Introduction

I’m not going to bore you with too much of an introduction for part three. I would like to say that I feel that having a choice is what makes manufacturers strive to make something better. Let’s consider it this way, look at Open Source as a hamburger. If you want a hamburger (Fast Food), the three major players are McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy’s. Most of us have our favorites, whether it is a Big Mac, Whopper or Double with cheese. Let's just say you didn’t have a choice - even though the names were different, all you could get was a Big Mac at any of them. Would you like that? Do you think it would be fair? I personally do not. So I choose to appreciate the choice I have when purchasing a video card.

With all that encompasses DirectX: Direct Draw, Direct Compute, Direct3D, etc., you have a standard on which everyone has to include in development. What makes a video card different from another is what you get over and above the other. That could be a physics engine, GPU acceleration or even a stick of bubble gum. You have the choice to decide what gives you the best for your money.

For part three of this article, I will start with Bullet. When I heard that ATI was partnering with Bullet, I did a little research and found the email address to Erwin Coumans, who is the main author of the Bullet physics library. I decided to introduce myself to him and ask him a few questions knowing I would be speaking to ATI the next day. Erwin was very quick to respond and I will share with you below my questions and his answers.