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First post, by janskjaer

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I've never played Tomb Raider before and the only version of the game I own is the one bundled with my Videologic Apocalypse 3Dx PowerVR PCX2 graphics card.

apocalypse3dx_tombraider.jpg
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apocalypse3dx_tombraider.jpg
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Apocalypse 3Dx and Tomb Raider
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Fair use/fair dealing exception

This version of the game is labelled as the "Special Edition". However, it seems to be far from "Special".
The CD has the "PowerVR Extreme" logo on it and as far as I can tell, it should simply be a PowerVR enhanced version of the full game.

tombraider_pvr_cd.jpg
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tombraider_pvr_cd.jpg
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270.37 KiB
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2648 views
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PowerVR Special Edition
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Fair use/fair dealing exception

As well as testing the game with my PowerVR cards, I wanted to see if this version of the game would accept me using the Rendition Verite Speedy3D patch on top of it. (http://www.patches-scrolls.com/dl.php?file=rendfina.zip)
I was surprised to see that it worked. I decided to play through the game with my Creative 3D Blaster PCI Rendition Verite v1000E instead.

Upon reaching the end of "Level 8: The Cistern", I dropped into the tunnel to end the level, seeing the level statistics and then ... error:

tombraider_error.jpg
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tombraider_error.jpg
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159.37 KiB
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2648 views
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Level Error
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Fair use/fair dealing exception

S_LoadLevel(): Could not open F:\data\level7b.phd

Doing a DIR command on the data directory of the game CD, I couldn't find any more .phd files after level7a.phd:

tombraider_dir.jpg
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tombraider_dir.jpg
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241.98 KiB
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2648 views
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DIR on the CD
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Fair use/fair dealing exception

Having obtained a BIN/CUE image of the original Tomb Raider game CD, I compared the two to find quite a few differences.
Left-side being the original Tomb Raider game CD, and the right-side being the Tomb Raider PowerVR Special Edition:

Mode:  Differences
Left base folder: Z:\Volumes\TOMBRAIDER
Right base folder: Z:\Volumes\TOMB
Name Size CRC Modified Name Size CRC Modified
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3dPatch 10/02/1998 07:12:00
DATA 51,681,110 10/02/1998 07:08:50 DATA 28,024,458 21/10/1997 08:05:31
| << +BUY.PCX 146,735 4B033A51 11/07/1997 15:13:06
+CUT2.PHD 354,320 E3E695AF 05/11/1996 15:12:56 >> |
+CUT3.PHD 512,104 2236E7EB 05/11/1996 15:13:00 >> |
+CUT4.PHD 879,582 ED2A6319 05/11/1996 15:13:04 >> |
+END.PCX 102,512 2A6906A6 18/10/1996 08:42:36 << +END.PCX 220,139 B07B309F 27/03/1997 15:27:50
+LEVEL6.PHD 3,139,590 D33506EF 05/11/1996 15:10:42 >> +LEVEL6.PHD 3,074,376 C02DE8D4 25/10/1996 09:56:36
+LEVEL7A.PHD 2,817,290 496D674B 05/11/1996 15:10:54 >> \LEVEL7A.PHD 2,817,612 E70BD755 25/10/1996 09:56:48
+LEVEL7B.PHD 3,388,774 05F6CA55 05/11/1996 15:11:12 >>
+LEVEL8A.PHD 2,880,242 A38D6808 05/11/1996 15:11:26 >>
+LEVEL8B.PHD 2,886,434 BF53F700 05/11/1996 15:11:44 >>
+LEVEL8C.PHD 3,105,128 45E08F6A 05/11/1996 15:11:58 >>
+LEVEL10A.PHD 3,223,816 6EBEF3A3 05/11/1996 15:12:16 >>
+LEVEL10B.PHD 3,094,020 827DFC49 05/11/1996 15:12:32 >>
\LEVEL10C.PHD 3,531,702 9B7AF7CE 05/11/1996 15:12:50 >>
FMV 124,750,330 10/02/1998 07:09:48 FMV 56,103,381 21/10/1997 08:05:34
Profiles 10/02/1998 07:12:00
UNIVESA 10/02/1998 07:08:50
INSTALL.BAT 77 D4DEDFD9 06/11/1996 10:25:52 >> INSTALL.BAT 64 931F23AF 22/10/1996 13:41:04
<< INSTALL.EXE 214,457 23261F39 21/10/1997 15:40:40
INSTR.BAT 77 D4DEDFD9 06/11/1996 10:25:52 << INSTR.BAT 86 79B2868C 20/10/1997 13:31:30
<< ISPCX1.EXE 42,684 5D6FB51C 21/10/1997 16:26:04
<< PVRSETUP.EXE 27,136 E2504D6C 21/10/1997 15:55:16
README.EXE 24,334 39487616 16/11/1994 13:21:18 >>
README.TXT 9,666 47CB2962 19/02/1998 11:32:18 >> README.TXT 9,828 3A23A9A6 21/10/1997 14:38:44
TOMB.EXE 768,563 1772DBA0 06/11/1996 14:11:12 << TOMB.EXE 1,145,708 8E26142D 10/09/1997 09:54:18
TOMB.PIF 967 D8B9D233 06/11/1996 16:13:22 << TOMB.PIF 967 2D522044 20/10/1997 13:39:56
TOMB.SP 11,888 F3B1C414 06/11/1996 14:13:08 >> TOMB.SP 11,888 BE30AB0C 06/11/1996 11:34:08
<< TOMBPCX1.EXE 1,144,108 7E5D6B6F 23/09/1997 17:30:40
TRFAQ.rtf 477,247 4C56CEB7 19/02/1998 10:49:14 >>
TRFAQ.txt 25,755 C23B8259 19/02/1998 11:37:32 >>
<< UVCONFIG.EXE 309,382 E2293DAE 27/01/1997 13:58:14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's quite clear the the PowerVR Special Edition is missing the rest of the levels.
What is interesting are the two last level files on the Special Edition, LEVEL6.PHD and LEVEL7A.PHD. For some reason, the files are different than on the original CD. The same goes for the two images on the PowerVR edition, BUY.PCX (which doesn't exist on the original CD for obvious reasons) and a different END.PCX file:

