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Page updated - 29/09/2002


Welcome the the News Section...
This Page contains all significant Information concerning this Site.
(
Discuss this Page in the Forums )


News : 29/09/2002
Archive has been extended...

It now spans over a total of 2320MB total capacity.
Presently, only
52% of this space is used, leaving enough room for additions...

The average traffic generated within the Archive is typically running around 35-40% of available capacity,
and roughly
20000 Visitors per month are served with Files.

This as well leaves enough room, and the Archive's Performance should be fine for the forseeable future...


News : 29/09/2002
Finally back in town ;)

Since I had some time to play around with the UT2003 Demo and my Voodoo5 5500 64MB AGP, here's the result :
ut2003

Not bad at all, I'd say :o)


News : 15/09/2002
I'll be absent for about 2 weeks, so there won't be any Site updates....
If support is needed, I recommend relying on the Forums !


News : 08/09/2002
Finally !

Today, 0025Z Time, my private Cluster achieved a mark I've been working towards for a really long time :

The 10000 MHz barrier has been broken !

Presently formed by 12 Networked Systems, here are the overall Specs as of now :
10800 MHz total CPU Power available
2008 MB
total System RAM available
142.1 GB
total Storage capacity available
So far, this Cluster has accomplished in excess of
87000 hours of cumulative work for scientific purposes...

So I guess everyone can see from that, I'm not only a "3dfx freak" ;)

For those that are interested how to use otherwise wasted CPU Power :
www.aspenleaf.com/distributed


News : 04/09/2002
Oops...
I shouldn't have praised server reliability too much I guess...
There has been a complete outage, lasting a full 7 hours straight tongue

All 3 servers went offline, taking the entire Archive and Forum with them...
During that time only one ( 1 ) User was provided with Drivers via Email and the help of the remaining, internal mirrors.

Sorry for the inconvinience and HTTP 404 errors... rolleyes


News : 27/08/2002

100000 Visitors have already used this 3dfx Archive !

The Statistics speak the following :
More than 336 GigaBytes of Data have been delivered...
Currently, the Archive spans over some 341 dedicated Files...
That makes for a total of 1089 MegaBytes available for Download...
Uptime of all active Servers is in the vicinity of
99.9%

I'm glad to say that the involved servers never failed even under the most heavy Download traffic.
They have proven extremely trustworthy, and will continue to do so in future.

I think this Milestone it is a good Opportunity to thank and give Credit to all those that helped making this Archive what it is today :
The possibly largest concentration of archived 3dfx Files existing.


Special Credits & Thanks go to :

Bénédicte
Without doubt the most passionate and thorough collector and saver of all there can be about 3dfx.
A tremendous amount of Files found in this Archive could only make it here due to her unbeaten amount of determination and hard work.
Average Users just stopping by and downloading what is needed, have probably no Idea what amount of work and likely, some bit of luck were needed to make alot of this possible in the first place.

Procerus
A most reliable and helpful source of information and advice concerning all there can be about Voodoo2...
And an active workhouse when it comes to Forum and NewsGroup support!

AmigaMerlin
...for creating and maintaining what is among the best Driver work existing today.
On more than one occasion, even saved this Archive from potential damage when servers were operating right on the edge...

All Users and WebMasters supporting 3dfx!
When 3dfx closed its doors, little hope was remaining, and the future looked practically non-existing...
Software and Game companies turned away from 3dfx, as the Hardware and the large community appeared doomed...
Yet, it was this community that quickly re-formed, and began supporting itself where possible.
Against all odds, Driver modifications, Tweaks and Workarounds were found to overcome some of the most urgent Problems!

The 3dfx Voodoo series
...simply for being Hardware that has already served most Users longer than any other Cards in 3D Graphics history :o)


News : 08/08/2002
Since the new server is up and available, I thought I'd make something new :
Since a few hours, the 3dfx Archive has a YaBB Forum :)

I'm not quite happy with the colors, but what the heck. It's working :p


News : 06/08/2002
Finally, the 3rd Server is up & running !
Expect a steady stream of new File additions, beginning today.


News : 01/08/2002
There has been an unexpected amount of hassles associated with aquisition of the 3rd Server...
Therefor, there were no significant File additions within the last month :(

By now, it has been ordered via 3 different ways, and (hopefully) this time it gets through :p

Some finetuning was done to the Webstats Page, as well as some Info Pages generated.
...expect more as soon as the long overdue, additional space I need is available.


