Comanche 3 - Hidden modes

Get 4 new modes in your C3 graphics menu now!

If you got Comanche 3 you know there is a "stereoscopic" mode in the pulldown menu within the game. This mode might work for you or it might not.

At first there seems to be no way to get Comanche 3 into interlace mode. But there's a special 3D-Max mode. And more!

 

Use a disk editor and edit the "RESOURCE.RES" file. Now use the search function to find the term "VFX1". Look for the "<"-character which comes before VFX1 and erase it by typing a blank. Now scroll down until you see the term "LCD-BIOS". Somewhere after LCD-BIOS appears a ">"-character. Put a "<" directly in front of the ">" , so that it reads "<>".

Now you got 4 new items in the graphics menu. VFX1, 3D-Max/LCD-BIOS, 800x600 and 1024x768.

All this is based on the german release of Comanche 3. I hope the US version looks the same.

It's also possible to change modes directly by manipulating the A and Z values of certain modes, but that's less comfortable.

3D-Max owners can use the standard stereoscopic mode in C3 without editing the res-file by using 3D-BIOS 2.1 (!!!) and Cyberon.com. This will not work with later versions of 3D-BIOS. Thanks to Luis Biarge lbiarge@redestb.es for the hint.

 

There's a big problem with the 3D-Max/LCD-Bios mode however. The image dedicated to the left eye is O.K. The image for the right eye jumps between the right and left position. It seems the program jumps from 3D to 2D maybe one or two times a second. This renders the mode almost useless. At least for me. Maybe the problem is due to my configuration (S3 chip). Maybe it's a bug which led Novalogic to omit this mode. I tried 3D-Bios and LCD-Bios. Same result. I couldn't test the VFX1 mode. VFX owners might be happy with the standard stereo mode anyway.

Try it yourself!
 
NEW: The BUG seems to be caused by the use of an IRQ-mode. The 3D-Max/LCD-BIOS mode seems to force IRQ. "Cyberon" also forces IRQ. There's a program called MAX3D which forces 3D without the use of IRQs. The program works only for Kasan 3D-Max and S3-graphic chips!!! The program is available as part of the Maxgames package at Virtual Media Systems South-Africa.  Please don't forget to choose Interlace mode in 3DCFG. Use the standard stereo mode, not the hidden 3D-Max mode. 
 
Although the stereo mode works flawlessly on the 3D-Max now I don't use it. The resolution is just to bad. As a Shutterglasses user I'm not used to this dreadful super-low-res HMD stuff.
 

Mode overview:

Mode A-value Z-values
Stereoscopic (standard) - 3
3D-Max/LCD-BIOS - 4
VFX1 - 9
320x200 - 7
320x240 - 0
400x300 7 1
512x384 0 5
640x400 1 8
640x480 2 2
800x600 3 6
1024x768 4 A
If you find any more modes please tell me.

Credit: I got the hint to this from a message by Hans-Joachim von Seth in the PC-Player Forum at CompuServe.

 
 

Novalogics' Armored Fist 2 is based on the same engine as Comanche 3. There is no graphics mode menu though. The hotkey for STEREO 3D is ALT-F6.
This mode behaves like the standard stereoscopic mode in C3. I successfully tested it with VR-BIOS (VRex VRSurfer). It works also with all HMDs, VR-Joy and EyeFX. There's a good chance for 3D-BIOS users as well.