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Master Dahvernas

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Posts posted by Master Dahvernas

  1. Do you know what the AI thing does? That feature is off for me but I've got no clue what it actually does, or what its supposed to do... :blink:

     

    AI is an ATI specific chipset function that is supposed to detect certain rendering pathways and automatically adjust how a game looks and runs and give the end user better performance without them having to adjust anything themselves.

     

    However, most gamers/games get better performance with it OFF as it is still pretty much in an experimental/beta stages right now even if they include it in the Catalyst Control Center...

     

    Which I highly recommend you DON'T use for the simple fact it is a resource hog that has to run in the background for AI to work. Ergo, sucking up valuable gaming resources even on high-end rigs.

  2. Just get used to it.

     

    Meaning, as someone already said, this IS the state of the PC games industry and it is only going to get worse with the huge monopolies going on right now with EA and UBISoft gobbling up every title, franchise and genre in sight.

     

    This is the only industry (that I am aware of) where you CAN release a faulty, buggy, unfinished product without any (legal or financial) consequences to your company other than bad word-of-mouth from players and reviewers and reduced sales because of that bad press... But even that isn't enough. Especially, if you are someone like EA and even LA.

     

    I don't want to get into a whole side debate about other issues pertaining to this... But this industry, from my humble outsider (gamer; no programmer) opinion, needs more strict guidelines in order to release a product. The "let the devs/publishers police themselves" isn't working. Period.

     

    Also, I mentioned this on another thread, the reason games are allowed to be released this way is not just because of the "excuse" that there are infinite number of system configs and they can't test every one for incompatibilities... But also because if something like 70% of the time the game runs on test hardware... That is a legal standard to which a consumer cannot sue them because the it will be on the consumer to prove that it does not run on either 70% of the hardware (in the market) or 70% of the time. The loop hole is that a company can have just five computers and if it runs on say four of them... Then it legally fits this standard.

     

    Don't quote me on this, but I learned the "70% rule" from reading various other complaints with regards to non-functioning PC games and the like. I am not a laywer or programmer so just take what I said with a grain of salt and like general knowledge.

  3. The XBox version of the game had this same problem at a certain point.

     

    The reason for that was because of copy protection and media timings (getting stuff off the DVD) to thwart modded Xboxes.

     

    It may be a case of that happening here.

     

    I am not accusing you, or anyone else who has this problem of not having a legit copy.

     

    HOWEVER... If Obsidian kept in the media-timing commands (that verify if you do have the KOTOR 2 play disc in the drive) then this might be why people are getting these BSODs (Black Screen of Death) and possibly even CTD (Crash to Desktops).

     

    Developers should know by now that media timed events (that require pulling scripts or validating events from a CD/DVD) is the worse kind of "protection" because of percisely what is going on now. It prevents legit players from enjoying the game, ironically. Especially, given the inordinate amount of system configs and DVD-ROM/CD-RW/DVD-R players that people have installed.

  4. ROFL :D - the pdf file? I'm sorry but sometimes some things are just so ridiculous you have to laugh. Here we all are, anxiously waiting for a patch, and they release a patch that does.... this? very amusing to me.

     

    They probably released this so LA couldn't sue Obsidian for not delivering a "whole" product. Publishers and developers enter into binding contracts that spell out every little thing that constitutes delivering a full product and leaving the manual out could be construed (legally) as a breach of contract if it is specifically spelled out somewhere that Obsidian had to ship the RC (Release Candidate) with it.

     

    While I agree that this shouldn't be a priority, I am just giving a probable explanation as to why this and many other "useless" patches are released by various companies.

     

    Also...

     

    RE: Console support...

     

    The XBox version of KOTOR2 is BUGGIER than the PC version. I have it and can tell you right now that the PC is actually leaps and bounds above the state the XBox version is in and since it is not LIVE enabled, there are going to be NO patches for the XBox version. Period.

     

    Granted, this will be no comfort for those who can't even start or play the game on PC... But I don't want to get into the whole "consoles vs. PC" wars because it is just fact that console sales far outweight PC title sales...

     

    So, yeah. Consoles are a higher priority. It's good business sense. Accept it.

     

    BUT that doesn't mean just because you play PC games you are superior which is the attitude and mentality that a lot of PC gamers like to go around with like some badge of honor especially when PC games are in desperate need of patches like right now. At least the PC version CAN be patched. The question is when?

  5. (w00t) sadly, there is "a" patch but so far it's only for international versions, including the UK, go here, there is NO description so I don't have a clue that it does!!!

