Support NeoGAF

[midnightguy]

marsomega wrote:

That was a hard hit for 3DFX they came in full swing with lawsuits over it. yet they were very arrogant and relied solely on the voodoo architecture for way too long. They loved claiming high frame rates but the reality was they were only 10 frames ahead in certain conditions at only 16-bit color depth while the others were a little behind with 32-bit color depth.

I agree. not having 32-bit color hurt 3Dfx, although that was probably not the critical 'blow' that killed em.

I seriously started to think these engineers were blind saying their algorithms and 22-bit rendering achieved through post processing was competitive. No matter what, 32-bit always looked better, night and day etc... end of story. The TNT2 and TNT Ultra should of been their wake up call to start ramping up things. They were already dead in the PC market, I don't know how much the DC would of helped them. Had they survived the Geforce 2, the Geforce 3 would of likely finished them off. They had absolutely nothing against the onslaught of Geforce 2 chipsets coming in all different directions from different vendors.

3Dfx was supposed to have Rampage out right after Voodoo2. and actually, IIRC (could well be wrong but) I thought 3Dfx was supposed to go Voodoo1 --> Banshee --> Rampage. either way, Rampage was originally meant to be out in 1998, or at the very latest, 1999. not 2000 or 2001

Gosh, buying STB was a big "F-U in your ASS" to all the vendors carrying their chips. Talk about coming back at them hard.

so true.

Wasn't it a voodoo 3 calibur chip offered for DC? If I remember correction, the PowerVR Chipset for the DC that was also released in video card form performed just under a TNT2 Ultra no??

Yes, a Banshee2 / Voodoo3 calibur chip was apparently offered to SEGA, although it was for Black Belt, not the Dreamcast, since DC was always the PowerVR-based Dural aka Katana, a seperate or at least semi-seperate project. the console that had the 3Dfx chip in it was developed by Sega of America and SegaSoft. the Dural-Katana-Dreamcast was developed by Sega of Japan. I suppose one could argue that if 3Dfx-based Black Belt had won the contest, it might have been named Dreamcast also. but since it didn't, I like to keep the Dreamcast name away from the BlackBelt since these were two seperate consoles

Anyways, I think their fates were already decided whether Sega went with 3DFX or not. They would not only have to come through with a miracle chip against the Geforce 2 Ultra, Geforce 2 MX which was a hell of a deal at the time, and the onslaught on Geforces 3 as well as a miracle hidden sack of cash to produce these chips, produce the video cards, advertise, distribute etc....

yeah there are many reasons why we can find to point to the cause of 3DFX's demise. The other main killer was not having Rampage (Rampage+Sage chips = Spectre cards) out when they were supposed to. they were delayed many times and ultimately never came out cause 3Dfx sold out to Nvidia.

 

[Fragamemnon]

man, what we really need is a more specific "shitty box art from video cards : a retrospective" thread. Heck we can probably throw in some mobo box art too. Some of that stuff was horrendous.

Was horrendous? Dear god, it still is.

I laughed for five minutes when I got this new card a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't believe that PC hardware box art is still so very, very terrible.

 

[marsomega]

Yeah, but I think it was the only card for awhile that did 3D acceleration within Unreal, as they initially just supported PowerVR chips and moved on from there.

Actually, if I remember correctly, the TNT was supported and Unreal was stunning on the card.

Borys...What hardware are you running the demos on...? And about 3DMark99, how did you get that running on Windows XP?

nVidia Tech Demos

GeForce 1:
Boxster

Firetruck
Wanda

GeForce 2:
Waves


X800:
Far Cry: The Project
Crowd
Ruby
SubSurface
Dangerous Curves


Plus a bunch of other stuff like Dagoth Moor, Final Reality, realMyst, and tons of PowerVR demos etc.

4.5 GB of eye-candy!

I haven't been able to run Far Cry, Crowd, Ruby, and dangerous Curves. Actually, I never got Dangerous curves to even run and Far Cry was full of bugs. I'm interested in the PowerVR tech demos though.

http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_downloads_nvidia.html
http://www.ati.com/developer/demos.html

ATI has a collection of all their demos while nzone has some but not all.

 

[VNZ]

Was horrendous? Dear god, it still is.

I laughed for five minutes when I got this new card a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't believe that PC hardware box art is still so very, very terrible.

Indeed. I was just searching for some pictures to prove that hardware box artwork are on a constant decline. A quick sampling of what I found:

And the grand prize to possibly the ugliest box I've ever seen:

The first PC 3D card I ever saw in action came in a box that actually looked quite... righteous.

 

[Borys]

Borys...What hardware are you running the demos on...? And about 3DMark99, how did you get that running on Windows XP?

