“FXT1 advanced texture compression is provided free to anyone
who wants to create and accelerate content utilizing many more
texture images and higher resolution textures, all with the highest
possible image quality. FXT1 texture compression provides equal to
or better compression ratios than any available hardware
compression scheme and is supported on all future 3dfx products.
With up to four compression schemes used in the encoding of each
texture, FXT1 provides the most accurate texture compression
available, providing little or no loss in image quality. Decoding
FXT1 textures can be done transparently in the 3D hardware at
run-time, or decoded in software and converted to another
hardware-supported texture format. In addition, cross platform 3D
API (Glide(tm), OpenGL(r), and Direct3D(tm)) support for FXT1
allows developers to use it on Windows, Macintosh and Linux
platforms without any additional coding by the developer.
Finally, 3dfx provides free tools, and the associated source
code, to encode and decode compressed textures to allow the user
community to create newer and better encoding algorithms. These
tools include command line utilities and a Photoshop(r) plug-in and
are currently available for download below.“
“We encourage developers to make suggestions and submit new
source for possible inclusion with future versions of FXT1. We
believe texture compression is absolutely necessary to creating
compelling next generation 3D games. Please tell us what you think
about how we can make it better. To facilitate discussion on FXT1
and allow people to make suggestions, we have set up a newsgroup
and email alias.”
“For now, we’d like to ask that any new ideas or source code be
sent to FXT1@3dfx.com. Periodically, we’ll review any suggestions
or new source code and query prominent newsgroup users as to what
they think should be included in each new revision. If we get a lot
of response from developers, we’ll set up a public source code
base, where anyone can upload new source code.”