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(+1)

Here is one software renderer that is very efficient and is completely free to use, it's even in the public domain. https://codeberg.org/drummyfish/small3dlib

I don't expect you to use it for this game, however. Maybe it's possible but perhaps it's best if a new, smaller game is made using it one day. If you'd be interested, of course. 

I know a lot of devices have some kind of GPU built in, but they still rely on drivers and a bevvy of third party libraries to get working. It's not as universal as something that is CPU-reliant, because we've had CPUs a lot longer than we've had GPUs. A game like Doom, which was initially designed exclusively for software rendering, stands the test of time because it isn't restricted by APIs and the like. Because it was eventually licensed under the GPL, and because it was coded so well with portability in mind, people did eventually add GPU-centric features. But you aren't going to play Doom via GZDoom on every device, while the stock CPU rendered version can be played on almost anything. Even a pregnancy test lol.

It's not often a case of you 'should', but because you 'can'. I think games should be a thing that you can modify however you want, and port it to newer platforms as time passes.

(+1)

it looks cool indeed and I appreciate your passion
but tbh this sounds more like a software rendering fetish  and trying to find excuses for it
and I understand it completely - many people prefer the look of these games 🤔
they just look more like real games - it's hard to explain (kind of how movies at 50fps feel wrong)

maybe for LAB 2 I could use one I guess - but then I would want to go all the way like
something that uses only affine texture mapping and 16bit dithering like the PS1 etc.
this is one dangerous rabbit hole 😔

(+1)

Haha, a fetish you say?. Didn't think I'd ever hear that. Perhaps it's more of a passion for free software that drives this request, as well as a longing for the "good old days". I've lived through decades of pc gaming and know how it began, and where it ultimately ended up. Where we are at now is a dystopian nightmare. Badly programmed, proprietary games with tons of bloat and ridiculous hardware requirements that are destined to rot away and become unplayable one of these days.

It's also curiosity, as I wonder how a new game would look if it was developed with software rendering in mind. After all the CPUs we have now are many times faster than what we used to have. And  the antidote to high Nvidia prices is less reliance on their crappy products and greedy practices.

Thank you for being open to the idea.

(+1)

There is a custom version of the Quake engine, known as "Retroquad", that has a completely new software renderer. The author states that it can be used to create original games, and is GPL licensed. Check it out!. 

https://www.moddb.com/engines/retroquad/downloads/retroquad-0100-public-release

https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=84730

it looks cool 👍

not sure if I could use it for anything - I couldn't make a quake map if my life depended on it 😔