vetz wrote:

I guess it stands between Sentõ and Sento then. My guess why Sento became popular is because õ couldn't be used in filenames.

No doubt! 47-TEK seems to have been an American company and there aren't keys for 'õ' on our keyboards. 😉

Perhaps "Sentoo" is how you would write it on a keyboard without diacritical marks? Like writing "ue" instead of 'ü' for German umlauts?

[EDIT] Okay, my theory: it's a fighting game, squinting at the screens in the demo it appears to be a stylized "ō" ("o" with a macron), not "õ" ("o" with a tilde), and they have "Sentoo masters". Ergo, they're inspired by Japanese.

Therefore, the intention is a macron over the 'O' kana, in the Hepburn romanization system of Japanese, indicating a longer vowel sound, such as "Tōkyō", which can be written out "toukyou" or "tookyoo" in Japanese but is pronounced as commonly understood, Tokyo. 😉
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digraph_( ... )#Japanese

... also that "Sentõ" is a typo, misunderstood by Europeans. 😁

Placeholder for the next in my series of little 3D engine write-ups (so far I've hit Renderware, BRender, Reality Lab).
General goal is to hit all the ones that overlay proprietary APIs or have device drivers for cards directly, rather than just overlay OpenGL and/or Direct3D.

-----

Hybrid SurRender 3D
------------------------
http://web.archive.org/web/19971224100507/htt … nder/index.html
...
http://web.archive.org/web/20020416064033/htt … nder/index.html

Supported Graphics Technologies:

• 3Dfx Glide 2.31 native device driver for 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics, Voodoo2 and 3Dfx/AT3D Voodoo Rush chipsets.
• Hybrid's proprietary MMX-enhanced software rendering, with 24-bit Z buffering and RGB shading.
• Matrox MSI95 native device driver for Matrox Mystique MGA-1064 chipset.
• Microsoft Direct3D HAL device driver for generic Win32 hardware acceleration.
• NEC PowerSGL native device driver for PCX1 and PCX2 chipsets from NEC/Videologic.
• OpenGL low level device driver for cross-platform hardware abstraction.
• P3D HAL native device driver for Pyramid3D chipset from Tri-Tech Microelectronics.
• Rendition RRedline native device driver for Vérité V1000 and V2200 chipsets.

http://web.archive.org/web/19971224100837/htt … r/features.html

Discontinued as of July 16, 2002 or earlier.
http://web.archive.org/web/20020716030925/htt … r/products.html

Games:

• NFL Blitz 2000 (1999, Midway)
• Supreme Snowboarding (1999, Housemarque)
• Test Drive Off-Road 3 (1999, Infogrames)
• Boarder Zone (2000, Housemarque)
• Starlancer (2000, DigitalAnvil/Warthog)
• Wizardry 8 (2001, Sir-Tech)
• Project Entropia (200?, MindArk PE AB) - never released as SurRender 3D game, eventually released as CryEngine 2 game (?)
• Command & Conquer: Renegade (2002, Westwood Studios) - W3D engine, highly modified version of SurRender 3D engine
• Emperor: Battle For Dune (2001, Westwood Studios) - W3D engine, highly modified version of SurRender 3D engine
• Earth & Beyond (2002, Westwood Studios) - W3D engine, highly modified version of SurRender 3D engine
  -----
• Assault!/Extreme Warfare (199?, Trilobyte/Analog Entertainment) - Hybrid's first customer, ironically, never released
• Juggernaut (1998, Canopy) - never released as SurRender 3D game, eventually released as GLQuake game (?)
• CyberPuck II (199?, Cerebus Software) - never released?
• Cyco (199?, Cerebus Software) - never released?
• Fighter Duel 2 (199?, Infogrames) - never released?
• Command & Conquer: Renegade 2 (200?, Westwood Studios) - W3D engine, highly modified version of SurRender 3D engine - never released
• Command & Conquer: Continuum (200?, Westwood Studios) - W3D engine, highly modified version of SurRender 3D engine - never released

-----

Supposedly the first to market with Tri-Tech/Bitboys Pyramid3D support.

