ZDoom Runs Better Than ZDoomGL?

[Atum Ra]

why is it that Zdoom seems to run heaps faster and alround better than ZDoomGL.
I have to play ZDoomGL in windowed mode to even get a display in any resolution higher than 320x240 and it takes ages to load.
Basically what im asking is: is there something im doing wrong. I havent had any of these problems with any other Doom port.

[boris]

Sounds like you're running ZDoomGL in software OpenGL.

[Atum Ra]

boris said:

Sounds like you're running ZDoomGL in software OpenGL.

Pardon?....I thought software and OpenGL modes were totally different renderers:S

[boris]

Well, it's possible that you're doing all the OpenGL stuff in software (although it should be done by the hardware). If you do that, it's incredibly slow.

[Enjay]

Which version of ZdoomGL are you using, and what are your machine specs?

[timmie]

ZDoomGL 0.74 still used the old geometry stuff, so it was kinda slow. The latest snapshot uses the new geometry stuff and also has the uncapped framerate. It smokes software ZDoom in resolutions above 640*480 (they're about the same at 640*480 and below on my machine).

As for getting it to run in fullscreen mode, try setting the width/height to 640*480 (vid_defwidth/vid_defheight), the bitdepth to 16 bit (gl_vid_bitdepth 16) and the refresh rate to 60hz (gl_vid_refresh 60). That's more or less running it in compatibility mode, since pretty much any card should be able to run at those settings.

Speaking of video cards, what are you using? During startup, what does ZDoomGL report for the OpenGL vendor? If it says GDI, generic or Microsoft in there, then it's trying to run in software mode (I've since added a check for that and it will get an error if you try to run it using the default OpenGL drivers).

[KCat]

I have a similar issue. When the basic level detail is low, and I'm not viewing much on screen I can get really decent rates. But as soon as the level of detail picks up and I start looking at more stuff on screen, ZDoomGL takes a big hit. Regular ZDoom, while initially slower, handles whatever this impact is a lot better, and thus plays better/faster/smoother in more detailed areas than ZDoomGL.

[Atum Ra]

my machine Specs are P3 450, GeForce4 64mb, 128mb ram.
I use ZdoomGL 0.74 and the snapshot.
I was using it wilth Zdoom .47 and following updates till .50 (.51 onwards i been using plain old ZDoom on its own).
Also i noticed that ZdoomGL only seems to say im using .47i even when i was using later versions.
EDIT- Also why would i want to play at 640x480 when i can play ZDoom and legacy at 1024x768.
EDITx2- Sorry if my last edit sounded bitchy, wasnt meant to.

[boris]

Atum Ra said:

I was using it wilth Zdoom .47 and following updates till .50 (.51 onwards i been using plain old ZDoom on its own).
Also i noticed that ZdoomGL only seems to say im using .47i even when i was using later versions.

ZDoom and ZDoomGL have nothing to do with each other. Even if you'd use ZDoom 6.13.37 "with" ZDoomGL 0.6, you'd still only have the features of ZDoomGL 0.6 (i.e. ZDoom 1.18 or what it's based on).

Atum Ra said:

EDIT- Also why would i want to play at 640x480 when i can play ZDoom and legacy at 1024x768.
EDITx2- Sorry if my last edit sounded bitchy, wasnt meant to.

I don't know. Must be a problem of yours. I run ZDoomGL in 1152x864 and it works extremely nice.

[Hirogen2]

Atum Ra said:

Pardon?....I thought software and OpenGL modes were totally different
renderers:S

Yes, they are, actually, what we currently have is
"Software rendering"
"OpenGL and/or DirectX"
Where is the difference? Here, by software we usually mean something like the
ZDoom engine. The 3d world is done by placing a skewed flat here and there (and
btw making freelook crappy),
while OpenGL places flats (eh, their shapes) in an other fashion so that
everything looks more real, i.e. with ... freelook.

So what you should really call it is "Doom-style" and "GL-style", since UT for
example /is a GL-style renderer in Software mode/ (it's freelook is OK)
And thus, you can implement GL-style rendering in software.

http://www.mesa3d.org/ , there is a "mesasoft" driver for Linux for example,
which does everything what your GPU should do, with the CPU instead.

[Atum Ra]

Timmie,
After all this time i have finally figured out my problem with ZDoomGL, i used the gl_vid_refresh 60 option in the console and i can now play in fullscreen at 1024x768x32...thanx for your help:D