I've heard of a supposed directx8 patch for iwar 2. Apparently it added bump mapping and shadows to rings around planets. I would love to get my hands on it if anyone knows where I can find it. I tried searching but couldn't find it. I read that stephen robertson from PS had a copy of the patch at one point, but wasn't sure if he was allowed to release it. That was a post from almost ten years ago. Anyone know if it ever made it way onto the internet?

i've even read on some forums that some people claim to have the directx8 dll by default. that doesn't make sense to me, but it is intriguing

There is no patch, but you have to enable it by editing the flux.ini.
I explained it previously here.
Best is to make a backup of the flux.ini before editing it.

Stephen robertson, who worked on the game, said there is a patch, but that it just wasn't released, but he said he had it and could potentially release it. I believe he posts on GOG boards as Ravager, though I might be mistaken.

Read the following link : http://www.i-war2.com/forum/pop_printer_friendly.asp?TOPIC_ID=1617

that was ten years ago, so I was wondering if anything had changed or if it was ever released.

I had previously read the link you posted and unfortunately it didn't work for me. when i make those changes to flux.ini, nothing changes, except it adds a directx8 toggle to my graphics options in game. When I toggle it, and try restart my game, my game does not start.

Did you actually go into your in game options menu, and under graphics, enable the Directx8 toggle? Because if you do that, and then restart your game, it most likely wont start again. If you don't have that toggled, your flux.ini tweaks shouldn't be making a difference.

if you do indeed have it toggled, and it does work, you must have the directx8 .dll ( dx8graph.dll i think) in your gamefiles (bin/release) , and It would be much appreciated if you or someone else could upload it somewhere for those of us who don't have it included in their stock game. (I have an original UK version of the game I bought over 10 years ago, and my game files only include dx7graph.dll .... perhaps the gog version has the dx8 version included while the original version doesn't?)

If it doesn't work it's probably because EoC is installed in ?:\Program Files?, the guy in the link I posted had the same problem.

I never heard about such a patch, I do know that the DirectX 8 was part of the initial release and DX8 effects could be enabled from within the options menu, but either gog has disabled it or some autodetection routine blanks it out for some reason.

I see, so the situation hasn't changed I guess. Too bad. Thanks for taking the time to clear that up, ravenger.

So, enabling directx8 in flux.ini should make no difference, right?.. I can't even start the game if directx8 is enabled eithin the in game options, whether eoc is in programfiles or not. (and editing the flux doesnt turn on the dx8 option, you have to toggle it manually in the in game menu. Not sure how others are supposedly using directx8 if the .dll was never even released. Placebo effect?

That's right, you need the directx 8 renderer dll to enable DX8 mode, which isn't included in any of the other patches.

I really appreciate all you've done for I-war2 and the fact that you still support the community so well. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question.

Man i would just love it if you would upload a small vid showing these changes.

Thanks for the kind words.

I'm not sure the patch even works properly on modern cards, but if I get a chance I'll try it out and see what it does. From memory the bump mapping worked (though it was low resolution) but the planetary rings didn't.

I would also love if you might be able to share the patch/renderer with us. Hopefully there is a way to release the patch without legal hassle for you. Even if its unfinished, it would be nice experimenting with it.
Do you know if there is any chance the source code (without datafiles of course) would be ever released? Some studios had done those steps with old games and sometimes it was a big win for the community. As example I would name Volition with their FreeSpace 2 which is now further developed by fans.

I'm very curious about the patch, if it isn't integrated into the GOG version, why is Strijkbout seeing graphical improvements when he enabled the directs 8 settings?

I don't know. However it's unlikely that enabling DX8 mode will make much difference as the DX8 dll isn't included.

The only difference I noticed was that when DirectX 8 is enabled it uses shadows, it can be most clearly seen when you land at your base when it is in the Effrit, the hangardoor is orange without DX8 and dark with DX8.
Apart from that I haven't noticed much difference during gameplay itselft though the menu cinimatics on the base seem to be prettier as well.

Look here and install the F14.6 patch. This will give you in game menu options (among other fixes) that should enable DX8. This is in addition to editing the flux.ini by hand also detailed elsewhere (It's simple).

www.i-war2.com/bugs_fixes.html

That said, I have issues running Iwar on my PC, its running too fast to play -_-