GLQuake Troubleshooting FAQs

	2.1	Why can't I change the resolution?
	2.2	How can I improve my frame rate?
	2.3	Why is perfomance so bad on my Cyrix?

2.1 Why can't I change the resolution?

GLQuake will run by default at 640x480, full-screen on most systems. The only way to change this is from the command line, where you can use the commands "-width" and "-height" to set the resolution you want (512x384 and 400x300 should also work).

Please note that on a 3Dfx Voodoo or Voodoo Rush card, you can't have a resolution of higher than 640x480. On the Matrox m3D and Riva128 cards you can also get 800x600, and maybe even 1024x768. If you can't get any other screen resolution than 640x480 to work, then try adding the line SET SST_VIDEO_24BPP=1 to your autoexec.bat...

2.2 How can I improve my framerate?

To get the huge performance improvement seen between the tweaked and untweaked results, I did the following -

• Defragmented my C: drive and set Win95 Virtual Memory by hand to 150Mb.
• Added the following lines to my glquake.bat -

  SET SST_SCREENREFRESH=72
  SET SST_SWAP_EN_WAIT_ON_VSYNC=0
  SET SST_VIDEO_24BPP=1
  SET SST_GAMMA=1.2
  SET FX_GLIDE_NO_SPLASH=1
  SET FX_GLIDE_SWAPINTERVAL=0
  SET SST_FASTMEM=1
  SET SST_FASTPCIRD=1
  SET SST_GRXCLK=56
  glquake.exe -width 640 -height 480 -bpp 16 -nocdaudio -nojoy -noipx -heapsize 20000 -zone 1024 +exec glquake.cfg
  

• Made a glquake.cfg containing the following lines -

  r_drawviewmodel 1
  r_mirroralpha 1
  r_shadows 0
  r_wateralpha 1
  crosshair 0
  m_filter 1
  gl_picmip 0
  gl_playermip 1
  gl_texturemode GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST
  gl_flashblend 0
  gl_polyblend 0
  gl_ztrick 1
  gl_keeptjunctions 0
  gl_subdivide_size 512
  

All of this should work on any system, the exception being the '-heapsize' command in the .bat file. This is best set to about half your RAM (ie 16000 for 32Mb, 32000 for 64Mb). And of course for the Virtual Memory settings, just give it as much as you can...

If you suffer from display errors and screen lock-ups during play, it could be that your 3Dfx chip is overheating (the line SET SST_GRXCLK=56 overclocks the chip to 56Mhz from 50Mhz). If so, you can try -

1. Moving the 3Dfx card into a different slot - keep it as far away from other cards as possible
2. Slowing the chip down from 56 to a lower clock speed (50-55)
3. Buying a fan to keep the chip cool. If you do this you might be able to overclock the chip to 60Mhz or higher

2.3 Why is perfomance so bad on my Cyrix?

Cyrix's chips are generally as fast as, or often faster than, equivalent Intel chips. But in Quake they just don't cut it. The reason? The Cyrix's Floating Point Unit. Cyrix chips have a weak FPU to start with, and it doesn't help that id optimised Quake to run on a true Intel Pentium. A 3Dfx card will overcome most of this shortfall, as the 3Dfx does many of the FPU intensive graphics routines onboard.

However, some things still slow down a Cyrix-3Dfx combination. The main culprit is lighting. On an Intel processor, setting GL_FLASHBLEND 0 increases performance by about 1 or 2 fps. On a Cyrix that's more like 6 fps. OK, so you get an ugly ball of light around rocket explosions and other dynamic lighting effects, but it could make the difference between GLQuake being unplayable and being awesome on a Cyrix-based system...

Return to the GLQuake FAQ Index.

If you have a question not answered on these pages, then why not e-mail me at JohnBye@tripod.net.

You are visitor number .