tomb_pcx_diff.png
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tomb_pcx_diff.png
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2648 views
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END.PCX Comparison
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

The only reason I can think the last two levels on the PowerVR edition are different than the original is because they were supposed to initiate the end sequence of the game prematurely, and display those two PCX files, signalling the end of the PowerVR edition.
So why didn't I see them, and instead get the error about the missing LEVEL7B.PHD? Because, I had replaced the PowerVR-modded TOMB.EXE with the one from the Rendition Verite Patch. The Rendition-based TOMB.EXE wasn't coded to prematurely end the game, and was it was expecting to continue onto the next level, hence the error.

Moral of the story - "Special" doesn't always signify "Better" 😉

DELL Dimension XPS M200s
:Intel P1 MMX 200MHz
:64MB EDO
:DOS 6.22/Win95b
:Matrox Millenium II + m3D (PowerVR PCX2)
Chaintech 7VJL Apogee
:AMD AthlonXP 2700+
:512MB DDR
:Win98SE/2000 SP4
:3dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP

Reply 1 of 16, by janskjaer

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Here are the BUY.PCX and END.PCX files on the PowerVR version of the game, that were supposed to be displayed to me.

BUY.jpg
Filename
BUY.jpg
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382.27 KiB
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BUY.PCX
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception
END.jpg
Filename
END.jpg
File size
416.38 KiB
Views
2644 views
File comment
END.PCX
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

The only problem is that I cannot test this with my current save files because save files for the Standard/Glide/Speedy3D versions are not compatible with saves in the PowerVR version.

Trying to load Standard/Glide/Speedy3D saves in the PowerVR version or vice-versa, produces the following error:

GetHeight(): Unknown type

EDIT: I just noticed that when using either the PowerVR patch (TOMBPCX2.EXE) or the TOMB.EXE that is shipped with the PowerVR version CD, it briefly tells you which version of the game you are running before the game starts. If I have the PowerVR CD loaded in the tray, I can quickly see: "OEM Version of CD found". If I load in the retail game CD, I see: "Full Retail Version of CD found". The Standard/Glide/Speedy3D TOMB.EXE files do not show this information when launching the game.

All of this is a shame really, because in my opinion, after testing all 4 versions, the PowerVR SGL version is by far the best. It combines the speed of the 3Dfx Glide version with the image quality of the Rendition Speedy3D version.
Even with the full retail version of the game and the PowerVR patch, I can't transfer my saves over and carry on from where i left off, using the PowerVR. 😢

Does anyone know how I can convert my save files to be compatible with the TOMBPCX2.EXE ?

DELL Dimension XPS M200s
:Intel P1 MMX 200MHz
:64MB EDO
:DOS 6.22/Win95b
:Matrox Millenium II + m3D (PowerVR PCX2)
Chaintech 7VJL Apogee
:AMD AthlonXP 2700+
:512MB DDR
:Win98SE/2000 SP4
:3dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP

Reply 2 of 16, by vetz

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Thanks for providing so much more indepth info on the PowerVR OEM version. I have a PowerVR version of Tomb Raider myself. I need to doublecheck if its the "special edition" or the full retail.

I don't know of a method to convert the save files, but there are a level skip cheat to quickly catch up your progress:

Level Skip
To skip the current level, walk one step forward, one step backwards (you must use the Shift key), then turn around three times counter-clockwise, then jump forward. This is a great way to see the FMV clips

3D Accelerated Games List (Proprietary APIs - No 3DFX/Direct3D)
3D Acceleration Comparison Episodes

Reply 3 of 16, by keropi

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Like all other powervr bundled "special edition games" this is another extended demo? meh

🎵 🎧 PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 4 of 16, by janskjaer

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Yes, it was very in-depth, but bordering on the lines of rambling 🤣

I just found it rather interesting under the circumstances because of my change to the Rendition patch, I'd bypassed the screens that would have informed me quite clearly (and earlier), that it was an OEM version. Having said that, I saw on the front of the Apocalypse 3Dx graphics card packaging in very small print, that it states: "OEM version" under the Tomb Raider logo sticker. 😊 I'd not checked the box packaging for some time and just dived right into playing.

