality sound effects (8-11 KHz) lacking the higher frequencies necessary to be perceived as crisp and clear, paired with simple ''linear interpolation'' that technically introduced artifacts in these higher ranges, but had the positive side effect of giving them more apparent detail. Modern computers are now capable of performing ''[[Wikipedia:sinc\|sinc]] interpolation'' approaching mathematical perfection, avoiding these artifacts, but also exposing the formerly obscured low quality. Not accounting for this is why releases like the Xbox and PlayStation ports of [[Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour]] still have muffled sound to this day.
	***The included Adlib/SoundBlaster FM synthesis emulation provided by [[Nuked-OPL3]] is ''sample-accurate'', meaning it ~~produces~~ output identical to the real hardware.		***The included Adlib/SoundBlaster FM synthesis emulation provided by [[Nuked-OPL3]] is ''sample-accurate'', meaning it is capable of producing output identical to the real hardware.
	*Feature Set		*Feature Set
	**Hardware-accelerated graphics are a prominent feature provided by the ports. Just take a look at some screenshots to see what our [[Polymost]] and [[Polymer]] renderers are capable of.		**Hardware-accelerated graphics are a prominent feature provided by the ports. Just take a look at some screenshots to see what our [[Polymost]] and [[Polymer]] renderers are capable of.

Hendricks266 at 10:05, 16 August 2025

2025-08-16T10:05:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:05, 16 August 2025
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	**Hardware-accelerated graphics are a prominent feature provided by the ports. Just take a look at some screenshots to see what our [[Polymost]] and [[Polymer]] renderers are capable of.		**Hardware-accelerated graphics are a prominent feature provided by the ports. Just take a look at some screenshots to see what our [[Polymost]] and [[Polymer]] renderers are capable of.
	**Many options for presenting MIDI music are available to suit your own taste, or download a pack of custom renditions in OGG Vorbis or FLAC formats.		**Many options for presenting MIDI music are available to suit your own taste, or download a pack of custom renditions in OGG Vorbis or FLAC formats.
	**The [[BUILD Engine]]'s level editor, [[Mapster32]], is [[Wikipedia:WYSIWYG\|WYSIWYG]], linked directly with the actual rendering engine. ~~Game~~ engines before and since do not provide such a thing!		**The [[BUILD Engine]]'s level editor, [[Mapster32]], is [[Wikipedia:WYSIWYG\|WYSIWYG]], linked directly with the actual rendering engine. 3D game engines before and since do not provide such a thing!
	*Extensibility		*Extensibility
	**The CON scripting language has been significantly augmented, featuring actual variables that do not require hacking an inventory item, screen drawing, weapon and projectile customization, math calculations, and event interception. This allows gameplay mods and total conversions that rival even modern games.		**The CON scripting language has been significantly augmented, featuring actual variables that do not require hacking an inventory item, screen drawing, weapon and projectile customization, math calculations, and event interception. This allows gameplay mods and total conversions that rival even modern games.

Hendricks266 at 10:04, 16 August 2025

2025-08-16T10:04:57Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:04, 16 August 2025
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	**Whether you're technically minded or not, the port should give the player a great experience right out of the box.		**Whether you're technically minded or not, the port should give the player a great experience right out of the box.
	**Installations of supported games purchased digitally, such as from Steam, GOG, or ZOOM Platform, are detected without any manual setup.		**Installations of supported games purchased digitally, such as from Steam, GOG, or ZOOM Platform, are detected without any manual setup.
	***As far as we have been able to determine, we are the first source port for ''any'' game to implement this functionality! (March 2013)
	**The default settings should be the best ones.		**The default settings should be the best ones.
	***Texture filtering on pixel art is turned '''off''' by default.		***Texture filtering on pixel art is turned '''off''' by default.

Hendricks266 at 08:05, 16 August 2025

2025-08-16T08:05:12Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:05, 16 August 2025
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	***Translation: You are playing the same game!		***Translation: You are playing the same game!
	**Visual aesthetic accuracy:		**Visual aesthetic accuracy:
	***The shading and tint of the game world are preserved even when running with modern hardware-accelerated graphics, which is vital to present the game's atmosphere true to its creators' original intent.		***The shading and tint of the game world are preserved even when running with modern hardware-accelerated graphics, which is vital to present the game's atmosphere true to its creators' original intent. This technique is called [[palette emulation]].
	***The classic software renderer is still supported.		***The classic software renderer is still supported.
	**Sound & music accuracy:		**Sound & music accuracy:

Hendricks266 at 07:59, 16 August 2025

2025-08-16T07:59:52Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:59, 16 August 2025
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	*Maintainability & Sustainability		*Maintainability & Sustainability
	**The source code to the ports is publicly accessible by everyone.		**The source code to the ports is publicly accessible by everyone.
	**~~Distinction~~ between port and mod: Changes like artistic revisionism and tweaking the game balance are not the job of a port. Instead, the port provides a platform for modifications to do these things, clearly communicated to the player.		**There is a distinction between port and mod: Changes like artistic revisionism and tweaking the game balance are not the job of a port. Instead, the port provides a platform for modifications to do these things, clearly communicated to the player.

	[[Category:EDuke32 project information]]		[[Category:EDuke32 project information]]

Hendricks266 at 07:59, 16 August 2025

2025-08-16T07:59:30Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:59, 16 August 2025
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	*Portability		*Portability
	**All modern operating systems and hardware architectures are supported. 32- or 64-bit, big- or little-endian, it doesn't matter, it just works.		**All modern operating systems and hardware architectures are supported. 32- or 64-bit, big- or little-endian, it doesn't matter, it just works.
			**This even extends to homebrew on game consoles, such as [[EDuke32 Wii]].
			**The source code is buildable using many state of the art compilers, including GCC, Clang, and Visual Studio.
	**The developers abhor compiler warnings and maintain a clean build at all times.		**The developers abhor compiler warnings and maintain a clean build at all times.
	**The source code is buildable using many state of the art compilers, including GCC, Clang, and Visual Studio.
	**This even extends to homebrew on game consoles, such as [[EDuke32 Wii]].
	*Maintainability & Sustainability		*Maintainability & Sustainability
	**The source code to the ports is publicly accessible by everyone.		**The source code to the ports is publicly accessible by everyone.

Hendricks266 at 07:59, 16 August 2025

2025-08-16T07:59:06Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:59, 16 August 2025
Line 38:		Line 38:
	*Portability		*Portability
	**All modern operating systems and hardware architectures are supported. 32- or 64-bit, big- or little-endian, it doesn't matter, it just works.		**All modern operating systems and hardware architectures are supported. 32- or 64-bit, big- or little-endian, it doesn't matter, it just works.
			**The developers abhor compiler warnings and maintain a clean build at all times.
	**The source code is buildable using many state of the art compilers, including GCC, Clang, and Visual Studio.		**The source code is buildable using many state of the art compilers, including GCC, Clang, and Visual Studio.
	**This even extends to homebrew on game consoles, such as [[EDuke32 Wii]].		**This even extends to homebrew on game consoles, such as [[EDuke32 Wii]].