Demetrio wrote on 2022-03-04, 08:08:

I've also another question: is it normal that Quake2 with Voodoo1 runs at ~30FPS?

Yes.

I have a similar system and I'm getting about the same level of performance. Voodoo1 is best used for DOS Glide games and some early Win9x ones. You won't have much fun running Unreal or Quake 2 on that card.

Q2's fine on a V1. 512x384 is quite well on it. It certainly was the most visually balanced and performant card running Q2 by the end of '97, considering the alternatives....

Is the sound mode set to 'max compatibility' or 'max performance'? I'm assuming there's some sample conversion hiccupery going on (many onboard sound had 48khz native and a lot of choppy sound is due to this)

leileilol wrote on 2022-03-04, 08:33:

Q2's fine on a V1. 512x384 is quite well on it. It certainly was the most visually balanced and performant card running Q2 by the end of '97, considering the alternatives....

Ok, I tested on 640x480: I'll try with 512x384.

leileilol wrote on 2022-03-04, 08:33:

Is the sound mode set to 'max compatibility' or 'max performance'? I'm assuming there's some sample conversion hiccupery going on (many onboard sound had 48khz native and a lot of choppy sound is due to this)

How do I set this property?
From the Quake2 menu, I've tried with Sound: Low or something similar and I've got the same result.

Anyway, thanks for the help 🙂

Demetrio wrote on 2022-03-04, 08:47:

How do I set this property?
From the Quake2 menu, I've tried with Sound: Low or something similar and I've got the same result.

Sounds like your Quake2 build is too old (v3.0x) to have the feature....
try /s_primary 0
followed by a /snd_restart
in the console to see if that'll help

leileilol wrote on 2022-03-04, 09:16:

Sounds like your Quake2 build is too old (v3.0x) to have the feature.... try /s_primary 0 followed by a /snd_restart in the con […]
Show full quote

Sounds like your Quake2 build is too old (v3.0x) to have the feature....
try /s_primary 0
followed by a /snd_restart
in the console to see if that'll help

It worked! Thanks a lot 🍻

Here's the result: Youtube Playlist with the Quake 2 demos running at 512x384

Better than 640x480 but still framerate drops 😕

Going down to 400x200 (IIRC), stable 60 FPS.

Can I improve 512x384 with some settings?

One of 3dfx's old drawbacks is texture upload speed, so /gl_flashblend 1 should help the drops that happen around dynamic lights.

Always keep 8-bit textures on. 3dfx supports them and this saves memory.

I've set the gl_flashblend parameter but I didn't notice any improvement.
Then I tried to disable Sync Glide to refresh and FPS increased.

Here's a footage of the result: https://youtu.be/OlBRJfIUw4U

Is there any other thing I could do to further improve FPS?

Anyway, thanks a lot 😀

You can try the dos port of Quake 2.

On the Voodoo and sound topic, I have run into audio problems with some DOS Glide games and Voodoo1. There are some 3dfx environment vars that change how aggressive the card is with PCI and this can fix sound issues. There may also be BIOS settings that tweak PCI for better audio behavior.