Unigine Tropics Sets Linux OpenGL Precedent

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Unigine Tropics Sets Linux OpenGL Precedence

Back in August we shared some of what we are doing to drive new graphics benchmarks on Linux through the Phoronix Test Suite. With that, we showcased Lightsmark 2008, which was ported to Linux for integration with the Phoronix Test Suite, and Unigine Sanctuary. Unigine Sanctuary showcased the latest work from Unigine Corp, which is a Russian development studio focused on creating cross-platform middleware for virtual 3D worlds. The Unigine Sanctuary demo was stunning, but introduced with the Phoronix Test Suite 1.2 "Malvik" release last week was their latest technology benchmark. Unigine Tropics is an absolutely stunning test with impressive graphics capabilities and it really sets a new precedence for Linux graphics capabilities through its OpenGL renderer.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=12835

[Methylene]

I'm so jealous Mike... First you get a 4870X2 then you get my monitor's new big brother... Now you're doing benchmarks at 2560x1600...

Whenever you get tired of those feel free to send em' my way okay buddy? :)

[Svartalf]

My, my, my... Say again what we needed D3D 10 for, Microsoft? :D

[Svartalf]

I just pulled the demos...

OUCH.

It crushed my box like a bug. 2-4 FPS. Gorgeous scenes, but pretty much slideshow territory.

[Licaon]

Is Phoronix in touch with Nicolas Intoxicated regarding the progress of a Linux version of Afterfall (http://www.afterfall.pl/index.php?lang=eng)?

Afterfall runs on Unigine, and it was announced as Windows/Linux before Nicolasgames funded Nicolas Intoxicated studio to develop Afterfall, and since then no new info was released, the state of a Linux game client is not clear.

Afterfall on Linux thread (http://community.afterfall.pl/index.php?showtopic=5725)

[NeoBrain]

Heh, I get around 1/7/11 FPS min/avg/max on my X1600 :D
I'm really looking forward to seeing the demo on my new system in October though, already looks pretty good on my today low-end card.

[Svartalf]

Average for a 7600GT is 4 fps. I can manage 7 with dinking with settings.

Average for a 8500GT with a slower CPU is 6fps with the 4 fps settings.

This beast needs a top-end card, whether it's AMD or NVidia supplying it.

[fackamato]

Not impressive at all other than it manages to bring a high-end GPU to a halt without displaying gorgeous graphics. I guess this is Alpha software though. Where's the bottleneck? kernel? drivers? the program itself?

[Michael]

Is Phoronix in touch with Nicolas Intoxicated regarding the progress of a Linux version of Afterfall (http://www.afterfall.pl/index.php?lang=eng)?

Afterfall runs on Unigine, and it was announced as Windows/Linux before Nicolasgames funded Nicolas Intoxicated studio to develop Afterfall, and since then no new info was released, the state of a Linux game client is not clear.

Afterfall on Linux thread (http://community.afterfall.pl/index.php?showtopic=5725)

I've sent an inquiry to that game studio.

[mtippett]

Not impressive at all other than it manages to bring a high-end GPU to a halt without displaying gorgeous graphics. I guess this is Alpha software though. Where's the bottleneck? kernel? drivers? the program itself?

Not sure about your experience, but in general this benchmark is completely GPU limited. Which means it will use every piece of GPU horsepower it can (or is allowed to by the drivers).

3DMark is much the same - 3DMark Vantage is barely nice to watch with a high-end card.

Regards,

Matthew

[fackamato]

Not sure about your experience, but in general this benchmark is completely GPU limited. Which means it will use every piece of GPU horsepower it can (or is allowed to by the drivers).

3DMark is much the same - 3DMark Vantage is barely nice to watch with a high-end card.

Regards,

Matthew

But then again Vantage looks a _lot_ better than this piece of software.

[Svartalf]

Not impressive at all other than it manages to bring a high-end GPU to a halt without displaying gorgeous graphics. I guess this is Alpha software though. Where's the bottleneck? kernel? drivers? the program itself?

Neither card I have in hand is high-end, they're mid-end. The demo fires itself up in highest settings which is part of the problem anyhow. Crysis at full settings isn't any better, the truth be known. :D

[Licaon]

I've sent an inquiry to that game studio.

intoxicate Afterfall developer on NMA forums (http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44083&highlight=linux) about engines used in Afterfall:
Quote:
will you guys use dx10? or you just going to stick with dx9?


dx10 for vista
dx9 for other Ms
ogl for linux
- and as far all of above works fine. sounds good ;)

[Svartalf]

But then again Vantage looks a _lot_ better than this piece of software.

