ANNOUNCING: Silicon Graphics Flight Simulator for OpenGL/Windows
Michael I. Gold
I am pleased to announce the availability of Silicon Graphics' classic
flight simulator demo for OpenGL on Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0.
Built on Cosmo OpenGL from Silicon Graphics, this game delivers
interactive performance on unaccelerated Pentium-class personal
computers. Now you can play dogfight with other users on your
network, including those running IRIS GL flight on their Silicon
Graphics workstations.
Flight is available at the following location:
http://reality.sgi.com/gold/OpenGL/flight.html
Enjoy!
--
Michael I. Gold Silicon Graphics Inc. http://reality.sgi.com/gold
And my mama cried, "Nanook a no no! Don't be a naughty eskimo! Save your
money, don't go to the show!" Well I turned around and I said, "Ho! Ho!"
Patrick MOREAU, CENA Athis, Tel: 01.69.57.64.40
In article <5hi3q2$o...@fido.asd.sgi.com>, Michael I. Gold <go...@asd.sgi.com.spam-free> writes:
> I am pleased to announce the availability of Silicon Graphics' classic
> flight simulator demo for OpenGL on Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0.
> Built on Cosmo OpenGL from Silicon Graphics, this game delivers
> interactive performance on unaccelerated Pentium-class personal
> computers. Now you can play dogfight with other users on your
> network, including those running IRIS GL flight on their Silicon
> Graphics workstations.
Nice announce.
Is there a source version I can build under OpenVMS XWindow ? I have a
workstation with OpenGL software from DEC (Open3D). I'll be very hapy to try
this famous flight simulator.
Patrick
--
===============================================================================
pmo...@cena.dgac.fr (CENA) ______ ___ _ (Patrick MOREAU)
more...@decus.decus.fr(DECUS) / / / / /| /|
CENA/Athis-Mons FRANCE / /___/ / / | / | __ __ __ __
BP 205 / / / / |/ | | | |__| |__ |__| | |
94542 ORLY AEROGARE CEDEX / / :: / / | |__| | \ |__ | | |__|
Web Page: http://www2.cenaath.cena.dgac.fr/~pmoreau/
===============================================================================
Michael I. Gold
pmo...@cenaath.cena.dgac.fr (Patrick MOREAU, CENA Athis, Tel: 01.69.57.64.40) writes:
| Is there a source version I can build under OpenVMS XWindow ? I have a
| workstation with OpenGL software from DEC (Open3D). I'll be very hapy to try
| this famous flight simulator.
There are no plans at this time to release the source code. Sorry. :-(
-==-
surely it would just be a quick recompile to get a real openGL version
running for all of those openGL compatible graphics cards, we could also
find out how much of a driver the 3dfx partial quake thing really is :-)
- --=-==< gco...@ea.com, Head of R&D Bullfrog Productions >==-=-- -
Alan GARNY
Hi Michael,
I downloaded Flight and here are some comments/questions:
- it crashed my laptop (P133, 32MB of Ram, SVGA w/ more than 256 colors),
indeed it switches to VGA as said in the doc, but after that I can't do
anything but reboot the machine... I therefore switched to VGA and then it
worked fine.
- Why do you switch to DOS?? Is that because you get faster rendering?
- I was quite amazed by the speed, do you use a special library in
addition to CosmoGL?
Regards, Alan.
--
Alan GARNY http://www.physiol.ox.ac.uk/~gry
University Laboratory of Physiology Job Phone: +44 (0)1865 272-501
Parks Road Job Fax: +44 (0)1865 272-554
Oxford, OX1-3PT, UK Home Phone: +44 (0)1865 370-240
--
Michael I. Gold <go...@asd.sgi.com.spam-free> wrote in article
<5hi3q2$o...@fido.asd.sgi.com>...
> I am pleased to announce the availability of Silicon Graphics' classic
> flight simulator demo for OpenGL on Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0.
> Built on Cosmo OpenGL from Silicon Graphics, this game delivers
> interactive performance on unaccelerated Pentium-class personal
> computers. Now you can play dogfight with other users on your
> network, including those running IRIS GL flight on their Silicon
> Graphics workstations.
