[ATI video cards with KotOR2]

Be certain Soft Shadows are disabled. For some reason they cut frames per second in half or worse on ATI cards.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I should add, in reply to this, that I use 4x AA, AF off, soft shadows on, V-sync on, grass on, etc and I don't use the Disable Vertex Buffers setting. I recommend people try what may give them the best results overall first (like using the 4.11 OGL driver) with settings as they like, then start using other fixes if that doesn't help. There are a lot of different problems and therefore there are a lot of different fixes. If one doesn't work, move on to the next until you find what works for you. If you do many 'fixes' at once, you won't know which is the one (or which combination) that gives you the best results.

[Dantoine Slow down ATI cards]

The question is, in case something else goes wron, how do I "unfix" it (return to pure CAT 5.2 state of affairs?)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It's just a matter of deleting the file, as far as I know. It's only using that OGL driver because it's in the directory. Getting rid of the file defaults the game to using the one installed on your system (which is the 5.2 Catalyst version, the one used by everything else on your system that requires it).

[Dantoine Slow down ATI cards]

Glad to hear it. It wasn't my fix, so I can't take credit for it. I was just passing on the info that was posted in other threads. Keep us posted if you experience any other sorts of issues with using the fix.

 

Cheers!

[Dantoine Slow down ATI cards]

From the sticky related to these ATI issues, I posted the following:

 

For people tracking this sort of thing, I want to add how I fixed the massive slowdowns on Dantooine and crashing. As has been mentioned previously, expanding the atioglxx.dl_ from the 4.11 Catalyst package into the SWKotOR2 directory (I otherwise use the 5.2 Catalyst) fixes the problem immediately. Whether I have any other issues, I'll have to wait and see.

 

I was using the temp fix of going into the Graphic Options and resetting them each time the slowdown happened, but this started giving me Windows Stop Errors instead of a gentle crash to the desktop. For me, the only solution is to use the 4.11 OGL driver for TSL.

 

Have you tried that fix? Get the 4.11 Catalyst drivers, open the file you downloaded in Winzip (or something similar). Extract the atioglxx.dl_ file into the SWKotOR2 directory on your hard drive (the installation directory). Go to Start->Run, type in 'cmd'. At the command prompt, change the directory to your game directory (or use the paths in the following command) then type: 'expand atioglxx.dl_ atioglxx.dll'. That fixes things for me (I was using a 9600XT, btw).

[ATI video cards with KotOR2]

For people tracking this sort of thing, I want to add how I fixed the massive slowdowns on Dantooine and crashing. As has been mentioned previously, expanding the atioglxx.dl_ from the 4.11 Catalyst package into the SWKotOR2 directory (I otherwise use the 5.2 Catalyst) fixes the problem immediately. Whether I have any other issues, I'll have to wait and see.

 

I was using the temp fix of going into the Graphic Options and resetting them each time the slowdown happened, but this started giving me Windows Stop Errors instead of a gentle crash to the desktop. For me, the only solution is to use the 4.11 OGL driver for TSL.

 

I'll update if anything changes, but smooth going so far. Thanks to those that posted/suggested the expanding atioglxx.dl_ from the 4.11 drivers as a fix. :cool:

[Do you experience technical problems with KotOR 2?]

Again, I'd like to state that I've had a multitude of stability issues with KotOR2, but a poll like this on the tech support forum is a little silly. Afterall, almost everyone that comes here does so because they have problems. Those that don't aren't going to bother unless they just like helping out or reading about other people's sorrow instead of playing their perfectly running game.

[Possible to petition LA/Obsid?]

I agree with the above for the most part. However, posting notices of problems and your opinion of service on fan sites (or official sites like this one) also has the effect of getting others to possibly think a bit more about making that purchase decision. This is something that a developer/publisher would want to limit, so in that sense it can have an effect on what they do about patches and QA in general.

[I have KOTOR for PC IT WONT START!]

There is some very basic info here and here at LA's site. They may not be terribly helpful, but at least you can say you checked.

[Bugs: when is the patch?]

This is the last time I buy a game the day it is released. There are too many other great, non-buggy games to play!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

This is about the best thing anyone can do to promote more QA on games. If more people took a few weeks to see how things go with a game, and perhaps wait for a first patch, then there will be more of an onus on developers/publishers to get it right before release. Anyone who buys games on the day of release (which includes me, in the case of TSL) should be aware of the ramifications of such a choice and deal with the consequences accordingly.

