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shader programming in ps2?

Started by grunt123 Dec 28, 2004 at 12:03 AM 2 replies 1.4k views

Original Post

Dec 28, 2004 at 12:03 AM

Hi, I'm relatively new to ps2 programming and wondering if it's possible to do shader programming in ps2. I know that ps2 has something called VCL micro-programs ... does this have the same functionality as the shader languages such as HSLS, or CG? thanks

sit

Dec 29, 2004 at 2:29 AM

no, it is assembly for the vector chips and is only comparable to vertex shaders

it can do quite a lot, but there are no per pixel effects on the ps2

I don't belive the ps2 even has a stencil buffer [just depth, color, and alpha]

playstation2-linux.com has a fair amount of docs accessable, and the hardware manuals are good to skim over every once in a while.

HarryW

Jan 3, 2005 at 7:01 AM

On the bright side, PS2 has a pretty good fill rate (relative to other consoles at least), so it's quite feasible to do multiple rendering passes. You can use the vector units to do a lot of the work asynchronously with the CPU, so although it's not quite the same as a GPU-based shader language, it's not impossible.

chimengi

Jan 8, 2005 at 1:37 AM

we managed to create our own xbox shader like effects when building an Xbox and PS2 game simultanioulsy. masked environment cubic maps. Actually the engine and game ended up being a lot like baldurs gate II on the PS2.

Works fine so long as you don't go overboard and keep the effects to a minimum as it's not going to run anywhere near as well as on xbox.

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