3dfx FXT1 Available to Developers

3dfx FXT1 Available to Developers puts another piece of PC gear into the September hardware pile, and 1999 is not exactly short on that right now.

As part of its continued efforts to significantly raise the standard for real-time 3D graphics, 3dfx Interactive today announced it is making next-generation graphics technology available to software and hardware developers in a free, open-source format. 3dfx FXT1 texture compression technology dramatically reduces the size of texture images with little or no loss in visual quality, thus enhancing a game’s speed and significantly improving the overall gaming experience. Software developers can utilize the compression algorithm across multiple platforms, marking the first time that the same texture compression technology can be used on.

The hardware race is getting mean, and the upside is simple: gamers keep getting faster, stranger toys to bolt into their rigs.