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Tech demos - general discussion

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Reply 80 of 103, by kolano

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SteveC wrote:

Interestingly I'm trying to get the G400 tech demo working on an actual G400 and it used to work (Windows XP) but since changing around graphics cards (had a Parhelia and some NVidia 8400GS card in the PC since the G400) it just goes black screen, you get 1/2 second of sound then dumps you back to the desktop. There's a 'matrox.txt' file that's created and that says it 'can't load video texture'. I've tried the patched exe Dege posted but that made no difference. Argh I guess I'll have to reinstall a clean Windows XP and try again...

Yeah, I'd also like to get it running again.

Addomg "i_promise_i_will_go_buy_a_matrox_g400" at the end of matrox.cfg is supposed to get it running on non-Matrox hardware, but on modern hardware I don't think that alone get's it running anymore, nor can the installer be run.

Eyecandy: Turn your computer into an expensive lava lamp.

Reply 81 of 103, by Dege

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Try the attached .sdb compatibility file. It contains FaultTolerantHeap and WinXPSp2 fixes, but as CoolGamer said in an earlier post, EmulateHeap may also be needed. And single thread affinity.
With this sdb installed I got it working with dgVoodoo on Win10. Well, more or less: I cannot guarantee it will work for you, the reason of the crash is very misterious.

You can modify the sdb (adding new compatibility options) with Compatibility Administrator 32 bit.
I'm not sure if this application is part of the OS by default or should be installed additionally.

Attachments

  • Filename
    MatroxG400TechDemo.zip
    File size
    655 Bytes
    Downloads
    122 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 82 of 103, by SteveC

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I am actually trying on a G400 in Windows XP SP3 on old hardware (Athlon 1900XP). Using that sdb file didn't help. HOWEVER I have got it to run! I had to set the render depth to 16 bit (render_depth 0) in the config file. No idea why though as this is the original G400 32MB I've had for about 20 years from when I used to beta test for Matrox 😀

I'm just wondering if it SP3 that's breaking it as I do remember upgrading this old HDD at some point from SP2 when messing around. I only have the SP3 ISO now though and not sure I can be bothered going through XP setup again now it works (albeit in 16bit colour).

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/StevesTechShed
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SteveTechShed

Reply 83 of 103, by CoolGamer

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rthdribl (DirectX 9 Tech Demo) by Masaki Kawase
"rthdribl" is an acronym for "Real-time High Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeXQwvPHufU

This demo requires Vertex Shader 2.0 and Pixel Shader 2.0. It works fine natively but it crashes via dgVoodoo WIP53.
This is the only DX9 PS 2.0 tech demo that I could find. This demo is packed with a lot of features so fixing dgVoodoo to work with it should improve overall DX9 compatibility.

Informational websites are listed below. Original website does not render properly so it needs to be accessed via archive.org
http://www.flipcode.com/archives/04-15-2003.shtml
http://www.daionet.gr.jp/~masa/rthdribl/index.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20100730194820/ht … ribl/index.html

Download Link for the latest version:
http://www.daionet.gr.jp/~masa/archives/rthdribl_2_0.zip

Reply 84 of 103, by CoolGamer

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I found some more DX9 tech demos/benchmarks. I could NOT get dgVoodoo WIP53 to work with any of the DX9 tech demos and benchmarks listed below.

I couldn't find information regarding pixel shader requirements of these demos. Nvidia and Unigine demos might be PS 3.0 or PS 2.0.
ATI demos are probably PS 2.0 or below. Some of the ATI demos also had issues when I tried to run them natively.

Download links are below.

