Max Payne (2001), what did it use shaders on? \ VOGONS

Max Payne (2001), what did it use shaders on?

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First post, by AquaNox

Posted on 2024-08-18, 00:23

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I couldn't find any articles mentioning the use of programmable shaders in Max Payne after browsing several websites from 2001-2002. Although the PCGamingWiki states that the game employs Pixel Shader version 1.1, it is challenging to find any discussion about its implementation of shaders.

Despite the praise for the game's visuals at the time, there isn't a single paragraph detailing its shader implementation, which I suspect is due to the game using no shaders at all.

Reply 1 of 5, by DosFreak

Posted on 2024-08-18, 00:34

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People played it on tnt1 so no.

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Reply 2 of 5, by smtkr

Posted on 2024-08-18, 00:55

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DosFreak wrote on 2024-08-18, 00:34:

People played it on tnt1 so no.

I can play Morrowind on a Geforce 2. It will simply disable that part of the rendering path that my card doesn't support and my water will just look horrible.

But anyhow, I'm pretty sure Max Payne does not use programmable pixel shaders (which is why you can't find any mention of it).

I'm pretty sure the Max Payne engine was used in 3dmark 2001, but not for the pixel shader or advanced pixel shader tests.

Reply 3 of 5, by CharlieFoxtrot

Posted on 2024-08-18, 06:42

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smtkr wrote on 2024-08-18, 00:55:
I can play Morrowind on a Geforce 2. It will simply disable that part of the rendering path that my card doesn't support and my […]
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DosFreak wrote on 2024-08-18, 00:34:

People played it on tnt1 so no.

I can play Morrowind on a Geforce 2. It will simply disable that part of the rendering path that my card doesn't support and my water will just look horrible.

But anyhow, I'm pretty sure Max Payne does not use programmable pixel shaders (which is why you can't find any mention of it).

I'm pretty sure the Max Payne engine was used in 3dmark 2001, but not for the pixel shader or advanced pixel shader tests.

I don’t think Max Payne utilizes programmable shaders. First, I don’t think recommended specs even lists GPU with programmable shaders. Morrowind can use them, but it was released around one year later conpared to MP.

MP was released around mid 2001 and GF3 was released february that same year so the game development was pretty much done when GF3 was available on the shelves. It probably wasn’t feasible to target that kind of architecture. When MP came out, there hardly was any other games out that supported programmable shaders as it was pretty much new tech by that point.