Hey guys,

I reinstalled MDK (gog version) and I have issues with the D3D version.

1) When D3D + Shiny is selected in Direct3D > Texture error, the game is extremely slow - about 2 FPS. The performance test shows about 1/5 of the performance of the slowest system.

2) When D3D is selected (without Shiny), the game runs, but I can only see the background skybox texture and Kurt - no environment models, no projectiles in the first scene etc.

Software version seems to run fine but I'd like to have bilinear textures at least.

I'm running XP with a Nvidia GTX660 2GB video card.

Ideas? Setting compatibility mode to W95 doesn't help and MDK doesn't appear in the list of my Nvidia program profiles, nor am I able to add it (I can select it from the list of recent programs but it won't add in the list).

Interestingly, I played MDK on my previous video card (9800GT) and I don't remember any problems.

Next question, shouldn't MDK be a DOS game? I tried to run it via DOSBox but it says it's a WinNT executable.

A number of people have reported problems with the game when using D3D mode, very similar to what you are experiencing. In fact, I also had similar issues with the D3D mode. However, the game comes with nglide for 3DFX emulation, so make use of that instead to get some hardware accelerated graphics. Plus you can up the resolution using the nglide config.

As for being a DOS game, the game was released both in DOS and Win95. The GOG version is the Win95 executable, not the DOS one, hence no DOSBox. It is possible to get the required executables and files to turn this into the DOS game, but that requires finding them and setting them up. There is a post about it somewhere in the MDK forum, if you really want to try doing that.

Thanks for replying.

As for nGlide, I don't see anything of the sort in the MDK directory. Where should I be looking for it? I know I could download it or take it from another gog game but if it's indeed included with MDK, it would probably be easier to set up.

Right. I had an old installer from a few years ago. I didn't expect them to update this, heh. I downloaded the latest one with 3dfx support.

Okay that solves it I guess. thanks!

Well I checked how the game works with nGlide and it looks pretty terrible, it's like it's running in 320*240 or something.

I'll try an updated version later if it changes anything.

MDK has no resolution setting, so it plays in 640x480 (it is an old game, after all). nGlide can override this in its 3DFX emulation, however, so it is possible to make it look better than it originally did. Increasing the resolution will make textures in the distance sharper as they don't as quickly lose detail as they get smaller (because there are more pixels in the screen resolution to use). Also, with more pixels, the 3D objects will have smoother edges.

I've uploaded some screenshots for a comparison.

A couple of notes, though. Firstly, I have nGlide set to show a 4:3 screen ratio (for accuracy of the display as it is a 4:3 game) so the image is pillarboxed on my 16:10 monitor, but even when scaled I get some black border around the game image. This seems to be normal though. Secondly, I have the MDK in game display settings set to High.

Image 1 is MDK in 3DFX mode but with the standard resolution of 640x480. For ease of comparison I have subsequently scaled it up to full screen size, rather than give a small 640x480 image.

Image 2 shows the modified nGlide settings to force my monitor's native resolution (in my case 1680x1050) to be used. My desktop is always set to the monitor's native resolution (as it should always be), hence the desktop setting selected for screen resolution. You can also choose what resolution nGlide uses, should you wish to do so.

Image 3 shows the new display in MDK 3DFX using the native screen resolution. Notice how much sharper the 3D objects appear and how textures at a distance are more detailed.

There is a known issue with the Kurt character, though, and that is to do with how the game was built, so there is no known fix as far as I'm aware. When using 3DFX mode, Kurt only has a 3D model in the air drop phase. Once in the level itself he has a 2D sprite image instead. This is normal for 3DFX mode.

Also note that all of this was done with the included version of nGlide (1.00 at time of writing). I wouldn't expect the latest (1.02 at present time) to make any difference to this.

Hope this helps.

Here is some more info, taken from Steam, for the Direct3D version of the game (I've tried these myself but I still get texture issues).

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=973244

How should I configure my graphics settings? The game also lags how can I solve that?

First, go to Options->Display and click "Detail is Low" to set it to high.

