This game "detection" uses a very dumb method. If you have glide.dll and sst1init.dll in the %system% directory - then you have a 3dfx card.
So just create 2 empty files with these names, install then delete these 2 files.
Ubisoft is so Ubisoft.
And yes, the original POD uses glide 2.1.1 (glide.dll and sst1init.dll).
P.S. You can force install the 3dfx patch (21_3dfx.bin) if you run it twice. This will replace others .exes to the 3dfx one. Or ypu can use Pod Gold, it uses the standard method (_grSstQueryBoards).
P.S.S. Another game with this "detection" method: F1 Racing Simulation. Ubisoft related of course... And this case is worse - the game itself uses glide2x.dll but the installer wants glide.dll and sst1init.dll. *Censored*.

Thanks ! Now the game is working in 3Dfx mode ... but the colors are completely wrong (for example the intel logo at the begining is red instead of blue)

replace the glide2x.ovl and glide2x.dll files in the game directory with the ones in your voodoo 2 driver directory. The game comes with voodoo 1 glide files and those don't really work with a voodoo 2.

err ... there are no glide2x.ovl/glide2x.dll in the game directory. Only glide.dll and sst1init.dll (wich is strange since they are actually real files, and not the copy from the ones that I made in order to install the game with 3Dfx)

I tried to rename glide2x.dll to glide.dll but it doesn't work

A couple of important points to understand:

1) You MUST delete the glide.dll and sst1init.dll files from the POD installation since these files are intended for the original Voodoo card (not Voodoo2). You only need those files in order to install the 3dfx version or patch an existing 3dfx installation. Once you are done patching, remove glide.dll and sst1init.dll from the POD installation and the %system% folder (usually \Windows\System for most users) if you followed Gamecollector's advice above.

2) kanecvr is saying you should put copies of the glide2x.ovl and glide2x.dll from your Fastvoodoo (or whatever driver package you use) drivers into the POD installation folder (don't rename them). Standard 3dfx driver installations put copies of these files into the %system% (usually \Windows\System for most users) folder and most programs will find them without issues, but putting them into the POD installation folder guarantees that that particular Glide .dll and overlay file will be used when you run POD. Hopefully, your Fastvoodoo package put copies into %system%, but you may need to check your documentation to see where it put them.

Okay, I understand now. But deleting glide.dll and sst1init.dll and replacing them by glide2x.dll and glide2x.ovl doesn't work ... The game is really asking for glide.dll (and if I'm using the link that the game made on the desktop, then an ubisoft utilitary is saying that I don't have a 3Dfx card anymore.) : a popup windows is telling me that glide.dll couldn't be found :s

So when you run the game, create a shortcut to podx3dfx and run it rather than relying on some autostart or other shortcut. Does that work?

No, the shortcut on the desktop only says that I don't have a 3Dfx card while pod3dfx.exe found in the pod directory displays the error "could not find glide.dll" so I don't think that making a shortcut to that exact exe would make a difference

Did you apply any patches? If you applied the 3dfx patch, the executable should be podx3dfx.exe.

There are two exe : podx3dfx.exe and wpod3dfx.exe, but none of them are working (they are begging for glide.dll)

The game put them automatically, i did not apply any patch by myself

Given the fact that you had it working at one point, I would suggest re-installing to get back to that point. It might also pay to re-install your graphics driver as well.

The need to patch depends on which version of POD you have (OEM, Retail or POD Gold). The following is from the now-defunct POD Underground site (http://www.kineticdreams.net/underground/) of which I have an archive:

Patches […]
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Patches

Here you can download patches to bring your copy of POD up to the latest version:

OEM v1.0 to Retail v2 (35MB) (If you have the OEM version of POD, Use this patch first) (pod1x2en.zip)

Direct3D with DirectX5 (24MB) (updatePOD21_d3d-dx5.exe)
3dfx GLiDE (24MB) (updatePOD21_3dfx.exe)
CD-Patcher v2 (For adding tracks and cars, AFTER you use either of the two patches above) (cdpatcher2.zip)

Forcefeedback for D3D-DirectX5 patched POD (3.7MB) (podd3d5.zip)
Forcefeedback for 3dfx GLiDE patched POD (1.9MB) (pod3dfx.zip)

Game Service 2 Client (5MB) (GSCSetup.EXE)
POD GS2 Patch (6MB) (PWGS2.exe)

The two Forcefeedback patches will also enable support for all AMD CPUs, and are a recommended download if you have an AMD CPU and find that POD does not start up.