>
> Flight is available at the following location:
>
> http://reality.sgi.com/gold/OpenGL/flight.html
>
> Enjoy!
>
Reb Ruster
On 29 Mar 1997 03:54:42 GMT, Michael I. Gold
<go...@asd.sgi.com.spam-free> wrote:
>I am pleased to announce the availability of Silicon Graphics' classic
>flight simulator demo for OpenGL on Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0.
>Built on Cosmo OpenGL from Silicon Graphics, this game delivers
>interactive performance on unaccelerated Pentium-class personal
>computers. Now you can play dogfight with other users on your
>network, including those running IRIS GL flight on their Silicon
>Graphics workstations.
>
>Flight is available at the following location:
>
> http://reality.sgi.com/gold/OpenGL/flight.html
>
>Enjoy!
>
Worked fine on my machine, except I have a 2-button mouse. I could not
re-center the rudders.
_ _ ____ __ _ _
( | ) / __ \ ___ / /_( | )
|/|/ / /_/ // _ \ / __ \/|/
/ _, _// __// /_/ /
/_/ |_| \___//_.___/
=20
=20
=20
Ron Natalie
Michael I. Gold wrote:
> There are no plans at this time to release the source code. Sorry. :-(
Is it even written in "Open" GL? SGI did used to distributed the source
(I put in the early TCP/IP network support for dogfight, back when the
SGI's were using XNS).
-Ron
Michael I. Gold
Ron Natalie <r...@sensor.com> writes:
| Is it even written in "Open" GL? SGI did used to distributed the source
| (I put in the early TCP/IP network support for dogfight, back when the
| SGI's were using XNS).
Yes, it is written in OpenGL. I ported it from IRIS GL a few weeks ago.
Michael I. Gold
rebr...@mindspring.com ("Reb" Ruster) writes:
| Worked fine on my machine, except I have a 2-button mouse. I could not
| re-center the rudders.
Yeah, I wasn't sure what to do about that. You can click right or left
until it is centered, or you can buy a 3-button mouse. Perhaps I'll
add another way to center it for the next release.
(At least you don't have a Macintosh! I love the Mac, but only one
button!? ;-)
Michael I. Gold
"Alan GARNY" <g...@physiol.ox.ac.uk> writes:
| - it crashed my laptop (P133, 32MB of Ram, SVGA w/ more than 256 colors),
| indeed it switches to VGA as said in the doc, but after that I can't do
| anything but reboot the machine... I therefore switched to VGA and then it
| worked fine.
:-( I saw the same problem on my sister-in-law's laptop. I'm not sure
why this is happening, nor do I have regular access to a laptop to debug
it. This apparently happens only on laptops. By chance is yours a
Toshiba? Are you able to run Quake, which does the same thing?
I'm using ChangeDisplaySettings() to do the switch.
| - Why do you switch to DOS?? Is that because you get faster rendering?
I don't actually switch to DOS, I merely change the display resolution.
Its still running under windows (as a console app, primarily so I can
get argc/argv). I change resolutions because in a software renderer I
am fill limited. You can change the shortcut to add the '-f' option
and it will not change the screen resolution, but your framerate will
drop.
| - I was quite amazed by the speed, do you use a special library in
| addition to CosmoGL?
Nope, its just using Cosmo OpenGL. When running on NT is uses Microsoft's
version of OpenGL which is nearly as fast except when the texture-mapped
hills are visible. (You can toggle texture mapping with the F2 key.)
Michael I. Gold
You can override Cosmo OpenGL on Win95 by setting a registry value,
but Cosmo will automatically defer to Microsoft's DLL if hardware
acceleration is present. No recompilation is necessary.
Now, the 3DFx driver may be a different story. If I can get my hands
on one, I'll give it a try.
Reb Ruster
On 31 Mar 1997 17:16:34 GMT, Michael I. Gold
<go...@asd.sgi.com.spam-free> wrote:
>rebr...@mindspring.com ("Reb" Ruster) writes:
>
>| Worked fine on my machine, except I have a 2-button mouse. I could not
>| re-center the rudders.
