Chris_

Ernie

Sorry, forgot to answer your earlier question about OpenGL and Direct3D. The answer is that I cant because I dont use NVidea drivers but I am sure that Steve or someone else will be able to help you on that one.

The reason I mentioned it was because when I install Counterstrike on a freshly formatted drive I get the same problems and need to change these settings.

Long shot, but try the FAQ's on the game website

Good luck

Chris

ernie

Steve,

The problem with windows is fixed ie I can now see/alter settings for the graphics card via CONTROL PANEL> DISPLAY> etc. I have installed that hyperon prog, and the latest graphics drivers from Nvidia web site. I also reinstalled Diret X version 9.0b

When I play Vietcong, the graphics are very jerky. They literally induce a headache in a very short time. Any movement (particularly via the mouse) is jerky and unresponsive. The mouse sometimes needs to be moved 1-2cm before a movement appears on screen. If you try and make small, precise crosshair movements its impossible. It just jumps in too big a steps. Its pointless playing, its really that bad .

Now I know that it shouldnt be like this, because before my PC threw a tantrum and had to be formatted, the graphics were super smooth (at least in my opinion ). When you play its like your playing online on a laggy server, thats the best way to describe it .


Soulgirl,

unfortunately that link you gave is for dealers only, it wont let me register


Hanslow,

Sorry I dont know how to do a screen grab . When you start up Vietcong it gives you the options for resolution, 32/16bit, refresh rate (set 75Hz), Full Screen (ticked), Triple Buffer (ticked), Prefer 16bit textures (NOT ticked), Disable DXT n textures (NOT ticked), Disable DXT n Lightmaps (NOT ticked), Textures in system memory (SELECTED) or Fit textures in video memory.


Thanks again for all your help. If you need any more info just ask.

Thankyou

ernie

Oh,

and I just cleaned the optical mouse with a cotton bud and it made no difference. I had a horrible thought then.......

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

With a KT400 or A board, the Hyperion drivers are superior to the native XP and SP1 drivers.

ernie

Mr Footlong,

I have already installed them like you said. However, I am sure that they were not installed before when it worked OK. But like you said, it wont hurt

Cheers

Hanslow

What does it say for the video card selection? Just want to make sure it's picking it up right.

Mine says, D3D8: RADEON 9700 PRO, obviously a different video card, and I'm running with DirectX9, but just want to check yours appears OK.

Have you got the patch for VC as well? Don't know whether it would make that much difference but would suggest getting hold of the latest. Does it also make much difference if you change the textures down to 16bit?

ernie

Hanslow,

It lists the correct graphics card

Changing textures to 16bit makes no difference. I will try and get VC patch, but I never applied any to it before when it worked OK.

Thanks

DominicA

r u sure, your "mate" hasn't swapped you card for an MX ???

ernie

DominicA,

He wouldnt do something like that. Ive looked inside and its same card. I was about when he got it running again. He never took the case apart.

Cheers

DominicA

ok...now that the nvidia drivers are correctly installed...

1. do you have another FPS game that works ok on this pc??

2. can you download SiSoft Sandra and check your disk performance.

3. can you make sure anisotropic filtering and AA are disabled in the nvidia drivers..

4. do you have 3dmark2001 installed??

5. can you check that your OS performance is setup for applications and not background services and that you have a swapfile..

ernie

DominicA,

I downloaded those two programs you asked about and ran them. Here are answers to your questions:

1. I have Counter Strike/Half Life. That plays fine.

2. I ran Sisoft Sandra. To be honest, I dont really know what Im lookinhg for . I couldnts see anything glaringly obvious, I dont think so anyway .

3. Anti Aliasing is disabled. Anisotropic filtering cant be disabled, closest option is for it to only come on application.

4. My PC scored 9465. I have no idea if thats good/bad .

5. I dont understand this one at all, sorry . If you can explain a bit more I will attempt to find out if its within my capabilities


I noticed that the graphics during the 3dmark2001 test were very smooth. No jerking or any thing


Thanks again for your help, most appreciated

ernie

Here are results. They may mean something to you , coz they dont to me



System Configuration
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP

DirectX Version 8.0



Mobo Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.

