Ver. 2.0

by Kamikazie

 
Can't afford a Voodoo2 yet? Then read on to learn how to get the maximum performance out of your 3Dfx Voodoo1 video card.

Autoexec.bat - GLQuake - Quake2 - Unreal

Autoexec.bat

The tweaks can give you as much as a 20fps increase in some games (depending on your system). These only help Glide games, not Direct3D games.

1. Click the Start menu and click Run...
2. In the text box type: sysedit
3. Go to the Autoexec.bat window
4. Paste the following below all the text that is in there already:

        REM --- 3DFX ---
        SET SST_GAMMA=1.5
        REM (1.3 is dark - 1.7 is default - 2.0 is bright)
        SET SST_SCREENREFRESH=60
        SET SST_GRXCLK=57
        SET SST_FASTMEM=1
        SET SST_FASTPCIRD=1
        SET SST_VIDEO_16BPP=1
        SET FX_GLIDE_NO_SPLASH=1
        SET FX_GLIDE_SWAPINTERVAL=0
        SET SST_SWAP_EN_WAIT_ON_VSYNC=0
        REM --- 3DFX ---

Now onto the definitions of them:

SST_GAMMA: Just the overall gamma (brightness) setting. 1.3=Dark - 1.7 = Default - 2.0 = bright

SST_SCREENREFRESH: The refresh rate. No point really in changing this.

SST_GRXCLK: Overclocking the Voodoo. 57MHz is the highest you should go. The default is 50MHz. Over 60MHz is suicide. I wouldn't recommend overclocking if you do not have any extra cooling in your system (i.e. extra case fan) I have an extra fan inside my computer which is why it is safe for me to overclock to 57MHz. If you do not have extra cooling I do not recommend going over 54MHz. So change that number accordingly.

SST_FASTMEM: Increase memory speed. 'Nuff said. Why would you NOT have this setting? 1= Yes, 0= No

SST_FASTPCIRD: increases PCI transfer speeds. 1= yes, 0 = no

SST_VIDEO_16BPP: Change to 24BPP or 32BPP if you wish, but you may experiece a slowdown (16bit, 24bit, 32bit color - not much difference really)

FX_GLIDE_NO_SPLASH: Takes away that 3Dfx spinning logo before a game. 1=yes, 0=no

FX_GLIDE_SWAPINTERVAL: speeds up a lot!

SST_SWAP_EN_WAIT_ON_VSYNC: another speed booster

Now after you've made the changes, save them and reboot.

GLQuake

After using the above tweaks (autoexec.bat) there isn't much else you can add, but here are a few things for GLQuake only:

_SND_MIXAHEAD ".14" : add this to your Quake autoexec.cfg file. It improves sound performance and the sound will no longer skip or stutter.

R_SHADOWS 0 : If you have r_shadows set to '1' (shadows on) then by turning them off you will get a 5-10fps increase.

Run GLQuake in 512x384. It looks essentially the same as 640x480 but is a lot faster. To run GLQuake at 512x384, run it like this:
glquake.exe -width 512 -window

Brag Shots: Showing off my FPS scores with these tweaks in both 512x384 and 640x480 resolutions. These were run in Timedemo Demo1. View my computer specs here.
512x384 shot - 70fps
640x480 shot - 57.5fps

To test your performance go to the console and type Timedemo demo1. Then when it starts playing bring your console up. Afterwards your FPS score will be in the console.

Quake2

One word: 3Fingers.

Grab a copy of 3Fingers Quake2 autoexec.cfg. This thing works wonders for increasing performance. Combined with the Autoexec.bat tweaks, your Quake2 will be screaming.
Here is a copy of 3Fingers autoexec.cfg. Place this file in your Quake2/baseq2 directory.

If you happen to run a AMD K6-2 (3DNow!) CPU, like myself, then you can grab the latest Quake2 3DNow! (v3.17) drivers here.
These improve the performance a bit (2-5fps) with a voodoo1, but if you happen to own a Voodoo2 it will boost your performance by at least 30fps.

Brag shots: here are my FPS scores in demo1.dm2 in resolutions 512x384 and 640x480. My system specs can be viewed here.

512x384 shot - 37fps
640x480 shot - 33fps

To run this FPS test in Quake2 type the following in the console:
timedemo 1
<enter>
map demo1.dm2
<enter>


Unreal

If you've got a low-end machine you need all the tweaking you can get for this game. The P166/16MB minimum is hardly enough, and is almost unplayable with that configuration. I recommend a P200MMX or higher with at least 64MB RAM and a 3Dfx card (voodoo1 or voodoo2). But whether you have a P166 or a P2-400 there is always a way to get higher performance.

Here is one of the more important ones:

This doesn't have to do with the graphics engine either, but it can _considerably_ speed up Unreal, up to 50% better frame rate on lower-end machines:

This especially helps if you do not have MMX on your processor.

OK. This one may seem strange (especially for this tweak guide) but if you are overclocking your Voodoo it can actually, in some cases, slow Unreal down. This is where you want to test it. Try it at both 50MHz and your overclocked speed to see which one is faster for you. The overclocking still speeds up Quake/Quake2 though...Also overclocking your CPU can even slow it down a bit. But in my case, underclocking to 50Mhz from 57 slowed it down by 4FPS

Here's another one for 3Dfx owner's only:

One more:


With all of these tweaks you are guaranteed better performance. Even if for me it doesn't show much improvement in my timedemo results (only a few FPS), gameplay was much better and smoother. Made it a lot more enjoyable, especially multiplayer when you have many players on the screen at once!

The Beast

CPU: AMD K6-2 300MHz
Motherboard: FIC VA-503+ (100MHz Bus - 3x100)
Cache: 1MB of onboard cache memory
RAM: 64MB PC100 (100MHz) 6ns SDRAM
Video Card: ATI 3D Charger 4MB
3Dfx Card: 4MB Realvision Flash 3D overclocked to 57MHz
Soundcard: Genuine Soundblaster 16 PnP
Hard Drives:
#1 (C:) - 1.2GB Western Digital
#2 (D: & E:) - 4.3GB JTS Champion
CDROM: 24x Pioneer
Extra Cooling: 12V DC Ball-Bearing Case Fan

Have any questions? Do not hesitate to contact me.

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