Video Card Anti-aliasing -- can a video card smooth out the pixels on old sims?

[Chr2014]

Hello to everyone,

There is an old jet fighter combat simulator from 1997 that I really like to fly. It is called Jane's Fighters Anthology.

The graphics are jagged. There is no anti-aliasing in this simulator. I run it in 800 x 600 resolution (the maximum resolution is 1024 x 768).

However, is it possible to anti-aliasize the graphics in this old simulation, so that they appear nice and smooth? That would be absolutely fantastic! If so, what graphics card would you recommend I purchase?

Thanks very much,

Chris

 

[sandorski]

What Operating System do you use and does the game run on it?

Any graphics card these days should be able to do what you want, at least performance wise. There could be reasons why it might not work though, such as: 1) current cards no longer supporting the Graphics API used by that game; 2) You are using an older OS that is no longer supported by current Graphics card Drivers.

That said, if the game works in your OS and current cards run the Graphics API properly, you should be able to apply AA through the Graphics cards utility that installs with the Drivers. For AMD that's the Catalyst Control Centre, Nvidia has its' own as well, but I don't know the name of it.

 

[Chr2014]

I run the old sim on Windows XP. The sim runs perfectly on my system.

So basically, what the video card will do is take the pixels that are being displayed on the screen and apply AA to them. So the card will do this absolutely independently of the game program, correct? Therefore, the way the game has been programmed is not any issue?

I contacted Nvidia (chat sessions) and one person told me AA works independently of the game program, and that it will work for the old sim. But then another person at Nvidia said that was not correct, that it does depend on the game program. Two different answers.

The video card knows exactly what pixels are being displayed on the screen, so it can then take those pixels and do whatever it wants to with them. Why would the way the game has been programmed be any issue? That does not make sense.

Thanks so much for the help,

Chris

 

[sandorski]

The problem is going to be WinXP. No one makes drivers for it any more. However, you could buy an older used video card that would work.

What are your computer specs?

 

[Chr2014]

* Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz, 1333FSB (Dual Core) 6000K

* Spire Socket 775 Intel fan

* ASUS P5QL PRO P43, 1600FSB PCI Express, Sound, 1Gb LAN

* ATI Radeon HD 5450

* 4GB (2x2GB) PC6400 DDR2 800 Dual Channel

* 320.0GB Western Digital 7200RPM SATA2 UDMA 300 16m cache

* Samsung 20x DVD Recorder Dual Layer +R/RW -R/RW

* AC 97 3D Full Duplex sound card (onboard)

* Ethernet network adapter (onboard)

* PowMax Black Mid Tower ATX Case w/ Front USB

* Case Fan 80 mm DC fan

* Apevia 500W ATX See-Through Aluminum Power Supply

* Microsoft Windows XP Home CD

 

[Chr2014]

Nvidia did say that the GeForce 750 card would work with XP.

 

[sandorski]

It looks like a good choice then. On the AMD side R7 260 and HD 7790 also seem to have WinXP drivers.

The only other issue that concerns me is whether the Motherboard is going to have an issue with one of these cards. Mainly because the BIOS has not been updated in about 5 years. They might work fine, but they might not.

I'm hoping someone with a similar setup comes into the thread and adds their opinion/experience.

 

[schmuckley]

I've just been told that even the newest cards work with XP.
I would say look around here..

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2432/nvidia-forceware-344-75-xp-32-bit/

 

[Chr2014]

So either an AMD or GeForce card would be able to apply AA to older games that have jagged graphics?

Would it be best for me to write to AMD and let them know what motherboard I have?

 

[Flapdrol1337]

Does the game use direct3d or only software render?

 

[SlickR12345]

I don't see why not? Just go to the control panel of Nvidia/AMD and set "force" or "apply" antialliasing. It should work for most graphic cards.

Any card created in the last 10 years should be able to do it.

 

[AtenRa]

Why dont you use your current GPU(HD5450) and apply 2x AA within AMD CCC and see how it will go ???

Right click on desktop, open AMD CCC (Catalyst Control Center)

Click Gaming on the left bar and then 3D Application Settings,
now on the main view go to Anti-Aliasing Mode and change it to Override Application Settings.
Then bellow in the Anti-Aliasing Samples you will be able to choose 2x or any other AA your GPU supports.

 

[Sunaiac]

This game is DirectX 5.0, don't hope too much.
Try forcing the AA in the control center like shown above.
Else, take your 17inch CRT back from the cave.

 

[bob32768]

In theory something like this wrapper would allow for it to work nicely, but it's incomplete (although reports are it might work a little bit with JFA -- worth a shot at least). Given that's JFA is a native DX5 title I doubt anything modern AA forcing would work, although maybe FXAA or something could be injected?

 

[Chr2014]

This game is DirectX 5.0, don't hope too much.
Try forcing the AA in the control center like shown above.
Else, take your 17inch CRT back from the cave.

The sim works fine on modern monitors . . . the monitor is not an issue

 

[Chr2014]

In theory something like this wrapper would allow for it to work nicely, but it's incomplete (although reports are it might work a little bit with JFA -- worth a shot at least). Given that's JFA is a native DX5 title I doubt anything modern AA forcing would work, although maybe FXAA or something could be injected?

Thanks Bob!

I'm going to ask some questions on the DXGL forum:

https://www.williamfeely.info/phpBB3/

 

[railven]

Thanks Bob!

I'm going to ask some questions on the DXGL forum:

https://www.williamfeely.info/phpBB3/

Why dont you use your current GPU(HD5450) and apply 2x AA within AMD CCC and see how it will go ???

Right click on desktop, open AMD CCC (Catalyst Control Center)

Click Gaming on the left bar and then 3D Application Settings,
now on the main view go to Anti-Aliasing Mode and change it to Override Application Settings.
Then bellow in the Anti-Aliasing Samples you will be able to choose 2x or any other AA your GPU supports.

Follow AtenRa's advice, the other suggestions seem to overcomplicate your request.

If AtenRa's suggestion doesn't work chances are not even a new GPU would work.

 

[Sunaiac]

The sim works fine on modern monitors . . . the monitor is not an issue

Of course it does.

But large modern LCD with their "hard" pixels make things much more aliased than a good old CRT, especially if that one is smaller

I'm still playing doom on a 17inch CRT (I'm serious), it looks much better than on my 23inch LCD

So when I say a 17inch CRT would soften your graphics, I'm serious