News : 01/07/2002
Small news Updates :

According to 3dfx Underground, a number of Game Producers has restarted taking 3dfx compatibility and capabilities into consideration :
Croteam, Novalogic, Infogrames, EA Games, Codemasters, Arkane, LucasArts and Id Software are presently listed...

Additionally, Mark Rein from Epic has announced that Unreal Tournament 2003 WILL support 3dfx Cards!
It was already successfully tested on Voodoo3 and Voodoo5.
Noteable also, that 16bit (which is now incorporated into the Engine) reportedly looked very nice on a Voodoo3 :o)

Performance won't achieve records, but testing revealed it was playable on both cards.
At least good enough to have a look into the Game, and several thousand more customers for Epic in turn :)
(if you liked Unreal Tournament, BUY Unreal Tournament 2003 for sure !)

Server Updates :
A 3rd primary server is on order !
This is set out to increase the (presently critical) available, total space to 1570MB.
Permissable Traffic will record to
180 GigaBytes !

That should allow to upload a big part of the massive amount of Files that has been collected by external support.
Already,
Bénédicte, France has located and made available by far more files than anyone else supporting this Archive.
It is thanks to her, that many 3dfx related Files thought long forgotten, or even unheard of to date, can be added to this Archive !

Last month' run onto various Files barely used 44% of the present capacity, which was handled with ease...
In future, the FalconFly Central 3dfx Archive should be ready for any amount of visitors to come.


News : 19/06/2002
Not related to 3dfx, but likely affects the performance of this Archive :

KPNqwest, a major European Internet Router has gone bankrupt.
Parts of its large Network seem to have been deactivated or bypassed...
Due to that, Latencies accessing this Archive from inside and outside Europe might have increased to some extend.

If you find navigating and initializing downloads slow, just be patient.

It's not server Related, until a few days ago, the primary Servers were running off ~10 GigaBit Uplinks combined.
Unfortunately, most of that backbone was provided by : KPNqwest :p

Now Pironet NDH has taken over the full load, with capacities unknown to me...
But it looks like they're doing fine, just keep it in mind if you run into trouble using this Archive.


News : 08/06/2002
Good news from the 3D Analyzer development :

V1.4beta has been released for public testing/evaluation, and is available for download here :
/tools.htm


News : 07/06/2002
Not 3dfx Related, but nevertheless worth mentioning :

The W32.Klez Worm is spreading like a pest!
Apparently, it has reached a level of distribution unmatched by any other Worm/Virus to far !

While this Archive (and all my Systems) are confirmed clean as usual, I am receiving many infected EMails every day (!)
This means nothing less, that quite a few Visitors of this Archive are/were running on infected Systems.

Each EMail was sent from an unsuspecting victim's computer via the Worm's own Mailclient, using random EMail-Addresses harvested from the victim's Browser Cache...

This, together with the fact that the Worm is intelligent enough to disable common AntiVirus Software such as Norton Antivirus, make it very dangerous.
I just thought to let everybody know that (if you happened not to do it yet) it is a very good practise to do a dedicated scan of all your Systems.
Another nasty side-effect is, that the Worm uses slightly more intelligent than usual Text displayed in the Topic and Content of the Mail.
Therefor, it may appear as a valid, and interesting EMail to read.

The damaging payload is commonly carried by a Filename with executable extension (.pif, .bat, .scr etc...)
File Size of the infected File commonly ranges from ~88 to 92 Kilobytes...
Do NOT be fooled by the forged EMail Header, which might very well be someone you know and trust!
Also, do not relpy and complain, as the indicated sender actually never transmitted the infected EMail, and is innocent...

I found the MS-DOS version of F-Prot extremely useful, as it is completely free, and detects everything ,including Trojans, Viruses, Worms, and even Joke Programs.
In years of service, it hasn't failed me a single time !
A Windows version is available as well, although being a trial version, good for one free scan any day...
Download Link (including free AntiVirus definition updates) :
http://www.frisk.is/f-prot/download/

Very useful information, details, removal instructions, and special guidelines for Norton Antivirus Users are available from Symantec :
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/[email protected]

I hope posting this general Virus warning builds awareness against the W32.Klez Worm.
Just manually confirm, and don't blindly trust your AntiVirus Software running in the background. It might be already disabled and non-functional !