>
>Yeah, I wasn't sure what to do about that. You can click right or left
>until it is centered, or you can buy a 3-button mouse. Perhaps I'll
>add another way to center it for the next release.
If it had an option for an analog two-button joystick, that would be
even better.
>
>(At least you don't have a Macintosh! I love the Mac, but only one
>button!? ;-)
>--
What's a MAC?? Does it come with kechup and pickles?
CrowTRobo
Michael I. Gold <go...@asd.sgi.com.spam-free> wrote:
>:-( I saw the same problem on my sister-in-law's laptop. I'm not sure
>why this is happening, nor do I have regular access to a laptop to debug
>it. This apparently happens only on laptops. By chance is yours a
>Toshiba? Are you able to run Quake, which does the same thing?
It's not only laptops.When I run the sim with more than 256 colors it
locks up Win95 too.When I switch to 256 colors it works fine.
CrowTRobo
MSTie #59332
Mike Enright
> From: Michael I. Gold <go...@asd.sgi.com.spam-free>
> "Alan GARNY" <g...@physiol.ox.ac.uk> writes:
>
> | - it crashed my laptop (P133, 32MB of Ram, SVGA w/ more than 256
colors),
> | indeed it switches to VGA as said in the doc, but after that I can't do
> | anything but reboot the machine... I therefore switched to VGA and then
it
> | worked fine.
>
> :-( I saw the same problem on my sister-in-law's laptop.
It does the same here, on a desktop machine (P166MMX, Diamond Stealth
Video). If I quickres to 256 colors, the mode changes fine, to and from
640x480. But if I run "normally" there is a GPF as the program exits.
Michael I. Gold
"Mike Enright" <mike...@cetasoft.com> writes:
| It does the same here, on a desktop machine (P166MMX, Diamond Stealth
| Video). If I quickres to 256 colors, the mode changes fine, to and from
| 640x480. But if I run "normally" there is a GPF as the program exits.
What is your "normal" display setting? I have a 200MMX w/ Diamond Stealth
and have seen no such problem. I have heard about three such reports,
and would really like to understand. Mine works fine on Win95 and WinNT.
Martin Schulten
Michael I. Gold <go...@asd.sgi.com.spam-free> schrieb:
>rebr...@mindspring.com ("Reb" Ruster) writes:
>| Worked fine on my machine, except I have a 2-button mouse. I could not
>| re-center the rudders.
>Yeah, I wasn't sure what to do about that. You can click right or left
>until it is centered, or you can buy a 3-button mouse. Perhaps I'll
>add another way to center it for the next release.
hi michael,
i am not sure if there is a way to track the middle mouse button under
win95. if you find a way to do this, please let me know (i need it,
too).
it seems to me that the middle button is not supported by the system
itself but rather by the mouse driver, which emulates a double click
or whatever you want it to be (?)
martin.
--------------------------------------------------
--- email: martin....@post.rwth-aachen.de ---
--- "The 1st 10% of the code takes 90% of the ---
--- time; the remaining 90% of the code takes ---
--- the remaining 90% of the time." ---
--------------------------------------------------
Alan GARNY
Michael I. Gold <go...@asd.sgi.com.spam-free> wrote in article
<5hovau$h...@fido.asd.sgi.com>...
> :-( I saw the same problem on my sister-in-law's laptop. I'm not sure
> why this is happening, nor do I have regular access to a laptop to debug
> it. This apparently happens only on laptops. By chance is yours a
> Toshiba? Are you able to run Quake, which does the same thing?
Well... Mine is not a Toshiba... Otherwise I can run Quake but only when I
restart my laptop in DOS mode. Otherwise, it indeed does crash too... :-(
Actually, I understand why now... :-)
Michael I. Gold
martin....@post.rwth-aachen.de (Martin Schulten) writes:
| it seems to me that the middle button is not supported by the system
| itself but rather by the mouse driver, which emulates a double click
| or whatever you want it to be (?)
