Time for a flashback from hell... Voodoo2's in SLI

aNtHrAx323

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I decided to dig up a bunch of hardware recently and put together a nostalgia machine for tearing up all those old games designed with 3Dfx/Glide in mind (specifically Interstate '76 to be honest). My current problem is that I can't for the life of me remember how the hell you're supposed to connect the pass-through cables when in SLI mode - is the signal supposed to pass through both cards? They are connected using the internal ribbon, however, I'm having weird issues when entering Glide-enabled games where the game loads and is running, but the screen remains blank until I disconnect one of the pass-throughs and the final monitor output, reconnect the pass through, and then reconnect the monitor itself - then it works fine. Any tips? Shit this old doesn't have too much documentation laying around (and I can't for the life of me find drivers for the Monster Sound MX300).
 
you're sure both cards are functional? the only i could tell sli was running was if i could use 1024x768. i dont know if you want the nostalgia in hardware as well, but you can play glide games on modern video cards, i think. at least for my laptop with integrated intel graphics i can play glquake, as long as the game uses the correct glide dll (not the 3dfx one).

mx300 drivers
http://drivers.filesrepository.com/...d-multimedia-monster-sound-mx300-drivers.html

though i also believe you can use normal aureal vortex 2 drivers.
http://www.soundcard-drivers.com/drivers/69/69566.htm

i just found these through google.
 
Cript said:
for my laptop with integrated intel graphics i can play glquake, as long as the game uses the correct glide dll (not the 3dfx one).

Hmm, not quite sure why an OpenGL game like GLQuake would use the glide drivers, but hey! Anythings possible! :p
 
RedRaven said:
Hmm, not quite sure why an OpenGL game like GLQuake would use the glide drivers, but hey! Anythings possible! :p

It's called a glide wrapper.
 
Are Glide wrappers universal? If so, what's the likelihood of it working for Interstate '76? I'd love to run that at 1920x1200 if the goddamned engine supported it.
 
SLI Voodoo2's :) I remember that, I loved it!


You used an internal ribbon to connect the two V2's together, and a single pass thru from the primary vid card to the V2. You then plugged the monitor into the V2.
 
with the Voodoo 2's in SLI, you use one pass through cable, it goes from your 2d/3d card to your first voodoo2, then just that card for the output to the monitor as well, the 2nd card just has the cable to it.

I can't remember if I76 was a voodoo 1 game only or supported voodoo 2's, but you may need to look around the net for a patch to support v2's if it only supported v1's.

Are you running the v2's in windows 98se, this usually makes it easier to get a game working with hardware/software it was natively built to work on.

I am looking through zeckensacks glide wrapper and his doesn't seem to have I76 directly supported (but supports alot of other games, this doesn't mean it won't work, but if it supports the game it can scale the resolution and alot more, i'd played carmageddon 2 on XP with 1600x1200 and works great with this glide wrapper.

I just got done building myself a old legacy gaming system with v2's in SLI
Windows 98SE
PIII 1000MHz
784mb sdram
Viper770 32mb TNT2 AGP4x
Creative 3dblaster voodoo2 12mb in SLI (3dfxzone.it 4.0Gold drivers)
16x DVDrom/ 4x CD-RW
10gb and a 40gb HDD's

I know whats its like trying to get these old games working, been getting old glide games to work, i have recently gotten carmageddon 1, and carmageddon splat pack, wolfenstein3d GL, dethkarz, shadow warrior, Madtraxx, Moto GP, starwars EP:1 pod racer, twisted metal 2, extreme G2, blood 2, rollcage, roadwars. (so if you have any questions about these games i may have a patch that works for ya.
 
aNtHrAx323 said:
...I'd love to run that at 1920x1200 if the goddamned engine supported it.

Wasn't the Glide API limited to 800x600 16 bit color? :confused:

A while back I played the original Unreal with Glide Wrapper. Because it used the Glide API it would only go to 800x600.

I just had a thought (ouch), I wonder if there is an ini hack to get a higher resolution? Now I gotta dig out my Unreal disk... :D


 
I've got 4 of those Monster Voodoo cards in the attic!! QUAD SLI HERE I COME!!!! :eek:
 
I still have a pair of 8MB Voodoo2 cards, passthrough cables and internal ribbon cable. Almost want to blow the dust off of them. I have a old P3-1000 from a server upgrade that I could use them on. I remember when Everquest first came out how much faster it was on the Voodoo2's in SLI. Whew, what a flashback!! :p
 
I remenber saving my ass off for the second voodoo2 card to go along with my s3virge 4mb. I guess i'm still saving cause i never did get it.
 
You Voodoo is weak..:p

I had the king of Voodoo 2 SLI rigs.. using a Quantum Obsidian X-24. It was where the Geforce 7950GX2 for it's idea from.

DSC00604_b.jpg

DSC00603_b.jpg
 
OMG it's also where ATI got the idea for the Crossfire dongle. :p Lol, all new video card ideas are just bassed off of Voodoo 2s.
 
D3v01D said:
Wasn't the Glide API limited to 800x600 16 bit color? :confused:

A while back I played the original Unreal with Glide Wrapper. Because it used the Glide API it would only go to 800x600.

I just had a thought (ouch), I wonder if there is an ini hack to get a higher resolution? Now I gotta dig out my Unreal disk... :D




No. My standard resolution for my voodoo2 setup was 1024x768 and I think I could go up to 1280x1024 or something. 16 bit color was a limitation of the 3dfx hardware.
 
A single V2 was limited to 800x600.
Two V2's in SLI was limited to 1024x768, all 16 bit color of course.

Man I remember having a pair of these with a TNT1, and then paired with a TNT2 ultra.
ahhh the fun. =)
 
I have an old nostalgia rig too with SLI voodoo2's that I built out of my fiance's old dell. It is a mATX case with an i810 motherboard, a pIII 933, 512MB pc133, onboard intel VGA, 2 Diamond Monster3D Voodoo2 12MB in SLI, Creative SB512 audio and a 20 GB hard drive. It sure is fun to play old games on that thing.
 
Thanks for the tips - Everything's good to go now.

Yeah, I'd encourage everyone to put one of these things together, because given the lack of texture detail back then, the games actually look better at lower resolutions on CRTs (this one is rigged up to a 19" NEC FP912-SB) than on newer hardware. I'm pissed as hell though that my Carmageddon 2 disc is gone (it sat in a drawer for many years, and one fateful day I slammed the drawer on it), but I've still got Unreal laying around somewhere.
 
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