If you haven't installed some form of Antivirus protection yet, you really should do so and perform a full scan right now !


News : 02/06/2002
3dfx Underground team has released the 1.09.00 beta 4 Drivers, which are reported to make nice progress...

To all those that followed the development of the 3D Analyzer :
Development is presently on hold, pending the Programmer to gain insights into the Driver DirectX portions if possible.
An ever increasing amount of Problems had shown up when used on a Voodoo3, whereas it mostly worked fine on a Voodoo5 and other test platforms.
The 3dfxU V1.09.00 final, once released, will be used to run new Tests, as it can provide a uniform Driver basis.

Just recently I have come to learn that one of the old Drivers archived here has proven very valuable :
The 3dfx Voodoo3 Win9x V1.03.00 makes the otherwise highly unstable/troubled GTA3 work on a Voodoo3.
That's one of the reasons why older Drivers normally left aside by most Users and other Websites are kept in place in this Archive.
Just following the old wisdom stating : "Who knows what it might be good for one day?"

FalconFly Central expanding
As you may have noticed, this Archive is presently full.
Sufficient space is kept available for the 1.09.00 Driver Updates, but no room for more...
But as (once again) hundreds of MegaBytes of Files are waiting to be uploaded, I decided to give it one more boost in capacity.
Within roughly 1-2 weeks, the total capacity will be increased to 1570MB.
That should do, however, as hosting becomes more and more expensive, yet no Ad-Banners I want to see here.

And finally (if I ever find the time), I will be looking into a re-design of the Site with more capable Software.
This is planned to be a transition from functionality alone to a presentation a 3dfx Archive of this size probably deserves.


News : 29/05/2002
3dfx Underground team has released the Win9x 1.09.00 beta 2 Driver...
Final versions can come almost every day from now, once last bugs are exterminated.


News : 25/05/2002
The 3dfx Underground team was hit by a few problems encountered 'last minute'...
Yet, they assembled two Beta's, already containing some of the anticipated features.

User reports will help eliminate the last found problems, and should result in an excellent final release soon.

They have taken their place in this Archive not down with other 3rd party drivers, as they are expected to serve as the new Reference Drivers.
If they live up to the high expectations, that is the place they deserve taking...


News : 15/05/2002
»» Development around the 3D Analyzer Tool is progressing steadily ««
It is already very capable on a Voodoo5, with a few isolated issues remaining. Voodoo3 capability testing has recently begun.
Although still on an Alpha level, is has already achieved and passed several Milestones during testing.
Programs were already running, that never before have seen the light on a 3dfx Voodoo card.

»» All primary servers went offline this night, from 2305Z to 0615Z ««
They have been relocated to a much more capable infrastructure, and performance should be significantly increased.

»» With the most recent add-ons of Files, this Archive has, once again, hit its capacity limits ««
When the total capacity was doubled 4 month ago, little did I realize just how many files were still to be added.
That basically puts a halt to larger sized additions at present.

»» Sufficient space has been reserved to offer 4 full-up mirrors for the highly anticipated V1.09.00 Drivers ««
They have been announced for Release on 25/05 .
The run onto these Files will be tremendous, but with the recent boost in Server performance, this Archive should handle it at ease.


News : 09/05/2002
Work is in progress to make the 3D Analyzer Tool cooperate better with Voodoo cards.
Test platforms so far are the Voodoo3 and VSA100 based cards (Voodoo4/5).

I've heard reports that the original V1.3, that makes Games like SpiderMan - The Movie work with Kyro-Cards, is not capable of doing the same magic on Voodoo's.
As said, alot of work is underway to change exactly that.

On that part, I must say the Author of the Program is a real magician, and is investing alot of time and work to help the 3dfx Community !
He deserves alot of credit for that alone, as well for the patience he has with the limitations of our good old Voodoo cards :)

The actual Homepage of the Tool :
http://www.tommti-systems.com/


News : 05/05/2002
I've stumbled over something VERY promising while browsing the 3dfx Underground Forums :

There's a Tool existing that allows to run DirectX 8.1 Applications on a non T&L equipped card !
It achieves this by apparently building an additional layer between the Driver and DirectX, enabling it to report a fully DirectX 8.1 capable card if desired.

