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From: bkuo@girtab.usc.edu (Benjamin Kuo)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: 3D games on the Mac
Keywords: 3D, john calhoun, Sega
Message-ID: <14073@chaph.usc.edu>
Date: 9 Jan 91 23:58:23 GMT
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This is specifically aimed at john calhoun, since he apparently doesn't have
an account (do you?) at mlab2@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu, but anyone else interested:

Juri Munkki, someone on this net, figured out how to connect the Sega 3D
glasses to any Mac serial port, and control the LED shutters--giving us
the capability to do 3D, if someone writes the software. A friend of mine
has already built an interface (improved on the original, even) which
works fine, and has some very interesting line-demos with it, but other than
the demos and source, there isn't anything that uses it.

Basically, the software writes alternating buffers to the screen, while
toggling and synching the two LED screens in the shutters to each
buffer (for the right/left eye effect). This is very similar to the
red/green 3D comic books and posters that used to be popular.

John Calhoun mentioned his "semi-3D" game: how tough would it be to
alter the screen writing of the offscreen bitmaps to be placed in the
same spot on the screen, with the proper offsets, geometry, etc., and
add a few commands to send the DTR signal to the glasses?

This is just a thought (since these glasses are NOT widespread), but the
interface is cheap (only 2 ICs with our optimized design, a few resistors
and connectors), the Sega glasses relatively so ($19-$25 dollars, available
from your neighborhood store or direct), and the idea of 3D, in b/w or
color (either way), on the Mac, would be great.

Already, if you had that option, you have yet another wave in computer
simulations. Imagine a version of Colony, already in some sort of 3D,
actually PHYSICALLY taking a 3D appearance. How about flight simulators?
Programs which are line-based, needing only a few extra calculations to
make them seem so much more realistic (a closer control panel, actually
"looking" through the cockpit window). Even 3D windows, a 3D finder, a
billion possibilities.

Previously, 3D computing has been limited to big mainframes and specialized
systems (mostly for CAD). Now, there are companies marketing 3D glasses
and software for the Atari ST and Amiga: why not something similar for
the Mac?

The plans for the 3D glasses are anonymously ftp'able from vega.hut.fi, in
one of the directories (which I can't remember). I think they were also
posted on comp.binaries.mac a while back.

Benjamin Kuo