Beyond3D's review of the VisionTek XTASY GeForce4 MX440

[Galilee]

Well, my point was not that EMBM is a bad feature, I just don't believe it is something someone that buys a budget card will miss. IMO

 

[SirPauly]

I think my first direct reply to you is for your argument about EMBM as a fallback to DX8 PS.

I said a general statement of Shaders.

Incoming offers programmable features and offers EMBM, too.

They didn't have to use EMBM, but they did.

This is what I mean by offering a fall-back for existing EMBM hardware and yet newer generation EMBM hardware like in nVidia's G3/G4 products may offer more accurate EMBM due to their programmable features.

nVidia offers EMBM through their Shader features.... DirectX 7 hardware does not.

So, a developer may fall-back to an EMBM effect so more hardware( programmable and some DirectX 7 hardware
) can use this effect instead of just a DirectX 8 shader effect that a few can enjoy( programmable GPU's)

That is why I used Incoming as an example.

You defined my fall-back as,imho:

One part is writt'n with DirectX 8 shaders and this part writ'n with DirectX 8 shaders has a fall-back with EMBM for DirectX 7 EMBM hardware. That is not what I meant but I don't rule anything out.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: SirPauly on 2002-02-28 17:52 ]</font>

 

[SirPauly]

Well, my point was not that EMBM is a bad feature, I just don't believe it is something someone that buys a budget card will miss. IMO

Fair point. But, it doesn't dismiss other points raised, that's all. :smile:

 

[Ailuros]

Reverend,

For the record I had no intention to "critisize" you; consider them mere questions as I can't be sure absolutely sure about my own results.

Considering F1 2001 AFAIK when you set Image Quality to "full" it uses 1024x1024 textures but in 32bit colour depth it seems to allocate an insane amount of textures (EA is aware of it and even the latest patch doesn't seem to have it fixed it yet), hence the texture corruption you experienced on the MX440 in high resolutions.

And yes it is possible to get all 21AI + your own car into view. All you have to do is pick "quick race" with all the assists in there and run the "Monza" track, which I assume you ran for your replay. (By the way pressing "B" while racing let's you look behind you and the "swingman" camera is the stressiest).

I'm not so sure that F1 2001's problem in terms of "aliasing" is "just" a LOD problem. Could be because of the texture problem the game still has too. If you set the textures to "medium" textures behave even more "ackward" at times.

If you check your "save" file and a file that hints on your player name (assume "Rev") there should be a Rev.PLR inside with all game settings inside.

Actually I'm glad someone picked F1 2001 up for a review, although it could still use more than just a few improvements it's a very nice game.

If you intend to update your review, would it be too much to ask to get some MSAA/aniso (I would guess that 16-tap would be enough to not kill the 440's performance) numbers too? (I've tried offsetting LOD to a more positive value, and although decreases aliasign a wee bit it "washes out" track lines in the far clipping distance, which isn't ideal either heh).

Hopefully by now my initial questions got interpreted as they should: MP replay= representative to actual gameplay, F1 replay= rather not. :smile:

 

[Reverend]

I'm currently running loads of benchmarks using F1 2001. I make sure in "config.ini" that everything is identical for every test on every card (except for rez). This includes the all important texture detail and object detail, which can change in different system/vid card config if the game's "3D Setup" is used. Folks with this game will know what I'm talking about.

As for using all 21 other drivers in benchmarking - sorry. I have no confidence that the 21 AI's reaction will be same every single time I "benchmark" or run a quick race, which is what must be a requirement (i.e. all 21 AI cars reacting exactly the same every time I run a race).

Note that I am no longer talking about "replay" but actual race. This is simple and almost exactly identical every time I race if I just do a "Test Day" drive with all driving assists on. Again, if you have the game, you'll know what I mean.