VBGamer

Well thats not strictly true, i don't know if you've ever worked with D3D IM, but basically you have to do exactly the same coding in software mode as in hardware (apart from extreme cases, such as real time soft shadows etc, where you do direct pixel manipulation), but there is no difference between software and hardware modes in regards to "Coding Skill" you can't simply call "3dCard.RenderMyGameForMe" =) Just because you are using the 3d hardware to render, the actual coding is just as complex, and the mathmatic side is mind boggling (i.e Matrices/Vectors/Hidden Surface Removal/Polygon Sorting/Polygon Clipping etc etc etc) While I totally agree with you here that it's a contest on coding ability (and i was only mentioning this since the coding "ability" is basically the same for hadware/software with D3D IM), I should imagine that the 3d entries wouldn't be particularly "Stunning" if they are attempting to do something complex and spectacular with D3D in > 8bpp or with alpha bleding/lens flares/multi-texturing/light maps or shadows etc =) (D3D and OpenGl come to think of it, Software modes suck big time imho) But I'm only saying this out of interest, since I won't be entering anyway =) Just wanted to clear it up for everyone else. Adam