I moved my Indy's three-button mouse to my PC and the middle mouse button works just fine.
By the way, I think I have found the problem which causes some systems
to crash after flight changes the display resolution. The problem occurs
in the operating system and affects both Cosmo OpenGL and Microsoft's
version, which both use a similar mechanism to access the framebuffer.
I am looking for a workaround and will post as soon as I am satisfied
with a solution. Meanwhile you should take the following precautions
when running flight on Windows95 (WinNT should be unaffected):
1) Manually change your desktop size to 640x480, or
2) Change the flight shortcut to add the '-f' option. This avoids the
resize but will result in a reduced framerate.
Also you should avoid 24-bit on Windows95, as Cosmo OpenGL is currently
not optimized for that pixel format. You will see greater performance
at 16- or 32-bit, and best performance (but less cool effects) at 8-bit.
Sorry for the problems. Despite testing on several different systems,
I never found this crash. I hope to make a workaround available soon.
Roger Nelson
>i am not sure if there is a way to track the middle mouse button under
>win95. if you find a way to do this, please let me know (i need it,
>too).
Sure you can :
WM_MBUTTONDBLCLK
WM_MBUTTONDOWN
WM_MBUTTONUP
>it seems to me that the middle button is not supported by the system
>itself but rather by the mouse driver, which emulates a double click
>or whatever you want it to be (?)
Some mouse drivers allow remapping the middle button because most application
don't use them.
I think the flight simulator should be modified so that pressing both left and
right button at the same time emulates the middle mouse button.
Martin Schulten
suma...@usa.net.NOSPAM (Roger Nelson) schrieb:
>In article <5hqdf2$9bt$1...@news.rwth-aachen.de>, martin....@post.rwth-aachen.de wrote:
>>i am not sure if there is a way to track the middle mouse button under
>>win95. if you find a way to do this, please let me know (i need it,
>>too).
>Sure you can :
>WM_MBUTTONDBLCLK
>WM_MBUTTONDOWN
>WM_MBUTTONUP
hi,
ooops! thanks a lot! i must have missed them somewhere....
(it was a little late that day...)
Murray Elliot
In article <5hpu5v$c9l$1...@news3.microserve.net>, CrowTRobo
<toms...@onix.com> writes
>Michael I. Gold <go...@asd.sgi.com.spam-free> wrote:
>
>>:-( I saw the same problem on my sister-in-law's laptop. I'm not sure
>>why this is happening, nor do I have regular access to a laptop to debug
>>it. This apparently happens only on laptops. By chance is yours a
>>Toshiba? Are you able to run Quake, which does the same thing?
>
>locks up Win95 too.When I switch to 256 colors it works fine.
>
>CrowTRobo
>MSTie #59332
>
>
Yup - I noticed this too. On a diamond stealth 3d-2000 - desktop
800x600x24bits. Runs ok if launched from a DOS window though... ???
Haven't tried Quake. When I do, I'll let you know.
--
Murray Elliot
Chris Marriott
In article <5hqdf2$9bt$1...@news.rwth-aachen.de>, Martin Schulten
<martin....@post.rwth-aachen.de> writes
>i am not sure if there is a way to track the middle mouse button under
>win95. if you find a way to do this, please let me know (i need it,
>too).
>
>itself but rather by the mouse driver, which emulates a double click
>or whatever you want it to be (?)
Windows has ALWAYS supported 3 button mice. That's what the
"WM_MBUTTONxxx" messages are for!
Regards,
Chris
----------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Marriott, SkyMap Software, U.K. e-mail: ch...@skymap.com
Creators of fine astronomy software for Windows.
For full details, visit our web site at http://www.skymap.com
Dwight M Evers
Where do I put these commands into my Win95 system? I have a logitech
3btn mouse.
Chris Marriott (ch...@chrism.demon.co.uk) wrote:
: In article <5hqdf2$9bt$1...@news.rwth-aachen.de>, Martin Schulten
Bill Klaila
This HAS to be a transmission from Hale-Bop
Chip Richards
> I am pleased to announce the availability of Silicon Graphics' classic
> flight simulator demo for OpenGL on Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0.
