Doh! There was a cancel button. Bet it is too late.

Can't find EF2000 Evolution to buy anywhere. Shame, I was interested to have a look at getting it going.

Buy EF2000 v2.0.

V2.0 contains the following items: […]
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V2.0 contains the following items:

• DOS version of EF2000 V2.0 (known in Europe as EF2000 Evolution)
• Enhanced Windows '95 version of EF2000 V2.0 (previously called SUPER, complete with TEN compatibility)
• Graphics+ upgrade for 3DFX and Rendition cards (this upgrade will take full advantage of a 3DFX or Rendition chipset. It can only be used with the DOS version of the game)
• A comprehensive 350-page manual
• A detailed strategy guide published by Sim Tech (cut version of the original)

Try:
http://www.cdaccess.com

Doesn't seem to include TACTCOM. Would have to purchase separately, I guess. Also at CDAccess.

Here's a link that tells about all the versions. Seems V2.0 includes TACTCOM?

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/d.cowan/sims/versions.html

Found two other stores:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/dreampages/ef2000v20.html
http://www.ellens.com/New_titles/new031100.htm

However, I'd trust CDAccess more.

Right. I'm just about to buy another one. Its called EF2000 v2.0. Well it probably isn't the right one, but if you are going to make a collection... 😁

Good luck, Paul!

Maybe you should buy European Air War (showthread.php?threadid=444) while you're at it. Heh.

Or POD.
showthread.php?s=&threadid=496

heh. 😀

I should probably remember my yahoo password, so that I don't have to wait 24 hours for the new one to stick. 🙁

I should probbably not have retried the password update three times before reading the small print that tells me it could take 24 hours. 🙁

I should probably stop banging my head on the desk now too, because it is beginning to hurt.

Hello again...!

Yes, I can confirm EF2000 Evolution is a 2-CD set including the original EF2000 and the Tactcom add-on (I have this).

In the US EF2000 v2 was released but I wasn't sure how it differed - that has now been explained! I understand it includes all the updates.

Incidentally I also have Super EF2000 and, yes again, this is DDraw only - no Glide 3DFX. Not a patch or anything ever came out for this one. It worked, but not on a Nvidia card either apparently. When DID released F22 it needed the DDraw patch to get working with this card and a little file appeared in the program directory called NVIDIA.128 or something similar. This "mended" the programme and allowed it to run. TAW has it too.

Now (ahem) Super EF2000 never had this and I can run it with an ATI but not a Geforce. EF2000 - DOS - in contrast used Univesa drivers.

As previously said, the Glide version of EF2000 DOS does look very nice for an older prog.

Well I have copies of both EF2000 v2.0 and Super EF2000 on the way to me. Not exactly sure what to do with the latter, but at least I have the version I need now.

Give the post office a boost and ship it here! 😉 I could always use some padding for my 350 games!

Well... Super EF2000 installs and uninstalls faultlessly - for a Win9x programme. A full install doesn't need a CD and uses directx and so can run in windowed mode. Otherwise it is exactly the same as the Tactcom-upgraded DOS version with standard graphics.

The DOS version is superior because of the Rendition and Glide patches. I never understood why the directx version didn't try to copy the Glide version as they did with F22ADF. Maybe the directx API just wasn't as good in those days.

I also found I had to slow the software down on my more recent machines to keep it smooth which is why I wondered if the overhead of using a glide emulator could sap this surplus power without any sim degradation.

I worry that DID wrote their own glide API, even though it *did* read SST variables. This maybe because it was released so soon after the Voodoo1 became generally available.

Well been trying to get the dos based ef2000/tactcom and grfxplus updates to work with no luck so far.

I can get into the menu screens fine after deleting two clump*.txt screens that I think were left over from the graphics patch updateing. Leaving those in the directory would cause an error when trying to run the game. Without them you can at least get into the menus.

As for the 3D its a sorry tale of hangs followed by a reset.

I tested it using my original voodoo 1 but it appears to have gone to the place graphics cards go to when they die. It produces a garbled screen in the 3d and the machine hangs. I'm pretty sure its dead as RB doesnt run anymore although its using the old 3dfx drivers i used to run it with.