I've been able to run 3D Mark 2001SE in Hardware DirectX8.1 T&L with a Voodoo5.
It still crashed on me at the Pixel Shader test, but nonetheless, it went further than with the Geometry Assist (DX 7 T&L).
All in all, still Beta of course, and hardly tested, but its use is universal, not restricted to a certain Card.
Also don't forget it cannot equip a Voodoo with any new 3D Features...

...but anyway, this Tool might become very powerful, as it can override the Barrier of a DirectX 8.1 capable Video Card requirement.
(useful only, if you have a real fast CPU, of course)

Local Download : Tools Section

Link to the Page where "3D Analyzer" Tool was first found :
http://kyro-net.paraknowya.com/index_files/news.htm

Other News :
Outage Alert : All servers will be offline over 05 to 06 May, estimated 2200Z to 0600Z !


News : 01/05/2002
As seen on 3dfx Underground :

The 1.09.00 drivers are nearing completion. Barring the chance of some strange issues that could theoretically arise in the final stages of the driver kit compilation, the release shouldn't be too far from now. Thanks for you patience and all of us at 3dfx Underground hope you enjoy the new drivers when they are released.

Sounds like excellent news!
I expect the run on those Files to be a stampede, since the global fleet (!) of Voodoo3-5 owners (I reckon) will be looking to download them.
...but I guess 4 internal Mirrors alone should be able to handle it.
...unless some big, not further specified 3dfx Site decides ease and reroute its traffic through this Archive again :p

Update
Upon User request, welcome the new DesktopTV and VoodooTV Sections.
While all Files were available to me for some time now, I never had one of those, and was lacking information.
Basically, I left them on low priority while I uploaded other Files, but now they're here :)


News : 28/04/2002
- Uploading is still in progress, and slowly filling this Archive towards the maximum capacity...
- Older News now got stipped and put into a different Page for sake of loading speed (see bottom of page)...
- Welcome the new
File Request Section, basically seeking special Files not available in the www public...

Info

info
img

The Info-Pages are in the process of being redone.
The Info-Button will now either guide you to the respective ReadMe File, or Screenshot if applicable.
This should greatly increase the value of this nifty little Item, as alot of Documents can now be viewed online before Download !


News : 23/04/2002
As you've noted, some vast additions were made to the Archive, and it's far from finished.
Looking through all the Files takes alot of time...

Other interesting things :
I've recently started downloading some Game Demos to see how well they do on my good old Voodoo5 5500 64MB AGP.
Overall Result so far on my TBird C 1200MHz, using best Visual settings :
- Aliens vs. Predator II 1024x768 32bit: Works perfect, maximum detail
- Medal of Honour (Allied Assault) 1024x768 22bit : Almost perfect (some extremely rare glitches not affecting gameplay), maximum detail
- Star Trek Voyager (Elite Force) 1024x768 22bit : Perfect and lightning fast, maximum detail

What can I say, that Voodoo5 keeps going and going, getting everything done I throw at it...
I liked the nice running of MOHAA the most, as this seemed to be a very problematic Game for Voodoo's.
I think I'm going to buy both MOHAA and AvP II, I really liked the GamePlay :o)
Oh, did I already mention : I love this Voodoo5 card !!! ?

Heck, if it wasn't for the big prices they still take for Voodoo5's at ebay, I'd buy another 3 pieces for my other Systems ;)
...can't wait to see the 3dfx Underground 1.09.00 Driver to be released...
Whenever it comes, I got 4 servers that will host this precious File if needed !


News : 08/04/2002
Downloading Frenzy complete, a whopping 1100MB (!) of Data has been aquired and secured.
I estimate a good 30-40% of it is totally new to this archive, and some of it I've never seen in my life before.
This Archive is therefor continuing to host Files in a centralized, easy to use manner, that are otherwise almost impossible to locate.
Uploading Frenzy in Progress... ;)

This will happen at a slower pace of course, as all Files need to be validated and given a quick analysis.
Expect random additions within the next days, to all Sub-Sections.

New Sections that will need to be formed, as sufficient Files are now available :
- BIOS Section
- Velocity 100/200 Section
- Desktop TV PCI and VoodooTV 100/200 Section

I am as well thinking about reformatting the few present (I am lazy, I know ;) Info-Pages...
My best guess is, that providing the primary ReadMe File for each Package that carries one would be the best idea.
After all, those Info-Pages were originally meant to provide useful information about a File, and prevent disappointing downloads.
Nice side-effect would be that those Pages could be generated very quick, mostly following a standard format...

