to all: Driver and Gaming FAQ
To clear up the confusion and speculation of the current 3dfx-u driver, some answers will be posted here. Questions regarding the OpenGL ICD should be addressed to Aquoess, Glide2x driver q's to Colourless, DirectX/D3D driver q's to Devo6486, and Glide3x driver q's to KoolSmoky. Do not post bug reports to this thread. Game FAQ is at the bottom.


[OpenGL ICD]
version 1.0.0.0761 ICD (x3dfx V1.07.00b 1,102,096 bytes)
A new ICD is being coded by Aquoess and is scheduled to be released later, please be patient, thank you.


[DirectX/D3D]
Direct3D in this release will be the 3dfx build 232 Direct3D driver for Windows 2000. The betas are using build 197 for compatibility/stability issues, but the final will use build 232. 2D code will initially be the DirectDraw driver from the 3dfx 1.04.00 Windows 2000 release, but later in the series will be updated independently of Direct3D and have full accelleration of the GUI's of all supported operating systems.


[Glide2x]
version build 1007
Colourless, please help bro.
1) very stable with no freezes in winxp
2) may have problems running MiniGL
3) more info can be found at Colourless's web site http://www.users.on.net/triforce/


[Glide3x]
version 3.10.00.2604
here are answers to the q's I receive frequently.
1) OpenGL ICD requires Glide3x. MiniGL requires *Glide2x*.
2) Precompressed S3TC texture is supported. For OpenGL S3TC support, 1.0.0.0761 OpenGL ICD (1,102,096 bytes) is required. Legacy texture compression as in Q3A will compress to FXT1 on-the-fly and is not precompressed. UT 2nd CD textures are precompressed. read Game FAQ for more.
3) there is no x2FSAA with EdgeAA. just x2FSAA with different LOD offests when used with mipmap dithering to reduce banding.
4) there is no trilinear filtering support when used with 3dfx/x3dfx OpenGL ICD. 1.0.0.0761 OpenGL ICD seems to let OpenGL trilinear calls path through but outputs bilinear. therefore in Q3A, if you set trilinear in-game and force mipmap dithering via driver tool, the result will be bilinear with mipmap dithering. Trilinear is possible if the voodoo hardware is setup in a special way, but this has to be done outside glide3x.dll right now. In a true trilinear state, glide3x automatically omits mipmap dithering.
5) I have tried my best to keep compatibility with win95/98/me/nt4/2k/xp, however tests are mainly done with win2k/xp. the regtweak unreadable bug in win9x/me is fixed now.
6) Although the changes in Glide3x may affect HSR performance in OpenGL, I haven't really focused on the issue, so don't get upset if HSR doesn't improve for you with the current ICD.
7) ppl with banshee, velocity100/200, voodoo3/4/5 should be able to use the glide3x driver. voodoo2 users may also be able to use the driver, see bottom of this post for more.
for more info see http://www.voodooextreme.com/koolsmoky/glide3x.html


[driver tool]
3dfx underground tool aka V.Control
1) Everything in Hardware Optimization is done by programming hardware registers. By changing the settings you will completely over ride the default manufacturer's settings. Use at your own risk.
2) ppl who get shimmering screens from custom refreshrates, lower 1 or 2Hz and the shimmer will dissappear.
3) If you have a hardware mpeg2 decoder card installed, Hollywood+, Creative dxr3, the driver tool will not load. some ppl have worked around this by installing the latest dxr3 drivers and app. i don't think any body wants to do this, but if you don't use the decoder card, take it out.
4) For those requesting for desktop/overlay gamma controls, or for the tools to be a part of display properties, maybe with the next tool version. I need some time to play, too  
5) for more info see http://www.voodooextreme.com/koolsmoky/v_ctrl.html


[Game FAQ]
Install windows compatibility patch from microsoft.
winxp users should check
http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/...ReleaseID=37942
win2k users should check
http://microsoft.com/windows2000/do...pat/default.asp

Use win98/me compatibility mode for apps having problems in win2k/xp.

JediKnight2 if menus appear corrupt, add in this setting.
seta r_ext_texture_compression_s3tc "1"
seta r_ext_preferred_tc_method "1"
and enable legacy texture compression (fxt1 compression) in driver tool.

SeriousSam2 if game crashes, disable guardband clipping.

Medal of Honor Allied Assault use force 16bit texture to see in-game movies.

