Hey thanks! I may even write a scaled down version in Z80 assembly if I can get it fast enough. Unlike most 3D renderers for the calculators, X3D only ever draws lines for the level geometry. Thus, everything is solid without filling any polygons. This makes it really really fast I may also write a tutorial on how to do this type of rendering as it's a bit involved and I'd really like to teach other people all the techniques I've found or discovered myself.

Earlier this year I posted on Omnimaga about X3D, my 3D engine for the 68k calcs. After a month hiatus for health reasons, I resumed work on it in May Some of you may recall the dazzling light bridge from earlier this year:



Currently, I am in the process of rewriting the engine to support more complex geometry. It's been a long and slow process (I'm currently interning full time as a software engineer), but I've started to make some progress. The last version had levels which were constructed of interconnected cubes. The player could walk around inside the resulting structure, which proved to be very efficient. However, my whole goal of starting X3D was to get Descent to run on the 68k calcs, and many rooms in Descent are constructed of 20 or more cubes, which is just too much to handle. So, this new version will allow levels to be constructed of prisms instead of just cubes. What do I mean by prisms? Here's an example of an octagonal prism:



The idea is you have two bases, each with the same number of points. However, the bases can be stretched, skewed, and rotated, so long as the resultant 3D shape is convex. My ultimate goal for Descent 68k is to merge the cubes in complex rooms into large convex prisms. This is several times more efficient to render than the same room partitioned into cubes.

So far, I have created a new clipping algorithm that clips prisms against a 2D polygon. A fast algorithm for this is crucial for a portal renderer like X3D. So far so good!



Anyway, this time around, it's going to have a lot of cool features. I'm hoping to get some people involved on the project or at least make some games with it once complete (it will be a TIGCC/GCC4TI C library). Let me know if you're interested!

Hi guys, I'm Michael aka catastropher. I love composing music and programming, especially for the Z80 calcs, 68k calcs, and the Nspire. I'm 20 and I'll be graduating from college next semester with a B.S. in computer science, assuming the universe doesn't see fit to punish me As for my projects, I am currently working on X3D, my 3D engine for the 68k calculators. I'll be creating a topic here soon, but in the meantime you can see it here on omnimaga: https://www.omnimaga.org/ti-68k-projects/descent-68kx3d/. Nice to meet you all!