This directory contains a version of the "Mini" OpenGL driver that is compatible with the 3.0 version of the V2x00 driver. Though the 3.0 release has built in support for a full OpenGL ICD, this MiniGL can provide faster performance in some games, particularly on slower systems. Experiment to determine how the MiniGL and built in ICD compare on your system.
The MiniGL supports a subset of the full OpenGL spec, allowing you to play Quake and Quake descended games, as well as other OpenGL games that do not require full OpenGL compliance.
This release of the MiniGL include H3D stereo glasses support, triple buffering, line doubled stereo support, vertex array optimizations, gamma table support, and point parameter extension support.
This release should be considered "gold" - all major issues have been resolved and todo items completed. If any new serious bugs are discovered however, this MiniGL may once again be updated. New features however are only planned for the full integrated OpenGL ICD.
There are four files:
readme.txt:
This file.
opengl32.dll:
The OpenGL "mini" driver.
v2000gl.uc:
The MiniGL microcode file for the V2x00.
To install this driver:
Copy the v2000gl.uc and opengl32.dll to your OpenGL game's directory.
(See notes below for some specific game setup issues)
It is not recommended that you put these file in your windows\system directory, because the MiniGL does not support the entire OpenGL API. Applications that require unsupported functions may crash if you copy these files to windows\system.
CONFIGURATION INSTRUCTIONS
This miniGL uses registry entries to modify behavior. Two new features that are affected by registry entries are:
(1) Triple buffering (when you are a full screen app, and ask for double buffering you actually have 3 buffers allocated - 6 if stereo - in a transparent fashion to the user). Triple buffering drastically reduces the time the graphics chip spends waiting for the vertical sync between frames. An offshoot of this is that it is no longer necessary to have the highest refresh rate to see maximum performance. On the other hand we can run at the lowest comfortable refresh rate, having the CRT controller access the framebuffer much less frequently and thereby freeing up memory bandwidth for rendering. So setting the lowest refresh rate gives best results when triple buffering is enabled. When it is not, then highest refresh rate gives you the fastest results.
(2) Line doubled stereo. When viewing stereo, if the vertical resolution is halved the eye gets fooled into believing that there is almost as much resolution as in a non-stereo buffer with twice the vertical resolution. Halving the vertical resolution halves the memory/rendering bandwidth required. So we are able to run almost as fast as the non-stereo case (not quite true if the geometry is the bottleneck).
Triple buffering is on by default. Stereo line doubling is off by default. There is no need to edit your registry if you do not wish to change this default behavior.
To change these settings, use regedit to add to following to the local machine registry under "Software\Rendition\OpenGL":
TripleBuffering
0 or 1
disable/enable triple buffering
StereoLineDouble
0 or 1
disable/enable line doubling in stereo
Note: The registry entries should be entered exactly as shown, and the data
values should be DWORD's. 0 = Off. 1 = On.
NOTES
Triple buffering uses 50% more frame buffer memory than double buffering. On a 4MB card, memory may be scarce in some applications. If you notice any performance problems with triple buffering enabled, you may wish to disable it or run at a lower resolution.
Quake 1 assumes a double-buffered screen, and when run with triple buffering may exhibit flashing. At the console "set gl_triplebuffer 1" to fix this.
To turn on stereo in Quake 2, type "set cl_stereo 1", "set gl_ztrick 0", followed by a "vidrestart".
With line-doubling enabled, the default console font in Quake 2 is very difficult to read. You may wish to experiment with different fonts, or to turn off stereo mode temporarily while working with the console.
Additional Notes:
This MiniGL won't work on V1k boards.
This MiniGL won't work under Windows NT.
If you are using it for Quake1 then copy the files into the Quake1 directory.
If you are using the MiniGL for Quake2 it is better to rename the file to v2kmini.dll and type "gl_driver v2kmini" followed by a "vid_restart" in the Quake2 console when playing; this will help keep files from getting mixed up.
To enable the MiniGL in Half Life, you must first copy the .dll & .uc files to the gldrv directory located where Half-Life is installed. You must add the name of the MiniGL driver to drvmap.txt in the Half-Life "gldrv" directory in order to have it appear in the Half-Life video options menu. For instance if you named the MiniGL driver "2kmin.dll" you would add: "2kmin V2x00 MiniGL driver" (without the quotes)to the drvmap.txt file.
Heretic2 and Sin will both work normally with gl_driver [minigl name, -minus ".dll"] vid_restart.
Heretic2 will have color problems if you try to enable paletted textures.
Stereo mode with line doubling doesn't work currently below 400x300 res in Quake2.
Again, these drivers are unsupported by Rendition.
End-users are recommended to use drivers provided by their board manufacturer to ensure that they can obtain full support.