Re: [gentoo-user] Is there any games base on openCL?

[Stroller <stroller@stellar.eclipse.co.uk>]

On 26 Aug 2010, at 06:24, Blackdream W wrote:
> 2010/8/26 Volker Armin Hemmann <volkerarmin@googlemail.com>
>
>> On Wednesday 25 August 2010, Blackdream W wrote:
>>> I install the ati-drivers-10.7.1 just now,this version it seem  
>>> support
>>> openCL 1.1.
>>>
>>> Any games base on it?
>>>
>>> Thanks.
>>
> games can not be based on opencl. Games might be able to use opencl  
> tospeedup certain kinds of calculations. But you can not 'use'  
> opencl like opengltobase a game on it.

>
> Sorry..I don't know how to describe it clearly, with my poor  
> English...


My understanding is that OpenCL is mostly useful for scientific  
applications and things like WPA cracking. It allows access to  
graphics card processing in a way that is *not* dependent on sending  
the results to video.

That's quite different from the need, in gaming, to send high-quality  
output to the screen. In gaming the CPUs are about adequate for things  
like deciding where the bad guys should hide or if your spaceship can  
carry the selected quantity of cargo. So in gaming it's desirable to  
dedicate the graphics card to making the screen look pretty, and there  
is no use for OpenCL.

The exception to this is that OpenCL type stuff *might* be used for  
physics simulations in games - I've seen demonstrations in which the  
PhysX engine is used to model a rockfall or avalanche more accurately,  
so that more rocks can be shown on screen at once time. Flying through  
an asteroid field or the debris of an exploded enemy fighter might be  
better modelled using something like OpenCL. However I doubt that  
there are many Linux-based games that can use this kind of acceleration.

Is it possible you were thinking of OpenGL?

Also: please don't top-post, at least when the person you're replying  
to has posted underneath some quoted text.


Stroller.