86Box recently introduced support for the Matrox Mystique and the Millenium series of graphics cards. Here we will be looking at emulated versions of these graphics cards to see what performance and gameplay is like with these graphics cards. Despite Direct3D being released in 1996, Matrox still developed their own since DirectX support was not as mature.

Matrox Simple Interface

The MSI API was Matrox’s proprietary 3D rendering interface designed specifically for Mystique’s hardware. Unlike general-purpose APIs like Direct3D or OpenGL, which were becoming standard, MSI was tailored to leverage the Mystique’s hardware features to deliver optimized 3D performance for specific games and applications. This was inline with other 3D vendors of the era with 3DFX and their Glide API, and ATi with the CIF API. These games, however, are still reliant on DirectX for sound and game controller support.

The Games

The Matrox Mystique is best paried with an Intel Pentium, preferably an MMX if your host CPU can support it’s emulation. A driver can be obtained here or here. It appears Matrox provided support all the way to Windows XP, but the MSI API was only supported for Windows 9x-based operating systems. MSI games will not function or will fallback to 2D DirectDraw rendering.

We will be using an 86Box virtual machines to run these games, using the following config:

• OS: Windows 95B with DirectX 3
• Video: Matrox Mystique 4MB – Driver ver 4.10.01.751
• Motherboard: MSI MS-5124 with an Intel Pentium 100Mhz
• Sound: AcerMagic S20
• Network: D-Link DE-220P
• 86Box verion 4.2.1 build 6130

Destruction Derby 2

The followup to the first Destruction Derby, the original PC release was exclusive to S3 with their S3D API. Psygnosis appear to have changed teams and paired with Matrox Destruction Derby 2’s API. On the Mystique the game runs fine with no noticeable rendering errors. We have support for resolutions up to 640×480 in 16-bit colour (65,536 colours). This results in sharper and more detailed visuals compared to the PlayStation’s lower resolution and the DOS version’s often 8-bit colour mode.

Still modern PS1 emulators like Duckstation can improve on the resolution add texture filtering.

Monster Truck Rally

The demo detects and runs fine on the Mystique card. The demo itself is quite limited in terms of gameplay, with the first just letting you drive a motorcycle around a desert. The second demo is simply a opening sequence rendered entirely within the game engine.

Screamer 2

This appears to be a DOS game but will run OK unside Windows 95. Although I had issues getting the sound to work,due to the Acermagic soundcard not using the default parameters.

Time Warriors – Performs very slowly and there are a few texture issues during gameplay.

Tomb Raider –The retail version lacks Matrox support, so we had to download a separate patch and we had to manually copy a modified exe file which replaces the existing game. Once installed we are greeted with a nice Matrox MSI rendered intro logo before the opening FMV plays. There is an issue with the game’s menu text appearing as black which makes it difficult to read – this could be an specific driver or emulation issue

Mechwarrior 2

Works fine using the driver version 4.10.01.3751. The MSI version’s higher resolution and colour depth makes a welcome difference compared to the PlayStation’s low-resolution output and the DOS version’s limited colour palette. You do need a strong CPU to gat a smooth framerate, since these games were still reliant on partial rendering on the CPU. Ona  Pentium 100, we get a choppy framerate.

We do see the Matrox suffers from texture warping and Z-buffer inaccuracies due to the Mystique’s limited 3D pipeline, causing occasional misaligned textures or clipping. This is present ion the PlayStation version also, but appears to be less apparent.