For connection to the Game Service v2 (On-line racing with POD) you must first download and install the GS Client, and then download and run the GS POD Patch.

(I added the original Ubi Soft filenames that were used on their FTP site which is no longer available, unfortunately.)

So if you have the OEM version, you need to apply the OEM Version 1 to Retail Version 2 patch. If you have the ordinary retail POD release (or have upgraded an OEM copy to Version 2 Retail), you need to apply the Version 2.1 3dfx update (since you have a Glide card). The POD Gold release is already patched to Version 2.8 (at least mine is) and doesn't need additional patches.

Here is additional info from the POD Underground site on patches:

POD Patches: […]
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POD Patches:

There are a few patches available for POD. This page will hopefully allow you to work out which one is the right one for you to use. If you need help actually installing POD in the first place, check the Installing POD page.

Which Patch to Use:

Over the lifetime of POD, the answer to this question has changed greatly. The choice these days is pretty simple. To get POD to run properly on modern hardware, and to be able to add a greater number of tracks and cars, the patch process now boils down to this:

If you have a 3dfx-based graphics card - You will want to use the 3dfx/GLiDE patch
If you have any other 3D card - You will want to use the Direct3D for DirectX5 (D3D-DX5) patch

Once you have POD patched to make best use of your graphics card, you will then want to do a couple of other patches:

If you have an AMD CPU - You will most likely need to use the Forcefeedback patch, since this patch is the only one that seems to allow POD to run on AMD CPUs
You will want to use the Game Service 2 patch as well, since it corrects a problem where POD runs too fast on modern hardware, so fast that the game becomes unplayable. It, of course, also allows you to race POD on-line

To download any of these patches, please check out the Downloadable Files page. For general instructions on using these patches, check below:

How to Use the Patches:

Below are some general tips for using POD Patches:

When you download the patch, pick an easy-to-remember location to save it to
Once the patch has downloaded, extract it to a temporary folder. Some of the patch files are Self-Extracting, meaning you can just double-click to extract them. Other files will require a utility such as WinZIP before they can be extracted
After you extract the files, if the patch process doesn't start automatically, look for a file called "UsePatch" or "UsePatch.exe" in the temporary folder where you extracted the patch, and double-click on that to begin the process
Follow any on-screen prompts. I think the only patch that requires you to make a choice is the GS2 patch, and that's just to say which graphics patch you have, 3dfx, DX5 or "Other"
If any errors are reported, check the Error Messages Explained FAQ Page for details

POD Underground info on the 3dfx patch:

3dfx Voodoo Patch […]
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3dfx Voodoo Patch

OEM users please note: If you have not upgraded your OEM version to the Retail version, please do so now.

What it is:

This patch will add support for all current 3dfx chipsets. I have described below the simplest way to use this patch, which works the majority of the time, and I have also included some alternative methods of using this patch, in case the normal way doesn't work.

Where to get it:

You can download the zip file from the Patch-Choice Page on the Ubisoft POD website - Look for the 24MB 3dfx patch download link.

Retail Install Problems Solved:

If you already have POD installed, please skip down to the How to use it section below.

If you were trying to install POD with 3dfx support but couldn't, before you can use this patch, you will need to install POD by choosing the generic Pentium or Pentium MMX install. Now that you have POD installed, you can add 3dfx support:

How to use it:

Once you have the 24MB zip file, to use the patch, you need to:

Extract the zip file to a temporary folder, something like [C:\POD-3DFX] will do fine, make sure that the Use Folder Names checkbox on the Extract dialog is checked. Note you will need a utility such as WinZIP to perform the extraction.
Find the usepatch.exe file, which will be somewhere in the folder you just extracted to, and double-click it. The patch should run through and finish in a few minutes.
There is a bug in this patch which means that you must run the usepatch.exe file again.

If the patch completed without showing any error messages, you should now have the 3dfx native GLiDE version of POD. One thing to note is that this patch will break your POD shortcut, so you must delete it and create a new one. The shortcut should point to the Executable/Program File that is contained in your [C:\UBISOFT\POD] folder. It should be called either PODX3DFX.EXE or WPOD3DFX.EXE.

3dfx Patch-specific Notes:

Which CD-Patcher do I use ? - If you plan to add any extra cars/tracks to POD, you must now use the CD-Patcher version 2.

After the upgrade, POD seems to run far too fast, is there anything I can do about it ? Please see the Making POD Run Slower FAQ Page.

Cool Tip: If you have a Voodoo2, Voodoo3 or Voodoo Banshee card, you should now be able to run POD in 800x600 - Check out the GLiDE POD in 800x600 FAQ Page for the details.

