3Dfx Voodoo Graphics Tech Demos + Amstrad CPC 464 Purchase

We take a look at the history of the 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics chip and its tech demos. We prepare for programming it.
We also take a brief look at hooking up an Amstrad CPC 464 to a SCART monitor.
3Dfx Tech Demos:
soggi.org/vide...
Images: Wikipedia - CC-By-SA
SGI Iris Personal Workstation - Andy Diller CC-By-SA 2.0
IRIS 4D Professional - Brad Montgomery CC-By-SA 2.0
Pro Audio Spectrum - Public Domain
Open GL - Shmuel Csaba Otto Traian CC-By-SA 3.0
Arcade Machines Japan - Asanagi CC0
Voodoo Die Shots - Fritzchen Fritz Public Domain
creativecommon...
Other images may be used under fair use doctrine (non-performative works, educational purposes).

[@DieWeltIstSchlecht]

I had a 464, best computer of my life! This is were I started into the great world of computing!

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

Ah the good old days. That and the Diamond Speedster. You can get a brand new CPC replacement PCB mobo on Tindie from Bob's Bits for $40.

[@PCRetroTech]

I'm amazed KZbin allowed you to post that, as it could be considered commercial, even as on topic as it is.

[@ian_b]

I am totally binge watching your channel. Also, SCART was a European standard that was designed to simplify analogue connections, it was on equipment here in the UK as well.

[@PCRetroTech]

Thanks! Glad your enjoying it.

[@molivil]

As far as I know SCART was widely used in Europe. All our TV's in Finland had SCART in the 90's and later. The older ones might have it too, but our first tiny color TV only had a RF connector

[@ropersonline]

2:53: "the SCART connector here, which is some kind of British standard"

[@Torbjorn.Lindgren]

SCART: Some kind of British connector - SCART started as a French standard and is a French acronym. It saw VERY wide-spread usage in all? of Europe and Wikipedia claims it was even mandatory for TVs in some countries (France, Poland). Even in European countries where it wasn't mandatory having one or more SCART connectors was pretty common for a long time, long after HDMI had taken over as primary TV connector. SCART could sometimes be found even on 4k LCD TVs even as late as at least some 2016 models. I know because I bought a cheap 55" 4k LCD TV in 2017 which had "mini-SCART" (and came with an adapter dongle to full-sized SCART) and I just checked, the model was launched in 2016. It survived the 3 year warranty period but not much more, not surprised (but it was that cheap, 4k and had 4 HDMI ports which was I cared about then). This was in Norway which never had any laws requiring SCART connectors but I see that Wikipedia says that the French requirement for TVs to have SCART was revoked in July 2015 so I guess it's not surprising that some? (many?) 2016 models still had SCART (they were probably "pan-European" models). It's a fascinating connector but it's also rather overcomplicated, among other things there's 4 different video options (composite, Y/C aka S-Video, RGB and YPbPr though that's rare) and only 2 are properly signalled (composite & RGB). Pin 8 is the "switch signal" pin, 0-2V is "no signal", 4.5V-7V is "16:9" and 9.5V-12V means 4:3. Based on when it was first introduced I expect it originally was just 0-2V and 9.5-12V for on/off. Pin 16 controls input type, 0-0.4V is composite, 1-3V means RGB. Originally this was specificed as a high-frequency signal so it could use this to swap between composite and RGB on a pixel level for RGB overlays. This was used by set-top boxes and other things to superimpose subtitles and menus early on without having to touch the composite signal but it appears that later this functionality was depreceated, I suspect most CRT models with SCART input will do it because the circuit is trivial but that it was removed because it was used less and less (manipulating video signals got cheaper) and they could see that LCD TVs would arrive soon where this wouldn't be as easy. S-Video input and AFAIK Component use the composite voltages on pin 8, some TVs are capable of auto-detecting that these inputs are in use while on others they had multiple input option - IE you could select between SCART1, SCART1-SVideo & SCART1-Component. Others migh also have a SCART1-RGB input choice and ignored the pin 16 signals completely (prime rule of SCART - everyone implements it slightly differently). I'm not sure if the standard say what will happen if you leave these floating (is it pulled down, up or floating?) and also not all 4:3 CRT even bothered to look at pin 8. Originally (before widescreen) it was much more important for intermediate devices in a SCART chain.

