Radeon 32 PCI game issues

[afnav]

I have a Radeon PCI connected to my HP Pavillion, which replaced a Monster Fusion 3d that is no longer supported by Diamond (defunct). I am trying to play Fighting Steel by SSI (also defunct), and cannot get it to even boot to the game. I am convinced it is the video card's inability to process the game, possibly due to 3DFX issues. Am I going to need to pull out the Radeon and buy an old Voodoo card just to play this game?

[hagakure]

Need more info... what OS? If Win2K, the game probably is incompatible. (If the game requires DOS, you're probably out of luck, as old DOS games run horribly on modern Windows machines.) Does your Radeon do everything else without any problem?

Unless you are trying to run the game in Glide, the Radeon should be able to handle it. Chances are the problem lies elsewhere.

In the game setup is there a choice of either hardware or software mode? If so, does it run OK in software mode? If not, then the problem is most likely not with your video card. If it will run in software mode, then check for other choices in hardware mode, i.e. make sure you aren't choosing GLIDE which is, indeed, only available on 3DFX (also now defunct!). Choose D3D if it's an option.

Also, if you have access to a friend's computer or another one in your house which is running the same operating system, try loading and running the game on it.

If you do have an old Voodoo card lying around, you might try it and see if it works... you can always switch back, but unless you're running in Glide, I can't imagine it being the problem. While some games (esp. the EA Sports titles prior to 2000) were optimized for Glide, no games I can think of were Voodoo only.

[hagakure]

Forgot to mention, if the Radeon is having problems other than this one game, check for the latest drivers & any updated chipset drivers (e.g. the VIA 4-in-1 patch) your motherboard may require.