Mobo Model GA-7VAXP Ultra

AGP Rates (Current/Available) N/A / N/A



CPU Unknown 2009 MHz

FSB 133 MHz

Memory 512 MB



Graphics Chipset NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200

Driver Name NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 with AGP8X

Driver Version 6.14.10.4523

Video Memory 128 MB



Program Version 3DMark2001 Original

Resolution 1024x768 32bit

Texture Format Compressed

FSAA Disabled

Z-Buffer Depth 24bit

Frame Buffer Double

Rendering Pipeline D3D Pure Hardware T&L



Detailed Test Results
3DMark Score 9465 3D marks



Game 1 Car Chase - Low Detail 141.6 FPS

Game 1 Car Chase - High Detail 49.4 FPS

Game 2 Dragothic - Low Detail 170.0 FPS

Game 2 Dragothic - High Detail 99.5 FPS

Game 3 Lobby - Low Detail 126.5 FPS

Game 3 Lobby - High Detail 56.2 FPS

Game 4 Nature 49.0 FPS



Fill Rate (Single-Texturing) 863.2 MTexels/s

Fill Rate (Multi-Texturing) 1910.9 MTexels/s



High Polygon Count (1 light) 47.6 MTriangels/s

High Polygon Count (8 lights) 10.5 MTriangels/s



Environment Bump Mapping 151.8 FPS

DOT3 Bump Mapping 126.9 FPS



Vertex Shader 83.0 FPS

Pixel Shader 104.9 FPS

Advanced Pixel Shader N/A



Point Sprite 26.3 MSprites/s

Hanslow

ernie,

just checked the VC website, have you tried messing around with the sound settings? Apparantly the sound processing takes up huge amounts of processing, so reducing the sound quality might help?

Hanslow

Also, this is a list of things to try (straight from their site)

I have an Nvidia video card. How can I improve game performance?

If you have an Nvidia card, there are several different solutions that may work for you. Try several at once to find the best situation that work for you. Be aware that these suggestions will work in an effort to improve your games playing speed, or "framerate." You may notice some loss of graphical detail, but increased framerate, when adjusting some of these settings.

IN-GAME RESOLUTION

You should first attempt to play Vietcong using the 800 x 600 - 16 bit resolution. Also on the setup menu, choose the 16 bit - Preferred Mode option on the setup menu as well.

MONITOR HZ SETTINGS

Make sure your Monitor Hertz settings match the games default settings for your computer. When you first boot vietcong it will display the proper settings, you can also reset them to defaults when you load up.

NVIDIA CONTROL PANEL SETTINGS:

Make sure you have the latest drivers for your NVidia graphics card prior to following these steps. As of late March 2003, we recommend the use of the ""4345"" drivers (those are the last four digits of the driver version number).

To access your NVidia control panel, right click on an open area of your Windows Desktop, then click on Properties on the drop-down menu. Click on the Settings tab of the window that appears, then click on the "Advanced" button, found in the bottom right corner of the window. On the next window, click on the NVidia tab, and you have access to all the NVidia settings available. Click on the narrow green button on the left hand side of that window to expand the options list.

FOG TABLE

Check to see if enable fog table emulation is checked in your Nvidia control panel, You can try with both checked and unchecked settings to find which improves your performance.

PERFORMANCE QUALITY

Try running Vietcong while all the sliders available for the ""Performance and Quality"" page are pushed all the way to the left. Only push them further to the right when the game runs smoothly already, and you´re looking to further improve your visual quality (note: pushing these sliders to the right will most likely degrade the framerate, so experiment with them until you find a framerate and quality balance you can tolerate).


[Edited by Hanslow - 9/16/2003 2:09:28 PM]

ernie

Hanslow,

Thanks for all that info. Ive worked my way through it but it doesnt make any improvements. Only thing I cant do is revert back to the older drivers (4345) that it recommends. I tried uninstalling the latest ones Ive got (4523) and reinstalling older ones but it says they are still present and Windows strongly advises me not too continue, so I didnt.

Thanks again for your help

Hanslow

Hmmmm, I would try giving the revert back to the older drivers a go, if only to take it out of the equation. Can't think what the real problem could be though

Unfortunately, VC doesn't appear to create any logs or anything to say what might be an issue

ernie

Hanslow,

I tried reverting back (see my post above) but it said the old drivers (well actually the newer ones) were still present, even though I had removed them. I didnt want to install them over them because Windows "strongly advised me" against it, and also when I loaded the newer drivers over the old ones first time around without removing them first it stopped me being able to see/adjust the graphics card settings .

