Wait, are my eyes correct?

Catalyst 6.2 drivers for Windows ME/98SE, with Catalyst Control Center.

Catalyst 5.2 drivers for Windows 98SE.

So, don't Catalyst 5.2 and 6.2 support x800/x850? As such, you can actually have x800/x850 on Windows 98SE.

Well, but there is still AA problem, namely lack of SSAA. Can you force SSAA from Catalyst Control Center?

Go here

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx

Plug in Radeon 9x00 and Radeon X8x0 and see what you get. For X8x0, a 2k driver is the oldest you get.

Update:

I've tried csfix 32 Bit.zip from Davros' link here. While the main menu is no longer garbled, my mouse moves veeeeeery slowly and jerky, to the point that I thought the game crashes.

I don't know, but it seems the fix doesn't work with GeForce 310M. 🙁

Crimson Skies problem solved! Hell Yeah!

You see, even with the fix, main menu screen still freezes so bad. I suspect this has something to do with AA, so I disable AA by not selecting "Override any application setting" in the AA mode.

The main menu works, but of course, I got all the ugly jagged lines during the game.

I suspect all the main menu freeze is caused by funny AA setting in modern video card (CSAA, MSAA, blah blah), so I fired up nVidia Inspector, set the AA setting strictly to FSAA (no CSAA, no MSAA, no Quincux, no blah blah), and then set the AA mode back to "Override any application setting".

Guess what? The main menu still works, but so does FSAA this time! My conclusion is that SSAA is the most compatible AA method for any games - especially old games!

Here's the screenshot of my nVidia Inspector setting.

This setting works for Crimson Skies on GeForce 310M, with AA enabled.

Update: now I have discovered to enable AA in Crimson Skies, I then tried to play with various AA setting.

Turns out that MSAA does not cause problem with the main menu either. It is CSAA that cause the main menu to freeze.

Heck. What the hell is this "CSAA" anyway? And why does it cause the main menu screen to freeze?

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Update: now I have discovered to enable AA in Crimson Skies, I then tried to play with various AA setting.

Turns out that MSAA does not cause problem with the main menu either. It is CSAA that cause the main menu to freeze.

Heck. What the hell is this "CSAA" anyway? And why does it cause the main menu screen to freeze?

That is Coverage Sampling Antialiasing is for GeForce 8 series or newer

Hmmm... remember reading about it in TechReport, but never bother with it. Especially since nVidia Control Panel doesn't go into details in displaying selectable AA method.

Crimson Skies is great fun, though. I already forgot that this game can be difficult, especially when you're going into fog. Have to hone my skill again for this great old game.

The coverage sample modes should work well for older games because of their simple rendering techniques. Run 16xQ on those games.

If you run the 4xS/6xS/8xS or another custom ordered grid SSAA mode, you can turn off the separate transparency SSAA.

You should also try experimenting with sparse grid SSAA. Force 4X MSAA and then also turn on 4X SGSSAA in the transparency supersampling section. This is far superior to the old ordered grid SSAA when it works nicely. Sometimes it's too blurry though.

swaaye wrote:

The coverage sample modes should work well for older games because of their simple rendering techniques. Run 16xQ on those games.

I wonder why CSAA causes problem with Crimson Skies's main menu screen. I think it's an exception than the norm. Anyway, CSAA doesn't cause problems with MDK.

swaaye wrote:

If you run the 4xS/6xS/8xS or another custom ordered grid SSAA mode, you can turn off the separate transparency SSAA.

You should also try experimenting with sparse grid SSAA. Force 4X MSAA and then also turn on 4X SGSSAA in the transparency supersampling section. This is far superior to the old ordered grid SSAA when it works nicely. Sometimes it's too blurry though.

Interesting. Will try it out. 😀