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For those who are interested, CORDIC (for COordinate Rotation DIgital Computer) is another technique from that era. It "is a simple and efficient algorithm to calculate hyperbolic and trigonometric functions, typically converging with one digit (or bit) per iteration." See https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Digital_Circuits/CORDIC For instructional purposes, here is a simple Python implementation that uses only adds and s…
well, actually ;) Adlib/Sound Blaster Yamaha OPL2 and OPL3 both used external Floating Point DACs (YM3014B,YAC512)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> However, unless you're using a CPU from the 6502 era, it's probably not worth the trouble for multiplication and division. When we talk PC, fixed point math was popular a few generations longer than the 6502 era. The 6502 had no multiply and division instructions at all, and up to the 80386 there was only integer multiply and division and that was slow as molasses. Before the 80486 fixed point wasn't a matter of sp…
indeed, I was using fixed point maths on PlayStation 1 games in the mid to late 90s. It was often responsible for the gaps you'd see between polygons on many PS1 games.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
indeed, I was using fixed point maths on PlayStation 1 games in the mid to late 90s. It was often responsible for the gaps you'd see between polygons on many PS1 games.
Gaps were mostly a sign of sloppy developers and rushed schedules. Compare Tomb Raider 1 on both PC/PSX with Destruction Derby (reflections) and Gran Turismo 1/2 (polyphony).