[Feature Request] Emulate other 3D accelerators like the Savage series, Riva series, Voodoo 3, and (if possible) Diamond Edge

[ChrisNonyminus]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Kind of. Voodoo 1 being the only accelerator that can be emulated in DosBox-x sorta disappoints me, and I would like to see other 3D accelerators of the 90s be emulated.

Describe the solution you'd like
If possible, please implement emulation for the early cards in the S3 Savage series and NVidia Riva series. And possibly Diamond Edge, although this might be me losing my mind.

Describe alternatives you've considered
The only alternative is to emulate Voodoo1, which isn't that advanced.

Additional context
On the other hand, emulation of these other accelerators might be tricky, as currently 3D emulation in Windows 9x in DosBox-x is weird; polygons may stretch in games like The Sims 1 and Tomb Raider 2. 3D emulation in MS-DOS doesn't have this problem.

Also, emulation of the Savage, the Riva, and definitely the Diamond Edge might be too out of scope for DosBox-x. Either way, it would be nice to see emulation of these MS-DOS/Windows 95-era 3D graphics cards.

[joncampbell123]

This should be added as additional machine= types since the cards mentioned are integrated VGA and accelerator on a card.

I recommend:

• S3 Savage: machine=svga_s3_savage
• Riva: machine=svga_nv_riva
• Voodoo 3: machine=svga_3dfx_voodoo3
• NVidia NV1 / Diamond Edge: machine=svga_nv1

Also since these are PCI cards, the svga machine types mentioned should not be available if dosbox.conf has PCI bus emulation disabled.

[joncampbell123]

I also want to point out that while building the emulation from datasheets and whatever Windows does is initially fine, long term I suggest writing test code to program the hardware and determine actual behavior. Much like the code I write in DOSLIB. As always, know that actual hardware behavior can differ from datasheets.

[joncampbell123]

I have some datasheets for SVGA chipsets (that I've been able to find) up on hackipedia.org.

Here's what I have for S3 (not sure if Savage)

http://hackipedia.org/browse.cgi/Computer/Platform/PC%2c%20IBM%20compatible/Video/VGA/SVGA/S3%20Graphics%2c%20Ltd

[rderooy]

There is an experimental patch for S3 Virge with S3D support
https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x/tree/master/patch-integration/S3Virge

You can find the games with S3D support listed in this thread:
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=33483

The patch however needs some work, instead of replacing the S3 Trio, it needs to be a separate option and it needs further testing and development.

[fuel-pcbox]

@joncampbell123 I've got some basic code for the nVidia RIVA 128 in my 86Box fork here https://github.com/qeeg/86Box/tree/feature/riva128 if you need a base to start with. Keep in mind that I'm pretty sure that the interrupt emulation is still a liiiiiiiittle off.

[RNMB15]

I found that for the NVidia NV1 card.
https://vintage3d.org/nv1.php
http://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/component/k2/item/543-diamond-edge-3d-3240xl-nvidia-nv1

This is the code of the SEGA Saturn emulator, where the 3d unit of the NVidia NV1 card should be based.
https://github.com/FCare/Kronos

[fuel-pcbox]

The Nvidia NV1 isn't based on the Saturn's graphics hardware AT ALL. That's a common misconception.

[BridgeHeadland]

This should be added as additional machine= types since the cards mentioned are integrated VGA and accelerator on a card.

I recommend:

* S3 Savage: machine=svga_s3_savage

* Riva: machine=svga_nv_riva

* Voodoo 3: machine=svga_3dfx_voodoo3

* NVidia NV1 / Diamond Edge: machine=svga_nv1

Also since these are PCI cards, the svga machine types mentioned should not be available if dosbox.conf has PCI bus emulation disabled.

Note that I do not have a full understanding of this with such things, so it is possible that I may have said something that didn't add up while I was writing it!

I can see that there could be a lot of machine values ​​eventually.
If it won't be too difficult, why not have just one SVGA value, and then have a separate SVGA video card setting, with different types of computer graphics companies/series and technology companies/series (such as those mentioned), where again each setting emulates the video cards, as values, from day one, until, preferably, the end of the Windows XP 32-bit era? That way, you can have several video cards at once, as long as there is not more than one from the same series, of course.

This is just an unfinished example.

[svga]
s3_savage=savage_xp
riva=tnt2
voodoo=voodoo5_5500
diamond_edge=stg_2000_edge_3d

[BridgeHeadland]

Has anyone even worked on adding these 3D accelerators to DOSBox-X after 2020, and is it worth adding SVGA or something like that as a separate section?

[rderooy]

It makes no sense to add "svga" as a machine option as there is no single svga standard. Every vendor had its own implementation, and often vendors even had multiple incompatible or partly compatible implementations.

[BridgeHeadland]

@rderooy I understand. By the way, today I found out that (the) current version(s) of DOSBox-X already emulate SVGA ATI as multiple machine values.

[rderooy]

Those ATI machine types are experimental, and incomplete, and not suited for actual use at this point. This is also mentioned on the wiki.
https://dosbox-x.com/wiki/Guide%3AVideo-card-support-in-DOSBox%E2%80%90X#_ati_technologies

[BridgeHeadland]

@rderooy I have just now noticed that the ATI machine values ​​are incomplete. I just tried svga_ati_mach64, then installing one of the Mach64 drivers in Windows ME, with no luck.

I haven't had time to do a full survey, but do you know which of the values ​​are the closest to complete?

[rderooy]

None or suitable right now for actual use.

[Torinde]

@aquaboxs above is adding Riva128 and Voodoo3 to DOSbox.

86Box/PCBox have Riva128: PCBox/PCBox#34

• MAME seems to mention various Riva TNT models, but those are less complete.

Bochs extends DOSbox Voodoo to Banshee and Voodoo3 with further improvements, LGPL BIOS, etc.

[WhiteMagicRaven]

is something exist to try or test on those 3d accelerators? some branches / patches? in binary form.

[BridgeHeadland]

@WhiteMagicRaven I just checked it with the very latest nightly build (64-bit MinGW, SDL 2), no new machine values ​​since the unfinished ATI machine types (tested ATI Mach64).

[Torinde]

Nvidia documentation, envytools

(nVIDIA documentation) that has NV3, and likely MMIO registers has PMC, PGRAPH, PFIFO, and then more registers.