I''m currently trying to optimize the engine I''ve been programming for a while and I need help... I''ve implented a frustum clipping algorithm that cuts a big bunch of useless data but don''t prevent overdraw wich can cause sluggish performance while rendering big and complex 3D worlds. Does anyone know a good technique to do visible surface determination? I''ve heard Quake use span sorting but it seems that I can''t find any tutorials explaining it. Thanks.

Try BSP, Portals, or Octrees. You can also try rendering from close to the camera to farther away (using another algorithm, or one of those) and using the zbuffer to help a little.

[Resist Windows XP''s Invasive Production Activation Technology!]

I already use octrees . I''m desperatly trying to implement a routine that will limit overdraw and I have very few ideas on how to do this...

S-Buffer Doc

This explains in great detail how the span buffer works.

PS: Don''t ask me any questions about it. I don''t know sh*t about the sbuffer.