Alternative Methods:

Retail Install - If you have the retail version of POD, Swift suggested a way to get the original 3dfx version of POD to install no matter what 3dfx hardware you have. You still have to use the 24MB patch with this method, but Swift thinks that POD is more stable if you do this:

If you have any track lap records you want to save, make a copy or ZIP of the [C:\UBISOFT\POD\DATA\RECORDS] folder.
Go to Start/Settings/Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs. Click on POD in the list and click the Add/Remove button.
Delete the [C:\UBISOFT\POD] and [C:\WINDOWS\UBISOFT] folders, and re-boot the computer.
Download the Fake GLiDE Files and UnZIP them to your [(WinDir)\SYSTEM] folder, usually [C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM].
Re-install POD from your CD, choosing the 3Dfx option, and ideally a medium or large install.
Once POD has installed, you must delete the fake GLiDE files, [GLIDE.DLL] and [SST1INIT.DLL], from your [(WinDir)\SYSTEM] folder, usually [C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM].
Now follow the instructions at the top of this page.

Swift and AJ also provided these two pages of instructions:

Voodoo 1 with GS-II - If you have a Voodoo1 and are using the GS-II, on some systems this will cause some slowdown to occur. Swift has provided one possible solution to this problem which worked for him. The steps he used are listed on this page. Thanks Swift.
Voodoo Banshee Tweaking - AJ provided these tips on how he got his Banshee card working fine with POD. Thanks AJ.

If POD Isn't Working:

If the patch failed or POD won't run, you might have seen one (Or more !) of these errors:

Executible not defined in Config - This can be caused by two things, either using the wrong patch, or because of some form of corruption to your UBI.INI file. The best thing to do if this error is encountered is to start from a totally fresh base install of POD:

If you have any track lap records you want to save, make a copy or ZIP of the [C:\UBISOFT\POD\DATA\RECORDS] folder.
Go to Start/Settings/Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs. Click on POD in the list and click the Add/Remove button.
Delete the [C:\UBISOFT\POD] and [C:\WINDOWS\UBISOFT] folders, and re-boot the computer.
Re-install POD from your CD, ideally choosing a medium or large install.
Run the patch again, and hopefully it will work this time.

Out of memory - This is usually caused by the patch breaking your POD shortcut, because the retail version cannot load POD in the same way the OEM version could, so you have to delete your shortcut and create a new one that points to the Executable/Program File, with the letters POD in its filename, that is in the [C:\UBISOFT\POD] folder.

DINPUT.DLL not found or Get Caps Failed - This means that you do not have the correct version of Microsoft's Direct X technology installed. The Full Retail version of Pod needs Direct X version 3 at minimum, and I recommend downloading+installing DirectX 6.1, as POD works fine with it, and it is the most current version of DirectX. You should be able to get it from the DirectX Section of Microsoft's website.

And here is info on error messages from POD Underground:

Error Messages […]
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Error Messages

This page contains information the following errors:

The Config N*50 does not exist
Out of Memory
DINPUT.DLL Not Found
"GLIDE.DLL Not Found" and "Get Caps Failed"
Error: Executible not defined in Config
Error: Missing software=0, missing hardware=3dfx
Warning: Please Insert POD CD-ROM
Error: POD cannot run in 8/24/32 bits graphic mode
POD FATAL ERROR: GCD INIT FAILURE
Pod Fatal Error: grSstWinopen error

The Config N*50 does not exist:

There are two main times when this message will appear:

If it shows up when you put the POD CD in the CD-ROM drive, it usually just means that the version of POD that is installed is different from the version of POD that is on the CD. Just close the program, and run POD from your normal shortcut. Thanks to Coney for mentioning that one.

If you are starting POD from your normal shortcut, or directly from the POD EXE file on your hard drive, and you get this message, or if you get this message while you are running a POD patch, it means there is a general error in your UBI.INI file. The simplest way to recover from here is to uninstall POD, delete all the config files, and start over. Please read the Uninstalling POD Completely page, for details on which folders you need to delete after uninstalling POD.

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Out of Memory:

This error most often occurs after using a POD patch. The patches are not good at changing shortcuts, usually they put invalid data into the shortcut, or damage it. All you need to do is:

Launch the Windows Explorer. Go to the [C:\UBISOFT\POD] directory and find a file called something like "PODATIX.EXE" or "PODMMX.EXE" OR "POD3DFX.EXE", depending on which graphics card you have. Either way, the file will have the letters "POD" in it and will display the Pod Icon next to it's name.
Double-click the filename, and if Pod loads, you can change your shortcut to point to this file.