Then (to also solve the lagging problem) go to Options->Direct3D. Change your settings so they look like this:

Bilinear filtering: On
Smooth shaded stream: Off (This one lags when it's on!)
Masked textures: Chroma Keying
Texture error detection: Direct3d + Shiny
Max texture size: XL (512x512) - not 3dfx
Kurt is a: Blit
Screen fades: On

These were also referenced at this thread here on GOG:
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/need_some_help_with_old_direct3d_settings

As I said, I have tried these and I've pinpointed where the texture issue lies, but I cannot get rid of it. It is probably a driver incompatibility, and that would explain why nGlide, being new software to emulate old 3DFX calls, works.
If Smooth shaded stream is turned on I get missing textures showing up as black.
If Smooth shaded stream is turned off then the affected textures sometimes show up as white (see Image 4).

Also note that using Direct3D also has no resolution setting so you are stuck at 640x480.

My recommendation is to use the 3DFX mode and to crank up the screen resolution to your monitor's native resolution.

Thanks again.

In fact the issue was quite the opposite. Previously I just looked at the game and declared it looks bad, but now that I looked closer I'll specify it better.

I actually had set nGlide to my native display res (2560*1440) and while that indeed makes the game 3D graphics less jaggy, it makes the 2D sprites (Kurt, HUD, menu, launch logo) look really terrible.

I guess that nGlide doesn't interpolate the 2D sprites at all, or uses nearest neighbor interpolation, which makes the 2D elements stand out and extremely blocky.

On the other hand, if I set the res to game native (640*480), my display smoothes everything out somewhat - so while the 3D graphics is much more aliased, the whole picture looks blocky and retro, but also smoothed out and the HUD and Kurt don't stand out as particularly blocky.

I really can't get over how bad the HUD and Kurt look when running in my display native res. I'm trying to find a middle ground, a resolution where everything looks about equal but it seems there isn't much here.

Maybe I'll just have to run the game in a small window or something.

D3D still doesn't work for me btw.

Edit: Okay I settled for nGlide in 1920*1200 and some heavy AA in the drivers. That looks rather respectable.

As you can see from my last screenshot, D3D continues to have issues for me too. Though an idea might be to use a Direct3D wrapper, like DxWnd, and see if it works with that. But really, the 3DFX option is much better anyway.

I was about to suggest you force anti-aliasing via your graphics driver/control panel settings.

It'd be interesting to see some screenshots you've got from doing it.

Indeed the 3DFX option is probably the best since the game is limited to 640*480 anyway.

Attaching 3 screens, first 2 in 1920*1200 with 32x CSAA forced in drivers, 3rd with 2560*1440 with the same. Yes for some reason my PC doesn't want to make that 3rd screenshot :) I'll try to use FRAPS later. The game looks fine.

But if you look at the 1920 screens in 1:1 zoom, you'll probably see what I mean - the 3D graphics is nice and smooth, while Kurt and the HUD is jaggy as hell. When I'm running in this res on my display, it gets smoothed out by interpolation, but when I run the game in display native res, they show up in all their Wolf3D-like beauty and that really contrasts with the smooth 3D graphics. Especially the health meter is really distracting.

Yeah, that's definitely normal.
Now if only there was a high res texture mod for the HUD and Kurt, or even better, a way to get 3D model Kurt for the main game instead of just the aerial drop. Don't know of any ways to do that though.

Either way it's still funny how those 30 polygons on a screen used to be state of the art visuals.

I've tried to play MDK many times after I played MDK2 but I find myself being put off by the graphics every time. Man, to think that my oldest cellphone probably has enough power to run this.

Seriously, don't let the graphics put you off. MDK1 is great, and many feel it is better than the sequel. It is a little short, though, and I did play through it twice in one evening (albeit on easy).

Well if it's so short I may just as well get it finished then.

I've heard many times that it's better than the sequel but honestly I'm not seeing it at all. I've only played it for about an hour, but the gameplay appears to be pretty much the same as the Kurt sections in MDK2, only, of course, crappier looking.

That said, MDK in my opinion has the same vibe as many shooters of the era - they were designed by people who were not used to making 3D shooters and so many of the gameplay elements were lifted straight from 2D shoot-em-ups and platformers. Duke Nukem 3D also feels like that.

MDK2 clearly shows more experience with making 3D games and although it's occasionally quite hard, I did find it more fun to play. Not to mention that it actually shows a story, has more humor and you can play as a robotic dog with 4 chainguns. I don't know if anyone ever can top that.

And it's not that I can't appreciate older games. For example, Red Alert 2 is clearly superior to RA3 on so many levels.