On the funny side of all this, I see a good chance of running out of Space...
Just a month after massively upgrading... Oh my :p
If this turns out to be true, I'll fill the 2 primary servers to the maximum, and use the smaller internal mirrors to offer Files upon User request.
That should keep everything running smooth.


News : 05/04/2002
DSL is up and running :)
As you can imagine, the downloading frenzy just got a nice boost !
As I write this, I'm downloading hundreds of MegaBytes (!) of 3dfx Material, most of which is not available in this Archive yet...

On the downside of this, I've found many Files which exact purpose I can't fully identify as they lack useable descriptions.
I might therefor open up a dedicated Sub-Section for those, and let the Users decide if they are useful or not.

Anyway, stay tuned for some vast add-ons to this Archive, getting you even the most remote 3dfx Files existing.


News : 24/03/2002
I have located a whole truckload of interesting Files; nothing really spectacular, but nicely complementing this Archive.
So, Downloading frenzy in progress...
Don't expect them to be uploaded soon though, as I will wait for ADSL up&running first, effective as of April :)

That is something I was waiting for a long time.
Finally, 64kBit Up-/Down will turn into more useable 128kBit Up- and 768kBit Downstream =)
As soon as that is installed, maintaining this Archive should become an easy task !
After that is accomplished, I'd call the available collection of Files more or less complete!

3dfx Underground is still working on their Driver, being the very first to contain vastly rewritten, optimized code and Features unseen so far (!).
While only time will tell if they live up to their promises and announcements, their Alpha Release scored very well already.
Of course, made available in this remote Place as usual ;)


News : 16/03/2002
As promised, alot of new stuff was uploaded recently, including Linux and Mac Drivers, 3dfx Tech Demos, some rare Mac ROM's and more current 3dfx Tools.
Other than that, all is running just perfect, with a few new files waiting to be uploaded...

Feels good to have more than enough Space available again :)


News : 07/03/2002
Excellent!
New server is ready to go !

The DNS switch was thrown sometime today, and everything is up and running.
It is now restored to full use, linking most of the files already being prepared on it.
Expect the remaining Updates tomorrow...

www.planetfalconfly.de will be deactivated very soon, and www.falconfly.de will run as the 'one-and-only original' thereafter, as it used to be in the past.
Sorry for the hassle, but this is the last time for you to
update your Bookmarks; the final Version has been reached !

New Specs for this Remote place :
1070MB Space, 120GB Traffic possible, maximized access speed, reliability and quality of service, now allowing unified WebStats.
In short : it has gotten better and bigger than ever :o)


News : 01/03/2002
Uploading in progress :)
While the brand new server can't be reached by the public yet, pending the DNS switch, I'm already preparing it for re-opening...

First, all files currently spread among the small internal mirrors are being relocated and that way centralized.
Then, all the new files I found so far are getting online as well.

As of right now, everything is running nice & smooth. I'm looking forward to having all up and running !


News : 27/02/2002
Good News after a long break :
www.falconfly.de is now officially on the move as advertised...
While this might render it temporary inaccessible for a short time (making the busy mirror
www.planetfalconfly.de the only place to visit in the meantime),
the associated total space available has received an instant boost, reaching a new total of
1070MB...
...and pushing the acceptable traffic to beyond
120 GB [yes, that's one hundred and twenty GigaBytes] per month :)

Since both big sites will end up running more or less on the same server farm, the trusty Mirror will eventually be shutdown once all is up and running.
I consider this the final contribution to this site's server architecture, because that should really do for quite some time to come.

My DSL is delaying, though, so it will take quite some time filling the available space with the valuable content.
The job is also trying to keep me more busy than ever, but that's life...

Once all that has settled, I'll try to live up to my promises, and offer not only the best of the best that's out there, but also offer the most detailled Information about every single file listed in the Archive. As of now, this is the best goal I can imagine for this remote site.

In the far, far future, I would like to add detailled Benchmark comparisons for all available Drivers...
....as well as an In-Depth coverage of all advanced options available in modern Driver Releases (Recommended Settings, Benchmarks and Graphical Results).
But don't count on that too soon, since this will be alot of hard work to do.


News : 17/02/2002
Sorry for the hassle...
www.falconfly.de server has recently dropped in quality of service to a degree I cannot accept...
Administering it has become a pain, native Webstats are laggy at best, Size too small, Traffic insufficient and it is rather low on performance.
(presently Offline once again as I write this)
As advertised a while ago,
Phase 1 of moving it to a new, better server has finally been initiated
It was clear of dedicated Files already for a while, and now has been basically emptied alltogether.