Any chance of a Mesa version for Linux?
--
Chip
Michael I. Gold
ch...@niestu.com (Chip Richards) writes:
| Any chance of a Mesa version for Linux?
Get in line. ;-) I have had requests for many ports, and would like
to do some of them if/when I have time, but for now I want to make the
Windows version more robust, and then there's my real job...
Mike Enright
Michael I. Gold <go...@asd.sgi.com.spam-free> wrote:
>
>and have seen no such problem. I have heard about three such reports,
>and would really like to understand. Mine works fine on Win95 and WinNT.
As I write this reply, I see that there is a new release, which I will
try out. But my "normal" settings are 1024x768, 65536 colors. And that
system runs Win95b with DirectX 3 installed.
I feel compelled to mention that I've played the game quite a bit and
I look forward to the day when I can land successfully!
--
Mike Enright
menr...@cts.com
http://www.users.cts.com/sd/m/menright/
Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, USA
Michael I. Gold
spoon.m...@cts.com (Mike Enright) writes:
| As I write this reply, I see that there is a new release, which I will
| try out. But my "normal" settings are 1024x768, 65536 colors. And that
| system runs Win95b with DirectX 3 installed.
OK. I am fairly confident that it is fixed, so please let me know.
| I feel compelled to mention that I've played the game quite a bit and
| I look forward to the day when I can land successfully!
You and me both. ;-) I did manage to land the Cessna once...
Bruce A. Lewis
On 3 Apr 1997 01:01:27 GMT, Michael I. Gold
<go...@asd.sgi.com.spam-free> wrote:
>ch...@niestu.com (Chip Richards) writes:
>
>| Any chance of a Mesa version for Linux?
>
>Get in line. ;-) I have had requests for many ports, and would like
>to do some of them if/when I have time, but for now I want to make the
>Windows version more robust, and then there's my real job...
>
>--
>Michael I. Gold Silicon Graphics Inc. http://reality.sgi.com/gold
>And my mama cried, "Nanook a no no! Don't be a naughty eskimo! Save your
>money, don't go to the show!" Well I turned around and I said, "Ho! Ho!"
Hi Michael,
I downloaded the flight sim and it works great. I'm running it on a
dual boot system. (Win95 SR2 and WinNT 4.0 Workstation) The hardware
is a Pentium 166 MMX with a Diamond FireGL 1000 8MB. It runs very
smoothly with the Permedia NT OpenGL drivers on both Win95 and NT. It
is noticably more responsive under NT, though.
Joystick support would be VERY nice to have though. I have yet to fly
an F15 or F16 with a mouse. (Although the side stick in the F16 does
take a little getting used to... :)
Good job!
Cheers,
Bruce Lewis
#E-Mail address deliberately mangled by x's...#
Michael I. Gold
xcyb...@xmindspring.com (Bruce A. Lewis) writes:
| I downloaded the flight sim and it works great. I'm running it on a
| dual boot system. (Win95 SR2 and WinNT 4.0 Workstation) The hardware
| is a Pentium 166 MMX with a Diamond FireGL 1000 8MB. It runs very
| smoothly with the Permedia NT OpenGL drivers on both Win95 and NT. It
| is noticably more responsive under NT, though.
Great!
| Joystick support would be VERY nice to have though. I have yet to fly
| an F15 or F16 with a mouse. (Although the side stick in the F16 does
| take a little getting used to... :)
Thanks! I do plan to add joystick support. I have been consumed with
preparations for CGDC, and have not had a chance to do any updates for
the last month. I hope to get back to it soon.
Which joysticks are the most common? If I support one, do I support them
all, or is each one different?
Bruce A. Lewis
On 29 Apr 1997 06:38:51 GMT, Michael I. Gold
<go...@asd.sgi.com.spam-free> wrote:
>Which joysticks are the most common? If I support one, do I support them
>all, or is each one different?
>--
>Michael I. Gold Silicon Graphics Inc. http://reality.sgi.com/gold
For the most part I would say that you should, at least, support the
basic two axes and buttons 1 and 2. If you want to support more axes
(rudder pedals!) or buttons, DirectInput will let you do that. (And
it's available for Windows95 and NT!)