GeoForms (DX9) Nvidia
https://www.nvidia.com/coolstuff/demos#!/geoforms

Unigine Heaven (DX9/DX10/DX11/OpenGL) I tested DX9 mode
https://benchmark.unigine.com/heaven

Unigine Tropics (DX9/DX10/DX11/OpenGL) I tested DX9 mode
https://benchmark.unigine.com/tropics

Unigine Sanctuary (DX9/DX10/DX11/OpenGL) I tested DX9 mode
https://benchmark.unigine.com/sanctuary

ATI DX9 Demos
https://gpuopen.com/archive/gpu-demos/legacy- … e-legacy-demos/

Animusic (DX9, Radeon 9700)
http://www2.ati.com/misc/demos/ATI-9700-PipeD … m-Demo-v1.1.exe

Car (DX9, Radeon 9700)
http://www2.ati.com/misc/demos/ATI-9700-CarPa … t-Demo-v1.1.exe

Bear (DX9, Radeon 9700)
http://www2.ati.com/misc/demos/ATI-9700-Bear-Demo-v1.1.exe

Rendering With Natural Light (DX9, Radeon 9700)
http://www2.ati.com/misc/demos/ATI-9700-Debev … L-Demo-v1.1.exe

Non Photorealistic Rendering (DX9, Radeon 9700)
http://www2.ati.com/misc/demos/ATI-9700-NPRHa … g-Demo-v1.1.exe

Chimp Demo (DX9, Radeon 9800)
http://www2.ati.com/misc/demos/ATI-9800-Chimp-Demo-v1.1.exe

Reply 85 of 103, by Dege

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Thx for the those demos!

nVidia ones seem to be SM3.x and also, Unigine needs at least multiple render targets (but don't know what SM).
I won't 'fix' them, because SM3 + multiple rts + instanced drawing + displacement mapping and such would be the next (final) level to support. (well, I'm hesitating on multiple rts, I don't know how to classify it, should I implement or not)

The rthdribl tech demo needs float textures which is implemented now and it works. Thx to other bugfixes all but one (or 2?) ATI tech demo are working now.

Reply 86 of 103, by CoolGamer

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Dege, thanks for looking into the demos that I posted. Please try to implement full support for Directx 9.0c eventually (including PS 3.0 and multiple RTS). I know that this will not happen by next WIP and will take time, but the end product will be awesome.

For motivational purposes, I found the Matrox Parhelia Reef demo equivalent of the DX9c PS 3.0 demos. 😀 It is the ToyShop demo from ATI. It is truly a gorgeous demo. Apparently this demo uses a backbuffer (1010101 backbuffer) that is not supported by nVidia cards, and gives an error message on my pc. As the nVidia card owners, "you are our only hope" for this demo. 😀 Note the Star Wars pun. 😀

https://gpuopen.com/archive/gpu-demos/legacy- … e-legacy-demos/

ToyShop (DX9c, Radeon X1800)
https://drivers.amd.com/misc/demos/ATI-Demo-ToyShop-v1.2.exe
http://developer.amd.com/wordpress/media/2012 … ionFestival.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp6nKyFNshs

The other DX9c PS 3.0 demos from ATI are listed below.

The Assassin (DX9c, Radeon X1800)
Note: This one does not work on nVidia either. Requires 1010101 backbuffer.
https://drivers.amd.com/misc/demos/ATI-Demo-T … sassin-v1.0.exe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGgc_dWVXe4

Ruby: Dangerous Curves (DX9c, Radeon X850)
https://drivers.amd.com/misc/demos/ati-demo-d … curves-v1.3.exe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU4o-uLFxXs

Crowd (DX9c, Radeon X800)
https://drivers.amd.com/misc/demos/ATI-Demo-Crowd-v1.4.exe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4oqTC9DlhU

Ruby: The DoubleCross (DX9c, Radeon X800)
https://drivers.amd.com/misc/demos/ATI-Demo-D … eCross-v1.4.exe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2tisSatVLI

Subsurface Scattering (DX9c, Radeon X800)
https://drivers.amd.com/misc/demos/ATI-Demo-S … tering-v1.4.exe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUfdRboIhEA

Reply 88 of 103, by Stiletto

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Came across this in another thread, dunno if they've been mentioned yet, Dege:
Obscure T&L Benchmarks

"I see a little silhouette-o of a man, Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you
do the Fandango!" - Queen

Stiletto

Reply 89 of 103, by Dege

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Coolgamer,

ATI tech demos you mentioned should more or less work with WIP57.
Toyshop and Assasin indeed require A2R10G10B10 display format which is supported now. But they also requires nonstandard DF16 depth buffer format which I didn't implement completely so there are no shadows in Assasin. Toyshop has known rendering errors with parallax mapping and water-on-glass (through WIP57).
Other demos should work however.

