PowerVR

While this will not be the last word on PowerVR information, I hope to try and clear up a few of the questions and queries that I've ended up asking myself when it comes to the state of PowerVR game versions and patches. This will mostly take the form of links to the PowerVR sites out there, but if I've tried something and it works, I'll let you know.

For reference, I'm running an 8Mb Matrox Millennium G200 and a Matrox m3D.

Since the majority of PowerVR patches and software drivers currently available are aimed at the chipset rather than the card, I'll post them in this page. Where possible, I'll indicate whether the linked items are either PowerVR- or adapter-specific. If you're looking for drivers for PowerVR-based cards, check out the Matrox and VideoLogic pages.

Generic PowerVR Windows95 Drivers

These drivers are published by NEC/VideoLogic, and support all PowerVR PCX2-based products. If you have an Apocalypse 3Dx, you will probably prefer to use the Videologic drivers instead. This version (4.1.2) includes a decent installer, so there's no more playing around with the Device Manager to set them up.

If you're happy running the generic drivers on your m3D - and with Matrox's lack of support that's probably your only option - then you'll probably want to enable the Advanced... button in the PowerVR Display Properties page. The generic drivers contain all the AppHints etc., but you need to add a single Registry entry to get access to them. Download the patch from the Matrox page.

File	Date	Description	Info	Size
gen412c1.zip	01.10.98	Generic PowerVR Drivers (4.1.2C1).	None	2,361Kb

GLQuake, GLHexen II and Quake II Drivers

The drivers below are published by VideoLogic (so they should be fine with VideoLogic's own cards!), and I'm using them on the m3D without any problems. I've been using these drivers for GLQuake and Quake II (since their early beta form), and performance is greatly increased.

If you've had a look over at Matrox's pages, you may have noticed some "new" Quake OpenGL drivers dated 30.01.98. They are the same drivers - in fact, the same files - as those posted below...

You'll probably notice that the files contained in the self-extracting executables (opengl32.dll for Quake and pvrgl.dll for Quake II) are actually the same file renamed, so don't pay too much attention to the 'for Quake I/II ONLY' notices in the Readme files - but take the time to read them anyway. Note that in Quake II, you can now set 'use 8-bit textures' ON ... see what you think.

File	Date	Description	Info	Size
idgamma.zip	19.10.98	idGamma (2.0). Supplements the id colour palettes with brighter versions of the colours, which helps alleviate the 'darkness' problem with id games on the PowerVR. This version is a major update to the utility, and the files generated by 1.3b and earlier aren't compatible. Check the Info link to get the details from the idgamma.txt and idgammafaq.txt files.	idGamma	117Kb
idgwin1b.zip	15.08.98	idGamma95 (beta 1). A Win95 front-end to idGamma - you'll need idGamma 1.3 or later too - but the current versions isn't compatible with idGamma 2.0. This will, apparently, be fixed soon.	idGamma	176Kb
glquake1.exe	07.01.98	PowerVR OpenGL driver for Quake and Hexen II (1.0.1.9).	VideoLogic	113Kb
glquake2.exe	07.01.98	PowerVR OpenGL driver for Quake II (1.0.1.9).	VideoLogic	113Kb

Half-Life Driver

File	Date	Description	Info	Size
pvr_half.zip	14.12.98	Patch for Half-Life to run a subset of OpenGL on PCX2-based cards. The readme.txt included explains how to set it up.	None	88Kb

Tomb Raider

The version 2.00 patch is published on both the VideoLogic and Eidos Interactive pages, but for some reason Matrox recently published what appears to be an earlier version of the same patch, specifically for the m3D. I'm running version 2.00 OK on my m3D, so it's up to you!

If you get the patch for Tomb Raider - Unfinished Business, don't forget to download the software version of the levels from the Tomb Raider page. The link below is FTP to the Adrenaline Vault.

File	Date	Description	Info	Size
trubpvr.exe	03.04.98	PowerVR patch for Tomb Raider - Unfinished Business (v2.31).	Core Design	1,127Kb
tombpvr2.zip	14.10.97	PowerVR version of the retail Tomb Raider (2.00).	Eidos	1,073Kb
tr_m3d.zip	09.12.97	PowerVR version of the retail Tomb Raider (1.06).	Matrox	1,071Kb

Ultim@te Race - 3 Track version

These files are posted for m3D and Apocalypse 3Dx owners, who got the three-track version of the game bundled with the card.

For those of you who want to give internet multiplayer a go, check out the Ultim@te Race Chat Room.

File	Date	Description	Info	Size
ur3tr_v17.zip	08.05.98	Patch to upgrade Ultim@te Race (3-track) to version 1.7. Includes fixes for network play - check the Info link for details.	Kalisto	345Kb
patch15.zip	14.11.97	Patch to upgrade Ultim@te Race (3-track) to version 1.5. Includes improved DirectX 5.0 support and new memory management, among other things. You can also run the game at 1024x768 with this version, by editing the Registry. Check the Info link for details.	Kalisto	357Kb
uracepatches.zip	05.12.97	A whole set of patches which tune up your car, add more cars to the game, show speed in Mph instead of Kmh and a few other things, too. Since 'Jack's Patches' went offline, I haven't been able to find any details ... so it's 'work it out for yourself' time, I'm afraid. This single file contains all the available tweaks.	None	463Kb

Utilities

Note that there's a small problem with 3DCC if you use the 4.1.1 PowerVR drivers ... VideoLogic discuss the problem and it's resolution in Support Note 308. NEC will, apparently, be releasing a new version of 3DCC to cope with the problem.

File	Date	Description	Info	Size
3DCC.zip	07.10.97	3D Control Centre (1.0). This tiny utility loads into your Windows 95 system tray and allows you to select which 3D card will be 'active' at any one time. Great for those lucky people who have more than one 3D card !	VideoLogic	42Kb

PowerVR Sites

	The site that's taken over where the Liquid Rooms left off. Excellent.
	A good site covering the PowerVR - take the time to check out the Forum section.
	The PowerVR Web site from NEC and VideoLogic - PowerVR news, press releases and a PowerVR game list.
	Billed as "the first online games store dedicated to users of PowerVR-based 3D accelerators and PCs". This is currently under development, but already has definitive information regarding the availability of PowerVR game versions.
	News and patches with a slight bias towards the VideoLogic PowerVR cards (naturally), but contains a lot of useful information for all PowerVR users.