I haven't been able to run Far Cry, Crowd, Ruby, and dangerous Curves. Actually, I never got Dangerous curves to even run and Far Cry was full of bugs. I'm interested in the PowerVR tech demos though.

http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_downloads_nvidia.html
http://www.ati.com/developer/demos.html

ATI has a collection of all their demos while nzone has some but not all.

3DMark 99 doesn't run at all.

Of course having an nVidia card I can't run ATI demos, but Ruby works with a wrapper.

That Matrox demo works with another wrapper.

My specs: P4 2.4, 1 GB, 5900XT, Win XP.

Don't ask me about 3DMark05 score (870).

 

[CabbageRed]

The ATI Arc demo is just sad. I remember loving my TNT/TNT2 and Homeworld, the combination is what sold me on PC gaming after a long hiatus.

As for box art, I recently had a 6800 GT and the box was horrid. It was clearly meant to be a female emerging from water (the shading from her breast was still visable) but then changed into a melting, cybernetic man.

 

[Dsal]

Was horrendous? Dear god, it still is.

I laughed for five minutes when I got this new card a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't believe that PC hardware box art is still so very, very terrible.

:lol :lol :lol
My use of past tense was obviously premature. I guess I just haven't been vid card shopping in so long that I've been living in sweet shitty-box-art-insulated ignorance.

 

[Pimpbaa]

Seemed like 3dfx was always a generation behind. The voodoo 3 should have been out at the time that piece of crap banshee came out (and voodoo 4 when 3 came out). I don't know why anyone was still a fan of them by the time nvidia bought them out. Hell, I can't see how anyone can be a fan of a graphics card maker period. If you ain't buying whatever is best at the moment (regardless who made it) then you are a sucker.

 

[blackadde]

Actually, if I remember correctly, the TNT was supported and Unreal was stunning on the card.

Unreal was Glide only. I think Direct3D support was implemented in a patch though.

 

[midnightguy]

Seemed like 3dfx was always a generation behind. The voodoo 3 should have been out at the time that piece of crap banshee came out (and voodoo 4 when 3 came out).

exactly. right on target.

3Dfx original Voodoo Graphics is 1994-1995 technology, first announced in 1995, that launched into the consumer market at $300 in mid to late 1996.

Banshee was supposed to be out in 1997. instead, Voodoo2 is announced in fall 1997, and comes out in early 1998. Banshee comes out later in 1998. The Voodoo3 is announced in late 1998 or early 1999, then released in early to mid 1999. By this time, the Rampage should've been everywhere, but it was nowhere to be found. Instead, Rampage was first discussed in early 2000 at a 3Dfx conference, but instead of Rampage coming out a year or so late, we get Voodoo4/5 in middle to late 2000. Now 3Dfx was really on the verge of collapsing... which finally happened completely & utterly, at the very end of 2000 when Nvidia scooped up the somewhat tasty remains.

 

[marsomega]

Changed the name of the thread. Some good things came out of this thread. :lol :lol :lol

 

[marsomega]

Unreal was Glide only. I think Direct3D support was implemented in a patch though.

No, Unreal also shipped with OpenGL.

 

[thorns]

I had this card. It had 4mb texture memory, twice as much as monster 3d and 6mb in total :lol :lol
I played Glide Descent and GLQuake mostly..
Anyone remember how SHITTY DirectX was before DX7?

 

[Sho Nuff]

I had this card. It had 4mb texture memory, twice as much as monster 3d and 6mb in total :lol :lol
I played Glide Descent and GLQuake mostly..
Anyone remember how SHITTY DirectX was before DX7?

Aww yeah, Direct3D 1.0!

Microsoft Hellbender JEOH!!!

I honestly can't remember any other games that used D3D 1.0 except for Microsoft Monster Truck Madness. I think MS's games were the only ones to use it

 

[Reilly]

I'm still rocking this card on my computer right now

I know, I need a new computer.

 

[midnightguy]

I want this card

 

[Error Macro]

I start to get teary-eyed every time I think about 3dfx. Oh, how I miss that company. Sure, they started to get behind the times, and their downfall was almost completely their fault, but dammit, this is my nostalgic fondness trip.

I will never forget my first experience with 3D acceleration. Unlike some of the more well-to-do families in my area, I received a Diamond Monster 3D II 12 MB Voodoo2 card for my high school graduation present. $300 was an unheard of amount for a video card at that time (my, how things have changed). I got it the week that it came out. I was giddy with excitement as I watched the unbelievable transformation that Quake II went through from software to hardware rendering. My undying love for the PC was cemented on that day.

 

[teepo]

3dfx was the king of stable drivers!