     

    http://www.3dgamers.com/games/swknightsrepublic2/downloads/

     

    It probably just brings the International Versions of KOTOR 2 up to version 242. There are two versions of Sith Lords currently available for retail:

     

    -2.00.424

     

    and

     

    -2.00.412 (I think).

  6. The trick with KOTOR games (I and II) is when they say, "alone" they mean ALONE.

     

    In other words, exit the Ebon Hawk BY YOURSELF. YOUR PARTY WILL CONSIST OF ONE ("1") MEMBER: YOU.

     

    This was the exact same condition for the Assassin Guild Quest on Mannan in KOTOR. The Rodian said, "come alone" and he would explain the data pad you got on Dantooine from that mysterious T'wilek at Anchorhead.

     

    Unless you are *completely* alone, these quests aren't triggered.

     

    Also, a good tip is if you are going to do a lone side-quest, uneqip all of you party members on the Ebon Hawk so you have all of their weapons and other things (shields, stims, visors, gloves, armor, etc.) that you might need as the game lets you take all of that stuff with you via the inventory screen.

  7. I'm running a Radeon 7500, and my game fades to black after the starting movie...........any suggestions?

     

    Minimum video card specs state a 9200 is required.

     

    That is why you probably went to black. I don't think the 7500 has T&L (Transform & Lighting) architecture that the KOTOR engine needs to run properly.

     

    Also... People don't seem to realize, and this is not an insult, that you can't expect to play games on laptops. Half the posts here are from people who have laptops with "downgraded" vid cards (Mobile Radeons) and expect to play something as "complicated" -- graphic architecture wise -- As KOTOR on a laptop.

     

    Again, this isn't trying to start a flame war, but I think this is something people need to accept.

     

    Yes. You can play some games on laptops with no problems. You might even have played KOTOR I on your laptop... But face it. Laptops are mostly for productivity functions and not graphic intensive applications like games, hence why I said "downgraded" video cards and to expect the same performance on a laptop as a PC (Desktop) is just not realistic anyway you slice it.

     

    I also realize that there are tons of problems for desktop users who have ATI cards as well.

     

    The problem lies with either LA, Obsidian and or ATI in optimizing either the game and or the OGL drivers that ATI uses... That are historically inferior to Nvidia's... And until something happens on one of those fronts, the only thing you can do is bear through it and play the game with low performance (choppy; low FPS), or just wait and hope a patch is forthcoming that will address the major issues like CTD (Crash to Desktop), having to disable movies, etc. because it is obvious to me that the game was never tested thouroughly enough on a variety of systems as is the unfortunate norm these days with the PC gaming industry due to cut backs in budget, personnel and QA time.

     

    So, basically, I am acknowledging LA and Obsidian have an obligation to rectify some of these major, showstopping bugs as well as minor in-game glitches... But at the same time, consumers are expected to know their hardware to the point of at least accepting that playing Sith Lords (or any game) on a laptop is just not recommended, so don't come all unglued when you don't get the performance you expect.

     

    Peace.

  8. My experience with 9800 Pro:

     

    4.11 Catalyst: No errors or bugs so far (praying)..... Game is running like a dream...

     

    I just want to add to the list and confirm:

     

    Graphics Card: 9800 XT

     

    4.11 OGL driver (in the KOTOR2 directory) is letting me run the game relatively well, although, I haven't gotten to Dantooine yet.

     

    I tried 4.2, and 5.2 and performance dropped and looked significantly worse than 4.11.

     

    The easiset way to do this is just do what I did and that is download 4.11, let the installer extract the files, cancel the installation, go to the driver folder and unzip the atioglxx_ file with Winzip and then extract the atioglxx.dll and drop it into the KOTOR 2 directory.

     

    This way, you get the latest DX9c improvements for D3D games if you have 5.2 Cats installed and the 4.11 OGL benefits for KOTOR 2 at the same time.

     

    Also, I am using the "Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1" command as well.

  9. If they try to do everything in one patch, we could literally be here for 3-5 months before we see anything.

     

    Unfortunately, with the way patch QA and approval goes... We're probably looking at 4-5 weeks MINIMUM for a patch to reach us (unless LA and Obsidian KNEW about these problems and couldn't correct them before the game went Gold in its final Release Candidate).

     

    I don't work for LA or Obsidian (or even in the games/software industry), but as a long time gamer I do know that it isn't as easy as everyone hopes when it comes to pactches. The biggest problem is of course the bureacracy in getting patch time scheduled, approved and then tested... That is why I said unless LA and Obsidian know about these problems we are looking at a good month if not longer I predict.