Perhaps. Unfortunately, Vantage doesn't RUN on Linux, now does it? ;)

[fackamato]

Perhaps. Unfortunately, Vantage doesn't RUN on Linux, now does it? ;)

But OpenGL does! And shaders etc. So should be no problem pushing out something as "gorgeous" as vantage. But well, there's no such demand really for the linux platform anyway, I guess that's the problem :)

[Svartalf]

But OpenGL does! And shaders etc. So should be no problem pushing out something as "gorgeous" as vantage. But well, there's no such demand really for the linux platform anyway, I guess that's the problem :)

It has less to do with demand and more to do with perceptions from the people doing the benchmarking software. They don't see us as "important" right now. Hell, they don't even see MacOS as "important" either.

[legume]

Not sure about your experience, but in general this benchmark is completely GPU limited. Which means it will use every piece of GPU horsepower it can (or is allowed to by the drivers).

3DMark is much the same - 3DMark Vantage is barely nice to watch with a high-end card.

Regards,

Matthew

Is it stable for you?

Cat 8.8, Xorg 7.2, HD3850 AGP and an Athlon 2500@2.1GHz I get 12/17/21 fps @ 1280x1024.

The trouble is at 1024x768 it always hangs at scene 8 and at 1280x1024 I can only get one run. Letting it continue results in artifacts (different with vsync on/off) and really low FPS eventually SysRq able hanging.

It's not temperature - I can run the new sanctuary +hdr for ages with GPU 99% and 86 degrees and I am only at 80 for tropical.

[Aradreth]

Neither card I have in hand is high-end, they're mid-end. The demo fires itself up in highest settings which is part of the problem anyhow. Crysis at full settings isn't any better, the truth be known. :D
Crysis still can't be run at the highest settings easily with current gen graphic's cards (unless you are using a low reselution but then why would you spend $600+ on a graphic's card?), with these two demo's I get an average of 25FPS @ 1920*1200 on a card that's two generations old.

[Svartalf]

Crysis still can't be run at the highest settings easily with current gen graphic's cards (unless you are using a low reselution but then why would you spend $600+ on a graphic's card?), with these two demo's I get an average of 25FPS @ 1920*1200 on a card that's two generations old.

What card are you doing that with, pray tell? I've got a single gen old card and a two gen old card and the machines are getting pasted hard with the stock settings at 12x10 resolution.

[Aradreth]

I'm using a overclocked 8800GTX :p

[Svartalf]

I'm using a overclocked 8800GTX :p

Ok... That, I believe, is technically cheating. :p


That's a top-end card no matter how you slice it. :D However, I do believe that I've a couple of choices in that category as planned upgrades in the medium future- just not yet. Need to buy the quadcore first so I can get compiles done faster... ;)

[mattst88]

I'd just like to say that 'Precedence' is not the correct word for the title. Precedence means rank, priority, first choice. It simply doesn't make sense in the context.

Of course, awkward wording isn't anything new for articles on this site.

[bridgman]

I was trying not to nitpick, but I think the right word is "precedent" :D

[Michael]

I was trying not to nitpick, but I think the right word is "precedent" :D

Yeah, oops. Can't believe I didn't catch that bug until now, but that's what I get for working tired. :o Thanks, it should be fixed now.

[bridgman]

Hey, at least you remember what you were *trying* to say. I haven't always been so lucky ;)

[b15hop]

I have to try out this Unigine. Looks like it will kill my GPU though. 7800 GS (agp)

Regarding 3dmark. I remember 3dmark come out all those years ago, and I tested my 3dfx card. At the time I was highly wowed by it's graphical glory. Thing is, at the end of the day, it's just 3dmark. Not UT3, ET Quake wars or the next gen game.

[Svartalf]

Hey, at least you remember what you were *trying* to say. I haven't always been so lucky ;)

I can relate to that one... >:-D

[Svartalf]

I have to try out this Unigine. Looks like it will kill my GPU though. 7800 GS (agp)

Regarding 3dmark. I remember 3dmark come out all those years ago, and I tested my 3dfx card. At the time I was highly wowed by it's graphical glory. Thing is, at the end of the day, it's just 3dmark. Not UT3, ET Quake wars or the next gen game.

In this case, it's a demo of an engine that will be IN at least four or so games at this point. The screenshots of at least one of the games are visually impressive. Now, it remains to be seen what the game will need in the way of resources, but... :D

[b15hop]

Svartalf:
Must be a game targeted towards future release otherwise it would cripple even a modern pc.

[Svartalf]

Svartalf:
Must be a game targeted towards future release otherwise it would cripple even a modern pc.

Heh... Yeah, the games in question are still in development. At least one of them appear to be a hot potential AAA play in the markey.