3.7 The OpenGL Renderer
Hardware−accelerated OpenGL Quake is Quake the way God intended it to be. There is no substitute, and
once you've experienced it there's no going back.
To run Quake II in GL mode, you need a 3D card with the Voodoo, Voodoo2 or Voodoo Rush graphics
chipset on it. There are specific issues to be dealt with if you have a Voodoo Rush card, and I won't go into
them now because frankly, I wouldn't know what I was talking about. A future version of this HOWTO will
cover Rush issues (If somebody wants to write about Voodoo Rush issues, I'll gladly include it here).
The SVGAlib, Glide, and Mesa libraries must all be installed and configured properly on your system for
quake2 to work. The following sections will very briefly cover what you need to do to get them going.
Bernd Kreimeier's ( bk@gamers.org) Linux 3Dfx HOWTO (
http://www.gamers.org/dEngine/xf3D/howto/3Dfx−HOWTO.html) is good source for further information.
The 3dfx.glide.linux newsgroup on the 3dfx news server (news.3dfx.com) is another good source of
information about the intersection of Linux, glide, Mesa and Quake.
SVGAlib
Quake II uses SVGAlib to get input from the mouse and keyboard, so you'll need to configure it as outlined
in section SVGAlib Renderer.
Glide ++
Glide is a library that provides an API for programming 3Dfx based cards. If you want the Mesa graphics
library to use your 3Dfx card, you've gotta have it.
Do NOT use the Linux Glide library distributed at 3Dfx's web site. It's more than a year out of date. You're
bound to have problems if you try to use it. The latest version of glide can always be found at
http://glide.xxedgexx.com/3DfxRPMS.html. Select the package(s) appropriate for your system, and install
according to the instructions on the web page.
Note that unless you download the 3Dfx device driver package in addition to the Glide library, you will only
be able to run Glide applications (like Quake II) as root. Install the /dev/3dfx module and you can play
Quake II as a regular user. PentiumPro/Pentium II users have an additional incentive for downloading this
driver: it can dramatically increase your framerate. The driver enables support for MTRRs, a
memory−caching feature of these CPUs. See http://glide.xxedgexx.com/MTRR.html for a better explanation
of this feature.
Once you have glide installed, try out the test program that comes with it. Remember this program: it's a good
way to reset your display if you ever have a glide application (like Quake II) crash and leave your screen
switched off. NOTE: run this test from a VC, not X! It's possible for the test app to lose mouse and
keyboard focus in X, and then you'll have no way of shutting it down.
/usr/local/glide/bin/test3Dfx
Linux Quake HOWTO
3.7 The OpenGL Renderer 23
Your screen should turn blue and prompt you to hit any key. After you press a key you should be returned to
the prompt. 3dfx.glide.linux on 3dfx's news server (news.3dfx.com) is a great source of information for Linux
glide−specific problems.
Hardware−accelerated OpenGL Quake is Quake the way God intended it to be. There is no substitute, and
once you've experienced it there's no going back.
To run Quake II in GL mode, you need a 3D card with the Voodoo, Voodoo2 or Voodoo Rush graphics
chipset on it. There are specific issues to be dealt with if you have a Voodoo Rush card, and I won't go into
them now because frankly, I wouldn't know what I was talking about. A future version of this HOWTO will
cover Rush issues (If somebody wants to write about Voodoo Rush issues, I'll gladly include it here).
The SVGAlib, Glide, and Mesa libraries must all be installed and configured properly on your system for
quake2 to work. The following sections will very briefly cover what you need to do to get them going.
Bernd Kreimeier's ( bk@gamers.org) Linux 3Dfx HOWTO (
http://www.gamers.org/dEngine/xf3D/howto/3Dfx−HOWTO.html) is good source for further information.
The 3dfx.glide.linux newsgroup on the 3dfx news server (news.3dfx.com) is another good source of
information about the intersection of Linux, glide, Mesa and Quake.
SVGAlib
Quake II uses SVGAlib to get input from the mouse and keyboard, so you'll need to configure it as outlined
in section SVGAlib Renderer.
Glide ++
Glide is a library that provides an API for programming 3Dfx based cards. If you want the Mesa graphics
library to use your 3Dfx card, you've gotta have it.
Do NOT use the Linux Glide library distributed at 3Dfx's web site. It's more than a year out of date. You're
bound to have problems if you try to use it. The latest version of glide can always be found at
http://glide.xxedgexx.com/3DfxRPMS.html. Select the package(s) appropriate for your system, and install
according to the instructions on the web page.
Note that unless you download the 3Dfx device driver package in addition to the Glide library, you will only
be able to run Glide applications (like Quake II) as root. Install the /dev/3dfx module and you can play
Quake II as a regular user. PentiumPro/Pentium II users have an additional incentive for downloading this
driver: it can dramatically increase your framerate. The driver enables support for MTRRs, a
memory−caching feature of these CPUs. See http://glide.xxedgexx.com/MTRR.html for a better explanation
of this feature.
Once you have glide installed, try out the test program that comes with it. Remember this program: it's a good
way to reset your display if you ever have a glide application (like Quake II) crash and leave your screen
switched off. NOTE: run this test from a VC, not X! It's possible for the test app to lose mouse and
keyboard focus in X, and then you'll have no way of shutting it down.
/usr/local/glide/bin/test3Dfx
Linux Quake HOWTO
3.7 The OpenGL Renderer 23
Your screen should turn blue and prompt you to hit any key. After you press a key you should be returned to
the prompt. 3dfx.glide.linux on 3dfx's news server (news.3dfx.com) is a great source of information for Linux
glide−specific problems.
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