Glidebased

Glidebased is a term used in computing to describe software, games, or engines designed to run using the Glide API, a graphics API developed by 3dfx Interactive for the Voodoo line of graphics cards in the late 1990s. The term is chiefly encountered in historical discussions of PC gaming and in communities focused on retro hardware and emulation. It denotes code and assets originally built to leverage Glide’s rendering pipeline rather than modern APIs.

Technical basis and characteristics: Glide-based software issues rendering commands through the Glide library to perform 3D operations, including texture management, shading, and display output. The API was designed to deliver high performance on 3dfx hardware and was known for its streamlined pipeline and distinctive image quality on supported titles. Developers who described their work as glidebased typically targeted the Glide SDK and aimed to maximize compatibility with Voodoo-era GPUs.

History and usage: Glide-based titles peaked in the late 1990s, before 3dfx’s decline and the rapid consolidation of Direct3D and OpenGL as dominant APIs. As hardware evolved and Glide faded from commercial development, many games and engines were ported to other APIs or ran through wrappers. The term remains part of preservation and academic discussions, used to categorize content by its original API affinity.

Modern status and preservation: In contemporary contexts, glidebased software is often preserved or made playable on modern systems via wrappers and emulation projects that translate Glide calls to current graphics APIs. Projects such as OpenGlide and similar wrappers enable legacy titles to run on contemporary hardware, maintaining their glidebased heritage for study and enjoyment.

See also: 3dfx Interactive, Glide API, Voodoo graphics cards, OpenGlide, Nglide, Direct3D, OpenGL.