Posted: 9:00 p.m., EST, 5/6/98

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Intel Corp. has completed the beta version of its instruction set for the Katmai processor and is now working with more than 50 software-game developers to optimize their code for the some 70 Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) floating-point instructions, the company said. At the same time, both Intel and Microsoft are providing low-level compiler tools for the new instruction set. The tools are considered a critical ingredient that was missing from Intel's previous MMX development program.

Like other graphics accelerator vendors present at the Computer Game Developers Conference in Long Beach, Calif., Intel hopes to woo 3-D game developers to optimize their software for what Intel expects to be the premier PC platform for 1999. Such a system will include the 100-MHz 440BX chip set, the i740 3-D graphics processor and a Katmai processor running faster than 400-MHz, said Taufik Ma, ISV marketing manager for Intel's Microprocessor 6 division, Hillsboro, Ore.

In 1996, Intel had made a similar effort to convince software developers to write games geared for MMX instruction set, which consisted of 57 new SIMD integer instructions. But the company admitted that it failed to provide the right tools to make it easier for software developers.

"We learned a lot from MMX," Ma said. "We didn't have compilers for MMX, which wasn't too pleasant for developers because they had to hand-code everything."

The Katmai compilers, which will b e available later this year, will be offered as a plug-in for Microsoft's Visual C++ suite. The compiler will include instrinsics, which the company boasts will give developers the ability to write in C with nearly the same efficiency as hand-coded assembly language. A related tool called VTune will allow the program to make use of the parallelism of SIMD instructions, Ma said.

What's more, Intel will provide similar compiler tools for the MMX instruction set in July. Intel has already signed on 100 companies, Ma said.

Ma said Intel has put three times more resources into Katmai compared to its MMX development efforts. This includes more engineering support, coding tools, authoring tools, libraries and development platforms for software companies. Some of the software companies it has engaged with include Westwood Studios, id Software, Microsoft, LucasArts Entertainment, Activision, Definition Six, Shiny Entertainment and Black Isle Studios.

Meanwhile, Intel has released a software dev elopers' kit for its i740 3-D graphics processor. The company said the new tools will enable software developers to monitor how systems partition the 3-D processing load between the graphics processor and CPU and make adjustments for better performance and system balance.

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