Unlagged graphics with ddraw driver for RA2/YR

[Renegade]

First of all, you must speak better.

No, I don't. You obviously didn't read the forum rules.

You call me an idiot (wtf?) because you think I don't know what a directdraw or dll is.

No, I don't. I call you an idiot for running a DLL whose origins you don't know.

Who told you that I don't know. I know pretty good what it is you don't need to tell me.

Yeah, I know..."ddraw.dll means that only the CPU is used for graphics."

I hope your over-reaction is because I uploaded a dll file and you thought it was a virus. I'm sorry if I created that illusion.

...
Don't you think if I thought your file was a virus, I would've said I thought it was a virus? (and removed it from your post, for that matter)

Anyway, as I said in the main post, I got the file from the RA2 1.007 Mod by Piscinex. http://www.blackassassins.org/pisc/readme.htm

That mod's launcher includes an option to disable hardware acceleration. When you disable it the ddraw.dll file is copied in the RA2. I saw that I had better performance (actually I never ever lagged again because of explosions etc) with that file and I got it from there.

Do you have the author's permission to re-distribute his files?
And is this feature advertised as speeding up your game?

What I understand (piscinex also says that) this ddraw.dll file overrides default graphics wrapper of RA2/YR.

To do what?
To replace it with what?
I don't know about you, but to me, "override" always has a connotation of "disregard security" and "brute force". What exactly does it do?

What it probably does is to disable the hardware accelerated extensions and do them all in software.

"Probably"?

Hardware accelerated graphs as we know are bugged in RA2/YR (TS explosions never lagged to me for example) so that results in better performance.

We do? Good to know. I only knew the engine was a horrible coded in general. Tell me, though, how exactly do you determine which graphics in the game are rendered through hardware acceleration, and which aren't? And how exactly do you determine that the software accelerated engine is less bugged?

Origin of file:

I'm not sure but I think (I don't have time to prove this, and I am bored to install my old PCI Trident 1MB card) that this file is automatically created when you install RA2/YR on a PC who's graphics card has no hardware acceleration at all (old laptops for example). If it finds no directx acceleraton it forces the game to run on software acceleration mode using this file. Westwood wouldn't have thought that today's 2ghz+ PC will run better in software mode.

So you think, maybe, perhaps, it might be possible that the file may have been created automatically? Okay then, it's probably safe.
</sarcasm>

I keep wondering though: What exactly does a graphics card with neither 2D nor 3D acceleration capabilities do? Take the finished framebuffer from the CPU and output it through the cable? I was sure we were further advanced when DirectX 7.0a was current...
(After all, Voodoo Rush and RIVA 128 were released three years earlier - it's not like hardware acceleration was science fiction or something.)

Oh and, errm, correct me if I'm wrong, but...
- doesn't the game require DirectX to function properly?
- and, if it doesn't find "DirectX acceleration", what good is it to override DirectDraw? No DirectX, no DirectDraw to override...

If this is not the case the file may be a rip from TS, something that piscinex made or just a ddraw version of microsoft.

Or maybe it was written by the goblins that nicked ModEnc's RSS earlier today? Or it is a secret project by pd and VK? Or Santa brought it for Christmas? Or...

Seriously man. You have no fucking clue. So stop trying. For every positive origin you can invent, I can invent a negative one. Just because it could originate from Microsoft itself, doesn't mean it couldn't come from the author of W32.Klez as well.

Whatever, this file is not any dangerous, I use for 1 year+ and all my friends use that too. It doesn't cause any out of syncs in multiplayer, and allows you to add almost infinite graphics to your mods as it never lags. Use it if you have a good CPU and you will be pleased.

On an unrelated sidenote, spyware was found to be Mostly Harmless™ as well - millions of Windows XP users have had it on their machines for years, and it enabled them to use wonderful programs like BonziBuddy, DivX or KaZaa!

Also, how does TheMagicDLL react to translucent SHPs in particle systems? Or stealth generators?

With that file, your graphics card is only used for drawing and not for render acceleration.

(Note that he has no idea when this file was created where by whom, but knows exactly what it does.)

This is proved by me as either with ATI 9000 or NVIDIA 6800 the performance is exactly the same.

...
So if there's a rotten apple lying under tree A, and a rotten apple lying under tree B, they both produce apples of equal quality?
wtf kind of logic is that? "The game runs equally fast with two different graphics cards, so we must conclude that the graphics card is only used for very, very basic drawing mechanisms!"?
Hello? RA2 system requirements for graphic cards: 2MB. Not even 3D acceleration. Don't you think it is at least possible that it doesn't make a difference whether you could provide 2000% or 3000% the necessary power, if only 100% are used?

So it just depends on your CPU. That's why I said that this file is worth it if you have a 1.5ghz CPU or more (Though a friend of mine with p3 1ghz still preffers to play with ddraw.dll).

Thank god, ddraw.dll! Now my 256MB Mobility X700 Radeon doesn't have to do the work of a 2MB graphics card anymore!!

Note that this file causes the FPS meter in RockPatch new option panel to be always zero.

Of course it does - if you're overriding the rendering engine, the rendering engine renders 0 frames per minute. (And you wonder why I cast doubt on your intelligence.)



Just to make this clear to all: I am not saying this file doesn't work or deliver what he promised. I am just trying to show that this user has no idea where this file comes from, what exactly it does, or how it works. Yet he's giving explanations on them like he does, and tries to persuade you to download it.
It will probably work as advertised, but think twice before you not only install some weird DLL off the 'net, but also override drivers that directly interact with your hardware. Have a look at the posts above, too. Make up your own mind.
And always remember: Perceived boosts in speed are no excuse for endangering your system health. Make very sure it's not just Power of Suggestion pimping your game. Think hard if, and if yes, how, the game was sped up, and tripple-check what was changed in the game for that speed-up.

In my very-personal-but-not-so-humble opinion, this is bullshit. I assume it is merely a perceived, a placebo-effect: Everybody says it speeds the game up, the explanations seem to make sense, so it does speed the game up. The mind makes it real. Today's graphics cards and CPUs are dozens, if not hundreds of times faster than the system requirements for RA2 and YR. The chances that not using the significantly faster hardware and two-versions-higher DirectDraw component would significantly increase the game performance are more than slim. And if it does, one should ask himself: At what trade-off? Mentally compare software-renderers to OpenGL and DirectX, and you know what I mean.

I will not support this DLL until there is hard, scientific data supporting the supposed speed boost, information on how this file came into existence and what exactly it does, and what exactly changes ingame as a result.


Edit: You all posted while I was writing, so I missed this gem:

With the ddraw file the game goes slightly slower when at maximum speed but it never slows down because of explosions.

So basically, you're saying: "The normal game runs at 100% and drops to 95% when explosions occur, but with the DLL, the speed of 95% stays constant!!"?