[@PCRetroTech]

Thanks for the very thorough rundown on SCART. I had only ever seen it in the UK before even though I traveled quite a bit in Europe, so it was a surprise to find it was used so widely elsewhere. To be fair, I did live in the UK for seven years some time ago and those sorts of connectors were probably more common on TVs at the time.

[@Leeki85]

SCART had also video/audio out pins and it had multiple uses. For example you could use VHS recorder to record anything that was currently on screen. Analog satellite TV receivers often had multiple SCART connectors. One was for TV output, second was for payTV decoder. Receiver simply pass through video/audio signal to decoder and it decoded it when needed. It kinda worked like CI modules for digital TV. SCART was so ubiquitous in Europe that it became a real problem when HDMI era started. I've encountered myself a lot of HD TVs that digital HD decoders connected using Smart cables instead of HDMI. It was mostly due to the fact that our major satellite TV provider supplied their first HD STBs only with SCART cable. Ironically D-SUB VGA connector was removed from TVs earlier than SCART. My LG HD TV from 2014 and 4K from 2016 doesn't have VGA, while they have SCART and RCA component inputs. My 2018 and newer TVs have only HDMI inputs, while some still have single composite input.

[@weirdboyjim]

I have fond memories of porting Swiv 3D to Glide on short order.

[@PCRetroTech]

Looks like fun!

[@landspide]

This channel is soooooo good...

[@PCRetroTech]

Thanks.

[@pazsion]

You didn’t say you were writing code to gfx cards or otherwise… very interested in this since the sound blaster banshee has a programmable pci-e x16 gfx card.

[@PCRetroTech]

Yes, programming graphics cards is a major focus for me. But I'm working with cards earlier than PCI-E of course.

[@pazsion]

@@PCRetroTech 🤓 afaik it’s the last gfx card they made, and the banshee line of cards run in your element as well. Practically unknown but manufactured to compete. I’ve only come across one pci bus card so far. But it did well in all the cad photoshop video editing and games. I feel it’s under appreciated.

[@HuntersMoon78]

SCART is a French-originated standard and associated 21-pin connector for connecting audio-visual (AV) equipment.

[@PCRetroTech]

Ah interesting. I saw a lot of SCART connectors in the UK so I presumed it was only used there. I didn't realise it came from France.

[@DxDeksor]

@@PCRetroTech if you look a what "SCART" means you'll see it's very french indeed :)

[@ivarfiske1913]

Used all over Europe

[@nicomputerservices2669]

Really impressive! Nice work getting the sample code to build and I appreciate you showing the required changes to the make files. It's great to see the SDKs and documentation are still available. I did some Windows95 DirectX 7 development with Watcom a few years ago and I've always had glide development in the back of my mind and seeing the voodoo demos definitely stirred up that itch. Really excited to see what you come up with and hear your take on the SDK!

[@PCRetroTech]

My pleasure!

[@ropersonline]

20:34: Holy heck, maybe I'm out of the loop, but that's the first time I've ever seen an IDE or text editor do this sort of hatching to make whitespace stand out. It makes so much sense and looks so much nicer than just a different solid background colour.

[@PCRetroTech]

Yeah I don't actually know why it did that. It's the first time I've seen it myself. It might have actually been something to do with my video driver. But it is kinda useful too.

[@darak2]

@@PCRetroTech I remember those kind of patterns being very common in Windows 3.1 and 95 in 16 and 256 color modes. The GDI had some logic to use a pattern between 2 existing colors when it was asked to render a brush of a solid color which was not part of the palette, if I recall correctly. On the other hand, I also remember Borland's OWL also using similar patterns as decoration, so it may be just a feature of that particular editor (Pelles?) which I'm not familiar with.

