Have you played the Voodoo version? If so how do they compare?

swaaye wrote:

Have you played the Voodoo version? If so how do they compare?

Yeah I've played the Voodoo version extensively.

I'd say it runs a wee bit faster and has support for 800x600. To me that's where the advantages end.

The PowerVR version looks better to me:
- Fog does wonders
- Textures are in general better (for example, missile racks on the Timber Wolf are oddly smeared lines in the 3Dfx version).
- Enemy damage window looks cool! See screenshots in previous post.

In case you're wondering, I have also played the ATi version. And my thoughts are that the ATi version has more unique textures (eg snow on the ground and on the trainer mech in the first Wolf training mission). The Mesa desert Trial of Grievance is eerie and with cool textures and unlike the brighter 3Dfx and PowerVR versions. Too bad it runs like ass...even at a lousy 512*384 resolution. Alpha blending is missing (explosions close up is crap looking) and mip-map filtering also appears to be messed up. Seems like a missed opportunity to me.

So far the PowerVR version is my favorite.

Cool. Yeah I bet that fog adds a lot to the experience.

Impressive! Those screen shots look awesome for a 15 year old game. Is there a PowerVR patch for the original vanilla CD?

bushwack wrote:

Impressive! Those screen shots look awesome for a 15 year old game. Is there a PowerVR patch for the original vanilla CD?

Hmm, what do you mean? I always thought the 3D versions were nothing more than a few files which replace the vanilla version.

Are you looking for those files? If so maybe I can do a "diff" on the directories and see which ones you need and upload them.

It would be extremely fantastic 😁 to have a collection of archives to convert one of the retail MW2 editions into any 3D version.

More info on converting MW2 editions here:
http://www.oocities.com/mechwarrior2_3d/FAQ.h … 01017#Answer_IV

YCH wrote:

bushwack wrote:

Impressive! Those screen shots look awesome for a 15 year old game. Is there a PowerVR patch for the original vanilla CD?

Hmm, what do you mean? I always thought the 3D versions were nothing more than a few files which replace the vanilla version.

Are you looking for those files? If so maybe I can do a "diff" on the directories and see which ones you need and upload them.

Oh I thought you had a specific PowerVR edition CD. Here's what I have, but honestly, I've never even installed them. 😕 Guess I need to search out some 3D executables now before they are gone from the face of the planet.

The covers look stock, but usually the disc should say something on it. I'm betting that copy of MW2 is also the 1996 Netmech/Win95 upgraded release shipped as OEM... infact in this pic, Mercs and MW2 are later oem versions.

bushwack wrote:

Oh I thought you had a specific PowerVR edition CD. Here's what I have, but honestly, I've never even installed them. 😕 Guess I need to search out some 3D executables now before they are gone from the face of the planet.

http://home.comcast.net/~bushwack/vogons/mech2collection.jpg

Oh but I do; my avatar isn't just that for nothing 😁

[img]http://www.canosaurus.com/temp/IMG_4269.JPG[/img]

Gimme some time...I'll see if the file replacement thing works and maybe during the weekend I'll post an update.

YCH wrote:

bushwack wrote:

Oh I thought you had a specific PowerVR edition CD. Here's what I have, but honestly, I've never even installed them. 😕 Guess I need to search out some 3D executables now before they are gone from the face of the planet.

http://home.comcast.net/~bushwack/vogons/mech2collection.jpg

Oh but I do; my avatar isn't just that for nothing 😁

Gimme some time...I'll see if the file replacement thing works and maybe during the weekend I'll post an update.

What ya know, I just looked in my Monster 3D box and found the 3Dfx Enhanced CD just like yours. 😁

for what it's worth, after a request I uploaded isos of the 2 cdroms that came with a PCX2 I have... V1 cd rom is labeled GAMES CD (has some game demos inside AFAIK) and V4 cdrom has drivers, powerVR goodies and game demos (also a Tombraider1 patch)

here are the links in case anyone wants them:

1APOCCD4.part1.rar (48.83 MB)	http://www.multiupload.com/DD3BN4KQ6R
2APOCCD4.part2.rar (48.83 MB)	http://www.multiupload.com/5K9M7275VU
3APOCCD4.part3.rar (48.83 MB)	http://www.multiupload.com/H5R2W577NN
4APOCCD4.part4.rar (31.24 MB)	http://www.multiupload.com/63LVAL6CEG
5APOGMSCD.part1.rar (48.83 MB)	http://www.multiupload.com/AFUOB2OYXQ
6APOGMSCD.part2.rar (48.83 MB)	http://www.multiupload.com/CI1JBAP3I3
7APOGMSCD.part3.rar (45.36 MB)	http://www.multiupload.com/QZ092DE2P1

So are we going to make some archives to easily convert into the various versions of MW2? 😁
http://www.oocities.com/mechwarrior2_3d/FAQ.h … 01017#Answer_IV

It appears that a total of five main files are different between the standard Pentium/Win95 and the 3D enhanced versions.. There […]
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It appears that a total of five main files are different between the standard Pentium/Win95 and the 3D enhanced versions.. There are also a few other minor file differences, like the TECH.HLP file, but they are not vital. Three of the main files for the enhanced versions are of a different size and two are new and not found in the Pentium/Win95 version:

