Carmageddon 1 - 3dfx vs Regular (MS-DOS, 1997)

Channel:

Retroconsole

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Published on May 3, 2025 6:00:09 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J52IzwMx94

Game:

Carmageddon (1997)

Duration: 24:49

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4

Out of the box, Carmageddon ran using software rendering, which was limited by the capabilities of CPUs and lacked advanced visual effects. As a result, the graphics were pixelated, lacked smooth shading, and suffered from relatively low frame rates, particularly during action-heavy scenes. Despite this, the game was still praised for its physics engine and free-roaming open-world design, which were ahead of its time.

3dfx Interactive was a pioneering company in 3D graphics acceleration, best known for its Voodoo Graphics chipset. The hardware accelerated only 3D rendering, relying on the PC's current video card for 2D support.

Despite this limitation, the Voodoo Graphics product and its follow-up, Voodoo2, were popular. It became standard for 3D games to offer support for the company's Glide API. 3dfx ceased supporting their products on February 15, 2001, and filed for bankruptcy on October 15, 2002.

When Carmageddon was patched to support 3dfx's Glide API, the graphical improvement was significant and immediate:

Texture Filtering: The game used bilinear filtering on textures with 3dfx hardware, eliminating the blocky, pixelated look seen in software mode.
Higher Resolution: Players could run the game at higher resolutions with improved clarity and smoother edges.
Real-Time Lighting and Shadows: The 3dfx version introduced dynamic lighting effects that weren’t possible in software mode.
Smoother Frame Rates: Offloading rendering to the GPU significantly improved performance, making gameplay more fluid.
Environmental Effects: Reflections and other environmental effects became more noticeable and convincing.

Legacy and Impact
The 3dfx-enhanced Carmageddon experience helped illustrate the growing divide between software and hardware rendering in the late 1990s. It was one of many games that encouraged PC gamers to invest in dedicated graphics cards, kicking off an arms race in visual fidelity.

Moreover, Carmageddon helped 3dfx prove the value of its Voodoo cards — they weren’t just for first-person shooters like Quake, but could elevate a wide range of 3D games.

Would you prefer Carmageddon with or without 3dfx?

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