Reply 90 of 103, by MagikGimp

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CoolGamer wrote on 2017-04-10, 00:57:

...running the scene demo Kasparov by elitegroup via dgVoodoo. ... http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=374 ...

Hate to bump an old thread but if you're still around, how did you prevent the glitches with the water in this one? I'm stumped. I've used dgVoodoo but it only allows me to task switch without crashing and I've also tried the command line parameter mentioned in the readme but that must only be for 20 year old hardware. Any help with this would be appreciated because it might also apply to other demos and games; thank you.

Reply 92 of 103, by MagikGimp

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So this is not hardware specific?? I find that a stretch to believe as the files are from a demoscene website and others have also downloaded from there. And this is a patched release; of more than one revision. I've also run this a few times now with the same problem each time. I don't mean to dismiss your comment out of hand though so would you be willing to elaborate a bit on how you came to that conclusion? Did it work sometimes for you and not other times?
I wonder if the patch actually broke something. I'll have to dig around for the other versions if I have time.

Reply 93 of 103, by aqrit

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An uninitialized variable on the stack could be highly deterministic.
It could be dependent on the version of the process loader and/or other software libraries loaded or running (system dlls, drivers, etc.).

Reply 95 of 103, by Dege

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TBH, I don't know what the source of the problem is. The demo feeds D3D with transformed vertices, so the overstretched waving water shouldn't be dependent on dgVoodoo's own calculations (I couldn't reproduce it now, tried some times).
Or, it is dependent in a very subtle way. Like in this case: Star Trek: Starfleet Command III

Reply 96 of 103, by dr.zeissler

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Any idea why the radeon-techdemos for the 8500 series (DX81) do not run on Win98se/WinME with DX8.1 and R9250? (Using latest ref-driver 6.2)
On that same machine with WinXP they do work fine. All demos quit while loading the first 10% and then freeze. Radeons-Ark and Rage128Demo
runs fine though... I think I need some additional software? The Log only tells me that the demos had quit.

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 97 of 103, by TP555-1981

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Hi

im Seraching the Nvidia Geforce 3 TechDemo The Whole Enchilada , this Demo was never official Released by Nvidia , but was aviable on the Following Links

https://web.archive.org/web/20030828143715/ht … chilada_fr.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20010525035503/ht … pages/enchilada

https://web.archive.org/web/20010617114005/ht … lities/main.htm

http://www.blisware.com/Franchise_sites/nvid/ … BumpmapDemo.zip is 4MB

Video
https://youtu.be/TaC60NLjnnU (0:36)

Have anyone this Demo or this File ?

I have just found in my old Collections this Screenshot !
https://ibb.co/w4gGKfv

Reply 98 of 103, by TP555-1981

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First succes 😁

i have found a simlair Nvidia Demo Called : Nvidia Bumpy Shiny Patch , but in this Demo is the Green Nvidia not aviable , some Files are not Found when press C
But this a very good too , and Execlent Bump Mapping , als a bit Darker but good 😁

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eYIs0VVsVI

Reply 99 of 103, by MagikGimp

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I think that Enchilada one is long gone unfortunately. Blisware was the only place that seemed to have it and the Internet Archive never grabbed that particular file in their scraping. I did find some things however:

I reckon that bumpyshiny eventually became Enchilada considering how similar they are and that the developer, Cass Everitt, worked at nvidia (and now Oculus?) although that's just speculation. Everything else I found was just me following your own footsteps! I'm now intrigued by the rest of the demos on this list. A guy posting from 2004 mentions that the link at Blisware wasn't even working back then!