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1. Platforms

Shark 3D is available for various platforms. See Multiplatform for a list of supported platform

• Windows™
• Browser: IE, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, etc.
• Linux™
• Mobile devices. See here for more information.
• Consoles. See here for more information.
• Can be easily integrated into other applications, for example via Python/wxPython, ActiveX, or C++.

"PlayStation" is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Logos, Xbox 360 and the Xbox 360 Logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft.

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2. Platform specific code and optimizations

Shark 3D has specific backends for each platform. Each backend provides platform-specific features and platform specific optimizations. In addition, special attention is paid to memory optimization on consoles.

For example, the PlayStation^® 2 version of Shark 3D uses highly optimized vector unit assembly code for the geometric 3d pipeline. This code runs skinning, transformation, vertex lighting and clipping on the VU1 in parallel to the CPU. The 3d data preparation tools generate data packages optimized for this rendering code and for the VU1 memory size. This implementation provides highest performance for high-polygonal skinned characters without restricting the number of bones.

Console specific code is not limited to console specific backends. Instead, every source code file may contain console specific optimizations. For non-console SDKs, console specific code is completely stripped off on per-line basis. By this, console specific optimizations are not limited by cross-platform abstraction layers.

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3. Cross-platform development

Multi-platform content

The same Shark 3D features are accessed in the same way on every platform. This means: When keeping platform specific limitations in mind, you can create a multi-platform application and multi-platform content. The same application and the same content runs on multiple platforms.

Taking advantage of platform specific features

The Shark 3D APIs also expose platform specific features. This makes it possible to enrich your applications and your content by platform specific effects and optimizations. For example, you can share your levels between platforms, but create special shaders for specific platforms, taking advantage of proprietary features of each target platform.

Platform specific features can be accessed at multiple levels. For example, you can configure different shaders for different platforms on configuration level. But you can also write completely different rendering effects in C++ for each platform.