[@ropersonline]

@@PCRetroTech This isn't a feature? I was totally convinced this was a feature, not a bug.

[@goodwillhart]

@@ropersonline I really don't know. It might be.

[@MichaelPohoreski]

@@PCRetroTech I could be wrong but I don’t think that is a bug. Windows is trying to display a 24-bit color but can’t do it so it uses ordered dithering to replicate the color.

[@stevesmusic1862]

Love this voodoo 2 card! When I started my first job, I saved like craaazy to buy one of these. So I could play that new fancy game Half Life, and ST: Elite Forces. Many years later I managed to find 2 of them for a SLI setup. Still got that stuff stored away. I wish I had kept the original box too

[@PCRetroTech]

Original boxes are hard to hang onto. I have a few around the place but they just take up too much space, especially when moving house. But yeah, it is a nice card, that's for sure.

[@PlasticCogLiquid]

I had the SLI with 2 Voodoo's going on too! :D Remember it didn't actually speed anything up, it just enabled you to use 1024x768 resolution, at least that's how it was with my Monster Voodoo 2 12Mb models.

[@matthewlyonsakadeathtodogs5730]

I remember missing out on the tests written for DOS as it wasn’t until the turn of the century I got a Voodoo2 from Creative for popular 3D fps games I used to watch prior, the old Computer markets I always went didn’t seem as caught up at the PCYC’s as they would at the major stores and exclusive tech like early-day Voodoo2 would have been unheard of at the time in spite that there were the Diamond Monster 3D’s that had the older Voodoo1.

[@what9418]

You have some nice content dude, subscribed!

[@PCRetroTech]

Much appreciated!

[@riccardoiovenitti8688]

Fabulous...I once converted (in late 90s) my little vga 3d engine to voodoo and the results were fantastic. Keep on going with your fantastic job!

[@PCRetroTech]

Thank you very much!

[@riccardoiovenitti8688]

I still have my own voodoo card packed with a gravis ultrasound pnp pro with 2.5megs! So many memories...

[@DxDeksor]

Actually the cpc464 wasn't designed to be connected on a TV back then. Instead it was meant to be used with a dedicated monitor which was also generating the power. For the 3dfx SDK I wonder if open watcom wouldn't work as well, this would let you use a nicer programming environment as open watcom can run on a modern OS (windows or Linux) and still build DOS apps.

[@PCRetroTech]

Open Watcom probably works. I tried that first and for my purposes I think it is pretty much the same.

[@rkirke1]

I had a second hand CPC464 as a kid in Australia in the early 90s, but it was the version with the floppy disk drive. I wish I still had it since they're so rare and unusual, although to be fair, as a bit of an audio and (later) ham radio nut, I think I would have had more fun with the tape version as a kid playing with audio modulation/demodulation etc. Deksor's correct about the monitor, mine had an Amstrad branded colour CRT with a charcoal grey case and 1, (maybe 2?) DIN connectors into the keyboard/CPU IIRC. I only remember SCART (or anything other than composite) appearing on Australian TVs later in the 90s.

[@CharlesVanNoland]

Should've been two separate videos about each device individually! Thanks for sharing.

[@darak2]

The biggest drawback of the original Voodoo cards was its 2D pass-through cable. The degradation from the analog VGA signal transfer was pretty obnoxious and resulted in a noticeable quality loss. It was a non-issue for low-resolution games or text modes, but it was very visible in high resolution.

[@PCRetroTech]

Yes, you can definitely see this. I think it is even fairly clear in the video. But it was acceptable at least.

[@darak2]

@@PCRetroTech It was a small price to pay for the benefits of a Voodoo card, which can't be overstated. 3D games suddenly went from very ugly 320x200 modes to 800x600, filtered, and faster, in the same machine. That's like a 6x increment in resolution, *with* extra effects, quality, and performance on top. There has never been a comparable increment in performance in the gaming world. Quake was like magic.