I do know about the level skip cheat but as a "purist", I wanted to try and avoid using this if at all possible.
Quite the "demo", isn't it? I wish they'd user that term instead of "OEM version", which can be rather ambiguous from a consumer point of view, and arbitrary from the producers perspective.

DELL Dimension XPS M200s
:Intel P1 MMX 200MHz
:64MB EDO
:DOS 6.22/Win95b
:Matrox Millenium II + m3D (PowerVR PCX2)
Chaintech 7VJL Apogee
:AMD AthlonXP 2700+
:512MB DDR
:Win98SE/2000 SP4
:3dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP

Reply 5 of 16, by vetz

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I checked my disc, and it's an earlier revision which only included the PCX1 patch, not the PCX2. This is strange since the latest files on the disc is from 21th of October 1997, way after the PCX2 had been released. It must have been bundled with some leftover PCX1 cards. Readme file says its version 2.00

Anyway, found this in the readme:

=============================================== Upgrading from the Tomb Raider Special Edition to the Full Retail Version ====== […]
Show full quote

===============================================
Upgrading from the Tomb Raider Special Edition
to the Full Retail Version
===============================================

You can easily upgrade from the Tomb Raider Special Edition, which is PowerVR
accelerated but with fewer levels, to the Full Retail Version which contains
more levels. This means that you can run the Full Retail Version, with all levels,
under PowerVR acceleration.

To upgrade to the full version under PowerVR acceleration:

Insert the Tomb Raider Full Retail Version CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive.
If your CD-ROM auto-plays, it will launch the Tomb Raider Full version automatically,
with PowerVR acceleration.

3D Accelerated Games List (Proprietary APIs - No 3DFX/Direct3D)
3D Acceleration Comparison Episodes

Reply 6 of 16, by AlucarD86

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Sorry for bumping up this old thread I am just curious about the PowerVR version of Tomb Raider as well ?? Does a normal disc version even exist or can the normal special edition retail disc be converted to the PowerVR version via a patch ? thanks, am just so confused about this game and mechwarrior 2 as so many versions seem to exist

PC Setup: Mainboard ASUS CUBX | CPU Intel Pentium III-S Tualatin 1.4 GHz | Memory 780 MB SDRam | Soundcard Creative SB Audigy SB0160 | GPUs Nvidia FX5900 Ulta Matrox M3D PCI | HDD 2x40 GB WD/Seagate | OS Win98SE and WinXPSP1 in dual boot

Reply 7 of 16, by vetz

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You can just get the retail version and download the retail PowerVR patch. It's available online and also linked here: 3D Accelerated Games List (Proprietary APIs - No 3DFX/Direct3D) (links down atm, but I'll fix them soon)

3D Accelerated Games List (Proprietary APIs - No 3DFX/Direct3D)
3D Acceleration Comparison Episodes

Reply 8 of 16, by AlucarD86

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thanks vetz 😁 you da man! Yeah patches dont seem to be downloadable 🙁 I got into Retro stuff again after some time and its time to put some games to test 😁

PC Setup: Mainboard ASUS CUBX | CPU Intel Pentium III-S Tualatin 1.4 GHz | Memory 780 MB SDRam | Soundcard Creative SB Audigy SB0160 | GPUs Nvidia FX5900 Ulta Matrox M3D PCI | HDD 2x40 GB WD/Seagate | OS Win98SE and WinXPSP1 in dual boot

Reply 9 of 16, by akula65

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The Version 2.0 patch is available at the (old) Patches Scrolls:

http://www.patches-scrolls.com/tomb_raider.php

Perhaps someone else can help with the Version 2.1 patch.

Reply 10 of 16, by AlucarD86

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so the patch 2.0 adds SGL2 PowerVR support to the game but what does the 2.1 do I cant seem to find it anywhere.

PC Setup: Mainboard ASUS CUBX | CPU Intel Pentium III-S Tualatin 1.4 GHz | Memory 780 MB SDRam | Soundcard Creative SB Audigy SB0160 | GPUs Nvidia FX5900 Ulta Matrox M3D PCI | HDD 2x40 GB WD/Seagate | OS Win98SE and WinXPSP1 in dual boot

Reply 12 of 16, by vetz

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Here is the v2.1 patch

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  • Filename
    tombpvr21.rar
    File size
    925.21 KiB
    Downloads
    126 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

3D Accelerated Games List (Proprietary APIs - No 3DFX/Direct3D)
3D Acceleration Comparison Episodes

Reply 14 of 16, by AlucarD86

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thanks a lot vetz, worked like a charm now I just need to find out how to enable sound in this game as its completely mute xD

PC Setup: Mainboard ASUS CUBX | CPU Intel Pentium III-S Tualatin 1.4 GHz | Memory 780 MB SDRam | Soundcard Creative SB Audigy SB0160 | GPUs Nvidia FX5900 Ulta Matrox M3D PCI | HDD 2x40 GB WD/Seagate | OS Win98SE and WinXPSP1 in dual boot