<s>
MiniGL	B-Library
is	O
an	O
incomplete	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
OpenGL	B-Application
specification	O
which	O
implements	O
enough	O
of	O
the	O
API	B-Application
to	O
allow	O
3D	O
video	O
games	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1990s	O
to	O
run	O
with	O
hardware	B-General_Concept
acceleration	I-General_Concept
on	O
contemporary	O
graphics	B-Device
cards	I-Device
,	O
which	O
otherwise	O
provided	O
their	O
own	O
APIs	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
implementation	O
came	O
from	O
3dfx	O
Interactive	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
designed	O
around	O
supporting	O
Quake	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
companies	O
implementing	O
similar	O
software	O
included	O
PowerVR	B-Device
and	O
Rendition	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1996	O
,	O
id	O
Software	O
announced	O
that	O
the	O
Rendition	O
Vérité	O
was	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
only	O
hardware	O
3D	O
accelerator	O
targeted	O
by	O
Quake	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Partly	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
perceived	O
hassle	O
in	O
supporting	O
chipset	O
specific	O
APIs	B-Application
and	O
partly	O
because	O
Quake'''s	O
development	O
heritage	O
on	O
high-end	O
workstations	O
made	O
such	O
a	O
thing	O
easy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
also	O
released	O
a	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
port	O
of	O
their	O
OpenGL	B-Application
version	O
of	O
Quake	B-Application
,	O
even	O
though	O
no	O
consumer	O
chipset	O
had	O
OpenGL	B-Application
support	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
,	O
3dfx	O
developed	O
and	O
quickly	O
released	O
the	O
first	O
MiniGL	B-Library
:	O
a	O
quick	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
bare	O
minimum	O
amount	O
of	O
the	O
OpenGL	B-Application
API	B-Application
that	O
was	O
required	O
to	O
run	O
the	O
OpenGL	B-Application
version	O
of	O
Quake	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
obtaining	O
a	O
copy	O
of	O
the	O
OpenGL	B-Application
Quake	B-Application
executable	O
and	O
a	O
copy	O
of	O
the	O
relevant	O
MiniGL	B-Library
,	O
3dfx	O
owners	O
could	O
easily	O
modify	O
their	O
copies	O
of	O
Quake	B-Application
to	O
play	O
with	O
full	O
3D	O
acceleration	O
,	O
giving	O
a	O
smoother	O
and	O
better	O
looking	O
display	O
than	O
was	O
possible	O
with	O
the	O
Quake	B-Application
software	O
renderer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
success	O
of	O
the	O
3dfx	O
original	O
,	O
several	O
other	O
manufacturers	O
followed	O
3dfx	O
in	O
producing	O
MiniGL	B-Library
drivers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
OpenGL	B-Application
API	B-Application
was	O
almost	O
universally	O
agreed	O
to	O
be	O
superior	O
to	O
the	O
then	O
new	O
and	O
immature	O
Direct3D	B-Application
system	O
from	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
so	O
following	O
the	O
arrival	O
of	O
the	O
various	O
MiniGLs	B-Library
,	O
many	O
programmers	O
sought	O
to	O
use	O
them	O
in	O
other	O
programs	O
as	O
an	O
easy	O
way	O
of	O
supporting	O
multiple	O
3D	O
chipsets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unfortunately	O
,	O
id	O
Software	O
had	O
not	O
released	O
any	O
official	O
list	O
of	O
OpenGL	B-Application
calls	O
and	O
parameters	O
used	O
by	O
Quake''	O
and	O
none	O
of	O
the	O
MiniGL	B-Library
implementors	O
had	O
released	O
lists	O
of	O
what	O
their	O
implementation	O
would	O
and	O
would	O
not	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
practice	O
,	O
this	O
led	O
to	O
a	O
very	O
cautious	O
use	O
of	O
OpenGL	B-Application
features	O
by	O
programmers	O
and	O
new	O
releases	O
of	O
MiniGLs	B-Library
with	O
slightly	O
more	O
functionality	O
every	O
time	O
a	O
major	O
game	O
came	O
along	O
that	O
did	O
not	O
work	O
on	O
the	O
previous	O
generation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
major	O
3D	O
card	O
manufacturers	O
now	O
support	O
complete	O
OpenGL	B-Application
implementations	O
,	O
negating	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
any	O
sort	O
of	O
MiniGL	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
MiniGL	B-Library
implementations	O
have	O
been	O
developed	O
for	O
other	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
,	O
including	O
Palm	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
and	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