For the time being, previous mirror www.planetfalconfly.de will be the place to visit, now running all on its own as primary.
In the past month, this server has successfully proven it can hande even heavy loads.

Phase 2 : Expect www.falconfly.de to disappear for a few days, maybe weeks, soon.
Phase 3 : Once it is online again on the new server, it will finally carry the primary role in serving all there is, but this time for good :)
(Projected Total Space available : 1070MB)
Phase 4 : As soon as DSL is installed, many more Files are to come =)

Throughout the move all Files and Pages will be fully available as usual !


News : 13/02/2002
Here we go again !
AmigaMerlin WinXP V2.1 was linked by voodoofiles.com directly to my servers.... Once again...
But this time, I invalidated the Link within a few hours!
Needless to say, they did not ask for permission... Again...
Needless to say, this File will as well cause Traffic in excess of 100 GigaBytes within a matter of a few weeks... Again...
The affected small server would certainly break under the workload anyway... I can't afford that, since it holds several other files as well.

On the funny side of all this, the following note was found on voodoofiles.com :

Do to the high costs of hosting the site and the lack
of advertising revenue to keep VoodooFiles fully functional
I have had to (hopefully) temporally end a few features such as:
The Reviews section, The VoodooBoard Forum, and the download list.
I hope everyone understands. This was a very hard decision
but one that must be made. If things change for the better
I will put these sections back up. I may still have to use
bandwidth throttling to reduce the amount of bandwidth available
to VoodooFiles, this is a last resort and I do not want this to happen.

A special note, this has nothing to do
with hosting files, these files (3dfx drivers etc.) exsist on another
server and have no affect on VoodooFiles itself.

I really liked the last part : "...these files exist on another server and have no effect on voodoofiles"....
No kidding *g*
Well, one less server today, sorry pal ;)

One final Note to voodoofiles.com :
WEBMASTERS: PLEASE LINK TO THIS PAGE AND NOT DIRECTLY TO THE FILE.
IF YOU WANT TO DO ANYWAY, AT LEAST ASK FOR PERMISSION, AND RETAIN THE FULL LINK !

I really want to know what they have in mind next, as voodoofiles.com is advertised on the soon closing 3dfx.com Site...
Time will tell, I guess...


News : 12/02/2002
Hmm... I'm finally running out of available Space :(
I've already called the internal mirrors into action, stuffing more Files everywhere I still can...
I was naturally quite hesitant to temporarily deactivate and move falconfly.de to the new Host, but it's the only way left.
Already now, dozens of Megabytes of pretty cool stuff are spinning on my HardDrives, waiting to be uploaded, but lacking room.

That includes 3dfx Tech Demos, the site is still lacking Linux Drivers (shame on me), and a Bios Section.
Artwork Section is as well open end, and handy dandy 3dfx Tools/Utilities are as well in the pipeline...

As I continue to search the Web, I'm amazed just how much 'new' stuff and details I find, that I just haven't heard about yet.
I can hardly download all the good stuff, knowing I can't put it online into this Archive for now :(
DSL is ordered, however, making managing this Site a blast I hope, as opposed to ISDN right now ;)


News : 10/02/2002
Just when you least expect it :)
My humble self has been elected as 'User of the Day' of the mighty [email protected] Project...
(to those unfamiliar with this event : there's basically only a 'once in a lifetime' chance of becoming it)
Many thanks for the nice notes, this a really unique community on its own; much like the 3dfx community (and that means something!)

This is a great honour for me and my venerable Team =/\= Erster Kontakt =/\=
I was aware enough to preserve this day with a 1024x768 Screenshot =)

And, by the way, AmigaMerlin released his WinXP V2.1 Driver today :)
It's presently located on one of the internal mirrors due to space constraints.
...in case you're not satisfied with its downloading speed, I can relocate it anytime.


News : 06/02/2002
Just a sidenote, not affecting people that visit this site... but affecting those that click on that voodoofiles.com link still existing...

Basically, I've seen enough from voodoofiles.com.
With them taking all credit for being the biggest 3dfx site on the web (which is perfectly okay, none of my business)....
...they don't seem to like hosting their offered files at the same time.
This major burden or downside of hosting (the natural price of being big) is simply posed upon other servers that happen to host the file, just like mine.
This is rather a job for cdrom.com, filezilla or fileplanet...