Note that just because engines support these cards doesn't mean games are released with this support.

Apparently Wikipedia needs a page on this, I'll try to get that done.

Finally managed to aquire Actua Ice Hockey for a cheap price (not paying much money for a game just intended for testing).

I will confirm resolution soon, but I guess it's 1024x768 as the other Actua second generation series. They all use the same engine.

I also have the Mechwarrior 2 version bundled with Compaq Presario PCs on the way to me. Those computers came with the early Midas3, which makes me wonder if there have been some changes in the bundled PowerVR version to optimize for that card.

With that game checked off and confirmed support, only Flight Unlimited is missing of the PowerVR games (and full versions of PureVex and Moon Racer which I've only tested the demos of). Of the other games I'm missing IceHawk and Spectre MGA for the Matrox Impression. Don't own the Paradise Tasmania, so can't test those games (but I know NitroX Infinity have all of them and hopefully will test at some point).

vetz wrote:

Finally managed to aquire Actua Ice Hockey

Have it the glide support?

Gamecollector wrote:

vetz wrote:

Finally managed to aquire Actua Ice Hockey

Have it the glide support?

No idea, haven't tested it at all yet.

There are three known releases of the same game (VR Soccer/Actua Soccer) for the ATI Rage (ATICIF)

There may have been two different versions of Actua Soccer for ATI 3D Rage in Europe, one fullversion and one Semifinals (shortened for OEM). Ofc, the version from the ATI Xpression may just be the Semifinals edition, but without any print on the disc to distinguish it.

• Actua Soccer bundled with ATI 3D Xpression in Europe
  
• Actua Soccer: Semifinals 3D bundled with IBM computers in Europe
  
• VR Soccer: Semifinals 3D bundled with IBM computers in the US
  

I hope to confirm this, if yes, then it's another addition to the list.

If you're communicating with owners who aren't willing to sell, at least see if they'll send you filelistings with dates and checksums, even if you have to teach them how 😉

All versions of Actua Soccer/VR Soccer 96 tested on the ATI Rage. Here are the results:

General:

• Runs under MS-DOS, making this the only ATI Rage game to do this (The IBM versions have Windows installers as an option, but the game requires restart into MS-DOS to run)
• Locked to 640x400 resolution
• No bilinear filtering except on stadium and audience.
• Only runs on ATI Rage I and II. The Actua Soccer versions do actually load with the ATI Rage Pro, but heavy glitches makes the game completely unplayable.
• All versions are graphically the same (VR Soccer which has different logos)

• Actua Soccer bundled with ATI 3D Xpression
  - Full version of the game
  - No hardware check, so will work on all ATI Rage 3D Rage I and II cards
• Actua Soccer: Semifinals 3D bundled with IBM computers in Europe
  - Semi-finals version with less options available, a cutback release in other words.
  - No hardware check, so will work on all ATI Rage 3D Rage I and II cards
• VR Soccer 96: Semifinals 3D bundled with IBM computers in the US
  - Semi-finals version with less options available, a cutback release in other words.
  - Has a hardware check during startup. Will not work on ATI Rage Pro cards and is picky about ATI Rage II cards. ATI Rage II cards which does not exactly have 4MB memory will not be detected due to glitchy hardware check, even though they run the Actua Soccer version with no problems.

Screenshots: (images has been resized to correct aspect ratio)

Stiletto wrote:

If you're communicating with owners who aren't willing to sell, at least see if they'll send you filelistings with dates and checksums, even if you have to teach them how 😉

No worries. The main problem is tracking down all these versions. I've been searching for over 2 years on some of them, but all the time and money used to track them down has yielded results. The remaining list is getting shorter and shorter.

There is btw a very big chance I've found the Flight Unlimited PowerVR version and I hope to have it in my hands within 1-2 weeks.

After two years of searching I finally got my hands on the PowerVR version of Flight Unlimited through some epic epic Google skillz. This should be the last of the known OEM releases for PowerVR to be documented.

