I just installed Silent Thunder from my Rendition bundle in my 1997 rig. No Rendion card in there just a Voodoo/ Virge combo. When I ran it, I heard the "click click" from my Orchid Voodoo card. And yes, nice filtered textures and smooth frames I figure at 640x480.
The regular Readme file states the minimum video is a Siera Sceamin' 3D. HA!
From the Video Readme files it only mentions Direct Draw and Direct 3D.
Here is the Video Readme:
DirectDraw:
In WIN 95 Silent Thunder uses DirectDraw drivers to allow high-speed
full-screen graphics. The DirectX install in the Sierra Setup detects whether
you have DirectX previously installed on your machine and gives you the option
of updating to newer files, should your files be older than the current
version. Updating may not be necessary in order for Silent Thunder to run
properly, unless the DirectX installer marks the CERTIFIED column with a "NO."
This indicates that the system has checked your version of DirectX and found
that it doesn't conform to current standards.
Before updating DirectDraw over existing drivers, check your video card
manufacturer's instructions. Some newer video cards use custom video drivers
and updating these with standard Win95 drivers can cause problems. If you are
in doubt, contact your video manufacturer before updating DirectDraw.
Addresses and phone numbers for major video card manufacturers are listed at
the end of this document.
Direct3D:
In WIN 95, if 3D graphics acceleration is detected, Silent Thunder uses Direct3D
drivers for high-speed full-screen graphics. The DirectX install in the Sierra Setup
detects whether you have DirectX previously installed on your machine and gives
you the option of updating to newer files, should your files be older than the current
version. Updating may not be necessary in order for Silent Thunder to run
properly, unless the DirectX installer marks the CERTIFIED column with a "NO."
This indicates that the system has checked your version of DirectX and found
that it doesn't conform to current standards.
Before updating DirectDraw over existing drivers, check your video card
manufacturer's instructions. Some newer video cards use custom video drivers
and updating these with standard Win95 drivers can cause problems. If you are
in doubt, contact your video manufacturer before updating DirectDraw.
Addresses and phone numbers for major video card manufacturers are listed at
the end of this document.
Running Silent Thunder in a window:
Silent Thunder accesses your video card through the standard Windows video
drivers. Running Silent Thunder in a window should function properly on any
system that is properly configured to run Windows. If you should experience
any problems while running Silent Thunder in a window, verify that the proper
video drivers are selected in your Display Properties. If these selections are
correct and you still experience problems, contact your video card
manufacturer's Technical Support.
Running Silent Thunder in Full Screen Mode:
Because Silent Thunder uses DirectDraw or Direct3D to produce high-speed,
full-screen graphics, Full Screen mode is available only in a WIN 95 installation.
Direct Draw and Direct3D allow Silent Thunder to run in full screen mode in
either high-res or low-res modes, and provides some noticeable frame rate
improvements, particularly in the case of Direct3D. Not all video cards tested
supported DirectDraw properly. If your card does not support DirectDraw,
you may find that the game will freeze or crash to Windows when flying in
full-screen mode. Direct3D support for Silent Thunder has been tested and
approved on video accelerator cards based on the Rendition Verite chip, such as
Sierra's Screamin' 3D. Other Direct3D cards may or may not perform as expected.
If it is necessary to disable Direct3D support for Silent Thunder, edit the file named 'HARDWARE.CFG', and change the second line to read:
Direct3D=NO
This will cause to game to behave as if no hardware 3D acceleration was detected,
and full screen mode will attempt to use DirectDraw rather than Direct3D.
NOTE - DirectDraw and Direct3D only affect Silent Thunder when running with
Full Screen enabled in the Preferences Menu. If you are running Windows in
640x480 mode, you can play Silent Thunder in a full-screen window without
using the full-screen mode and DirectDraw being present on your machine.
Windows colors:
Silent Thunder was designed to run optimally with a 256 color video driver.
If you have Windows set to HIGH COLOR (16 bit) or TRUE COLOR (24 bit), the
program itself will play normally, but certain graphic transition screens may
have odd colors, or may appear mostly black. You may also find that the
program will run faster if you set your Color Palette to 256 colors.
Manually Installing DirectDraw:
If you should decide to upgrade video drivers or cards, or find that you need
to reinstall DirectDraw, you can do so manually. Simply run Dxsetup.exe,
which is found in the DirectX directory on your Silent Thunder CD.
NOTE - Some video cards provide their own DirectDraw support. Before
installing DirectDraw manually, check your video card information to verify
that you can install without overwriting critical files.
Diamond Stealth:
Diamond Multimedia Technologies has released updated video drivers for Windows
'95 that will allow the Stealth cards to run with DirectDraw. Contact Diamond
Multimedia for a set of Windows '95 drivers if you would like to run in full
screen mode.
NOTE -- You can always run the game in Window play - the DirectDraw drivers
will only correct problems in Full Screen (DirectDraw) mode.
What to do if you have problems:
Reboot -- The Sierra Setup utility program automatically detects whether your
machine has DirectDraw installs and installs it, if needed. These changes
will not take effect until after you restart your system.
Reinstall -- It is possible something interrupted the installation of Direct
Draw. Uninstall Silent Thunder and install again. It may be necessary to
allow Setup to update your DirectDraw drivers in order for Silent Thunder to
run properly. Before updating existing DirectDraw drivers, consult your
video card information to verify that you are not overwriting critical files.
Update your drivers -- Contact your video card manufacturer and verify that
you have the latest video drivers for your card, and verify that these drivers
do, in fact, work with DirectDraw. If you already have the newest drivers,
verify that those drivers are the ones currently installed. If you have
installed or updated WIN 95 or since you installed the newer video drivers, it
is possible that Windows may have replaced the driver with an older version.
You can get information on your video card and drivers by clicking on SYSTEM
in the Control Panel folder, selecting DEVICE MANAGERS, and clicking on
DISPLAY ADAPTERS.
Video Card Manufacturers:
When attempting to resolve video problems with Silent Thunder, you should
contact your video card manufacturer's technical support. Before calling you
should make sure you have all of the information about your video card and
monitor handy, and that you know what version of your video drivers you are
using.