QEMU MDK 1 & 2 (1997, 2000) (EAX) -- From Install to Play in 15 Mins

Shiny Entertainment MDK (1997) and the sequel Bioware MDK 2 (2000) were both interesting PC games in nostalgia for the late 90's. An intriguing nick of Murder, Death, Kill, the game spotted a unique variety of play style among the early PC 3D games. Debut in 1997 the early era of uncertainty of PC 3D technology, the game was made into both DOS/Windows playable through software renderer and the later with 3Dfx Glide, PowerVR, Rendition Verite and Direct3D support for the onset of PC 3D revolution. The Direct3D version of the game was even playable for the notorious S3 ViRGE 3D "decelerator", thanks to its reduced rendering view port centered at 600x360. Though the 3Dfx Glide version was highly favorable at time of release, the Direct3D version would later catch up in quality by supporting 512x512 large texture beyond the capabilities of 3Dfx Voodoos. Fast forward to modern days, it turned out to be the BEST version for QEMU featuring qemu-3dfx retro gaming on modern PCs.
QEMU featuring qemu-3dfx fully leverages OpenGL FBO blitting within WineD3D for up-stretched rendering, also includes support for "DisplayROI" to restore FULL-sized, ZERO pillars borders for Good OLD games, delivering the unmatched retro gaming experience that surpasses genuine, period-correct retro PC boxes. "DisplayROI" isn't an entirely new concept, dgVoodoo2 incorporated the same feature long ago for both 3Dfx Glide and DirectX wrapping. Taking advantages of WineD3D underlying OpenGL FBO blitting support for Direct3D, the same idea is now realized for QEMU WineD3D within VMs.
Thankfully, MDK (1997) system requirement is paltry by modern standard, for its reduced view port and fixed 640x480 rendering. Even the "other camp" CPU brute-force emulation approach should have little trouble playing the game at full speed on S3 ViRGE or any 3Dfx Voodoos. However, those maniacs at *Accuracy \*BS\** would care less in taking further steps for enhancing game experience in borderless, FULL-sized view port of Good OLD games. The typical, simple excuse, -- "It is NOT accurate."🤣 Yes, it is.
MDK 2 (2000) Bioware chose OpenGL as the game renderer for GPU vendors agnostic support. QEMU MESAGL is prime for such game, delivers the BEST & HIGHEST quality on any modern PCs/Laptops in the past 7 years. The game also featured EAX 3D audio support and with QEMU CPU virtualization DSOAL/OpenAL-Soft fully realizes EAX audio within QEMU VMs without the \*BS\* of SoundBlaster emulation. Oh, I have almost forgotten to mention that MDK (1997) spotted Aureal A3D support in the later patches. Perhaps the "other camp" could have showcase their Ensoniq AudioPCI or SoundBlaster 128 PCI emulation in A3D 1.0 along the fantastic Voodoos emulation with Pentium II 400MHz on 125W Core i9-13900KF for an amazing MDK play-through.🤣
There isn't so much to say about MDK 2, since the game also has a modern HD Remaster in 2011 that should have been more appealing for modern gameplay. Nevertheless, these classics will always be remembered, fully preserved and restored to perfection, in pristine condition and without any funky 3rd-party patches or unexplained cults to play on modern machines.
As always, THANK YOU for those supporting qemu-3dfx and Game Preservation. There is absolutely NO **Accuracy \*BS\***, just FUNs and SUPERB retro gaming experience on modern Windows, Linux and macOS.
(Murder, Death, Kill -- Yeah, PCem is 0xDEAD 🤣)

[@pratikmaitra4190]

Impressive work KJ. Btw do you believe emulation like PCem can ever match or beat qemu-3dfx if hardware improves significantly in the next 5-10 years.

[@qemu-3dfx]

PCem is already 0xDEAD 🤣 Well, I love to play on Devils' Advocate -- if you belong to the same age group, having had FUNs with PC games in the teens, then I will tell you that PCem can never match or beat qemu-3dfx in your lifetime. Single-thread CPU performance is on the dead end as the era of Moore's Law is over. The most **STUPID** mistake in PCem is the lack of GPU acceleration. On the contrary, qemu-3dfx improves significantly with each generations of GPU uplift. I am always glad to be proven wrong.😜 None of the forks seem to be capable of breakthrough that taps into GPU prowess. All they have are endless spewing of **Accuracy \*BS\***🤣. Nevertheless, MDK 1 & 2 aren't demanding games so to speak. PCem will be fine with them provided one has 125W TDP Core i9 or Ryzen 9 to play with or overclocked the hell out of it on lesser CPUs. The **RETARDED** fanboy even posted a 1920x1440 MDK2 screenshot on VOGONS as though it is playable with the fantastic Voodoo3 emulation at this resolution.🤣 www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=915671#p915671

[@pratikmaitra4190]

@@qemu-3dfx Thanks for the insight KJ. I also think PCem is now a relic of the past and would end up in the graveyard of promising emulators.

[@qemu-3dfx]

@@pratikmaitra4190 You're WRONG😜😜. PCem has never been a promising emulator for PC games since its inception. It was just a **STUPID** laughing stock that had no clues about CPU virtualization or GPU acceleration. The equally **RETARDED** fanatic fans pumped and bluffed all the ways to make it feel GREAT and it **BOOM!** into self-destruction. It is further evident by the original author abandoning the project after wasting 15 years of one's life developing the **JUNK**. 🤣🤣 It was so FUNNY watching the dramas between PCem and 86Box, as such forks of "JUNK_PC"em remain whatever "Trash"Boxes AS-IS, so why even bother...🤣🤣 Yes, qemu-3dfx is EVIL, so EVIL that it has been laughing sinisterly awaiting redemption from a true rebirth of "PCvm" with virtual Direct3D adapter.

[@pratikmaitra4190]

@@qemu-3dfx I did not know that. Seems PCem was a lot of hype with no real substance. Good that qemu-3dfx is working great.

[@planket-ru5xk]

How do I change the disc while qemu is running? Tried guides online and none of them worked on my windows machine.

[@qemu-3dfx]

Use Daemon Tools 3.47 inside the guest for CD-ROM support. "Alt-TAB" or "Ctrl-ESC" to reach its tray icon for swapping CD images.

[@Flackon]

What is that? Looks like a Windows 98/XP VM, but you're using wine and sed? How is that set up?

[@qemu-3dfx]

And an old-school Vim editor -- It's all about the magics of FOSS😁 Have FUNs into the journey!😜 github.com/kjliew/qemu-3dfx

[@SG-sj6cw]

The corridors are needlessly long and dull

[@qemu-3dfx]

Well, that was the game anyway!