rec.autos.simulators

Thanks for the update, but you know, information always generate more
questions :-)

Q1 Is the Hercules capable of 1024x768?
Q2 Is the image quality of the Hercules compared with the Voodoo2 very
different? (Read: much better)
Q3 When the answers of Q1 and Q2 is  yes, what is the comparison in
image quality between the Hercules 1024x768 and the Voodoo2 1024x768?
Q4  Same as Q3 for Hercules 800x600 compared with Voodoo2 1024x786?

I know, it's difficult to answer these questions if you don't have a
Voodoo2 (which seems to be the case), but hee, it doesn't hurt to ask
these questions  ;-0

Remco

PS. That PR job at Papyrus, isn't it something for you? You did well
so far....

/Christer, thinking there should be much more women like you :o)
--
http://home4.swipnet.se/~w-41236/ (Read all about the "Global online
racing"-proposal under "For developers". Read it a couple of times, cause noone
has understood it the first time they've read it yet :o) )

With the latest drivers the 8MB board supports 1024x768 (the earlier
drivers incorrectly reported the available memory as 4MB thus limiting
you to 800x600).

I wouldn't go so far as to say it's much better, but I do prefer the
warmer colors and sharpness of the textures in the Rendition version
over the 3Dfx version, which looks a bit too washed out for my tastes.

The resolution doesn't effect the image quality.

Again, the increased resolution isn't going to change the color and
texture quality, so I'd take the increase in speed at 800x600 over a
higher resolution anyday.

- Eric

--
Will Fiveash

Thanks Eric, for your reply.

Remco

The 8mb version is.

It's not "very" different. The Thriller's colours look a bit more
"vibrant", but not so much as to make a huge difference. The Voodoo2
give slightly sharper images so you can see far off corners and
features better (this is partly due to anti-aliasing on the Thriller
which can be turned off).

Down to personal opinion I think. Personally I prefer the Thriller,
not because of the image quality, but because you will get a better
frame-rate with it. It is noticably quicker than the Voodoo2 in GPL.

If you can get 36fps with the Voodoo2 then it will be better, but I
very much doubt if you can. The cards all look fine at 640X480
upwards, and frame-rate is more important than looks.

Cheers!
John

A Voodoo1 card is also fine. I used to run GPL on a P166 (o/c 225)
with Voodoo1, and it was fine at either 166 or 225mhz. As Alison said,
you can have AI or graphics, or some compromise of the two, but you
can't have it all with this setup. I also used to run at 512x384 with
the P-166, for maximum frame-rate.

Please note this is only the best choice if GPL is ALL you will be
doing, since 3dFX and Voodoo1/2 are *FAR* better supported, with
superior speed and quality in most other games. Some such as Unreal
and Quake2 look awful on my Herc Thriller 3D, but utterly scrumptious
on the Voodoo2. Think carefully about everything you will use the card
for.

Better still, buy both :-)  The V2200 cards are very cheap these days,
so why not have the V2200 for SODA, N2, ICR2-3D and GPL, and a 3dFX
for everything else...?

Cheers!
John

Cheers!
John

- Eric

From what you said in your post, does this mean only the Banshee will be of
any use in GPL? If so, it puts these new generation cards out of the
equation for GPL.

Damn, I had my sights set on a Tnt................

Cheers!
John

<snippeded from Alison's post>

Q. How fast a CPU do I need?

Papyrus says that the minimum platform for GPL is a P-166, and I agree
with this.  I had a P-166 and it ran ok on that machine.  However, you
need at least 256k of L2 cache, and (IMHO) a Rendition 2x00 card to get
decent frame rate on a P-166.  You will also have to turn down a lot of
graphic detail if you want to run with any AI cars, or in multiplayer
mode, and you won't want to have more than 5 other cars on the track
even if you've turned the detail way down.

I eventually upgraded my P-166 to an AMD K6-200, which I overclocked to
75x3 so it is running at 225.  More importantly, it is running the L2
cache, which GPL uses heavily, at 75 mhz instead of 66 mhz, and this
helps a lot.  I also installed an 8 mb Hercules Thriller, replacing the
Sierra Screamin' 3D which was in it originally.  

<end snip>

She claims you need the L2 cache and you dont, so now I'm more confused than
ever :o).

According to www.tomshardware.com the new Celeron overclocked is sometimes even
faster than the P2 at the same clock speed and this is probably because the
cache in the Celeron is twice as fast and half the size. Some applications need
the whole cache, then the P2 is faster, others can take advantage of the speed,
then the Celeron is faster, the new Celeron that is, Celeron 300A and Celeron
333 :o).

/Christer, just did a recheck at Tom's page and the Celeron 300A seems to be a
must have :o)

<Snip usefull info>

Thanks John.

Remco