UnrealTournament if in openGL use the latest ut opengl renderer from epic http://unreal.epicgames.com/. set UseS3TC=0 if you do *not* use s3tc. if you use S3TC with ut's 2nd CD textures, do *not* force mipmap (lod) dithering and set lodbais to -4 via regtweaks. also be sure to use version 1.0.0.0761 ICD (x3dfx V1.07.00b 1,102,096 bytes) until the new ICD is released. for Win2k/xp Set win98/me compatibility mode to Unrealtournament.exe. Run UT OpenGL with S3TC and enjoy the eyecandy. use the following in unrealtournament.ini.
[OpenGLDrv.OpenGLRenderDevice]
RefreshRate=75
DetailTextures=1
UseTrilinear=1
UseS3TC=1
UseTNT=0
LODBias=0
UseMultiTexture=1
UsePalette=1
UseAlphaPalette=1
Translucency=1
VolumetricLighting=1
ShinySurfaces=1
Coronas=1
HighDetailActors=1
MaxAnisotropy=0
AlwaysMipmap=0
UsePrecache=1
SupportsLazyTextures=1

GLExcess, this ain't a game but for the ogl demo fans, the app will crash at first run, kill with taskmanager and rerun it. it'll run fine after that.

to play Quake3 engine based games with texture compression, add these lines
seta r_ext_compressed_textures "1"
seta r_ext_texture_compression_s3tc "1"
seta r_ext_s3tc "1"
and enable legacy texture compression (fxt1 compression) in driver tool. most games with the Q3 engine will use realtime (on-the-fly) compression.

Soldier of Fortune (edited by Aquoess)
If the game hangs while starting and stuck on displaying the message checking arb_multitexture in xp.
just copy the 3dfxogl.dll file in the game directory and rename it opengl32.dll. it will load fine after that.


[for Voodoo 2 and Banshee Users] (edited by Aquoess)

WIN98:

copy the new glide3x glide2x and 3dfxogl.dll files TO THE windows\system directory and you should be able to use the updated dlls.



WIN2K/XP:

same procedure as above but copy the DLLS to windows\system32 folder.



win98 exit problems

they cease to exist once youve got DX8.1 installed. im personally using dx9 but use 8.1 if you are afraid of betas.


Last edited by koolsmoky on 06-02-2002 at 03:04 PM


Re: Optimal drivers for Q3?, i only want speed!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
try the following commands:
set cg_gibs 0
set cg_brasstime 0
set cg_shadows 0

You may get some more fps, but dont ask me about the IQ.
- To Protect And Serve -

-=| Pentium III 667MHz | Shuttle AV61 (VIA Apollo Pro 133) | 256MB PC-133 | nVidia GF3 Ti-200 128MB (175/400 @ 240/500) | Seagate 10GB 5400RPM | SB-Live! 5.1 | 15" Monitor | Creative Infra 52X CD-ROM drive | Windows98 SE |=-


ColDFuSioN  
3dfx Zealot
Posts: 2058
(6/3/02 1:18:55 pm)
Reply
 Re: Optimal drivers for Q3?, i only want speed!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cg_marks 0
com_blood 0
cg_noprojectiletrail 1  

---------------

Re: Best drivers for voodoo3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WindowsXP + 'old' hardware... not a good idea.

But for 9x/ME drivers and a Voodoo 3, check out this:
ice.prohosting.com/k0bra/benchmarks.html
NuAngel's Helping Hand - INSIDE of 3dfx:
NuAngel.net

PCRapist.com - It's 10'o'clock... do you know where your PC's been?

WhiteTigerX7
3dfx User
Posts: 97
(6/5/02 12:10:19 pm)
Reply  Re: Best drivers for voodoo3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hmmm... It really depends on the sets and the OS used.

The WHQL 1.07.00s for Win9x/ME were pretty decent.
The 1.03.00s for Win2k were pretty good.

Don't bother with XP unless you want a headache. In case you do venture into XP try the lastest Win2k drivers combined with the GlideXp Glide2x.dll and Koolsmoky's Glide3x.dll driver. You also can try using for Tools, V.Control by Koolsmoky and/or PowerStrip. Also use WickedGL 3.02 for OpenGL games since WickedGL tends to work a bit better under XP than the 761 ICD.

Reid's X3dfx drivers for the Voodoo3 are considered pretty good too, but are recommended for Win2k and Win9x/ME only.

-----------------------

As far as the CPU goes....

PPGA style : 533mhz Celeron is the best you can go.
FCPGA style : Latest Pentium 3.  

very very helpfull, thank you

warning: some of that stuff is outdated.