GPL demo slow; hardware requirements

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>Dear People, >After all the hype surrounding GPL, I finally decided to download the demo >to see if it lived up to the hyperbole. Unfortunately, I was most decidedly >unimpressed. The frame per second rate was unbearably slow to the point >where the game/sim (another argument altogether) was unplayable, even with >most of the graphics detail turned off.

Sounds like you got a PC that should run the demo with good FPS to me. What you do tho, is to make sure you got the 3dfx card installed and that you use the 3dfx-mode (check the graphics menu under options). The demo is very bad without any kind of 3D-acceleration, so i predict things will be better for you if you use the 3DFX card... Btw. I hope for your sake that the 3DFX-card is a Voodoo based card and not a Voodoo Rush card. THe demo only supports native Voodoo1 or 2 card and NOT the Voodoo Rush chipped cards. Hope this is of help! All the best, Edwin Solheim REMOVE SPAM-GUARD IN ADDRESS TO REPLY! Check out "The Paddock - a legendary site..." for some cool GPL-stuff!! [http://home.c2i.net/thepaddock

Why don't you replace your 1 MB video card with the Viper330? It should peacefully coexist with your Voodoo1 card. As for the framerate in GPL being slow, your system should run the demo fine. But, you might want to think about another 32 MB of ram. Kyle

<Snip> Get some L2 cache, it will help (maybe 10%-). -TMS

>What are the hardware requirements, both minimum and recommended? Steve, the only thing I can imagine is that the lack of L2 cache is causing you problems. I also used a iP233MMX and Voodoo1, but with 512k L2 cache, and the frame-rates are ideal - 36fps. I can't see anything else on your system that would be a problem, and it does seem strange that an MMX capable motherboard would have no L2 cache. Cheers! John

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> Dear People, > After all the hype surrounding GPL, I finally decided to download the demo > to see if it lived up to the hyperbole. Unfortunately, I was most decidedly > unimpressed. The frame per second rate was unbearably slow to the point > where the game/sim (another argument altogether) was unplayable, even with > most of the graphics detail turned off.

When you get everything set up correctly, you will be very impressed! My cpu and video card aren't as fast as yours, so there must be some other problem. I notice two things here. First is that you have 0k l2 cache - very bad. That will kill the overall performance of your computer. Second, a 1mb video card is probably a bit out-of-date today, and that could make some difference in the frame rate that you get. What brand/model/video chipset does it use? You also need to make sure that you have the 3DFX driver selected in the GPL video options. The GPL demo will not automatically detect what video card you are using. If you don't have the 3DFX option selected now, then selecting it may make the demo playable for you. Still, you really should add at least 256k L2 cache to your motherboard. That will make a lot of difference in everything you do with the computer - including running the GPL demo. I am running a K6 200 with a rendition V1000 (Screamin' 3d). I get about 25 fps running at 512x384 with all the display options turned on (except mirrors I think). So you should be able to get similar or better results. -- Pat Dotson IMPACT Motorsports http://www.impactmotorsports.com/pd.html

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> After all the hype surrounding GPL, I finally decided to download the > demo > to see if it lived up to the hyperbole. Unfortunately, I was most > decidedly > unimpressed. The frame per second rate was unbearably slow to the > point > where the game/sim (another argument altogether) was unplayable, even > with > most of the graphics detail turned off.

Your subject line, and your message state that GPL is slow, WRONG! You merely have to read a few of the (many) messages on RAS (and other places) to find out whether other people think GPL is slow or not. They do NOT. Generally, if people have a problem with GPL it is a pc set-up problem? Aha! now we get to the real problem? you have no L2 cache, a 1Mb video card, and you say a 3Dfx card (it isn't a Voodoo *RUSH* card is it?) and only 32Mb ram, so there you have at least four potential problems that may slow down the demo? So, to sum up.... 1) Get some cache (512k recommended). 2) Get a decent 2d card (at least 4Mb) 3) Make sure your 3Dfx card is a *proper* Voodoo card as GPL does not support Voodoo *Rush* (neither do most other games). 4) While 32Mb is ok, any serious gamester will tell you more RAM = more power to your elbow, (get another 32Mb at least?) See above, nothing wrong with GPL, plenty wrong (potentially) with your set-up? BTW, what was that veiled comment about GPL being a game/sim all about? surely your not going to say you think its *NOT* a sim!!!! *Peter* 8-) (NB: remove asterix to e-mail)

I found the GPL demo to be quite slow on my P200 Voodoo1 So here's a tip, knock your windows resolution down to 640x480 16 colours, this should free up more RAM, GPL is now okay on my PC. It's not a problem with your Voodoo card, it's fast enough to handle GPL.

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>Why don't you replace your 1 MB video card with the Viper330? It should >peacefully coexist with your Voodoo1 card. As for the framerate in GPL being >slow, your system should run the demo fine. But, you might want to think >about another 32 MB of ram. >Kyle >>Dear People, >>After all the hype surrounding GPL, I finally decided to download the demo >>to see if it lived up to the hyperbole. Unfortunately, I was most decidedly >>unimpressed. The frame per second rate was unbearably slow to the point >>where the game/sim (another argument altogether) was unplayable, even with >>most of the graphics detail turned off. >>What are the hardware requirements, both minimum and recommended? I have >>a (true Intel) Pentium (not PII) 233 MHz MMX, 32K L1 cache, 0K L2 cache, >>32Mb RAM, with a 1Mb video RAM card and a 4Mb 3dFX card. An alternative >>hardware config would swap the 4Mb 3dFX card for a 4Mb Diamond Viper 330 >>2d/3d card under DirectX/Direct3D. Unfortunately, I have only one spare >PCI >>slot, so cannot have both the Viper 330 and the 3dFX card installed at the >>same time. Which of these two alternative configs _should_ run GPL best? >>_Should_ this hardware run GPL at a tolerable frame rate? If not, I must >be >>doing something wrong, but have no idea what.

-- Stephen.J.Hood