How do I properly remove the drivers so they are definately gone?

Thabks

Hanslow

I believe you have to use the Detonator Destroyer to remove them completely.

What you may have to do (I don't know as I know run ATI) is boot up into safe mode, run the Detonator Destroyer to remove the latest drivers, then put the older set on.

More details can be found here http://www.guru3d.com/detonator-destroyer/

Hanslow

Or, you can remove them from the Add/Remove programs in Control Panel, and then run Detonator R.I.P.(see download section on previous link on guru3d).

I think this method is preferred by nvidia, but don't quote me on it!!!

ernie

Hanslow,

Thanks for the link

Detonator Destroyer doesnt work with XP

I tried uninstalling all the drivers again and then running Detonator R.I.P., but that program came up with an error and wouldnt work .

Then when I tried installing older drivers it warned me again that files (newer drivers) still exist .

So Im back to square one

Thanks again for your help, most appreciated

Hanslow

Have you tried going ahead anyway even when Windows warns you about the other drivers?

Would be nicer to have a cleaner system to put them on, but it might be worth giving it a go once you have Removed them from the Add/Remove bit on the control panel?

I think the warning may be because Windows stores the drivers in case you want them again and is warning you that you may be overwriting the stored backup versions with older ones. I could be wrong, but if you have little to lose on your system, then give it a go.

You could always create a Restore point so that if it all goes pear-shaped, you can get back to the restore point?

ernie

Hanslow,

I went ahead like you suggested and installed the older drivers over the newer ones. It didnt make any difference. Its still a jerky pile of turd. I hate computers.

Thanks again

Soulgirl

Ernie.. I said earlier if you have onboard graphics take out your card and reboot... delete everything pertaining to your card and then reinstall it fresh.. did you try that?

ernie

Soulgirl,

Im worried that if I start taking the PC apart I might blow it up. I dont really know what Im doing. Ive got the motherboard box/instructions here, but it might as well be in Chinese, I really am that bad with PC's, embarassing but true . Im frightened if I try and physically take it out and then have a go at removing it "permanently" I may never get it back. I think I will wreck it.

I think I may see if my mate who fixed it for me has got the time to do what you have suggested. I dont know if he'll see it as a "big" problem though. Its pissing me right off. I think I may be getting out of my depth. Im starting to "poke and hope" with the things Im trying, not really understanding what exactly Im doing . If it all goes **** up I really will be up **** creek without a paddle .

Thanks once again for your time and help

Hanslow

Out of interest ernie, where abouts are you located? If you are locallish, I could always pop over and have a look for you and explain what all the bits do

Chances of you being local are slim though

Hanslow

Soulgirl, it hasn't got onboard graphics....it's the same motherboard as mine, I'm running same processor, just different video card....but mine runs like a dream

We'll get there in the end

Hanslow

One more thing, have you tried disabling EAX on the sound options in the game?

If you are using the onboard sound on the motherboard, have you got the latest sound drivers? Think I noticed an improvement when I got them. Again, might be worth a go

ernie

Hanslow,

That EAX box was already ticked. Where do I get latest sound drivers from? If you have same mother board as me I take it I need the same ones?

Is there an idiots guide any where as to the exact steps of removing the graphics card and drivers? Like a real basic one "click X, then Y then do Z" if you see what I mean? Telling you EVERYTHING you have to do step by step, even when to scratch your nuts. One designed for retards .

Thanks again

Chris_

You still at it Ernie ??

I would have chucked it straight out of the nearest window by now.

Look on the bright side, at least there wont be much you dont know about graphics cards after this.

Good Luck

ernie

Chris_,

It wont be long before its out the window. Either that or Im gonna jump out from the frustration . What is so annoying is the fact that it ran PERFECTLY before, so I know that it IS capable and SHOULD be how it was. If it ran cack from the start I wouldnt be as bothered, Id have just wrote it off as a cack game or cack PC. There MUST be a fix .

How so many of you lot work with computers on a daily basis beats me . Im gonna get the hammer out soon, thats a fix for anything

Cheers