[@PCRetroTech]

@@darak2 I agree. It was the beginning of a revolution.

[@Retrohertz]

I purchased 2 Amstrad CPCs recently. 1 I'm still struggling to get to work, but the second had some corrosion on the tracks which I fixed. It now starts up fine, at the prompt, but the cassette drive chewed up one of my new games! Mmm. Still needs work.

[@PCRetroTech]

Oh that's a shame. Good luck getting it going!

[@DxDeksor]

For the casette player you should check inside to make sure the belts are still in good condition

[@steventaffs2504]

What version of watcom are you using ? 1.9 dont want to link the lib files after your changes to get the makefile working.

[@PCRetroTech]

You might have more luck with Watcom itself instead of OpenWatcom. I don't remember which version I used and my machine is still in storage, but I think I used version 11. From memory winpcworld has a copy.

[@steventaffs2504]

@@PCRetroTech thanks for the quick reply. will try that tonight I think the lib files are in a weird format and the open watcom dont like it

[@steventaffs2504]

@@PCRetroTech finally got it running painful. Installed watcom 11.0A and had to replace -7 with -fpi87 in that makefile you edited but it finally built :-). Thanks without your video I would have given up cheers.

[@PCRetroTech]

@@steventaffs2504 Well done. Glad you got it working. Now the fun starts. 🙂

[@asanjuas]

Curiously the floppy controller on the amstrad is the same as the ibm pc you can use any 3,5" disk drive for PC on a CPC, and in the reverse.

[@PCRetroTech]

This particular CPC only has a tape drive. Some later model CPCs had built in floppies.

[@asanjuas]

@@PCRetroTech you can put as a external drive a pc floppy Drive i refer me . That's not a huge problem the huge problem is to buy a DDI-1 or whatever It calls to put on It a Drive. I think there is not needed , on KZbin maybe already has tutorials about this.

[@Caleb-fv5fp]

Thanks this video is very informative, I’m currently on the market for a nos orchid righteous 3d voodoo 1 card but no luck yet

[@PCRetroTech]

That sounds like it will be very hard to come by. But good luck!

[@Caleb-fv5fp]

@@PCRetroTech I just have to be patient and a lot of money set aside for when that day comes

[@PCRetroTech]

@@Caleb-fv5fp I'd hate to think how much a NOS one would be. The loose cards are already getting very expensive. Fortunately I got mine before the prices went mad. Actually one of my 3Dfx cards I got for free.

[@Caleb-fv5fp]

@@PCRetroTech I might have to settle for an open box one, I’ve heard the mechanical switch for the signal from the 2d card to the voodoo can wear down over time, do you know where I can get replacements? Idk if they are proprietary or off the shelf components but from what remember I think I’ve heard you can replace them. And don’t worry I have a very nice soldering kit and I will be very careful. I’ll treat it as though I’m doing brain surgery or a life or death game of operation or disarming a bomb, wow there are a lot of scenarios with similar risks lol

[@PCRetroTech]

@@Caleb-fv5fp I think I read that only the very early ones had that mechanical switch. I think it is a standard component. I am not certain, but I think it is a rectangular black box on the PCB. If you type in the part number in to Google it will probably take you straight to a place you can buy them. I don't know off the top of my head where they would be available though. Good luck!

[@BadManiac]

Amazing, can't wait to test your code on my K6 233 and 6MB Voodoo Graphics! :D Assuming you release it?

[@PCRetroTech]

That's the plan!

[@supermario8416]

3dfx cards were the Iphones of the video card industry.

[@molivil]

What is "hobby channel rules"? I've never heard that before.

[@PCRetroTech]

As opposed to a channel that is commercial, promoting brands and required to register as a business etc.

[@molivil]

@@PCRetroTech ahh. Awesome. That makes sense. I've heard a lot of KZbinrs talking about the monetization rules. I don't think it's bad even if there's a little tag on the video saying "this video contains paid content". As a viewer I've never paid much of any attention to it.