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DINPUT.DLL Not Found:

This usually means that you don't have the correct version of Microsoft's DirectX API installed. POD OEM requires DirectX 2 or better, while Pod Full Retail requires DirectX 3 or better. I recommend getting a copy of the newest version, which you can download from Microsoft's DirectX Resource Page.

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"GLIDE.DLL Not Found" and "Get Caps Failed":

This usually means that POD is looking for the old Voodoo1 GLiDE driver files, but cannot find them. If you have a new 3dfx card in your system you should un-install/re-install POD, and use the 24MB 3dfx patch. If you have a Voodoo1 card in your system, try using the GLiDE 2.11 files from ftp.3dfx.com/pub/glide211/gld211rt.exe. More help with 3dfx POD can be found on the 3dfx Voodoo FAQ Page.

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Error: Executible not defined in Config:

This can be caused by two things, either using the wrong patch, or because of some form of corruption to your UBI.INI file. The best thing to do if this error is encountered is to start from a totally fresh base install of POD:

If you have any track lap records you want to save, make a copy or ZIP of the [C:\UBISOFT\POD\DATA\RECORDS] folder.
Go to Start/Settings/Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs. Click on POD in the list and click the Add/Remove button.
Delete the [C:\UBISOFT\POD] and [C:\WINDOWS\UBISOFT] folders, and re-boot the computer.
Re-install POD from your CD, ideally choosing a medium or large install.
Try using whatever patch you were using when the error occured.

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Error: Missing software=0, missing hardware=3dfx:

This error means that the pod installer cannot find your 3dfx card. Please see the 3dfx Voodoo FAQ Page for details of how to install and/or patch POD to work with any 3dfx Voodoo card.

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Warning: Please Insert POD CD-ROM:

The main reasons for this error are:

The obvious one - The POD CD must be in your CD-ROM drive whenever you want to play POD.

Adding too many cars or tracks - As you can see from number three below, each version of POD has a limit to how many cars and tracks should be added, if you have added too many, try removing some until you get back to the limit for your version. If POD still doesn't work, search for these two files, VOITURES.BIN and CIRCUTS.BIN on your POD CD and on your hard drive, and copy the ones off the CD to the hard drive, then re-add the cars and tracks, remembering to stop at the upper limit. If that doesn't help, you will have to re-install POD.

Using the wrong version of the CD-Patcher - Ubisoft never really made this clear, but there are two versions of the CD-Patcher. If you have the basic retail version of POD, which includes the OEM patched to Retail version, you should use the CD-Patcher version 1 and you have a limit of 32 tracks/cars. If you have used any of the new graphics patches, you should use the CD-Patcher version 2 and you have a limit of 47 cars/tracks. The solution to this problem is to first try removing all additional cars/tracks, then re-adding them with the correct version of the CD-Patcher. If that doesn't help, you will have to re-install POD.

Missing track or car data files - POD uses two types of data file, a low-quaity and a high-quality one. Patches such as the 3dfx and D3D-DX5 use the high-quality (Often referred to as '3dfx' format) data files, but there is a problem with these patches where sometimes they don't update the Ubisoft configuration file correctly, so other Ubisoft programs - especially the CD-Patcher - think POD is using the low-quality data files, when really POD is using the high-quality data files.

This causes the Insert CD message because when you, for example, patch a track or car on with the CD-Patcher, it will install the low-quality data files (the .bl3 or .bv3 data files) but POD will be looking for the high-quality data files (the .bl4 or .bv4 data files) and when POD cannot find a file on your hard drive, it looks on the POD CD, and when it cannot find the file there, it assumes you don't have the CD in, and asks for it.

The solution to this problem is simple. If you are using the 3dfx or D3D-DX5 patch, after adding a car or track to POD with the CD-Patcher, look in one of these folders - [C:\UBISOFT\POD\DATA\BINARY\VOITURES] or [C:\UBISOFT\POD\DATA\BINARY\CIRCUTS] - for cars and tracks respectively, and make sure the data files for the car or track have the extension .bv4 (Cars) or .bl4 (Tracks) and if they do not, just copy those files into the relevant folder - If you were using POD Gold/Back to Hell, the files will be in a similar folder on the CD, if you downloaded the car or track ZIP package, the file should be in the ZIP package.

Thanks to Skubidou for that tip.

