Frequently Asked Questions

This page gives the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions when using Apocalypse 3D.

Click the bullet below for the answer to the question.

	Why does my computer crash when I try to use Apocalypse 3D?
	Do Matrox cards work with Apocalypse 3D?
	How do I know if Apocalypse 3D is working?
	Why doesn’t MechWarrior 2 work with DirectX3?
	Which games are available/being developed for PowerVR?
	What causes the most common Apocalypse 3D error messages?
	Can I turn Apocalypse 3D on and off?
Games FAQs
	Quake
	Tomb Raider

Why does my computer crash when I try to use Apocalypse 3D?

This happens because graphics cards based on the S3 868 and 968 chips request only 32 MB of virtual memory, rather than the 64 MB they actually require.

You can solve the problem by changing the memory allocation for Apocalypse 3D to a range outside the 64 MB used by the graphics card.

Do Matrox cards work with Apocalypse 3D?

In the past there have been problems with support for Matrox Millenium or Mystique graphics cards with Apocalypse 3D. To support these cards, the Apocalypse 3D Display Properties page defaults to Standard for 3D Acceleration. If you want to use the Optimized setting, update your Matrox display drivers to v3.63 or later.

How do I know if Apocalypse 3D is working?

Run through the series of tests available on the Apocalypse CD-ROM.

Before running the tests, it is a good idea to verify the following:

• the graphics mode is set to 16 bits per pixel or greater
  
  
• the graphics drivers are DirectX compatible
  
  
• the graphics card has 2 MB or more of memory
  
  
• DirectX has been installed
  

Why doesn’t MechWarrior 2 work with DirectX3?

This is because the file DPLAY.DLL in DirectX 2 was renamed DPLAYX.DLL in DirectX 3, and MechWarrior 2 looks for DPLAY.DLL. If you had DirectX 2 on your machine before you installed DirectX 3 then you won’t have a problem, but if you went straight to DirectX 3, then simply copy DPLAYX.DLL as DPLAY.DLL in the Windows SYSTEM folder to correct the problem. (In DOS you can do this directly by typing COPY DPLAYX.DLL DPLAY.DLL. In Windows you need to copy DPLAYX.DLL into another folder, rename it as DPLAY.DLL, then copy it back into the SYSTEM folder.)

Which games are available/being developed for PowerVR?

The PowerVR web site holds the definitive list of PowerVR games. If you want to buy a title, the PowerVR Direct web site shows which titles are available for retail.

What causes the most common Apocalypse 3D error messages?

Error Message

"LS_ERROR 8 BMAP ERROR Bitmove 256 (DDER_UNSUPPORTED)"

Problem

You are running a display mode with 256 colors.

Solution

Change your display mode to one of the supported 65 thousand or 16 million color modes.

Error Message

"DirectDraw Error: DDERR_INVALIDPARAMS" when running Tower5.

Problem

You are trying to run Tower5 in a 640 x 480 display mode.

Solution

Change your display mode to a higher resolution.

Error Message

"Failed to create the D3DRM device from the clipper. D3DRMERK_BADDEVICE."

Problem

Your graphics card does not have enough memory to support the display mode resolution.

Solution

Change your display mode to a lower resolution or use a graphics card with more memory.

Can I turn Apocalypse 3D on and off?

Yes, for Direct3D, by turning the PowerVR HAL on or off in the Apocalypse 3D Display Properties page.

The PowerVR Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) controls how the PowerVR hardware and the Direct3D software interact.

To access the PowerVR HAL:

1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
   
   
2. Double-click the Display icon.
   
   
3. Click the Apocalypse 3D tab. The Apocalypse 3D Display Properties page is displayed.
   
   
4. Select or deselect Enable PowerVR HAL.

Games FAQs

The following FAQs are those most commonly dealt with by VideoLogic Tech Support.

Quake

Make sure you have followed the installation procedures of the Apocalypse card, especially taking note of Bus Mastering, and that the CMOS PCI Latency settings are set to 80.

On Cyrix Processors (and on Intel Processors less than P166 MMX), GLQuake and GLHexen II run OK, but you will notice large slowdowns in large areas, in areas with large amounts of sky showing, behind doors leading into large areas, around corners leading into large areas, and rooms with a large area underwater.

There are a number of ways to improve the speed of GLQuake:

1. Check the mode that window is running in. Try not to exceed 800x600 resolution Windows mode. The GLQuake engine defaults to 640x480 and the color depth you have your desktop set to. Make sure you have your desktop set to no more than 16 bit color.
   
   
2. Change resolution to 512x383. You can even set the resolution to lower levels (320x240 or 320x200)
   
   
3. How much memory does your graphics card have? If it is a 2MB card, you may want to consider upgrading the memory in the card to 4MB. GL is very memory intensive and the more you have, the better.
   
   
4. Try adding more memory to the general heapsize of the game by adding the following lines to the command line using -heapsize xxx where xxx is the amount of memory in KB. So on a machine with 32MB of memory this can safely be set to 28,672 (28MB) this leaves enough memory for Windows to hide, although on machines with more this can be set higher.
   
   A good startup line would be:

   -heapsize 28672 -width 512 -height 384

5. Leave at least 100MB free on your hard disk; for swap files.
   
   
6. If you are experiencing sound break up, add the line S_PRIMARY 0 at the 'console' during the game. If this doesn't work, run the game in compatibility mode. This may affect performance but should correct the sound problem. This sound error is inherent in the game and applies to Sound Blaster Pro cards and compatibles.
   
   
7. Check the glnotes.txt readme found in the GLQuake download. This contains target line and console commands that can affect the game performance, dependent on the machine.

Tomb Raider

The following problems are due to the game having to run in a DOS environment and not in Windows. All of them are solved using the new Tomb Raider Windows patch:

• During installation game hangs when auto detecting the sound card
• During installation game hangs when using the ‘Test Sound Card’ feature
• During loading game hangs on the ‘OEM Version CD Found’ message
• The game is running but the screen is just black
• During game play, no analogue sound is heard
• During game play, no digital sound is heard
• During game play no sound is heard
• ‘DOS 4GW’ error followed by a list of addresses when using a Cyrix CPU

If the Tomb Raider opening icons spin uncontrollably or you cannot control the character, this is an inherent problem with the game. This only applies to a small number of controllers. There is no fix.