[@PCRetroTech]

@@molivil The problem is that has a pile of legal consequences in Germany all too complex for me. Good news is I won't be in Germany much longer.

[@molivil]

@@PCRetroTech oh wow... yeah that's one can of worms not worth opening lol.

[@remasteredretropcgames3312]

@@PCRetroTech Ray marching works in some 3DFX glide applications FYI.

[@KaldekBoch]

Can you clarify the hobby channel rules? I'm in Australia and my accountant thinks I'm fine. I monetize videos to cover costs and I mention brands.

[@PCRetroTech]

I can't give legal advice, but I did speak to a tax consultant where I live (Germany not Australia) and they told me there's no problem with revenue that is spent to finance a hobby, though they start to get nervous if the amount starts to get high. At the time I did check the ATO website and at least at the time, the rules seemed to be the same as here with regard to hobby revenue. So long as you don't take any steps to turn it into a business, it's ok, and they spell out what those steps might be on the ATO website. But the issues with brands are to do with German laws. In practice, if you mention brands you are doing advertising regardless of whether it is a hobby or not. There are then all sorts of rules such as impressum rules which exist in Germany, and the fines for not complying are absolutely massive. Also it is not just officials who can fine you, but literally any other person in the same "space" as you, e.g. another KZbinr, can sue you for not following the law!! And that includes everything from packaging and waste laws to tax law that even tax experts don't understand. As I said, I'm not giving anyone legal advice here. This is just my understanding based on other KZbinrs who have been fined and what other German KZbinrs are doing to avoid fines. For example, if you see any videos by Der Bauer (a German KZbinr in the tech space) he puts a notice on all his videos saying they are advertisements, even when there are no brand deals whatsoever. This is because of petty bureaucrats here in Germany who sit around all day looking for people's lives to destroy.

[@KaldekBoch]

@@PCRetroTech Ah, Germany. Say no more. I'm senior InfoSec for a global business and when it comes to Europe, everything grinds to a halt. Threat actors will always be ahead of us in Europe because of the impediments to change when we need to pivot our defensive strategy.

[@B24Fox]

What is the name of the game at 10:34?? (right after "Elite")

[@PCRetroTech]

I think that one is called Dark Side. There's a video on my channel about 3D Dos Games and it is covered in that.

[@B24Fox]

@@PCRetroTech Yes! Dark Side! :D Seems to be a continuation of Space Station Oblivion. Will have to check that one out too; as well as your aforementioned video :) Thank you!

[@ivarfiske1913]

It would be interesting seeing Dark Side running om the Amstrad CPC and compare how it runs on a PC from the same era. The game was first developed for the Amstrad CPC, Z80 3.6 MHz 8 bit with 16 kB screen. The game used 4 colour 320x200 pixels. Will the mighty 16-bit IBM be faster using the same graphic chip? I don't think this game makes use of any of the special features that the 6845 offers. So this will be more of a test of the systems throughput.

[@PCRetroTech]

@@ivarfiske1913 Yes, that would be interesting indeed. That's a sophisticated game for the CPC. I'll have to wait until I have a way to put files on the CPC and then try it, if it will work on mine.

[@Offvalley]

Well I love your coding videos! 😜

[@ZXSpectrum128K]

There's an 8mhz enterprise and a 100mhz 6502....

[@AlsGeekLab]

what are these hobby channel rules you speak of? I personally think that if you obtain a piece of hardware or software that fits the bill for what you need then you are within your rights to say what the name/brand is of the item. You're not marketing it (i.e. saying whether it's any good or not), simply having it and stating where you got from is A-OK with me

[@PCRetroTech]

That's because of where I live. The rules are very strict here, the fines would bankrupt me and they are enforced. I'll be moving later this year so it should cease to be a problem.

[@AlsGeekLab]

@@PCRetroTech that's so dumb!

[@Gunstarrhero1]

gadget UK, check him out. he fixes computers, he did a video on this machine