If you mean PCX-2 (Apocalypse 3D, Matrox M3D), sure! It only feeds video to your host video card's buffer. The PCX-2 usage "hijacking" only occurs if you check the simple "Use PowerVR HAL" in its own tab in Display Properties. This only hijacks Direct3D though, so if something crashes, turn it off (or use the apocalypse3d driver which gives you a control panel to add game profiles in to override the hal or not among other things)

Bushwack even did the same thing with a PowerVR/3dfx combo.

I use a PowerVR/PowerVR combo 😵

PRO TIP: Don't use Geforce2. It's notably blurry around here. Yes it is powerful and kicks all sorts of ass, but its VGA output is just terrible!

Whoa superfast reply there leileilol!

Yeah I'm thinking of getting a PCX2 video card, like the M3D.

So it sounds like the driver control panel will allow me to disable the PCX2 card for Direct3D. It'll still work with PowerVR SGL games?

My plan is to do the following:

GeForce2 for Direct3D (don't hate!)
Voodoo2 for Glide
PowerVR for PowerVR SGL

For ultimate retro gaming goodness I still use a CRT with this PC. Maybe that is why I don't notice too much of a problem even with the GeForce2. That and I stick with 1024*768 and lower. Pretty much the domain of pre-1999 games.

YCH wrote:

It'll still work with PowerVR SGL games?

Yes, and it'll still work with PowerVR MiniGL drivers for select id Tech2 engine games as well. The PowerVR HAL checkbox is only a Direct3D override. With your plans, I suppose you can keep that permanently unchecked.

The s3 Trio is sharper in VGA output than the Geforce2 😜 I hear the Geforce4MX is a better subsitute. It's just a Geforce2 that sucks a little less.

As for PCX-2 game compatibility, the last game to ever support it directly is Metal Fatigue, a 2000 mecha RTS game. The only Unreal engine games to support PowerVR is Unreal, TNN Outdoor Pro Hunter and Klingon Honor Guard (despite SGLDrv existing in everything after UT it's regressed against Core.dll. i've emailed tim sweeney about that already). The only id Tech 2 games that support PowerVR are Quake, Hexen II, Quake2, Half-Life, and SiN (no Kingpin, Heretic II or Soldier of Fortune here)

Of course had there been a Opengl32.dll hook that passes all triangle strip calls to translate to straight triangles for the PowerVR MiniGL it'd probably have better luck with id Tech 3. The MiniGL has no calls for any strips

Don't miss our official PowerVR Fun Thread!
PowerVR Fun Thread

Oh btw some GeForce 2 cards do have good image quality. They are definitely hit and miss though. Some are really blurry.

Sweet; bought myself an M3D.

Will see how it works out 😁

Hmm, I had a bunch of issues running some of the PowerVR demos with my hardware combination.
Voodoo2 + M3D + G200

Then again it might be just a driver issue, I'll play around with it again later since I'm replacing the G200 with an S3 Trio.

Awww yeah just scored a PowerVR version of Mechwarrior 2. I hope it runs well on the M3D.

It'd better. I wish I had that one. Those alpha blended explosions were something.

leileilol wrote:

It'd better. I wish I had that one. Those alpha blended explosions were something.

Also looking forward to seeing the fog effect. Archaic by today's standard but I believe it's the only one among all the 3D-accelerated versions (not counting the abomination that is the Titanium edition) that features this. I can tolerate, no, even like the blocky graphics of MW2 but the one thing I can't stand is the severe pop-in of the environements. Maybe the fog effects will help fade in the mountains better.

From Kanajana's legendary MW2 site:

Ah shite just noticed this thread is posted in the wrong forum. Should've been in "Marvin".

Okay I already posted this in the "PowerVR fun" thread but thought I should updated this one.

Got my M3D; it runs just fine alongside a Voodoo 1 and ATi Rage Pro.

Here's some camera pics of Mechwarrior 2 PowerVR in action.

YCH wrote:

Ah shite just noticed this thread is posted in the wrong forum. Should've been in "Marvin".

Moved!