Different Size Files (using the 3Dfx Voodoo vs. the Pentium v1.0/v1.1):

* MW2.DLL (707kb) - App DLL that contains the Glide SST, PowerSGL, etc. 3D specific rendering instructions. This file must be included for Pentium to 3D Enhanced conversion. (Pentium v1.0 MW2.DLL: 722kb, Pentium v1.1 MW2.DLL: 808kb)

* MW2.PRJ (41.4mb) - The master data file. This file must be included for Pentium to 3D Enhanced conversion. (Pentium v1.1 MW2.PRJ: 20.8mb)

* MW2SHELL.DLL (531kb) - (Pentium v1.0 MW2SHELL.DLL: 505kb, Pentium v1.1 533kb) - As the name suggests, this file is for the game's shell interface screen (2D screens prior to entering the SIM itself).

New files:

* mw2.mip (8.33mb) - MIP mapping file for objects & terrain features in the game. The coversion will run without this, but you'll see some visual anomalies if you don't include it. I'm not really sure what the status is of this file with the Pentium Edition. When I first compared these versions, I had a 216kb mw2.mip file in the Pentium edition's directory, but when i recently installed again to recheck, it did not have a mw2.mip file at all (before/after patched and running the sim). I'm not sure why that is, but I do have three different Pentium version CD's lying around, some being OEM's and maybe one is a little different than the others (???). The PowerVR version does not include a mw2.mip file, which is probably due to its use of a non-traditional 3D rendering process.

* skygnd.par (4.49kb) - This lists [by mission] sky and ground texture tile rates along with sky animation rates. This file is not needed to convert the Pentium version to the 3D Enhanced. It appears to be more for tweaking and actually the skies in the both the original 3Dfx version and Pentium-to-3Dfx conversion ran at a more normal rate when this file was not present.

All the 3D acclerated editions should have unique versions of the above four files. (The same 52kb MECH2.EXE seen in the Pentium/Win95 edition appears to be reused in all the different 3D versions).

The results of the tests I've done have shown that by [minmally] changing the MW2.DLL and MW2.PRJ you should be able to convert a Pentium version into a 3D enhanced one (or 3D enahnced into a Pentium). It would be best to also replace/add the other files above as well to insure best performance and stability.

Without getting into coding and creating an *.EXE that would update and create files, the one way to create a 3D Enhanced version patch for the regular Pentium/Win95 version would be to put the five above listed files (six, if you include the tech.hlp) into a *.ZIP archive to be extracted into the installation directory of the Pentium/Win95 version. You'd be looking at creating Winzip patches that are somewhere in the realm of 40-50mb (25-30mb zipped) for each 3D Enhanced edition. I have tested this process using 3Dfx Voodoo and PowerVR patches on the Pentium Edition and from what I saw, it worked fine.

Ta-DAA!

Here are the files required to convert to the PowerVR version
http://www.lolcanosaurus.com/temp/Mech2_PVR_files.rar

Here are the files required to convert to the 3Dfx version
http://www.lolcanosaurus.com/temp/Mech2_3Dfx_files.rar

Here are the files required to convert to the ATi version
http://www.lolcanosaurus.com/temp/Mech2_ATi_files.rar

Note: Of all these versions, only the 3Dfx version includes the mw2.mip file. The others do not have it.

It works with my copy. Thanks! (Netmech not tested yet though)

For some reason I get a crosshair/targeting box alignment screwup

also it runs slowly when you have the little 3d display of the target mech 😜

leileilol wrote:

It works with my copy. Thanks! (Netmech not tested yet though)

For some reason I get a crosshair/targeting box alignment screwup

also it runs slowly when you have the little 3d display of the target mech 😜

Hmm I really don't have that problem - it actually plays really well; if I had to guess upwards of 40fps at all times (I've tried all the Trial of Grievance maps). I wonder if it's because I'm using 1 GHz Pentium III? Maybe it's a driver thing for your PCX2.

YCH wrote:

Ta-DAA!

Very nice! 😁

Need to find the Virge version now...

@keropi: Thank you again for uploading the two discs that came with the apocalypse 3d! Original driver discs are getting harder and harder to find.

Therefore...

Yes, I'm going to ask/beg someone to upload the original m3d disc images. I know it's asking a lot, but you'll be making another powervr user/tester very happy 😁 Anyone up for it?

The Half-Life SGL->OpenGL wrapper does not support lightmaps?
I could have sworn it was much better quality back in the day, the hazard course instructor is b&w now too.

Turns out one of the radar modes screw up the targeting box and crosshair. I tried a lot of things in the control panel to speed it up including turning off fog, filtering and turning on automatic mip mapping to barely anything exceeding 25fps. You're getting 40+? Weiiiiiiiiiird... and what's with the F4 key?

I haven't tested it with Netmech though it's said to not be supported by some.

TheLazy1 wrote:

The Half-Life SGL->OpenGL wrapper does not support lightmaps?

It does the same thing with other games that support pvr minigl. Lightmaps are colored, but as this is PCX-2 you're dealing with you're going to see some really blocky RGBA4444 alpha-blended lightmaps.