> The weirdest part is per-polygon mipmapping, which is not normal
I suspect that per-polygon mipmapping is actually calculated on the CPU. That would mean the actual hardware doesn't really implement mipmapping, it just implements switching between texture LODs on a per-triangle basis (probably that "M" coord in the 0x17 object).
Apparently later drivers from 1999 did actually implement per-pixel mipmapping, but I have a horrible feeling that's achieved by tessellating triangles along the change in LOD boundary, which must take quite a bit of CPU time.
I suspect that per-polygon mipmapping is actually calculated on the CPU. That would mean the actual hardware doesn't really implement mipmapping, it just implements switching between texture LODs on a per-triangle basis (probably that "M" coord in the 0x17 object).
Apparently later drivers from 1999 did actually implement per-pixel mipmapping, but I have a horrible feeling that's achieved by tessellating triangles along the change in LOD boundary, which must take quite a bit of CPU time.