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Error: POD cannot run in 8/24/32 bits graphic mode:

You need to set your monitor to "HIGH COLOR (16-BIT)", by right-clicking the Windows Desktop, choosing Properties, and the Settings tab. Click the Color Palette combo box, choose HIGH COLOR (16-BIT) (Or 65,000 colors under Windows NT4), click Apply and Ok. If you are asked if it is ok to restart the computer, close all open programs (Saving any work !) and click Yes. POD should now run ok.

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POD FATAL ERROR: GCD INIT FAILURE:

Try this: (Thanks to Shiv for this tip)

Find your current DXinput5.DLL file - It is in the [CPA\DLL] folder of your POD install, the default location is [C:\UBISOFT\POD\CPA\DLL]
Either ZIP this file or copy to to another location, for backup purposes.
Download the New DXinput5.DLL (ZIPPED) [About 15KB]
Extract the ZIP to the folder where your old DLL was.
Fire up POD and see if it made a difference.
If you experience any major problems, just copy the old DLL back.

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Pod Fatal Error: grSstWinopen error

If you have a Voodoo2 SLI setup, try disabling SLI support (There should be an option in the Display Control Panel to do this). Thanks to Swift for the tip. If you don't have SLI but you do have a 3dfx-based 3D card (Any version) try removing and re-installing the drivers for your card.

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Pod worked for me after simply copying the afformentioned files in the POD directory. Works on my K6/V2 and on my 586/Rush.

I see there are troubles...
POD 1.0 - OEM only, not have this version, can be patched to the retail version.

POD retail (2.1.0.0) - supports software, glide, ATI CIF and S3 S3d, installer checks for glide.dll and sst1init.dll in the %system% directory, the game needs and uses these files too. No CPU check.
Glide.dll and sst1init.dll work ok with Voodoo1 and Voodoo2, in Win9x. And with slow CPUs only.

Pod retail + 3dfx patch (2.2.8.0) - uses glide2x.dll so can work with any 3dfx card. Cpu check.
Use PodHacks to run this version (fixes the CPU check, the 16-bit desktop check, the sound freeze when you quit the game and many more).

Pod Gold - similar to the above but the installer not needs glide.dll and sst1init.dll.

So if you can't run the retail version - just patch it. The retail version is very tricky to run on a real hardware.

Okay, I'm not sure if I did this right. I removed the game and re-installed it with default settings (wich installs the mmx version) and I discovered that I have the 2.0 version (as is named the cd and pod's directory). So I used the "updatePOD21_3dfx.exe" patch and guess what ... The new Wpod3dfx.exe is STILL asking for glide.dll

As I said there is probably something that I did wrong, but I can't figure what

Deksor wrote:

Okay, I'm not sure if I did this right. I removed the game and re-installed it with default settings (wich installs the mmx version) and I discovered that I have the 2.0 version (as is named the cd and pod's directory). So I used the "updatePOD21_3dfx.exe" patch and guess what ... The new Wpod3dfx.exe is STILL asking for glide.dll

As I said there is probably something that I did wrong, but I can't figure what

Err... Not run the game from the start menu or desktop shortcuts. They use Ubisoft setup... Run the executable itself.
And please snapshot the POD directory content then show it here.
To see the version of POD .exe - right click on this file, then select Properties.../Version.
Have tested - the patched version is ok (with PodHacks, because my test PC is Pentium 4).

I'm launching the exe directly from the directory.
The version of the exe is 2.1.0.0

Here is the actual content of the pod directory :
- data
- InstData
- PODMMX.exe
- Scope
- Readme.txt
- Wpod3dfx.exe
- glide2x.ovl
- glide2x.dll

WPod3dfx.exe and the glide2x files were added by the patch

Deksor wrote:

The version of the exe is 2.1.0.0

2.1.0.0. is the retail unpatched POD. Of course it wants glide.dll and sst1init.dll.
Use this patch twice then try again.

This patch is the same that I used earlier

Okay so it's been a long time since the last time I tried this. I reinstalled windows several times since last december for good reasons, I changed a little bit the hardware of that computer, etc ...

My config is :
Slot 1 pentium III 450MHz
Creative 3Dfx voodoo 2 12MB SLI with creatives's driver version 2.18
128MB of ram

I tried to run the game once more. First just like last time I had the game running with incorrect colors but then I installed the patch @Gamecollector asked me to install. First it seemed to work : the 3Dfx logo did show up, then the game's intro video started ... But right after that, the game closes itself and then windows 98SE tells me that the wpod3dfx.exe made a wrong operation and it displays some register state, stack's state, etc ...

I tried with both SLI enabled and disabled but it didn't help either.

Like said earlier, my version of the game is 2.1.0.0

What could be wrong there ?