N2, Renddma -4

I have noticed that the -4 switch when used with renddma really improves framerate. 30fps at Martinsville with 25 ahead 8 behind all detail on. This on my P166, 24meg, Intergraph Intense 3D. What I want to know is what exactly the -4 switch does. I know it turns on 4 bit cars or something like that, but I cannot see a difference in the quality of the cars. Can someone please elaborate more on this? What should I look for (if anything) when using the -4 switch? -Jody- http://www.geocities.com/~jodys_pit_stop/

On Sat, 05 Jul 1997 17:47:01 -0600, Jody Huggins

Quoted text (7 lines)

>I have noticed that the -4 switch when used with renddma really improves >framerate. 30fps at Martinsville with 25 ahead 8 behind all detail on. >This on my P166, 24meg, Intergraph Intense 3D. What I want to know is >what exactly the -4 switch does. I know it turns on 4 bit cars or >something like that, but I cannot see a difference in the quality of the >cars. Can someone please elaborate more on this? What should I look for >(if anything) when using the -4 switch?

The cars will be slightly less graphically detailed. But, of course, the real thing to look for is the higher frame rate... :-) By the time the cars are texture mapped, and the various filtering algorithms applied, the differences will be hard to spot at speed. If you could view side-by-side stills, you could probably spot some differences... But, as with everything else in life, if you notice the positive (higher frame rate) and don't notice any negatives (slightly lower detail), then you should continue to use -4. ---Jim

Is the -4 switch just for rendition cards? I have a 4mb Matrox Millenium and a P166 Pentium, the game runs great, but any frame rate increase would be great. How can I tell how many fps I'm getting? Thanks -- Dave (Hoser) Stochl Hoser's NASCAR Racing "2" Page http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/8757/index.html

Quoted text (10 lines)

> Is the -4 switch just for rendition cards? I have a 4mb Matrox Millenium > and a P166 Pentium, the game runs great, but any frame rate increase > would be great. How can I tell how many fps I'm getting? > Thanks > -- > Dave (Hoser) Stochl > Hoser's NASCAR Racing "2" Page > http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/8757/index.html

Im not sure about the -4 switch on anything else. But to find an approx. framerate I go to a track that eats processor power (Martinsville) and set some obvious graphic to auto, such as wall texture, and everything else to on. Then set the min./max. to 30/30 if the walls stay on, you have 30+fps, if they go off, set it at 25/25 if they stay on then you have 25+fps, keep narrowing it down until you get an approx. frame rate. ex.26/26 then 27/27 and so on. -Jody- http://www.geocities.com/~jodys_pit_stop/

Quoted text (10 lines)

> Is the -4 switch just for rendition cards? I have a 4mb Matrox Millenium > and a P166 Pentium, the game runs great, but any frame rate increase > would be great. How can I tell how many fps I'm getting? > Thanks > -- > Dave (Hoser) Stochl > Hoser's NASCAR Racing "2" Page > http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/8757/index.html

Yes the -4 is only for rendition cards using either(I think) nasrend or renddma Jay Taylor Windy City Motorsports

Quoted text (10 lines)

> Is the -4 switch just for rendition cards? I have a 4mb Matrox Millenium > and a P166 Pentium, the game runs great, but any frame rate increase > would be great. How can I tell how many fps I'm getting? > Thanks > -- > Dave (Hoser) Stochl > Hoser's NASCAR Racing "2" Page > http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/8757/index.html

The -4 is unique to Rendition. However, unless I'm mistaken, the 4 bit cars are the standard size, and the 8 bit cars are a Rendition-only feature. So if you're not running Rendition, then you've already got the -4 configuration.

Yes, you are mistaken. Rendition and standard N2 both share 8-bit graphics. However, it is the 4-bit MI4 files that I think are unique to Rendition. Cheers! Marc J. Nelson Sim Racing Online

The -4 swithch, as I recall, sets the program in 4 bit graphics mode. However, I see little difference from 8 bit (standard, I think) DB

Quoted text (14 lines)

> >I have noticed that the -4 switch when used with renddma really improves > >framerate. 30fps at Martinsville with 25 ahead 8 behind all detail on. > >This on my P166, 24meg, Intergraph Intense 3D. What I want to know is > >what exactly the -4 switch does. I know it turns on 4 bit cars or > >something like that, but I cannot see a difference in the quality of the > >cars. Can someone please elaborate more on this? What should I look for > >(if anything) when using the -4 switch? > >-Jody- > >http://www.geocities.com/~jodys_pit_stop/ > The -4 swithch, as I recall, sets the program in 4 bit graphics mode. However, I > see little difference from 8 bit (standard, I think) > DB

If you have a machine that has 32MB of ram you will see a difference and if you have a 16MB machine the 8 bit graphics mode never gets turned on so its not a problem... Don Wilshe, IVGA