Hyperion Entertainment changes status of Warp3D V4
We would like to inform you that after extensive deliberation, Hyperion
Entertainment has decided to upgrade the status of Warp 3D V4 from a
freeware product to a commercial OEM product which will offered to Amiga
hardware developers for a moderate license fee.
This decision was prompted by two major reasons:
- Hyperion Entertainment has reached an agreement with Amiga Inc. to
incorporate Warp3D V4 into Amiga OS 4.x on a per unit royalty
basis. Producers of zico compliant hardware (Amiga One etc.) will be
required to license Amiga OS 4.x and will as such be paying
indirectly for Warp 3D V4 drivers. It would be unacceptable to both
Amiga Inc. and these hardware producers that they would be required
to pay royalties for a product which other hardware producers would
receive free of charge.
- Warp 3D started out as a freeware product developed by non-commercial
developers to support the Virge and Permedia 2 chipsets. Compared to
current chipsets, the Virge and Permedia 2 are extremely primitive
and feature-poor. The effort and time needed to adequately support
modern chipsets such as the Voodoo 3 and Matrox G450 with their rich
and advanced feature-set is far greater than the effort required to
support the Virge and Permedia 2 chipsets. Combined with the fact
that there are currently no less than 7 different PCI product from
three different manufacturers, it's clear that the effort required to
support modern chipsets on all the different PCI hardware available
goes far beyond the scope of a freeware project.
As the original Warp 3D developers have now moved on to commercial
development, maintaining Warp 3D as a freeware product would entail that
development of new Warp 3D drivers and extension of the Warp 3D API
would be very slow as development could only take place "after hours".
This is not only not in the interest of Amiga users but it is also not
in the interest of hardware producers and resellers who rely on the
availability of Warp 3D drivers to successfully market their Amiga
hardware.
Hyperion Entertainment fully understands that the company has a
responsibility towards the Amiga community including the hardware
producers because of its control over the Warp 3D API and no attempt has
ever been made or will be made to exploit this position unfairly.
We have already succesfully negotiated agreements with Matay and DCE
regarding Warp3D V4 support for the Voodoo 3 on their respective PCI
hardware. We are therefore happy to report that Voodoo 3 drivers for
these PCI solutions will be available shortly.
A similar proposal was made to Elbox but so far we have not received any
reaction.
Users considering purchase of a PCI solution for Amiga and who are
interested in high-performance 3D graphics should investigate the
availability of Warp3D drivers prior to making their decision to opt for
one or the other PCI solution.
It should also be noted that Warp3D will remain free for end
users. Also, this only affects hardware producers. Software development
with Warp3D is still free of charge, commercial and shareware products
included.