 

Of course, there is the problem that if a game doesn't sell very well, they may decide not to put any effort into a patch at all, in which case a game that could be good won't get the chance, even if it is after a release. Hmm, it may be a Catch-22 for that particular game, but it might still have some longterm effects. It won't have any effect if only a few do it anyway.

[Are movies fuzzy for the rest of you too?]

If I am getting the right idea from your post, I would have to say that mine are the same quality (i.e. 'fuzzy'). They certainly are not the crisp, high-quality movies that I'd have expected. Whether this is an issue or by design, I cannot say.

[How Many Have gotten the game to work?]

Just remember that most people that come to a tech support forum have problems they want to solve, and that will skew the results quite a bit (even if it wasn't already unscientific). For my part, the game works after I corrected the options to compensate for all the crashing problems (most I've seen in any game...ever).

[Poll for users with XP- SP2 only]

I haven't had an issue with anything since upgrading to SP2 (I used the admin update when it was made available) that can be attributed to Windows itself and I've never reinstalled WinXP. This isn't to say you won't have problems at all, but just that SP2 will not likely be the cause.

[This Game is unplayable w/ ATI cards]

The entire prologue went incredibly smooth for me (with an ATI Radeon 9600XT 128 MB, with 5.1 Catalyst drivers). I had AA maxed and AF somewhere in mid to high range, with 1280x960x85Hz resolution, soft shadows, V-sync, etc, all on. Then, soon as the next part of the game started, I had crashes (even in the menu before making it into the game), sound stuttering/repeating, full computer lock-ups, etc. So, after tweaking for a bit, I found a nice set of options that work. I use the Catalyst 5.2 drivers, with AA set at 4x, AF off, 1024x768x85Hz, but with all other advanced graphic settings on (soft shadows, V-sync, grass). Doing it this way, the game runs perfectly without a hitch.

 

Note, the Catalyst 5.2 drivers alone did not fix the problems I was having at the start. Simply changing the graphic options (AF in particular) can crash the game. I went into the ATI Control Center and turned on triple-buffering which is supposed to help with framerate issues if you use V-sync in a game, so I put that on as well. However, since I haven't yet made it to open outside areas (where a lot of people have issues), I'm saving the 4.11 Catalyst workaround until I encounter those problems (if I do).

 

I'm disappointed that I can't make use of some of the fancy features, but the game is certainly playable at the moment.

[EAX 3 or 4?]

What is then EAX4?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Check out this page for info on EAX. EAX 3.0 is Advanced HD as well. EAX 4.0 is the next version.

 

Essentially, KotOR supported EAX 3.0 Advanced HD, and so KotOR2 does by default. There was no support added for EAX 4.0 Advanced HD as far as I can tell.

[EAX 3 or 4?]

I have an Audigy 2 ZS as well, and the highest EAX supported is EAX 3 in the game. If it supports beyond that, I haven't seen it mentioned.

 

Btw, have you seen it mentioned other than an advertisement on the box? I don't recall.

[Sound]

Are you sure you are actually having trouble with the sound or are you encountering things like sound stuttering/repeating, cutting out, dialogue choppy, etc? I ask because I had some sound glitches and I fixed it by turning down/off anistropic filtering in the game. The sound troubles, in other words, were a symptom of another problem.

 

Of course, I have an ATI Radeon 9600XT 128 MB card, and that comes with all sorts of issues, depending on your driver set, apparantly.

[Save Obsidian's NWN2 forums]

Okay, have to say that I voted 'yes' to saving the Obs boards for NWN2. I happen to be one of those anal mods at Bio that understands there will always be those that will feel more at home in an environment more in tune with their own attitudes. I don't see why fans of the game (or those just wanting to learn about it or talk about it freely) can't have more than one location to express their opinions, for the bad or good. I understand Atari's reasoning here, I just think that there's room on the net for more than just a single set of forums for a game, especially, as mentioned earlier, when developers and publishers have often had different forums. Atari could have allowed Obs to keep their forums alive, explained that developers will be focusing on questions/answers in the Bio forums (since that seems to be the idea), and fans could link and/or bring over relevant content as needed to fill in things here (so developers wouldn't need to worry about answering the same things multiple times).