Facts:
- Locked to 640x480
- Works on Midas3 and PCX2
- Bilinear filtering needs to be forced through application settings for the PCX2
- No clouds

Screenshots on PCX2:

Edit:
Here is a picture of the disc:

If you visually compare this disc with the regular Windows 95 release of Flight Unlimited they are basically the same except for two small differences:

• The PowerVR version has the Windows95, Looking Glass and rating logos in black print while the retail has them in red.
• The inner text on the CD the PowerVR version reads: MADE IN USA COMPAQ COMPUTER CORP.

In the readme.txt there is no mention that it requires a PowerVR card. It does say it is an OEM release with resolution locked and clouds removed, but beside that there is no telling except when you try to run the game on a machine without a PowerVR card where it gives an error message for SGL.DLL. So why have this version has been so incredible hard to find? Two combining factors; sold only with selected Compaq Presarios in the USA and almost no information on the disc to tell it apart from the Win95 retail release.

Awesome!

Interesting discovery. I have a slipcase version - non VR in all likelihood - but I'll check next time I go out to the storage unit.

vetz wrote:

[...] https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57506833/vogons/diverse/vlcsnap-2014-06-09-01h31m56s222.png [...] […]
Show full quote

[...]

[...]

OMG , I can't really describe this image, I'll just say it is "soothing to my soul", I can't look it enough 🤣
I don't play sport games but I wish there were more DOS 3D games like that, with this "broken" and unique 3D style... thanks for sharing these images vetz 😊

I always liked the cheesyness of sprite skeletons 😀 Some DS games used this technique as well (GTA Chinatown Wars)

keropi wrote:

OMG , I can't really describe this image, I'll just say it is "soothing to my soul", I can't look it enough 🤣
I don't play sport games but I wish there were more DOS 3D games like that, with this "broken" and unique 3D style... thanks for sharing these images vetz 😊

I know, right? I kinda feel the same way with Software Quake. If I want to play Quake I'll use a source port, however there's some charm that's lost when going accelerated. I feel the same with anything that's early 3D too hehe. Reminds me of "fighting" with installers and configurations (and Windows 9x 😜) to get things to work. 😀

vetz wrote:

After two years of searching I finally got my hands on the PowerVR version of Flight Unlimited through some epic epic Google skillz. This should be the last of the known OEM releases for PowerVR to be documented.

Awesome!

Back in the day with Compaq's of this era, the game would have had its own Compaq part number, which (over time) ended up looking like HP part numbers. Format: 106778-002 (etc.) In my mind, this disc would surely have had a part number printed on a barcode on its paper sleeve.

Anyhow, would be interested to hear what Google tricks you pulled at some point 😀

Stiletto wrote:

Awesome!

Back in the day with Compaq's of this era, the game would have had its own Compaq part number, which (over time) ended up looking like HP part numbers. Format: 106778-002 (etc.) In my mind, this disc would surely have had a part number printed on a barcode on its paper sleeve.

Anyhow, would be interested to hear what Google tricks you pulled at some point 😀

Could be, but from my findings it was not shipped with any CD case or instruction book. The CD has the ID number: RF0051255-002, but it turns up nothing on Google. It may have had a Compaq part, but it is unknown to me.

So how did I find this disc?

