VOGONS


3dfx/Glide

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Reply 20 of 32, by Stiletto

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I've been curious for a while if it works or not. It strikes me to be something like a meme virus. If you check out Google Groups, he's essentially spammed the news of it all around. When you check out Google Web, all two people who have posted that they've tried it have failed.

I just emailed "Dracman", we'll see what comes of it.

My email:

From: "Stiletto" Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 5:58 PM To: dracman@compuserve.com Subject: 3dfx Voodoo1 API contained in GeForce3 […]
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From: "Stiletto"
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 5:58 PM
To: dracman@compuserve.com
Subject: 3dfx Voodoo1 API contained in GeForce3?

I'm not sure that you realize this, but you've had people across the web (http://www.geocities.com/k_lupinsky/news.htm, 216.239.35.100/search?q=cache:IdUf8rhUU ... rc33.shtml[/url]) try your exact process involving running DOS Glide games with some 3dfx DLL's installed, and they're not getting the same results you are.

I recommend you either come clean or go into insane amounts of detail. It strikes me as a meme virus, or just some misleading information.

Hell, nvidia hasn't even verified this yet.

Cheers,
Stiletto
(Not the Stiletto known in the TombRaider "scene")

We shall see.

BTW - I own a Voodoo3 and currently run Windows 98 SE on my home PC, so it's not exactly something I can verify. I'd run Windows XP, but a PII 266 w/ 128 MB EDO RAM is not something you want to run it on.

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

Stiletto

Reply 22 of 32, by Snover

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I did a virus scan of those two files and found no virii. In fact, while it is quite a simple matter to forge version information, all the information is kosher and the modify date correlates to the copyright date (both of which are prior to 3Dfx getting bought out -- 1999, more specifically, 27 August).

File version: 2.61.0.439
Description: 3dfx Interactive, Inc. Glide® DLL
Copyright: Copyright & 3dfx Interactive, Inc. 1999
Company Name: 3dfx Interactive, Inc.
Graphics Subsystem: Voodoo Banshee®, Voodoo3®, & Velocity(tm) 100/200
Internal Name: glide2x.dll
Language: English (United States)
Original Filename: glide2x.dll
Product Name: Glide® for Voodoo Banshee®, Voodoo3®, and Velocity(tm) 100/200; Windows 95®, Windows 98®, & Windows NT®
Product Version: 2.61.00.0439

Modified: Friday, August 27, 1999, 2:38:48 AM (CST -06:00, though I do wonder why 3dfx developers would be building DLLs so early)

But then, Nicht Sehr Gut, maybe you've got better tools than I do. 😉

I'm gonna try some of this out on MY GeForce3Ti500 (probably'll try GTA1) and I'll report back what happens.

Yes, it’s my fault.

Reply 23 of 32, by Stiletto

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Sometimes I can be a little obtuse and unclear.

One set of definitions of "meme": http://labs.google.com/glossary?q=meme

Another is here: http://www.everything2.com/?node=Meme

Another is here (DISCLAIMER: {geek}): http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MEMES.html

I recently gained a slight interest in memetics thanks to Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon": http://www.cryptonomicon.com

Here's a geek news site that stole the term "meme": http://www.memepool.com

Here's some humorous memetics-related sites:
http://totl.net/VirusScanner/
http://totl.net/Memes/

But this is all off-topic. What I meant to say is I think Dracman's page about Glide being embedded in the GeForce3 may be a hoax. He still hasn't responded to my email.

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

Stiletto

Reply 24 of 32, by Stiletto

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Oh, FYI:

eVoodoo XP v3.2
A new release of eVoodoo XP is out.

Here's the list of changes:
New features in eVoodoo 3.2
- Windowed mode
- More functions implemented
- New Color Combiners
- Integration with Glide64 0.2
- More speed in fullscreen mode

New features in eVoodoo 2.229 Beta
- Windowed mode
- More functions implemented
- New Color Combiners

And well here are some words from the author:
eVoodoo 2.229 still is a beta version, and might have problems of compatibility and speed. If it doesn't work well in your computer wait until eVoodoo 2.3 is released. I'll release it as soon as possible.

Get it here: http://evoodoo.emulation64.com

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

Stiletto

Reply 25 of 32, by Nicht Sehr Gut

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If anyone manages to get a commercial game running with a Glide Wrapper, I'd appreciate a step-by-step guide. Closest I got was Driver with the previous eVoodoo. But it had some radical texture problems.

Reply 26 of 32, by Nicht Sehr Gut

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Success! Limited, but still a success. eVoodoo's latest release still doesn't work right in "DRIVER", but it _does_ work in "Unreal Tournament" and "Laser Arena" (which, I believe, is based on the Quake 2 engine). Both have some lighting issues and suffer slowdown effects, but they _do_ work.

"Laser Arena", unfortunately, seems to continuously slow down until it's unplayable. UT also suffers slowdown, but remains playable. Both thought they were using 3dfx Glide.
I was actually able to "Capture the Flag" in UT, which is a big step up from the crashes at startup I had received before (one caveat, it crashed my computer when I quit the game).

I ran this under Win98 (my XP is dead and I've yet to get around to a re-install). I just copied the files from the eVoodoo archive to my C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory (and made sure to not have any "loose" Glide .DLL files around outside my C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory), then chose 3dfx as the Video renderer.

