GEM and Voodo Rush: It works!

[Norbert Math]

hello,

Finally I succeeded to get GEM running under Voodoo Rush :-)))
I am actually testing the "GemMoveImages" example and it runs fast and
smooth (about 10-15 fps).

I want to report about how I got it running. There may be better methods 
to do it and I would be glad to see your comments or suggestions about
that.


1 Download Glide 2.43 Runtime Drivers and 3Dfx OpenGL Beta 2
  (aviable at http://www.3dfx.com/download/sdk/index.html)

2 Install both packages. 

3 Compile GEM including the file "gl.h" that comes with the 3Dfx OpenGl
driver instead of the standard "gl.h" header that comes with the compiler
(I was using Visual C 5.0)

4 Rename the file "3DFXOPENGL.DLL" included to the 3Dfx OpenGl driver to 
  "OPENGL32.DLL" and move it into the "bin" directory (where "PD.EXE" is
located)

5 Add the path to the pd "bin" directory to the PATH environment variable
  (see the documentation that comes with the 3Dfx OpenGl driver about
steps 3 -5)

6 Copy the newly compiled "Gem.dll" into the "..\pd\gem" directory (but 
  keep a backup of the original...)

7 Set the video resolution to 640*480, 16bit (other resolutions may also
  work, this is the one I tested)

Start PD. I use the command line "pd -nosound -lib /pd/gem/Gem" (path
depending on 
the location of the pd binaries). You should get the 3Dfx animated logo. 
The video output gets scrambled for a moment. Also note that it does not
redraw 
correctly anymore. Load a patch. You have to modify the "dimen" message to
the
"gemwin" object to "dimen 640 480" (otherwise PD crashes). Note that,
because 
the voodoo driver renders into fullscreen, once GEM starts rendering, 
it gets very difficult to control the system. Before I start rendering, I
connect
a single "bang" message to every object that has to be initialized (e.g.
"dimen", "1" (to start rendering), "light" and so on. Other objects may be 
controlled via "netrecive".
I found no way to stop PD correctly. The windows keys are still working,
so 
it is possible to shut down the computer blindly. 

NB. Voodoo Rush works only under Win95. Other brands should also work
under NT.

My setup:
Pentium 233, 32 MB ram
Win 95
Procomp PM-G105 (Macronix Chipset + 2 Voodoo Rush)  It is a cheap no-name
card,
but it has got TV Out :-)

norbert
math at radawana.cg.tuwien.ac.at

PS. 
I also would like to know about hardware accelration under linux!