My PCI voodoo 3 2000 simply switches my monitor off when trying to get into the 3D (again followed by a reset).

All the above was done under win98SE.

Any hope of GLidos coming to the rescue?

Hmmm... I certainly had EF2000+Tactcom+GFX running under Win98 (not SE though) in full-screen mode but that was using an ATI Rage Pro AGP graphics card with a Voodoo2 and a lot of SST variable tweaking. (Smokeypoint has a good page with all the variables to play with etc.)

As the machine was an 850mhz Celeron at the time I didn't try the Voodoo1. I don't remember ever getting EF2000 for DOS to run on a Voodoo 3 AGP though. This just never seemed to get anywhere.

Sadly I've had no success with my current Nvidia Geforce 2mx card - with or without the upgrade and a Voodoo - so far. The Univesa driver that DID shipped with the sim wouldn't detact the chip properly (no surprise as it was produced when a TNT card was hot news) and using a generic default has no luck.

This does though tantalisingly suggest a Vesa route for Glidos...

I have a copy of EF2000 v2.0 on order, so I should be able to look into this soon.

Smokeypoint ?

Do you have the URL for this?

Tanyrhiew wrote:

Smokeypoint ?

I think he's referring to:
http://www.smokeypoint.com/3dfx.htm

Yes, that's quite right. Sorry for being vague.

I've just found the batch file I used to use to start EF+Tact+GFX (bit of luck really) way back then. I'm not an SST variable expert by the way, and the ef2000.pif was used instead of the .exe because it contained the DOS-mode screen and memory settings etc...

set SST_GRXCLK=50
set SST_FT_CLK_DEL=0x4
set SST_TF0_CLK_DEL=0x6
set SST_TF1_CLK_DEL=0x6
set SST_VIN_CLKDEL=0x1
set SST_VOUT_CLKDEL=0x0
set SST_TMUMEM_SIZE=2
set SST_GAMMA=1.5

ef2000.pif

set SST_GRXCLK=
set SST_FT_CLK_DEL=
set SST_TF0_CLK_DEL=
set SST_TF1_CLK_DEL=
set SST_VIN_CLKDEL=
set SST_VOUT_CLKDEL=
set SST_TMUMEM_SIZE=
set SST_GAMMA=

As you might notice my "underclocking" of the Voodoo2 (should be 90-odd) seems odd but whether it actually slowed the card down or not I'm not sure, but it got things working.

The second half of the batch just clears the variables.

Been playing with the settings - no go with the voodoo 3 or original vodoo 1 (managed to get a corrupt version of RB working so its not totally dead but bugger all in ef2000).

So looks as if glidos is the last hope for ef2000.

Any news?

Tanyrhiew wrote:

Been playing with the settings - no go with the voodoo 3 or original vodoo 1 (managed to get a corrupt version of RB working so its not totally dead but bugger all in ef2000).

So looks as if glidos is the last hope for ef2000.

Any news?

As expected - Voodoo 3 is a no-go for EF2000 as it stands. It actively looks for an add-on card I think. I never got round that with my Voodoo3.

The above batch file is for a Voodoo2. If you want to play with the settings for a Voodoo1, the GAMMA can be changed as it is set to correct colour distortion on a Voodoo2. The graphic clock is default Voodoo1 anyway.

As EF2000+Tactcom+GFX was *designed* to run on a Voodoo1 in the first place, may I suggest checking your EF2000 batch or the *.PIF file?

There were two ways to do it in Win98 (as I recall) You could set up a PIF file using the properties tabs etc. Remember Full-Screen and maximum base memory are needed. Now you can set-up the SST variables and place it in a handy batch file, then, in the properties panel there was a line to run a batch file every time the EXE is run. Put your batch file in here. Otherwise do as I did and run a batch file with the PIF as the object to be executed. Either way should work.

WinXP is not so enthusiastic about a DOS programming messing about in its environment. Try Win95 compatibility mode. Again Full-screen and max memory.

Sound should be okay except in XP/NT/2000. For those, run without and get the game working before experimenting.