Starting today, I'll actively cut all connections linking from voodoofiles.com directly to my servers.

I'm investing alot of work and money to attain, maintain and expand the availalble bandwidth.
Therefor, I think it is understandable I have no intention of continually 'sponsoring' this limited bandwidth for other Websites, ecspecially when not even asked for permission!
...and definitely not if this is attempted even after a request not to do so.
It's a simple rule : if you want to be real big, you'll have to pay the bill for it as well.
Asking for assistance is 100% fine, just silently taking what you need is not, however.

btw.: To nobody's surprise, in the long run my servers can't properly handle the workload of files being downloaded ten thousand times per month as of today.
This is still a fairly small Site, and simply wasn't designed for those dimensions.

Just don't wonder if affected files get assigned funny names at random,on a daily basis, worst case assumed ;)


News : 02/02/2002
Due to requests, I have started giving Files some more detailled information. How does it look like ?

Info

info

This nifty little Link will reveal all information about a File I can possibly deliver.
It should help normal and advanced Users to find what is best for them among the sheer volume of available Files.
Note that the info pages take a long time to generate and validate, and will therefor enter service at a rather slow pace.


News : 01/02/2002
Alright, everything is back to normal operations...
Other than that, nothing spectacular to report.

Future Outlook :
As soon as there's sufficient space available, expect another full load of Drivers.

Emphasis will remain on official Releases, Linux Drivers, as well as 3rd party Drivers proven successful, but not yet found on this Site.
In particular, that will be the 'GOD' Driver series, Cairey's and IceMan's.
I will also have a close watch upon 3dfx Underground's GlideXP Project, that is apparently making progress, and already has developed into Pre-Release Drivers.
Beefing up the 3dfx Artwork and Tools Section will get priority, as well as creating a BIOS Section of its own.

Long term Objectives :
- create a 3dfx FAQ section, covering in depth troubleshooting
- obtain Win32 compilant Driver SourceCode if possible

The overall Objective :
Further develop this remote place into a reliable source of 3dfx Bits & Bytes...
...and offer a complete selection of the best stuff out there ;)


News : 30/01/2002
Pulling the Plug on that VoodooFiles.com Link worked as expected...
Server should level-off at uncritical levels by the end of this month.

Actually sorry to see that, but one more word on www.voodoofiles.com :
Looks like that Site got more and more 'hollow' over time; at some time in the past they started to offer nothing but Links to Files without actually hosting them.
While (strictly seen) there's nothing wrong with that, seeing this on there Download Pages looks quite wrong :
WEBMASTERS: PLEASE LINK TO THIS PAGE AND NOT DIRECTLY TO THE FILE.

Sad to see they don't even follow their own rules.
After all, linking directly to 'their' files would render their site almost unvisited...
This makes their download pages appear like they are supposedly hosting all the files, but in many cases they are not.

I cannot remember ever having linked directly to another File.
Without prior notification and permission, this is in strict contradiction to common 'netiquette' among webmasters.
Taking into account just how many GigaBytes of Traffic can quickly be created per day, this should also be common sense...

On the good site :
My little, humble server has proven worth its money, and never failed even under the worst of workloads...
This tiny, remote place has proven it could handle several thousand visitors per day.
Not bad, even if there will never be that many ;)


News : 29/01/2002
Server has exceeded 94% due to the enormous hunger for the AmigaMerlin 2.0a Driver.
This file is now temporary relocated to an internal mirror.
That will leave several thousand voodoofiles.com users with a dead link, but I'm sure they'll catch up quick :p
Anyway, that's the price you pay when linking directly to files even after being requested not to do so multiple times...


News : 21/01/2002
Actually now much new to report... It appears the new design is well appreciated.
Personally, I like it, although it now centers almost exclusively around the 3dfx part. But anyway, that's why people come here :)

I've put some focus on getting some of the latest Brand Manufacturer Drivers for older cards like Voodoo1,2, Rush and Banshee...
I figure while most companies still offer these ageing Drivers, it's a good idea to conserve them before they change their mind...

Oh, even if hardly anybody ever looks at it :
The SETI Statistics Section has only been updated slowly. I plan on catching up as soon as I find the time.
If you have no clue what SETI means, visit their homepage NOW!
(Warning : It's highly addictive to know your computer is actually doing something useful instead of wasting idle cycles!)

