CompuServe Messages

Note that under Windows, merely excluding memory ranges in your memory manager (EMM386.EXE, QEMM386.SYS, etc.) may not be enough. You might also have to exclude it from WINDOWS's OWN memory management, by adding a line like this to the [386enh] section of SYSTEM.INI: EMMexclude=A000-C7FF Add one such line for each range that needs to be excluded. Do not try to specify more than one range on a single EMMexclude= line. 3DS runs Real Slow under Windows 3.1 or WfWg3.11. The best use I've seen for doing this is to run it as a Render Slave only, by copyiing your 3DS.SET file to 3DSSET.BAK, running 3DS VIBCFG and setting ALL of the Vibrant in-line drivers to NULL (requires recent versions of the Vibrant drivers — the ones that originally shipped with 3DSr3 don't have it, but the ones that shipped with 3DSr"4" should), then renaming the modified 3DS.SET to 3DSWINSL.SET and renaming (or copying) 3DSSET.BAK back to 3DS.SET. Then set up your PIF to run this command line: "3DS SLAVE SET=3DSWINSL.SET". Have it start up in a Window so you can quickly Minimize it to an icon. You will see NO screen display thanks to the NULL drivers, but that's good as it will then not be able to interfere with anything else screen-wise (and also won't require the RAM-hogging High Graphics settings and cycles-hogging Monitor Ports settings in the .PIF — turn them ALL off!). The only reliable way to run 3DS under Windows with 3DS being interactive (instead of in Slave) is to set BOTH the Windows driver AND the 3DS driver to a straight VESA driver using the same resolution and bit depth, so that the screen doesn't have to shift modes when you toggle. This, of course, usually turns off any accelleration capabilities your board may have for both programs, so I don't recommend it. The only REALLY effective way to multitask 3DSr3 or later (until 3DSr"5" — the REAL 3DSr4!) is with OS/2 v2.1 or later. Phar Lap works MUCH better with full DPMI 1.0 (which OS/2 provides) than with Windows's DPMI 0.9 patched to add the DPMI 1.0 "_REALBREAK" call via PHARLAP.386. In fact, under OS/2 it is actually PRACTICAL, not just POSSIBLE, to run TWO (or even MORE) copies of 3DS at the SAME TIME! One for Slave Rendering, and one for working! Give each its own 3DSNET.SET file and they can act like a Rendering Network to each other, even with just one machine! OS/2's pre-emptive multitasking even of DOS tasks means that each of these will run EFFICIENTLY — in fact, when you're not ACTIVELY USING the Working copy of 3DS, the Slave copy can render large projects FASTER THAN IT WOULD AS A STAND-ALONE SLAVE UNDER STRAIGHT DOS thanks to OS/2's DPMI 32-bit Swapping, which makes Phar Lap think it has up to 512MB of RAM to work with, so that Phar Lap won't do its own woefully-inefficient swapping!