******************************************************* Metabyte Wicked3D Software Windows95/98/ME/2K Version WGL1B8 Readme File ******************************************************* Last Modified: 04/14/00 This version contains accelerated MiniGL support for 3Dfx Voodoo2, 3Dfx Voodoo3, 3Dfx Voodoo Banshee. New in This Version =================== * Fixed HiRes version of WickedGL with Quake3 bug * Fixed gamma when exiting game in Win2K New in 04/11/00 Version ======================= * Added support for Soldier of Fortune * Added support for Windows 2K * Fixed uninstall * Removed registration procedure - known bug: when using HiRes version of WickedGL with Quake3, "Texture Quality" should be set to "default". In q3config.cfg r_texturebits should be "0". New in 12/16/99 Version ======================= * "Lost railings" bug in Opposing Force with WickedGL HiRes accelerated version fixed. * Quake3 retail version fan texture bug fixed * Added support for Windows Millennium New in 11/16/99 Version ======================= * Quake3 v1.09 bug with multipass multitexturing fixed. New in 11/15/99 Version ======================= * Alt-Tab bug fixed. * Mouse pointer bug in Unreal Tournament fixed. * Fixed bug with Velocity using Voodoo3 drivers. * Quake3 v1.09 bugs with alpha and depth buffers fixed. * Improved texture loading. * Up to 5% more performance in Quake3 on boards with multitexturing compared to the previous version when maximum texture detail level is used. New in 9/27/99 Version ====================== * Black screenshot bug fixed. * Washed out colors bug fixed. See section about brightness/gamma extensions for details. * Jumping character disappearing in controls menu in Quake3 bug fixed. * Fuzzy yellow text in start menu in Quake3 bug fixed. * Added support for Velocity boards. * Improved sky rendering in Quake3. * Up to 5% more performance in Quake3 on boards with multitexturing compared to the previous version. New in 8/25/99 Version ====================== * Bug fixed that prevented Quake3 from running with texture format set to anything but default. * "Sync every frame" option not working fixed. * Artifacts at the bottom of the screen in Quake2 fixed. * Added section in the readme about dithering artifacts. New in 8/16/99 Version ====================== * "Lost railings" bug in Half-Life with WickedGL HiRes accelerated version fixed. * Flashing textures in Q3 with WickegGL HiRes accelerated version fixed. * Improved WickegGL HiRes accelerated version performance in low resolutions. * Kingpin added to the list of games for WickedGL switching utility. * Updated readme section about brightness/gamma extensions. Supported Games =============== This MiniGL driver contains an OpenGL subset for Quake, Quake 2, Quake 3, Hexen 2, Sin, Half-Life, Heretic 2, Daikatana, Unreal, Starsiege and Tribes. Installation ============ Installation of WickedGL is a two step process. First, the drivers and OpenGL switching utility are unpacked and installed in their own directory. You have to specify the name of the directory and select which board you are using. There are 2 different versions of the driver, one for Voodoo2/Voodoo3 with multitexturing support and a non-multitexturing version for Banshee. Banshee version would not run on Voodoo2/3 boards and Voodoo2/3 version would not run on Banshee. At this step you can also ask the setup program to put a shortcut to the OpenGL switching utility on the desktop. Second, you install the driver to the games directories either manually or using provided OpenGL switching utility. In the OpenGL switching utility you select games you want to use with WickedGL and drives where to look for them. When you hit either install or uninstall button the OpenGL switching utility starts searching for the selected games. Once a game found opengl driver file in that game is replaced with WickedGL driver if install button was hit or previously saved driver is restored if uninstall button was hit. WickedGL driver files are actually available in two flavors. One is the regular version and the second is the version with acceleration for high resolution modes. You can select between the two when copying files to the games directories. The OpenGL switching utility has two different install buttons to install either regular version or version with high resolution acceleration. To change the version of WickedGL you are using with a particular game/games just run OpenGL switching utility again and repeat search/install process using a different install button. High Resolution Modes Acceleration ================================== Regular version of WickedGL is the most compatible and most intensively tested version. It does all the rendering in hardware. WickedGL with high resolution modes acceleration utilizes the excess of CPU power to help video card to render faster in high resolutions at the cost of little performance loss in low resolutions and some compatibility issues. These two versions of WickedGL are two different driver DLL files and you can use any one of them depending on your personal preferences. WickedGL with high resolution modes acceleration has been tested with Quake3 only and should be considered a technology demonstration. Regular version has been extensively tested and optimized and we recommend it to use on a regular basis with other games. From the performance point of view Quake3 can definitely benefit from high resolution modes acceleration in modes 1024x768 and higher. For 640x480 it is the best in most cases to use regular version. In all other modes we recommend you to test both versions on your particular system and select the one that gives you better fps. Brightness/Gamma Controls ========================= WickedGL provides gamma control extensions. Quake3 uses these extensions and enables brightness slider if these extensions are available. It is recommended to set this slider to values not higher than 1.8. If you want to disable driver level gamma extensions in Quake3 use "r_ignorehwgamma 1" command in Quake3 console("~"). Set brightness slider to 1.0 before entering r_ignorehwgamma command. WickedGL's gamma/brightness extensions may be not available on your system. By default gamma/brightness extensions are supported only if it is possible to execute an accurate implementation of these extensions. If you want WickedGL to support the extensions anyway you need to enable them manually with the registry setting. In the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Metabyte key of the registry enter WickedGL_gamma_control DWORD value. Set it to 1 to force the extensions. Set it to 2 to disable the extensions. If you forced the extensions and an accurate implementation cannot be executed an approximation will be used. IMPORTANT NOTE FOR QUAKE3 USERS: This miniGL supports runtime gamma/brightness controls to the best of the board and its driver abilities. Some board and driver combinations limit the extent of brightness control to the simple adjustment of the gamma correction value. In that case instead of just refusing to support gamma/brightness extensions this miniGL gives the best possible approximation so you can still have runtime brightness control in the game. As a result of approximation the colors may look different. In fact the approximation eliminates the saturation effect and gives a smoother image with more shades in the middle of the color ramp. It is a matter of personal preference which color scheme you like and with WickedGL you actually have a choice. If you want to get to your old color scheme just prevent Quake3 from using hardware gamma extensions as described in the first paragraph of this section. If You See Dithering Artifacts (Voodoo3 only) ============================================= If you are using latest 3dfx's drivers that have a fix for dithering artifacts but still see those artifacts with WickedGL go to the 3dfx Tweaks property page and set Alpha-blending option to Smoother. You can also set Video Display option to High to get the best image quality. For the latest information and installation instructions, please check our web site at: http://www.wicked3d.com