MK Trilogy For PC UNIVBE Workaround FAQ
Version 2.0 FINAL (July 2, 2001)
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FAQ by "PsychoSy" & Rob Muller
[email protected]
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History
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Ver. 2.0 FINAL (July 02, 2001)
Gave Rob Muller credit for writing this
FAQ, even though he never typed a word of
it. *heh* His modified driver helped immensely and
it would be a shame not to credit him as an
author of this FAQ. This FAQ is as much
his work as it is mine, maybe moreso his for his
modified driver was the breakthru we all needed!
Removed my section on the workaround
since it only confuses people futher
and it's no longer necessary.
Tested Rob Muller's Modified Driver
on myriads of cards ranging from Nvidia
GeForce2 series, ATI Radeon, Kyro II, S3,
Matrox, and even some somewhat vintage cards
like the Riva TNT, Savage4, and Rendition.
All pass flying colors on machines running
Win9x and variants (Win95, 98, Me). I don't
have Win2000/XP, therefore to the best of
my knowledge, no fix exists for Win2K/XP. Most
likely because Win2000 "emulates" a DOS
environment and real DOS mode has been removed
from the kernel (just my guess - I could be
talking out my rectum here *heh*).
Regardless, the above tests conclude that
Rob's driver is the better alternative and
should work with any video card where VESA 2.0
or higher was implemented by the manufacturer
of the said card, which basically boils down
to just about EVERY CARD MADE SINCE 1997. Thusly,
this FAQ is getting this long-deserved, and final
update. Not getting snippy, folks! Just that my
time has been very limited in the past year due
to fatherhood and work.
(pLeAsE, gOd...JuSt oNe GaMe oF CoUnTeR-sTrIkE... ;))
Ver. 1.5 (September 30th, 2000)
Added Confirmation of AGP 3DFX Cards.
Working on getting info for ATI Cards.
Steamlined the FAQ by removing some text.
Added link to Rob Muller's UniRefresh Utility
and help pages.
Ver. 1.0 (July 25th, 2000)
My first FAQ!! At this time, I've only have
information on the 3DFX Voodoo Banshee and Voodoo3
PCI cards. With future contributions from you, more
cards will be added to this FAQ. Let me know if
this works for you and list your video card
so future revision can be added and/or consolidated
into this FAQ.
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About This FAQ
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This is for people having great trouble trying to
play older DOS/Win9x games on their PC due to
some games being "hard-coded" with old and
outdated (by today's standards) versions of
a VESA Video Graphics application called
"UniVBE" (now called "Scitech's Display Doctor"),
which will autodetect your video card's
manufacturer, available video RAM, resolution quotas,
as well as add VESA 2.0 support to your video card if
it needs it (or even implementing better VESA 2.0
support if the maker of your video card has buggy
VESA support out of the box).
Since video cards have come a long way over the past 5 years,
"UniVBE" often times does not detect them correctly or even
not at all! The major reason why UniVbe does not detect
the card is because Scitech's SDD/UniVBE uses non-standard
detection routines in it's implementation of detecting
graphics cards. SDD/UniVBE does not resort to just
calling the BIOS of the video card, and that's the major
problem since damn near all video cards made today have
built-in VESA 3.0 support inbedded in the Video Card's
firmware! The result is that you will not be able to go
down memory lane since most programs that use "UniVBE"
won't let you play if it doesn't detect your video card
properly. The only way around this is to try the
"Manual Overrides" section of UniVBE and use
trial and error settings that might work or by seeing
if there might be a modified driver that'll just
call the BIOS of the card for VESA modes.
Since Mortal Kombat Trilogy PC is still a fairly popular game,
this FAQ at this time only covers this. Of course, with your
contributions, perhaps this FAQ can evolve into a "UniVBE
Workaround FAQ" with lists of cards and other games that
use UniVBE. Until then, this FAQ is best suited to be filed
under "Mortal Kombat Trilogy for PC" because that's
all I have at this time to go on.
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What Does This FAQ Do?
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This FAQ is for people who need help in working around the
"UniVBE" detection errors they may be getting from "UniVBE",
which some old games use, like MK Trilogy for PC.
Recently, while perusing the message boards at
"TRMK" (The Realm Of Mortal Kombat"), I found
a slew of angry MK fans wanting to play MKT
on their PC but UniVBE was giving them a
load of crap about it since their video cards
were very recent compared to those that were
on the market when MKT was released.
With trial and error, I kept trying different
settings in the "Manual Overrides" section
of UniVBE in order to come up with a
workaround for my 3DFX Banshee and Voodoo 3,
compiled them into this very text file and posted
it on the 3DFX Message boards as well as at
the boards at TRMK (which gained a long-overdue
sigh of "Finally!" from Greesman!)
And now, you're at GameFAQS.com or at a
authorized mirror site for this FAQ.
Here's your MKT for PC fix!
It's been long overdue!! ;)
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What Do I Need To Do?
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Rob Muller, the man responsible for the
utility "UniRefresh", took the time to
provide a modified UniVBE driver file
that calls upon the BIOS of the
video card and it may just work
wonders for you and your particular
hardware!
Click the link below for Modified Driver Information
http://unirefresh.demonews.com/videoproblems
Click here to snag the awesome UniRefresh Utility!
http://unirefresh.demonews.com/
After grabbing Rob's modified driver, extract the UNIVBE.DRV
file from the archive into your MK Trilogy directory. Let
Rob's modified driver overwrite any previous entries.
From there, NEVER run UVCONFIG again. It'll just overwrite
Rob's modified driver. You don't want that! So, after you
extract Rob's modified driver, the only thing left to
do is simply RUN MK Trilogy and enjoy! Rob's modified driver
grabs the needed VESA information from your Video BIOS, NOT from
Scitech's antiquated application, therefore, there's no longer a
need to tinker with Scitech's mess!
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DISCLAIMER
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**NOTE**
This is not a guaranteed workaround and may or
may not work with your particular monitor
or system. Try this at your own risk!!
I will not be responsible.
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Future Plans
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This FAQ final. The mission is
complete!
The latest versions of this FAQ can be
found at GameFAQS.com
http://www.gamefaqs.com/
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Dedications & Kudos!
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IGN Networks - For their massively
informative websites and affiliates.
TRMK - Keep The Kombat Alive, Folks!
3DFX - Slow on driver releases, but
the online community on their
message boards are fast for
helping folks out.
Rob Muller - For the information, the
modified drivers, and
UniRefresh! Your help
is well appreciated =)
Emulators - For keeping history alive!
Folks like YOU! - Thanks for the submissions
and comments. Although, Win2000 is still an
issue last I checked, it's my time to bow
out and let someone else with more knowledge
and experiance with Win2000 take over from
here.
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I don't care how this FAQ is distributed as
long as I'm credited as the author.
Now, go make a few senators angry!!
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Copyright 2000, Jason "PsychoSy" Sizemore
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