For P5 most people will probably be expecting to use high-poly count figures 'straight out of the box', wheras in the case of 3D apps it could be argued that they can still be used with low poly count models. This may explain why hardware accelleration wasn't implemented, as the advantages do decrease as the polycount rises. There's nothing particularly binding about minimum/recommended specs anyway, they just tend to reflect the current minimum spec of hardware on the market (and possibly what the software was developed on) so it's to be expected that software released some time ago will quote lower specs than the newer releases. So long as the OS is reasonably solid, there's virtually no actual lower limit. In terms of rendering CL went for a solution which is based primarily on a reyes type scanline renderer. Consider that probably 95% of feature films and animated TV that has been seen in the last 5 years uses this technology, it has a lot in terms of speed and detail to commend itself over pure raytracing. The disadvantage is that it is relatively difficult to implement some things like radiosity and caustics. Firefly does use secondary raytracing for reflections and refraction, and possibly to eliminate the use of shadow maps, but if you want (in the future) to see raytracing benefits, expect to pay the price, especially in terms of render times. Bill