Glide (API)

Glide
Original author	3dfx Interactive
Stable release	3.10.00.30303 / September 2, 2003 (2003-09-02)
Repository	{{URL|example.com|optional display text}}
Written in	Assembly, C
Engine
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	3D graphics API
License	GNU General Public License 3DFX GLIDE Source Code General Public License
Website	sourceforge.net/projects/glide/

Glide is a 3D graphics API developed by 3dfx Interactive for their Voodoo Graphics 3D accelerator cards. It started as a proprietary API but was later open-sourced by 3dfx. It was dedicated to rendering performance, supporting geometry and texture mapping primarily, in data formats identical to those used internally in their cards. Wide adoption of 3Dfx led to Glide being extensively used in the late 1990s, but further refinement of Microsoft's Direct3D and the appearance of full OpenGL implementations from other graphics card vendors, in addition to growing diversity in 3D hardware, eventually caused it to become superfluous.

Glide wrappers and emulators

Glide emulator development has been in progress since the late 1990s. During 3dfx's lifetime, the company was aggressive at trying to stop these attempts to emulate their proprietary API, shutting down early emulation projects with legal threats. However, just before it ceased operations and had its assets purchased by Nvidia, 3dfx released the Glide API, along with the Voodoo 2 and Voodoo 3 specifications, under an open-source license, which later evolved into an open-source project.

See also

• Vulkan (API)
• 3dfx Interactive
• MiniGL
• Mantle (API) – another low-level API

External links

• Glide SourceForge Project. Archived 2012-02-08 at the Wayback Machine
• GLIDE programming manual. Archived 2012-04-02 at the Wayback Machine
• Glide Wrappers List. Archived 2012-01-26 at the Wayback Machine
• OpenGL Documentation. Archived 2012-01-15 at the Wayback Machine