Overall, this archive is almost busting, and quickly approaching maximum size.
Who would have thought this unknown, remote little place would have developed that way ;)


News : 18/01/2002
Looks like the run on the AmigaMerlin V2.0a Driver is finally fading.
Workload on the server has fallen 50%, and it is now projected to continue serve all Files without use of Internal Mirrors.

The Feedback Section has been replaced by a simple Guestbook.
The old Feedback tools got deactivated for some reason. Now, leaving Feedback should be easier than ever.

The only section still missing operational is the Links Section. Coming soon ;)

Moving www.falconfly.de to the new server is now possible anytime.
If you find it offline, visit
www.planetfalconfly.de ...


News : 15/01/2002
If you've ever visited this remote place before, you'll see the major difference right away!
As promised, the 3dfx Archive was fully restructured for ease of navigation :)

Now, everything is neatly sorted in place, and 120k+ Page Downloads should be History!

Since so many things changed at once, I have a request :
If you find any errors in the new Design, be it bad Links, missing Files or anything else, please give me a hint.

Otherwise, everything is still running smooth.
The run on AmigaMerlin's 2.0a WinXP Driver is sustaining though.
I've done some quick Quality-of-Service checks on the internal Mirrors, and have serious doubts they could handle the load...

The Links Section will be filled with Data later and is currently not operational.


News : 13/01/2002
This Site it buckling under the intense traffic, but for now it's holding, no failures noted...
Within the last days, more traffic was caused than in two usual, entire month!
To get you an idea what dimensions I'm talking about :
If this traffic had hit the old server, it would have been able to stand the load for not longer than a mere 24 hours...

www.3dfxzone.it (serving AmigaMerlin's 2.0a Driver as well), just like they wanted to prove my words below right, actually went offline a few times...

Anyway, the Driver will be kept fully available, being soon relocated to internal mirrors.
If they can handle the load? I have no Idea... Never before have they been exposed to such extraordinary download traffic...

By the way, all files are now hosted on www.planetfalconfly.de ...
Since the 570MB total available are already almost exhausted, I might very well extend total Space available to beyond 1000MB.


News : 11/01/2002
Oops... "Traffic Explosion"... or : "why it's not smart to directly link to files..."
Looks like
www.voodoofiles.com does not have too many sites to link (and/or no sufficient own webspace), that can actually handle prolonged high traffic for many Files.
Naturally, this would be no problem for me. I'm glad to host any File you see here.
But having this remote place listed as one of only two viable Download Links by the biggest 3dfx Site remaining on the WWW suddenly gives you an impression on just how much transfers are being linked there per day. Oh boy....
Taking into account, that some files can easily generate a whopping 4 GigaBytes per day alone (!), this can actually kill off a website in the long run.

On the good side :
The active server is a true workhorse and can take quite a beating , (as of now) nothing to fear...
AmigaMerlin's WinXP V2.0a Driver plain rulez I guess! Well, that's one way to get feedback ;)

On the bad side :
Traffic keeps coming out of 'nowhere', without showing any real visitors.
While I don't 'collect' visitors, this figure, when suddenly zooming up, is a nice hint that something unusual is occuring, requiring my attention.
After emailing a formal, small request NOT to link directly, the server only received a short break.
Now, traffic has reached and exceeded record levels once again, forcing me to keep a very close watch on what's being downloaded :(

Worst case the affected File has to be relocated to an internal mirror, but sacrificing speed by doing so.

I just don't want to know what would happen if several high demand Files were to be directly linked simultaneously...
Ultimately, this could lead to temporarily closing this place down within a matter of days.
Only alternative would be to add heavy Advertising to this Site for financing... I hate Advertising...

Morale of this story for Webmasters :
»» Please do not link directly to Files ««
»» When planning to link directly to files anyway, just give a 'heads-up' before doing so ««
»» When linking, retain the full link. It's terribly long, I know, but I need it to keep stats ««

Anyway, so far all runs normal, and no further steps are required. Everything stays fully functional for as long as I can possibly support it.
I also don't blame voodoofiles for being the mother of all 3dfx sites, attracting thousands... I'm glad it exists...
I'd just hate to put up those undesired
DISABLED signs up again on most of those Files below...


Note
Older news for 2001 are avilable in the News Archive