If you want Splinter Cell 1 and Pandora Tomorrow to render every single effect correctly, you need either a GeForce 3 or a GeForce 4 Ti.

The GeForce FX cards are close too, but they have the "shiny texture glitch". That's purely a cosmetic issue and doesn't affect the gameplay in any way. With GeForce 6 and up, a bunch of other things start breaking, and the gameplay gets negatively impacted as well.

I've read that as well but I've read also that it is different with Pandora Tomorrow. Pandora Tomorrow supposedly works OK up to (and including) GeForce 7 series (at least the same way that it works on FX). So how exactly it is with Pandora Tomorrow? Does it have the same effects on GeForce FX/6/7 series as on GeForce 3/4 Ti series or worse or better?

Sephiroth, The Great wrote on 2023-12-26, 16:35:

I've read that as well but I've read also that it is different with Pandora Tomorrow. Pandora Tomorrow supposedly works OK up to (and including) GeForce 7 series (at least the same way that it works on FX). So how exactly it is with Pandora Tomorrow? Does it have the same effects on GeForce FX/6/7 series as on GeForce 3/4 Ti series or worse or better?

I've recently played Pandora Tomorrow on a GeForce 6600 GT and it didn't render (at least) two very important light sources. These come into play during one of the later missions (TV Station).

Specifically, the 6600 GT couldn't render the huge searchlight in the mined courtyard. Neither could it display the shoulder mounted lights that some guards in that mission use. Both of these light sources are very important for the gameplay. You practically can't finish the courtyard section on that card since you're unable to see (and avoid) the searchlight.

There is giant thread here and Phil's video and general consensus is that GPUs up to (and including) GeForce 7 series are OK and render everything OK in Pandora Tomorrow with right driver version (up to specific driver version). Maybe you had too new driver?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HDnUxSfFsI
Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow

Sephiroth, The Great wrote on 2023-12-26, 18:47:

There is giant thread here and Phil's video and general consensus is that GPUs up to (and including) GeForce 7 series are OK and render everything OK in Pandora Tomorrow with right driver version (up to specific driver version). Maybe you had too new driver?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HDnUxSfFsI
Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow

Either Phil did not reach that level during his testing (it's among the last ones) or it may indeed depend on the driver version.

For the record, I used 77.72 drivers, which came out one year after Pandora Tomorrow. I didn't test my 6600 GT with other driver versions though.

Weird. Then maybe you have too old driver. I think some newer drivers made some optimizations for this game. But it has to be a driver before 170. It would be nice if you test it out. Talking about Windows XP of course.

Anyone else has something to add to this topic?

Sephiroth, The Great wrote on 2023-12-26, 19:05:

Weird. Then maybe you have too old driver. I think some newer drivers made some optimizations for this game. But it has to be a driver before 170. It would be nice if you test it out. Talking about Windows XP of course.

Not feasible at the moment, since I would have to replay most of that level to reach the relevant location. The mined courtyard is about half-way into the mission. I might do it at some point in the future when I have more time.

However, I can show you the effect that was missing on my 6600 GT. If you watch this walkthrough video you will see the courtyard section at the 2:42:29 mark. Notice the large moving searchlight that's illuminating the area? It didn't show up at all on my 6600 GT.

You have to avoid that searchlight to progress further without being spotted, which is pretty much impossible if the effect doesn't render on your GPU.

I used to have a Ti 4200 and a 6600 GT. I think I sold them many years ago; I guess it's another case of "should've kept them" on vogons.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-12-27, 08:28:

Not feasible at the moment, since I would have to replay most of that level to reach the relevant location. The mined courtyard is about half-way into the mission. I might do it at some point in the future when I have more time.

This could work, although I haven't tested them: https://www.pcsavegames.fr/en/index.php?id=to … ndoratomorrow_2

EDIT: My mistake, you meant the level itself, not the whole game. I'll see if I can play to that point and post the save file here.

EDIT2: Here is the save.

eddman wrote on 2023-12-27, 13:39:

EDIT: My mistake, you meant the level itself, not the whole game. I'll see if I can play to that point and post the save file here.

EDIT2: Here is the save.

Thanks! With this save, I was able to test it today.

Looks like it was an issue with the 77.72 drivers after all. In comparison, when using the newer 169.21 drivers that Phil mentioned in his video, the searchlight is properly rendered on my 6600 GT.

So GeForce 6/7 series will work as well as GeForce3/4 Ti/FX series in terms of rendering effects under Windows XP with correct drivers (meaning they will render all/same effects as GeForce3/4 Ti/FX series)? I wonder how it compares to playing with newer GPU (under newer OS) with a wrapper? Can we this way get all the effects also? What will be the ultimate way to play (in terms of getting/seeing all effects): GeForce 7950GX2 or new GPU with a wrapper or something else? So overall it would be nice to have 2 XP builds: one with something like GTX 980 Ti (for most/newer XP-compatible games to play at 4K with all eye-candy settings maxed) and second with 7950GX2 (to max SC:PT and maybe some older games that like/use 16-bit dithering or something like that, that newer GPUs are incompatible with, etc.)?

Sephiroth, The Great wrote on 2023-12-29, 20:00:

So GeForce 6/7 series will work as well as GeForce3/4 Ti/FX series in terms of rendering effects under Windows XP with correct drivers (meaning they will render all/same effects as GeForce3/4 Ti/FX series)?

As far as I can tell, Pandora Tomorrow does render everything correctly on the GeForce 6 (and likely 7 too) cards when using these later drivers. During my previous playthrough, I didn't notice any missing effects other than what I had mentioned earlier. For the first Splinter Cell, you still need GeForce 3/4/FX though.

I wonder how it compares to playing with newer GPU (under newer OS) with a wrapper? Can we this way get all the effects also?

I've never tried playing the first two Splinter Cell games on modern systems, mostly because you lose native EAX support that way. Maybe the wrappers have gotten better in the recent years, but I still prefer using real hardware whenever possible.

As for 4K and such, these games don't have enough texture detail to really benefit from that resolution. Unless you're adding some kind of enhanced texture pack on top, I don't think it's worth going beyond 1600x1200.