Both would've run much smoother and looked better on a real Voodoo1, but it's a start.

Reply 27 of 32, by Nicht Sehr Gut

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Another success is Sierra's Skiing w/Picabo Street. Not a whole lot of enhancement for the 3dfx version, smoothed edges mostly; but it works. Only saw one graphic glitch (Finish Line posts are a bizarre mix of colors) and it suffers from slowdown after a few minutes of play.

Reply 28 of 32, by Snover

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Slowdown seems like a common problem. What could be causing it? Full memory buffer? Forgetting to PURGE memory buffers? Interrupt problem (like CLI)?

Yes, it’s my fault.

Reply 29 of 32, by Nicht Sehr Gut

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Snover wrote:

Slowdown seems like a common problem. What could be causing it

Presently my computer is a crippled version of what I was using a few weeks ago. It could be all kinds of things not related to the Glide emulation, but I thought I'd mention it in case someone else has the same issue.

BTW, "Driver", "Laser Arena" and "Unreal Tournament" all support other API's that work as well (or better) as Glide; I just used them because they were readily available to test.

Sierra's Skiing was the only "Glide or Software mode only" that has worked so far. While Skiing worked almost flawlessly, "Grand Prix Legends" performed terribly. Discoloration on menus and slow down to the point of a frame-per-minute. Occasionally I would see a glimpse of something properly rendered. Having said that, it's still a step up from the "system lock at main title screen" that I was getting earlier.

Titles like GPL really need Glide emulation because it's a rather unusual title that the only other render mode is in software. Those are the titles that really need testing.

Reply 30 of 32, by Gorice

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Assuming we're talking about Windows games here, yeah, I've had some success running commercial games with Glide wrappers.
Sentinel Returns (slight bugs)
Nuclear Strike (perfect)
Longbow 2 (nope)
Spec Ops (nope).
Shadow Warrior - I think so, can't quite remember. Glide doesn't do anything particularly dramatic for the Build engine, though.

Couldn't get Deus Ex to work, though 😁

I actually ended up buying a second-hand Voodoo 2, so my days of pissing about with Glide wrappers are over, hopefully.

Anyway, FWIW, I suspect that your graphics card may have a lot to do with it - I'm currently using a GeForce 256 DDR. My strategy in the past has been to download every wrapper I could find (http://www.smiff.clara.net/ has some good ones) and try them all in succession.

eVoodoo, XGL200 and Mglide 1.46G all gave results. All other wrappers failed miserably, including bloody Unified (annoying, since I have a Creative Annihilator Pro 😠 ). The configurator that comes with XGL200 is a good idea, and gives some extra knobs to tweak (fnarr).

Reply 31 of 32, by Nicht Sehr Gut

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Gorice wrote:

Shadow Warrior - I think so, can't quite remember. Glide doesn't do anything particularly dramatic for the Build engine, though.

I tested this out, it's actually 2 or 3 steps _down_ in quality. There's a "blurring" effect on everything and you lose the higher resolutions.

I actually ended up buying a second-hand Voodoo 2, so my days of pissing about with Glide wrappers are over, hopefully.


Yep, right up to the moment it dies. I have a Voodoo1 and a Voodoo Rush, and the VR has already hit the point of "unstable operation". Hopefully we'll have something solid by the time my V1 gives up the ghost.

I suspect that your graphics card may have a lot to do with it - I'm currently using a GeForce 256 DDR. .


Mine's a GeForce3.

My strategy in the past has been to download every wrapper I could find and try them all in succession.


Tried that, found that it was real easy to mix up the files and hose any kind of testing. Also found that results are insanely inconsistent.

eVoodoo, XGL200 and Mglide 1.46G all gave results.


The latest eVoodoo is the only one to give me usable results with commercial titles so far.

All other wrappers failed miserably, including bloody Unified


This is an example of the inconsistency I've seen.

Here's my results from the Unified with the old 3dfx demos:

demoroom.exe
The DEMOROOM.EXE... SHOCK!!...works properly. Maps textures and all lighting effects work properly.

RACE.EXE
The RACE.EXE ... SHOCK!! (BAD)...doesn't work at all. Blank screen, then quits.

fight.exe (Valley of Ra)
FIGHT.EXE... SHOCK!! (BAD)...doesn't work at all. Blank screen, then quits.

wiz.exe
The wiz.EXE looks almost perfect. Texture maps all look good (well, couple of glitches), and lighting is great (lava room, green dragon room, and the beholder)
Oddly, releasing a "bat" (the B key) will kill the program instantly(!?).

The configurator that comes with XGL200 is a good idea, and gives some extra knobs to tweak (fnarr).


Former Zzap64! editor, eh?

Reply 32 of 32, by Stiletto

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As NOT stated on eVoodoo's site (http://evoodoo.emulation64.com), eVoodoo has been updated to version 3.25. It was released at http://www.emulation64.com to go with the latest version of Glide64, the Nintendo64 emulator graphics plugin.

Here's what's new:
-Fixed crashing bug in Glide64 WIP...
-added grColorMask support for some games as Shadow of the empire
-fixed transparency problems in some places
-partial screen smooth
-minor changes and bug fixes.

Download here:
http://www.emulation64.com/N64/Wrappers/eVoodoo-3.25.zip

Good news, not an official release but still a good one. 😀

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

Stiletto