If you decide to support certain joysticks though, you get in the
doghouse with the people who like other joysticks. Everybody has their
(relatively strong) opinions about them. I like the ThrustMaster line
especially the F22 stick and the TQS. I also have the Suncom F15
style stick and the old ThrustMaster FCS, TCS and rudder pedals.
As I said, though. Joystick preferences vary widely and wildly. Some
people can't play without them and some despise them. If you program
for Windows95 though you should be able to access the joystick through
DirectInput. That should make handling joysticks in general much
easier.
I hope this helps.
(Wanted to go back to the CGDC this year but they scheduled it over my
five year old daughter's birthday, AGAIN. Maybe next year. Will you
guys be at E3 in Atlanta in June?)
Cheers,
Bruce Lewis
(E-Mail address mangled with x's deliberately...)
Michael I. Gold
xcyb...@xmindspring.com (Bruce A. Lewis) writes:
| If you decide to support certain joysticks though, you get in the
| doghouse with the people who like other joysticks. Everybody has their
| (relatively strong) opinions about them. I like the ThrustMaster line
| especially the F22 stick and the TQS. I also have the Suncom F15
| style stick and the old ThrustMaster FCS, TCS and rudder pedals.
Oh great, I _really_ want to get into another religious war. I still
have _way_ to much energy left after the last one. :-p
| I hope this helps.
Yes, thank you!
| (Wanted to go back to the CGDC this year but they scheduled it over my
| five year old daughter's birthday, AGAIN. Maybe next year. Will you
| guys be at E3 in Atlanta in June?)
(I hope so. I'm not sure what we're planning though. Why are we
whispering? :)
--
Michael I. Gold Silicon Graphics Inc. http://reality.sgi.com/gold
Daniel Phillips
xcyb...@xmindspring.com says...
>
>On 29 Apr 1997 06:38:51 GMT, Michael I. Gold
><go...@asd.sgi.com.spam-free> wrote:
>
>>Which joysticks are the most common? If I support one, do I support
them
>>all, or is each one different?
>>--
>>Michael I. Gold Silicon Graphics Inc.
http://reality.sgi.com/gold
>
>For the most part I would say that you should, at least, support the
>basic two axes and buttons 1 and 2. If you want to support more axes
>(rudder pedals!) or buttons, DirectInput will let you do that. (And
>it's available for Windows95 and NT!)
Generally speaking, there are 4 kinds of joystics out there:
1) Simple two button joysticks
2) The Flightstick kind with a hat switch and throttle
3) The Thrustmaster kind which is integrated with the keyboard
4) Non-analog joysticks
As far as non-analog joysticks go, I think the MS sidewinder is the
only serious entrant so far. But until MS publishes the details of
its digital interface protocol its going to continue to be treated
just like a regular analog joystick, which it emulates by default.
Two button joysticks you know all about.
The Flightstick kind of joystick is something you pretty much have
to support. The hat switch is especially useful in games like
Descent and Mechwarrior where you have a lot of freedom of
movement. Unfortunately, you lose something as well: the hat
switch is implemented by borrowing one of the button states -
both buttons down - to indicate that the hat switch is in use.
So this kind of joystick doesn't let you use two buttons at once.
In otherwords, if the strafe is on the hat switch, you can't
strafe and fire at the same time using the joystick alone. Too
bad.
The Thrustmaster takes a different approach - they have a couple
of extra plugs that let the joystick feed keyboard codes into the
keyboard port. That's a lot better because you don't lose any
functionality on the stick itself. But it's more expensive.
Digital-protocol joysticks are supposed to be a lot more accurate
than analog joysticks, and actually, most joysticks are pretty
awful in terms of accuracy, even the expensive ones. It doesn't
hurt to he aware of that.
If you're using DirectX in theory you don't have to worry about
what kind of joystick you've got, but it doesn't hurt to know what
you're actually dealing with.
--
Daniel Phillips
phil...@dowco.com