Recluse - Did you try using dgVoodoo on windowed mode?

Running Hind in fullscreen I just get a black screen, however in windowed mode I can reach the menu...

My problem is different though altogether - at least for now.

I can't get the 3dfx patch setup file to run. It always crashes right when it says "Looking for Hind installation...". I resorted to copying the files manually, but it does not work, hence me not being able to get past the menu. To clarify: the menu I get is for the multiplayer screen only. I'm guessing that's also caused by incorrect "patching".

I'm going to dig up my old computer and try to install Hind and patch from there. The error seems to sprout from aclayers.dll or kernel32.dll, maybe an older windows can handle it.

Good luck, all.

Hmmm Good suggestion on Windowed mode! I will give it a try.

I had exactly the same experience as you with the 3dfx patch failing. Eventually I got the HIND CD from the FRONTLINE FIGHTERS collection that had the patched 3dfx version all ready for install.

In other forum posts, some said that if you have the installation in C:\DI\HIND it will find it and install, but others have said not.

Even when I run the software version, I sometimes have problems with the Menu screens (Preferences/Multiplayer etc..) blanking out, but I can usually get them to redraw by clicking around, or alt-tabbing out and back in. This never happens in game (yet).

Still wondering why IPX isn't working at all either (with or without Hamachi). Got it to recognize the network on a Win98 machine and other games recognize it on the XP machine as well.

Recluse

Ok, I tried with my older comp, but still no luck. I think Win98 or ME is the latest version that the patch setup will run under. The Apache 3dfx patch also encounters the exact same problem.

I tried the above suggestions: using C:\DI\HIND, adding a key to the registry (although I'm not positive if I did it right).

I res-hacked the setup file to see if there was anything I could mess with, but there was nothing other than icons. I even decompiled the setup file to get a hint as to what exactly it does, but machine code is not my specialty :p

My guess is that the setup adds a 3dfx executable, or modifies the regular executable to run under 3dfx. When I manually copy the files, the available 3dfx exectutable only runs multiplayer (it requires the warzone/winplay dlls to be in the same folder. Also, DgVoodoo settings do affect it). When I run the regular executable it runs under software mode (dgVoodoo settings have no effect), but the ground textures are all white and there are giant squares of textures in the air. This is what leads me to believe that the regular exectutable is normally overwritten/modified in the setup.

So basically my only hope is if an impromptu patch is released, i.e. someone uploads the Hind 3dfx executable. I think copying the patch files manually does the job for everything else. After that it would just be a matter of messing around with glide wrappers to get it to work.

I was unable to get the 3dfx patch to work on Win98 with a Voodoo 3 card, so I doubt it will work with a Glide wrapper. My understanding is that it only worked with Voodoo 1. Hind was released in 1996, and 3dfx released the Voodoo 1 in October of that year.

Yes, I couldn't get it to run with Win98 and my V5 either. There was a second patch for APACHE which added Voodoo2 support (not sure if it supports beyond that) and I thought that the HIND 3dfx was basically as up to date as the latest Apache Patch. Still, it may be only V1 and V2. What a shame!

Recluse

Alright! I was kindly donated some files, and I managed to figure it out.



Firstly: For those who couldn't install the 3DFX patch in the first place due to the installer error, I have compiled a new patch. It will work with the abandonware version, however if you didn't need the CD before, you will probably need it now. I figured out where the broken installer would put which files, and placed them appropriately in the zip. I also replaced the main exe. The one included in the old patch doesn't seem to work.

To install, just copy the files from the zip. Overwrite the files and folder contents. (There's no need to get any other patches, as this release includes the common files, and the exe is the newest version available)

DOWNLOAD

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Next: Download Zeckensack's Glide Wrapper. Install it wherever, I don't think it matters. Run the configurator. If Hind95.exe doesn't show up, using Global Settings will work fine. Make sure the Resolution Limit and Refresh Rate both work with your monitor. All other setting defaults should work except Thread Policy, set this to Use Render Thread. Also, set resolution to Try high res.

Running your Hind95.exe should work now.

In your video card's settings you can turn on antialiasing and anistropic filtering, it doesn't seem to affect performance negatively.

Known Issues:
- Only 640x480 and 1280x960 work for me, likely since 1280x960 is multiple of original resolution.
- Slow framerate when many objects are on screen (even bulletholes!). Worst at Airfields.
- Once in-game, dialogues do not show, but are still functional (i.e. ctrl + q/end mission)
- After quitting flight, the screen is black. Alt+tab should return to menu
- After exiting the program, Hind95.exe is still running. End it through task manager
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I'm still experimenting with glide wrappers. So far dgVoodoo is the only other one that lets me run the game. However, in flight the screen is black, audio is heard though and the controls are interactive. There are many settings in dgVoodoo so it's possible there's a working combination I have not tried yet.

To be able to reach the Hind's menu in dgVoodoo, the screen mode must be set to windowed, and most other settings default.

Good luck all

Wow! Great work, and good news, Lepus. I'm going to try this method. The terrain does look improved and an increase in resolution would be a really big help. Perhaps a la LB2's significantly improved look with glidewrapper and high resolution.

Thanks again.

First attempt, using the settings Lepus suggests for Zeck's wrapper and the CD.
1. Game loads fine - installed 3Dfx version from CD
2. Sound is functional
3. MS Sidewinder Precision Pro stick works fully, using "Flightstick Pro" setting
4. Screen goes black if Hind crashes, or try to end mission. Control q does not function.
5. Alt Tab does not get me to a menu, but eventually can work to get to desk top and Ctrl/Alt/Del to end Hind.exe

This is a promising development. I'll experiment with some other settings to see if the black screen and loss of program improves at all.

Thanks again, Lepus.

Hmmm,

I cannot get it to work. Funny..I install it from CD but when I run it always throws an error, but the game starts fine when I hit CONTINUE. All Wrapper screens are fine, but when I get into flight, I have all the sounds and a black screen. Alt-tab out and there is a small Game screen up in the upper left of the monitor (that looks GREAT) but no controls are active and sound is gone at that point.

Tried 640x480, 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1280x960 same thing.. Wonder what is different...especially since Eugene and I both have Nvidia 680i based Motherboards and 8800 class video.

Recluse

Eugene - Just to be clear, when you press ctrl+q are you pressing y afterwards? Remember it's a (Y/N) dialogue. Same thing when you land the chopper, except the (now invisible) dialogue pops up on its own. That's the only thing I can think of, otherwise your experience seems the same as mine. I use the same joystick btw.

Recluse - I'm not sure there's anything useful I can suggest. The blank screen + sounds situation you described sounds just like what happens when I tried using dgVoodoo.

If I alt+tab during flight with zeck's wrapper, I get a similar situation to what you describe: I see the game window just as in my screenshot above, but I can't return to it by alt+tabbing again or clicking anywhere. Eventually I have to close it through task manager.

I remember that zeck's wrapper sets the refresh rate at 85 by default, I know my monitor only goes up to 75, maybe double check that setting.

I would also try playing around with the Render To and Thread Policy settings. There's a chance different settings might work for you.