DX8a + Descent 3

[Brian Frank 0]

Im looking at going to DX8a, but Im not sure if it will screw stuff up like last time. But that could've been a combination of things.

 

Basics specs

Asus A7V bios 1007 final

Duron800@912MHz

Herucles GF2 MX Det. 10.80

448MB ram

 

Everything works fine now, but Im wondering if things will improve D3 or screw them up.

[DosFreak 2]

Directx has nothing to do with Descent 3 except for if the game uses other API besides the video.

[clutch 1]

Nice to see you again, Dos. As far as DX in D3, I thought that you could use OpenGL or DX in it. For some reason I was under the impression DX had more to do in the game (but I haven't installed it in a long time).

 

 

 

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Regards,

 

clutch

[Brian Frank 0]

Well, basically D3 was unplayable because most of the background would be all one color, like black or orange if view at certain angles. Needless to say, there were some parts that I couldnt get at the right angle, so I was screwed. It couldve also been the Radeon I was testing too, who knows.

I dont think its due to the latest Via 4-in-1 drivers though, cuz everything runs just fine.

I guess it was one of those freak things.

[michaeljbrooks 0]

I still play Descent 3 once in a while.

There is a choice in the setup window to pick DirectX or OpenGL graphics mode if your video card is hardware accelerated in both of those modes, otherwise Descent 3 picks whichever mode is hardware accelerated with no choice offered.

I still have the original DirectX 7 installed and have not installed DirectX 8a and probably will not do so for fear of messing up the excellent compatibility of my present setup.

[Brian Frank 0]

Well Ive reinstalled since then. Dont know if it was the Radeon I tested out or DX8. Ive got DX8a and a GF2MX and everything works great. I probably should get a joystick for playing D3...probably work better than my mouse.

[SHS 0]

hehehe Thank God I have Voodoo.

[Brian Frank 0]

Like the Voodoo's, but I also like to have support--good support. Nvidia was the next logical choice. Im still keeping my Voodoo 3 3000 AGP cuz its got TV out and it works right out of the box with Linux and Win2k. Stupid MS couldnt have support for it automatically in ME--even though it came out AFTER Win2k.

I did get a BSOD with Hercules drivers for Win2k when I exited a game in D3, but I got the leaked drivers and they--well all of the Nvidia Dets Ive used are problem free. 11.01 dets right here.

[Christianb 8]

Hi Gang,

Quote:

Stupid MS couldnt have support for it automatically in ME--even though it came out AFTER Win2k.

Actually, Microsoft charges for OS integrated drivers. You see every driver included with a particular release of windows came about through one of two means one Microsoft wrote the driver or a company paid for their WHQL test on that particular version of Windows (Windows Hardware Quality Labs). It's extremelyr rare for Microsoft to write drivers for 3rd party hardware, but when DEC went out of business MS pitched in, because so many people use/love their network adapters. Intel owns DECs assets today. As for the Voodoo 3 not being bundled with WinMe, 3DFX totally mismanaged their business strategy. They were winning because they had great hardware, a sucessful proprietary API, and were letting 3rd parties share in the profits. Then they got idiotic and started behaving like the companies that were already going down hill like Matrox and decided to make their own chipsets and their own video cards so they too started going out of business. Because 3DFX was broke they couldn't afford WHQL testing which I think costs about 40,000 dollars per product/driver version. You'll notice that there were hardly Voodoo2 drivers for Win2K, because they couldn't afford further driver development. To this today the only Win2K drivers for a Voodoo 2 that supports both DirectX and OpenGL are bastard drivers by the 3DFX user-base.

 

However, the Voodoo 2 Driver issue with Win2K is partially related to MS changing their security model. They knowingly did something that broke 3DFX's drivers and invited them over to figure out a solution. However, MS and 3DFX didn't get along and 3DFX left in outrage and the rest is history. I know I remember the day it happened I was working in the same building.

Cheers,

Christian Blackburn