Shadowcat on 1/4/2010 at 13:31
Interestingly, there's a new Glide wrapper on the scene that is under active development -- the site's forums have current discussion and comments from the author.
(
http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide)
nGlide takes the curious approach of converting to Direct3D rather than OpenGL (curious because, IIRC, Glide is more or less a sub-set of OpenGL, and hence the translation is FAR more direct (ahem) for that target API).
This may potentially make for a more compatible solution on video hardware with poor OpenGL support, however.
I haven't actually tried it out yet, but based on their compatibility list it's in a fairly decent state, albeit not as feature-rich as the likes of Zeckensack's wrapper and dgVoodoo (intentionally so, though -- pure emulation of the standard hardware is the stated aim, so enhancements like higher resolutions are not on the table at this stage).
EvaUnit02 on 1/4/2010 at 13:53
I was about to say that (
http://www.svenswrapper.de/english/index.html) Sven Labusch's GLIDE3-to-OpenGL-Wrapper was excellent, but I never knew until now that it was written specifically for Diablo 2 until I opened the readme just now, LOL.
Regardless, I'll post about it anyway. Diablo 2 really does look and run better under that. It's an excellent alternative to the High res patch which doesn't work online, this wrapper does though.
Matthew on 1/4/2010 at 14:06
On a tangent, I keep meaning to try that high-res patch, thanks for the reminder about it Eva. Though I must confess I tend to play Torchlight instead now these days.
Shadowcat on 9/3/2013 at 01:01
Oh goodness. New dgVoodoo (2)!
(
http://dege.freeweb.hu/)
Also, Zeus Software's nGlide wrapper is a far more viable option these days than it was when I first mentioned it here, having had more development in recent times than any of the alternatives (or so I thought); and it is most definitely worth trying.
(
http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide)
Shadowcat on 9/3/2013 at 02:56
Okay, so dgVoodoo 2 is an extremely different thing. Like nGlide it is actually targeting Direct3D rather than OpenGL, but I suspect the emulation-via-shader implementation is probably unique.
Quote:
======================================================
dgVoodoo 2.13: Glide to Direct3D11 Wrapper
Released: March 7, 2013
Author: Dege
======================================================
1. Intro
--------
I wanted to get experience in Direct3D11 and its Shader Model 4/5. I was thinking about what to code and felt that small primitive example applications would not be enough. I wanted some other bigger project because there is no other way to truly learn something. Since I like reverse engineering, emulation and cool API implementations I began to ponder on whether Glide and its pipeline could be implemented perfectly and easily using the new shader model(s) and apparate. I got to the answer "yes" so decided to quickly rewrite dgVoodoo from the ground. It is a good project to start with.
(*So, it is not an update, it does not have anything to do with the old 1.x versions. Completely brand new code architecture, new approach of implementation, etc. The setup looks like its predecessor but that's all. I was even thinking on not to name it dgVoodoo.)
(No, I do not want to get back into the Glide-businness. It is just a learning project and I share the result to the public like other things currently.)
2. Features
-----------
ShaderModel 4.1 with its structured buffers, integer types and operations makes it possible to emulate Glide perfectly. Ok, it needs a thousand of horsepowers so a strong hardware is required to use it with good framerates. In fact, this version runs the complete (chip) emulation on the GPU with minimal CPU interaction.
There are no "supported" and "unsupported" applications. If something shows graphical glitches or defects then that must be because of a programming bug and not a limitation of the underlying implementation. But of course, there are tested and untested applications, hehe. :)
3. Requirements
---------------
- Operating system: Windows Vista/7/8 with DirectX11 installed.
- Hardware: GPU supporting DirectX feature level 10.1.
4. Tested on
------------
Operating system
- Windows 7
Graphic cards:
- Intel HD 2000: Seemed to work OK but with low framerates, not recommended.
- GeForce 8600 GT: I used a special build for this one since it does not support feature level 10.1. It worked OK as well (apart from lack of mipmapping) but with low framerates too.
- ATI Radeon HD 6450: Works OK and usable with low resolutions.
- GeForce GTS 450: Works OK and usable. Larger resolutions like 1280x1024 or larger can cause performance drop in specific applications. (I'm hearing the howl: is 1280x1024 large resolution?? Haha.. But do not forget, it uses a lot power for exact emulation.)
- GeForce GTX Ti560: Works like a charm.
(...plus much more info about configuration and usage)
EvaUnit02 on 9/3/2013 at 03:30
Awesome, cheers for the link. Being written for a specifically for a modern UI (DX11) means that it will be future proof for some time to come.
Although honestly OpenGL 4.x would've been a better idea, since then it'd be portable to non-Windows platforms.
TTK12G3 on 9/3/2013 at 06:27
I can personally attest that, by following the instructions someone posted, Redguard runs perfectly with nglide, but it is exhausting to get everything right. Nglide has my vote overall since dgvoodoo does not appear to be updated anymore.
voodoo47 on 9/3/2013 at 09:00
Esoteria still does not work though. guess that's one item that stays on my "must get fixed before I can die happy" list, for now.
