How to (actually) enable true alpha

Woops · 14-06-22, 03:36

Hi everyone! today I want to share with you a little discovery I made, I stumbled upon this while decompiling some code in TR3..

We all know about the "True Alpha" option in the sunglasses menu in TR3, but for most people nowadays it's disabled, it just shows that it's not available

This has unfortunately left a lot of room for speculation and people thinking it somehow magically unlocks some alpha version of the game, this is just false. this simply relates to the way the game handles alpha blending on some machines.

So, to enable the option you just need two things

1- In the setup, choose software mode, launch the game and exit it through the passport (so the game can save its settings)
2- go into the config.txt folder and change MMX 1 to MMX 0
And that's it!

There you have it

Now, contrary to popular belief, it's actually "on" be default on hardware, not off.

Here are two pictures to compare:

On; everything looks normal

and off, this disables the real alpha blending and forces the game to fake it, hence the name "true" alpha;

and another, possibly clearer comparison:

You can think about it as if the game cannot do transparency anymore, so fakes it by spreading out the colored pixels

(if anyone is interested, it's called stippled alpha

)
Hope this will put an end to all the speculation

Happy Raiding!

UroshUchiha · 14-06-22, 07:26

Thank you for this thread and the comparison explanations! Hopefully it'll finally put an end to that other thread which started to really annoy me.

Greatest TR · 14-06-22, 12:33

Nice post but can Lara **** in Alpha mode? Trexpertsgamer belives in my trolls.

Niko Todd · 14-06-22, 18:20

*To be deleted*

HarleyCroft · 14-06-22, 18:21

It's.. so.. BEAUTIFUL

Guy N. Cognito · 14-06-22, 19:52

Congratulations, you have now access to Run The Gauntlet, the esclusive Tomb Raider III level presented during the E3 1998 during the Dui 兑 ☱ (1984 - 2003) time period era.

Would be very kind if you share it to all of us Tomb Raider fanatics as Tomb Raider III was created by Core Design Ltd. in 55 Ashbourne Road, Derby, DE22 3FS, United Kingdom during the Dui 兑 ☱ (1984 - 2003) time period era so we can have fun to play with it while watching the ****ing purple stars in sky since we are in the year of the Freakin' Sweet Surfin Bird

PS: IM SO DAMN INNOCENT TO THE POINT THAT I KINDLY ENCOURAGED MARTIN GIBBINS TO RELEASE THE ALPHA DEMO SO WE CAN HAVE FUN TO BEGIN WITH IT.

zenazic · 14-06-22, 20:10

I tested this so we can hopefully put a rest to this matter.
Here is the True Alpha feature running on a Windows 98 SE machine, on a Pentium 200 without MMX.

Toggling it off not only gives us Saturn-like transparencies, it also barely has any affect on performance. There is nothing special about this.

Guy N. Cognito · 14-06-22, 21:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenazic

I tested this so we can hopefully put a rest to this matter.
Here is the True Alpha feature running on a Windows 98 SE machine, on a Pentium 200 without MMX.

Toggling it off not only gives us Saturn-like transparencies, it also barely has any affect on performance. There is nothing special about this.

So, seriously talking, this feature partially removes the color to transparent objects, making them more flat-looking?
Pathetic how "that person" thoughts it's a hidden early version of the game. Has he ever enabled it one time and saw what happens?

BTW, your video makes me remember of 2000s and early 2010s YouTube. Charmingly nostalgic.

Joey79100 · 15-06-22, 04:47

No, this feature being off will make the game try to render transparency differently: instead of blending the pixels color between the transparent objet and what's behind, it will only render 1 of 2 pixels of the transparent object in a checkerboard pattern, the other pixel being the background. You can see it when you zoom in.

"Alpha" in this context, refers to the Alpha channel in color components, ie. the opacity of the color (0 is fully invisible, 0.5 is partially transparent, and 1 is fully opaque).

Also what is truly pathetic is how this forum somehow still allows this user in even though they're known to harass people using PM even in this very forum.

Guy N. Cognito · 15-06-22, 10:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey79100

No, this feature being off will make the game try to render transparency differently: instead of blending the pixels color between the transparent objet and what's behind, it will only render 1 of 2 pixels of the transparent object in a checkerboard pattern, the other pixel being the background. You can see it when you zoom in.

"Alpha" in this context, refers to the Alpha channel in color components, ie. the opacity of the color (0 is fully invisible, 0.5 is partially transparent, and 1 is fully opaque).