1. Searched for Flight Unlimited Compaq PowerVR on Google
2. An result from a craigslist ad from 2010 showed up on a webforum (link posted with description like in our Ebay thread). The craigslist ad listed the Mechwarrior 2 PowerVR version from an old Compaq Presario PC and also Flight Unlimited. Flight Unlimited was listed separately as "CD only".
3. The original craigslist ad was deleted long time ago, so I had no idea who the seller was. I noticed it had links to some Photobucket images of the games being sold.
4. All the Photobucket links were broken, but after inspecting the URL it contained the username of the photobucket uploader.
5. I Googled the username (which was generic) which turned out loads of results and users, so I turned to Photobucket and managed to find the same user.
6. The pictures were still public and I managed to find a picture of Mechwarrior 2 Compaq Presario edition, Descent 2: S3 Virge (Compaq version) and the Flight Unlimited all together with some other random games. I think that this is no coindicence. I knew the Compaq Presarios came with S3 Virge cards and thus were bundled with Mechwarrior 2 and Descent 2. I had no way to confirm Flight Unlimited was the correct disc, but I took a chance. It was my best lead so far.
7. I google some of the public Photobucket pictures (google image search and URL search) and I found them linked on some forums and an account on a game trading site.
8. I sign up on the trading site and contact the user who owns the discs who appears to be an active user.
9. She replies, accepts the offer and ships them to me 😀

vetz wrote:

Could be, but from my findings it was not shipped with any CD case or instruction book. The CD has the ID number: RF0051255-002, but it turns up nothing on Google. It may have had a Compaq part, but it is unknown to me.

Given that my younger brother owned a Compaq around that time, and myself having worked for a HP- and Compaq-certified store/service center both in 1999-2000 and from 2003-2008, I can tell you that if it had a part number, it would have been on a sticker on its original paper sleeve. The owner of the Compaq who received it new would have received a bag full of CDs in paper sleeves (with cellophane windows) and barcode stickers sealing them. The part number would also have been available via the partner-only HP/Compaq configuration website that I forget the name of. http://partsurfer.hp.com can cough up many part numbers, but not for things like recovery discs and bundled OEM software. They had a partner-only website that would have had these, but I've forgotten its name and long ago erased those bookmarks. (You'd also have needed a login/pass to access this, access was not always free, and they cleared out much of the old info regarding 90's Compaqs around 2006-2008.) Finally, if the disc was published/pressed by HP/Compaq (such as restore discs), the part number would often be on the label. However, since this was a videogame OEM bundle, the label would not normally deviate from production retail software. 😉

vetz wrote:

So how did I find this disc? […]
Show full quote

So how did I find this disc?

1. Searched for Flight Unlimited Compaq PowerVR on Google
2. An result from a craigslist ad from 2010 showed up on a webforum (link posted with description like in our Ebay thread). The craigslist ad listed the Mechwarrior 2 PowerVR version from an old Compaq Presario PC and also Flight Unlimited. Flight Unlimited was listed separately as "CD only".
3. The original craigslist ad was deleted long time ago, so I had no idea who the seller was. I noticed it had links to some Photobucket images of the games being sold.
4. All the Photobucket links were broken, but after inspecting the URL it contained the username of the photobucket uploader.
5. I Googled the username (which was generic) which turned out loads of results and users, so I turned to Photobucket and managed to find the same user.
6. The pictures were still public and I managed to find a picture of Mechwarrior 2 Compaq Presario edition, Descent 2: S3 Virge (Compaq version) and the Flight Unlimited all together with some other random games. I think that this is no coindicence. I knew the Compaq Presarios came with S3 Virge cards and thus were bundled with Mechwarrior 2 and Descent 2. I had no way to confirm Flight Unlimited was the correct disc, but I took a chance. It was my best lead so far.
7. I google some of the public Photobucket pictures (google image search and URL search) and I found them linked on some forums and an account on a game trading site.
8. I sign up on the trading site and contact the user who owns the discs who appears to be an active user.
9. She replies, accepts the offer and ships them to me 😀

Good job! Exactly what I would have done. 😀

Stiletto wrote:

Good job! Exactly what I would have done. 😀

Hehe, don't be too cocky 😜 I know it looks easy when reading that list... 🤣

@Vetz: it looks like you have great knowledge about early 3D OEM releases.
So, maybe you know the answer.
Was there an Actua Soccer 3dfx OEM release? I have the retail EN/FR version backup (the original cd is long ago dead from aging). I have the VR Soccer '96/Whiplash OEM cd somewhere (was included with 1 of Voodoos). But I can't find any trace of an european 3dfx release/OEM.
Tnx.