Finally got a Creative 3D Blaster Working (mostly) \ VOGONS

Finally got a Creative 3D Blaster Working (mostly)

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First post, by SEGamer

Posted on 2018-03-05, 03:20

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I recently won a Creative 3D Blaster on ebay that came with software and manuals and finally got a rig setup to test it.
Was a bit of a pain as with getting any old system setup and running. I started with Win95 but ditched that after I realized the games needed DOS mode to run and went with DOS only.

Pics can be seen here: https://imgur.com/a/gwleD

The games by Bullfrog were the only ones to give me headaches. Magic Carpet crashes if I run another game before it, and I can't get Hi-Octane to work. The screen will flash as if it's trying to run but goes back to DOS and freezes. Any ideas/help is appreciated.

Edit: forgot to mention the system specs
OS: DOS 7.1 (I think. Made a DOS disk from win98)
CPU: AMD 586@133MHz
RAM: 32MB
HDD: 4GB CF card
Main video card: ATI Mach64 GT Rage I
No sound card installed yet
Autoexec.bat and Config.sys are set to initialize the 3D Blaster, CD Drive, and mouse drivers

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Reply 1 of 10, by vetz

Posted on 2018-03-05, 08:30

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Try getting High Octane to run in normal software mode and see if the problem is there as well.

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Reply 2 of 10, by Gona

Posted on 2018-03-05, 10:01

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Try with soundcard too.
Also try to change the VLB wait state on the motherboard or in bios.
I have tested the card in a Socket 3 system and is was always frozen does not matter changing VLB wait state or any bios settings so if the problem remains try an other Socket 3 motherboard...

Video card compatibility matrix for DOS games | ATI3DCIF compatibility matrix | CGL API compatibility matrix

Reply 3 of 10, by The Serpent Rider

Posted on 2018-03-05, 10:59

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Maybe try 25mhz option?

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 4 of 10, by SEGamer

Posted on 2018-03-05, 16:23

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Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try to get through all of them today.

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Reply 5 of 10, by SEGamer

Posted on 2018-03-05, 21:07

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Turns out not having a sound card was the issue. I installed an SB16 and everything appears to be working fine, retested all games and all loaded without any hiccups. Kind of surprised there wasn't a warning about it since Magic Carpet yelled at me when it couldn't find any mouse drivers loaded, but then again I have seen error handling done worse with software of this time (and even today for that matter)

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Reply 6 of 10, by Reputator

Posted on 2018-03-07, 02:59

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What what an amazing card to have working! Might be asking a lot, but since you're one of the few that has it, would you be able to record some footage of it in action? Even if it's just shaky cellphone footage.

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Reply 7 of 10, by vetz

Posted on 2018-03-07, 12:12

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Reputator wrote:
What what an amazing card to have working! Might be asking a lot, but since you're one of the few that has it, would you be able to record some footage of it in action? Even if it's just shaky cellphone footage.

I have two videos on Youtube of the card in action. Anything particular you would like to see more of?

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Reply 8 of 10, by SEGamer

Posted on 2018-03-07, 16:42

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Reputator wrote:
What what an amazing card to have working! Might be asking a lot, but since you're one of the few that has it, would you be able to record some footage of it in action? Even if it's just shaky cellphone footage.

Unfortunately I'm in the process of getting a capture card so I currently don't have a way to get any good footage yet which I'd rather do than film the monitor with a camera.

As vetz said, he has a video of all the games here: https://youtu.be/c7tTYwNDWlU

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Reply 9 of 10, by vetz

Posted on 2018-03-09, 12:16

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Capturing from the 3D Blaster VLB isn't very friendly to capture cards. You need a card that can handle very custom refresh rates and resolutions.The Epiphan cards are the only ones I know about that can do it.

Fatal Racing /Whiplash capture test on the 3D Blaster VLB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HunGvGcpbJ4

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Reply 10 of 10, by SEGamer

Posted on 2018-03-11, 03:41

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vetz wrote:
Capturing from the 3D Blaster VLB isn't very friendly to capture cards. You need a card that can handle very custom refresh rates and resolutions.The Epiphan cards are the only ones I know about that can do it.

Fatal Racing /Whiplash capture test on the 3D Blaster VLB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HunGvGcpbJ4

Thanks for the heads up. I managed to find an epiphan vga2pcie for pretty cheap on ebay.

I've noticed the odd sync with my LCD monitors as well. My old Dell 4:3 monitor would display the image down and to the right. My Dell U2410F will display it fine, but I have to go into the monitor's menu and do the auto adjust every time it goes into a game.

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