Thank you

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey79100

Also what is truly pathetic is how this forum somehow still allows this user in even though they're known to harass people using PM even in this very forum.

Yep. He really deserves a permaban. Something more restricting and heavy. He's still here and he hasn't even calmed down, after one year

14-06-22, 03:36	#1
Woops Archaeologist Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Invercargill Posts: 1,499	How to (actually) enable true alpha Hi everyone! today I want to share with you a little discovery I made, I stumbled upon this while decompiling some code in TR3.. We all know about the "True Alpha" option in the sunglasses menu in TR3, but for most people nowadays it's disabled, it just shows that it's not available This has unfortunately left a lot of room for speculation and people thinking it somehow magically unlocks some alpha version of the game, this is just false. this simply relates to the way the game handles alpha blending on some machines. So, to enable the option you just need two things 1- In the setup, choose software mode, launch the game and exit it through the passport (so the game can save its settings) 2- go into the config.txt folder and change MMX 1 to MMX 0 And that's it! There you have it Now, contrary to popular belief, it's actually "on" be default on hardware, not off. Here are two pictures to compare: On; everything looks normal and off, this disables the real alpha blending and forces the game to fake it, hence the name "true" alpha; and another, possibly clearer comparison: You can think about it as if the game cannot do transparency anymore, so fakes it by spreading out the colored pixels (if anyone is interested, it's called stippled alpha ) Hope this will put an end to all the speculation Happy Raiding! __________________ I like cats Last edited by Woops; 14-06-22 at 21:10.

14-06-22, 12:33	#3
Greatest TR Archaeologist Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Great Britain-Oxfordshire Posts: 1,311	Nice post but can Lara **** in Alpha mode? Trexpertsgamer belives in my trolls. __________________ Rest in Peace - rr_carroll

14-06-22, 18:20	#4
Niko Todd Student Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: Here & Now Posts: 106	To be deleted Last edited by Niko Todd; 15-08-23 at 16:02.

14-06-22, 18:21	#5
HarleyCroft Professor Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Coulrophilia Posts: 4,238	It's.. so.. BEAUTIFUL __________________ Well if that ain't aren't the isn't

14-06-22, 20:10	#7
zenazic Student Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Nevada Posts: 118	I tested this so we can hopefully put a rest to this matter. Here is the True Alpha feature running on a Windows 98 SE machine, on a Pentium 200 without MMX. Toggling it off not only gives us Saturn-like transparencies, it also barely has any affect on performance. There is nothing special about this. __________________ "The more impossible it seems, the more necessary it becomes."

14-06-22, 07:26	#2
UroshUchiha Explorer Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Serbia Posts: 930	Thank you for this thread and the comparison explanations! Hopefully it'll finally put an end to that other thread which started to really annoy me.

14-06-22, 19:52	#6
Guy N. Cognito Hobbyist Join Date: Jan 2021 Location: 742 Evergreen Terrace Posts: 93	Congratulations, you have now access to Run The Gauntlet, the esclusive Tomb Raider III level presented during the E3 1998 during the Dui 兑 ☱ (1984 - 2003) time period era. Would be very kind if you share it to all of us Tomb Raider fanatics as Tomb Raider III was created by Core Design Ltd. in 55 Ashbourne Road, Derby, DE22 3FS, United Kingdom during the Dui 兑 ☱ (1984 - 2003) time period era so we can have fun to play with it while watching the ****ing purple stars in sky since we are in the year of the Freakin' Sweet Surfin Bird PS: IM SO DAMN INNOCENT TO THE POINT THAT I KINDLY ENCOURAGED MARTIN GIBBINS TO RELEASE THE ALPHA DEMO SO WE CAN HAVE FUN TO BEGIN WITH IT.

15-06-22, 04:47	#9
Joey79100 Professor Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: France Posts: 3,713	No, this feature being off will make the game try to render transparency differently: instead of blending the pixels color between the transparent objet and what's behind, it will only render 1 of 2 pixels of the transparent object in a checkerboard pattern, the other pixel being the background. You can see it when you zoom in. "Alpha" in this context, refers to the Alpha channel in color components, ie. the opacity of the color (0 is fully invisible, 0.5 is partially transparent, and 1 is fully opaque). Also what is truly pathetic is how this forum somehow still allows this user in even though they're known to harass people using PM even in this very forum. Last edited by Joey79100; 15-06-22 at 04:54.