First post, by Mr_Spock
Hi everyone,
I've been using dgVoodoo2 with Armada I with the community v1.3 patch for a long while now; while it's a little difficult to initially get things set up, I have been able to get it to run stably in v2.53 using these settings, only mentioning boxes that are checked except when important:
General:
Output API: Best available
Adapters to use: All
Full Screen Output: Default
Appearance: Full Screen, Stretched, keep Aspect Ratio
Misc: Keep window aspect ratio, Capture mouse both checked.
Edit to add: Capture Mouse does not seem to work, as sudden jerks of the mouse will move it off-window in windowed mode.
DirectX:
Videocard: dgVoodoo Virtual 3D Accelerated Card
1024MB VRAM
No Texturing options checked
Resolution unforced
Behavior: Application controlled fullscreen/windowed state checked, Disable Alt+Enter not checked
AA/MSAA - App driven
Miscellaneous - only dgVoodoo Watermark checked
I've got one of those hybrid video setups, with HD 4600/GeForce 950m. Currently, the HD4600 is forcing VSync for the entire system (overriding any nVidia/app settings) to cut down needed energy a bit when a game easily pushes past 60fps (this laptop's a portable furnace if I'm not careful).
I have a few weird issues to report:
1. Runs terribly in fullscreen with nVidia. Lots of trailing can happen with moving objects, and while it looks interesting, it's annoying after about 5 seconds. nVidia Control Panel settings are set to default, sending 3D applications to the 950m. Intel (default settings except driver VSync) runs a bit better, but is rather slow in 1920x1080/1200 in fullscreen, see #2.
2. Runs best when windowed, runs full speed with either video card (or "Best available") without issues. (requires "Disable Alt+Enter to toggle" box unchecked).
3. When trying v2.54, the fog of war on both the minimap and on-screen can be discolored, not visible, and/or more opaque than it should be; nebulas can be the wrong color and/or improperly displayed textures. I deleted the dgVoodoo.conf file in the Armada folder when testing 2.54, so no incompatibility issues between versions during testing.
4. If I change to windowed mode during a loading screen, the game will crash. However, that's a very minor issue and easily one that can be lived with.
5. I think this is a known problem, but the menus can't be in fullscreen, along with opening videos when those work; the screen goes in and out of fullscreen/desktop several times then goes to a 640x480 window at the top-left of the display. There's also a weird dual-layer menu glitch, but I can restore the cursor by moving it offscreen and figuring out via highlighting where the invisible cursor is on the screen.
6. I've also noticed that certain settings in dgVoodoo2 will make the menu not work while in-game past the main menu screen, freezing the application when clicking a subsequent menu button.
I do not have the ST:Armada demo currently, so I haven't tested with that to see if I get the same or similar results.
What I do know is that the game runs perfectly on a Radeon RX 480 4GB with the same settings (again, only on v2.53, as v2.54 has the same fog of war bug), so part of this may be a Radeon/nVidia issue. I seem to remember there being problems with nVidia GPUs with this game, perhaps other old fogey gamers like me remember...
Thanks for reading! Please let me know what other information you might need from me.