 

[midnightguy]

I start to get teary-eyed every time I think about 3dfx. Oh, how I miss that company. Sure, they started to get behind the times, and their downfall was almost completely their fault, but dammit, this is my nostalgic fondness trip.

I will never forget my first experience with 3D acceleration. Unlike some of the more well-to-do families in my area, I received a Diamond Monster 3D II 12 MB Voodoo2 card for my high school graduation present. $300 was an unheard of amount for a video card at that time (my, how things have changed). I got it the week that it came out. I was giddy with excitement as I watched the unbelievable transformation that Quake II went through from software to hardware rendering. My undying love for the PC was cemented on that day.

so you made a HUGE jump from non-accelerated software-rendering to Voodoo2 hardware 3D acceleration.

instead of the jump most people made: from software 3D to accelerated 3D on Rendition Verite or Voodoo1 .

that must've rocked your world

 

[blackadde]

No, Unreal also shipped with OpenGL.

http://www.glideunderground.com/mod...HTMLArticles&file=index&req=showcontent&id=89

In the old days, UltraHLE and Glide-only titles (Tomb Raider, Unreal) were what people were trying to run with these, on Windows 98.

http://www.atari.com/us/support/faq/unreal_pc.asp

I have a 3D-accelerator card that supports 3DFX Glide, PowerVR, Direct3D or OpenGL. How can I switch Unreal into the correct mode for my card?

From the Unreal main menu:

Select "Options". Select "Advanced Options". Click on "Drivers". Click on "GameRenderDevice". Click on the correct renderer for your type of card.

Please note that OpenGL and Direct3D modes will only be listed if you have upgraded the game to version 2.18 or higher.

 

[Mashing]

worst vid card box ever

dude is embarressed to be on it

That's the card I had before I had my 6800 GT.

 

[Jeff-DSA]

Looks good for an Xbox 360 game.

j/k

I can't believe the leap in graphics we've seen since that point. I was playing games on my Commodore 64 thinking stuff like Desert Fox was impressive. Boy, I never dreamed we'd see worlds like we do now.

 

[Ristamar]

When I think of 3DFX vs. nVidia, I think of when I first stumbled on to SomethingAwful. The "Fuck Off and Die" article was the first piece I read.

San Francisco, CA - In a formal press release read to major gaming sites, 3DFX has "one upped" the video card war by telling nVidia to "fuck off and die".

3DFX, known for its revolutionary line of "Voodoo" based video cards, has been under fire recently for losing its competitive edge to nVidia, who's GeForce 2 line of cards is speculated to be slightly faster than the upcoming Voodoo 5.

"Quite frankly, I'm sick to death of sidestepping the issues and trying to be 'Mister Nice Guy'. I hate nVidia and every fucking asshole that works there," quipped Brian Burke, 3DFX's PR spokesperson. "I hate their engineers, distributors, advertisers, executives, and janitors. I especially despise Derek Perez, who I formally challenge to a knife fight in the parking lot after this meeting."

I wish SA was still genuinely funny...

 

[midnightguy]

"Quite frankly, I'm sick to death of sidestepping the issues and trying to be 'Mister Nice Guy'. I hate nVidia and every fucking asshole that works there," quipped Brian Burke, 3DFX's PR spokesperson. "I hate their engineers, distributors, advertisers, executives, and janitors. I especially despise Derek Perez, who I formally challenge to a knife fight in the parking lot after this meeting."

haha, fucking hilarious. almost too funny to be real. :lol :lol :lol

 

[Dezcom]

Ahh, the good 'ole days. The 3D Blaster Voodoo2 8MB was my second 3d card, that little guy packed a punch. But my first love was the Rendition Vérité v1000, I'll always remember playing SODA Off-Road Racing in Rendition bliss.

 

[Gattsu25]

Can't forget halo....

Tribes-like multiplayer...where art thou?

 

[Shompola]

You guys rememember S3 Virge? :lol

 

[DopeyFish]

i dont rememember the virge, but i sure do remember it! =D

j/p

anyways, I had a Canopus Pure3D 2 back in the day (well, i had a _lot_ of video cards, but canopus pure3d 2 was the BOMB) i had the higher memory version, i remember it being the most expensive card at the time and i got it for like 150 or something

 

[Pimpbaa]

My first 3d card was the Matrox Millenium. It had only very basic 3d features (it didn't even have texture mapping!). It couldn't even run those lousy few directx 1 games. I didn't get a real 3d card until the voodoo 2. Replaced the matrox and voodoo2 cards with a TNT a short while later (and then a GF1, GF3, Rad 9800 pro, and currently a GF 6600GT).