 

In the long run, everyone will settle into new niches. NWN2 is still early enough in development that the switch in forums won't hurt much, and Bio's fanbase (having several games including the original NWN out there) will have a beneficial effect on driving traffic to the NWN2 forums, and expose the game to a wider audience. Since, in the end, it's all about reaching your demographic and gathering in the sales, that can only be a good thing for future games.

 

As an aside, I use Firefox on a cable net connection at home and Bio's forums pop up 3-4 seconds. At work, it's IE and the same applies. Obs forums work at the same speed, so I can't recommend one over the other based on speed in my experience.

 

[Edit] I should have added that my personal preference, of course, will be the Bio boards since I'm there anyway. Much easier for me to jump around within those forums than otherwise, and I've certainly read and posted more in the NWN2 forums there since they opened than I ever did here. Why? Well.... "

[Schedules and Day/ Night cycles]

Whether they do or not will be seen, but I have some concerns about such an addition. While it tends to add some decent realism to the game, what it also does is make it so that players will have to wait around a lot of the time for particular NPCs to show up, etc. We all know there's no fun in waiting, and if they add in the ability to "advance the clock" by resting/waiting, then what is the point of putting in the schedules, especially if time has no relevance other than for day/night cycles?

[What's with developers' obsession with D&D?]

I'd first like to mention that BG:DA is not listed by Interplay as a member of the RPG genre, but as an Action game (if you look at their game list). That alone would be a big hint as to the style of gameplay.

 

As to D&D, the reason behind games using it was already explained above. For my part, I don't mind D&D games, as such, but I would like to see developers do more original work, with entirely new types of gameplay based on things not yet seen by the gaming public. The "sci-fi / fantasy" genre lends itself well to creative thought, and we definitely need more creativity, from the bottom up, in our PC games. I don't think there's a particular glut of D&D games on the market at the moment, though, and there appears to be plenty of room for everyone.

 

Remember, the players drive the economy of game development. If players stopped buying D&D, they'd stop making them. As long as they can make money off D&D, there will be D&D available. That is the obsession; it's called "business".

[why do folks think deleware might be KOTOR2?]

If Obsidian is making KotOR2 ("no comment"), it would be an excellent way to get their name out into the gaming public, especially considering the commercial success of KotOR on both console and PC. After they've established themselves, branching out into other projects would be much easier (overhead cash and extra investments from interested parties) and would allow them to assume a bit more risk than a startup would otherwise be able to do.

 

While you can certainly look at it in whatever light you wish, whether positive or negative, it makes a lot of business sense for Obsidian to go this route as a first offering.

[How did KotOR fail?]

<_< As usual, a topic hijacked by the motley crew of old-timers who argue the same points relentlessly and repeatedly, driving most everyone else away from the thread. Have some courtesy and take your off-topic posts to their own thread or into private messages.

 

Of course, maybe the new folks here haven't yet tired of the pedantic babble and find it wildly entertaining.

[How did KotOR fail?]

If I was to pick one problem out about KotOR, it'd be the lack of character customization and development choices. Replayability with very different types of characters is crucial for enjoyment of an RPG for me, and I found that after a couple of times through KotOR, I didn't really have any interest in running through it again simply because my character would end up being much like a previous one.

[Save early, Save often]

Well, it'll be useful advice once there is something posted worth saving.

[forum interest decreasing?]

I don't think it unusual that "forum interest" in terms of posts is decreasing, as that only means that people, like myself, do not see much reason to post in many of the topics being discussed. Frankly, the thought of wading through many of the rather pointless threads that have popped up on these forums when the same small group of people are doing all the yakking makes me want to blubber like a madman in the corner of my room.

 

Like most folks, I'm just waiting for something interesting to talk about beyond the same old stuff that's been said over and over again elsewhere. I'm in no hurry, though. It's not as if these forums are going to disappear from underuse. Check in, perhaps read a couple of posts, check out. Nothing wrong with that.

[LOSE THE F^_^ING CUT SCENES]

For the most part, I don't mind cutscenes. However, I do not like ones that show something other than what your character is experiencing (the BG games and NWN had plenty of these, to take examples from games that many of you here have played). I (the player) don't want to see what my nemesis is doing when I (my character in game) has no ability to know that those actions are taking place. In a roleplaying game, it takes you too much outside the story, outside the moment.

 

I do enjoy, though, cutscenes that involve your current character in a manner that doesn't really require new input from the player, yet can further the story and remain interesting. Dream sequences in KotOR and the main character's encounter with the Valsharess (with Meph) in HotU are two examples of scenes in which this method worked.