     

    I don't know where that leaves those who can't play the game at all (I can play it, but it is obvious it has a lot of glitches and performance optimization problems), but this is one reason why I NEVER buy games at launch (with the execption of this one; I gambled because I liked the first one so much).

  10. What is an open GL and how neccessary is it?

     

    I have open gl 1.3.0

     

    I need 1.4.0

     

    How can i fix this?

     

    OpenGL = Open Graphics Language

     

    It is an API... A renderer like Direct 3D (Direct X)... That game designers and graphics applications like CAD and Maya use.

     

    Your card doesn't support 1.4 and that is the minimum to run KOTOR (I and II). Depending on whether it is a laptop card (or integrated desktop card) your only solution is to buy a new(er) card that supports the latest OGL specs including 1.5.

     

    In other words, you can't just download versions of OGL like you can other things. It is part of the driver and instruction set that a particular card does or does not support.

  11. Item for patch:

     

    Increase default selectable refresh rates to include 100 Hz

     

    This may be a small item, but most modern games have this by default if you are presented with the option of running at certain resolutions and certain refresh rates.

     

    Also, it is good to have the maximum refresh rate possible -- as determined by the monitor driver -- If you sit in front of the PC for long periods of time gaming or just doing work. 100 Hz is optimal for long stretches and lessens the strain put on your eyes compared to say 60 Hz and even 85 Hz (the current max refresh rate of KOTOR 2).

  12. We're talking about low FPS most in terms of performance.

     

    There are also crash related issues, but the main issues gamers have seem to be the game dropping to unplayable levels. Granted, this is shoddy coding, but it is only amplified by the poor OGL drivers ATI puts out which are compounding the problems.

  13. It boggles the mind that there are always people who will defend a defective product like it's their baby. Please, a defective product deserves to be condemned so the developers/publishers realise they should provide better quality assurance instead of rushing the product out the door and moving on to creating some more buggy crashing games.

     

    Then the PC Games industry wouldn't exist (maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing in the long run)?

     

    What I mean is that I agree with what you are saying... But the games industry is the only industry that I know of in the U.S. where they CAN sell essentially defective and unfinished products, legally, and get away with it and not be held accountable because of EULAs.

     

    I am not a lawyer, but the main thing that companies can defend on is if the game runs on something like 70% of hardware (usually, the QA test sampling).

     

    So, in other words, just because it doesn't run for one person, or maybe even a thousand people's systems... If that percentage (even in 1000s of people) is less than 70% of the total people who bought the game (millions), then the publisher/developers are protected is my understanding.

     

    This is exactly why no EULA will ever be tested in court becuse of the mathematic "loop-hole" that I read about above.

  14. I play the game at 1024x768 and the max refresh rate is 85 Hz. My monitor is able to do 100 Hz at this resolution easily.

     

    Is there any way I can force KOTOR 2 to render at that res with this refresh rate?

     

    I've already tried setting the refresh rate to 100 in the swkotor2.ini:

     

    Refresh=100

     

    This works on the original KOTOR, but not on KOTOR 2 because I can tell because depending on what refresh rate I run at, the image on my monitor needs adjusting at different refresh rates (at 100 Hz everything is lined up and I don't need to do any adjustments like positioning or stretching the sides of the screen).

     

    Also, it is not question of the 85 Hz being too low (not like 60 Hz which is bad for your eyes). I prefer 100 Hz since I game at that resolution and spend lots of time in front of my monitor doing other things as well (web surf; Work-at-Home stuff; etc.).

     

    Any help at all would be appreciated.

     

    Also, for future reference, perhaps the Devs could consider adding this "feature" in future patches?

  15. It has been said that Catalyst 4.2... NOT 4.12, or 5.2... Is the OGL driver (atioglxx.dll) that shows the best performance on any OpenGL game, KOTOR series included.

     

    You need to either replace your Windows\system32 OGL file with it... Or drop the 4.2 version into your KOTOR/KOTOR2 directory so the game will read THAT one instead of the Windows one.

     

    Has anyone tried 4.2 yet for Sith Lords (and for Radeon 9800s)? Using either method?

     

    The bottom line is this: If ATI would get off their lazy butts and rewrite their OGL driver from scratch (instead of using an old FireGL code base) there is no reason why Nvidia would have the lead with that renderer. However, it appears as if ATI has literally given up on improving their OGL since OGL is pretty much a dying API where games are concerned compared to D3D.

  16. This game, any version, was just not finished or properly QA tested by either LA or Obsidian.

     

    And with regard to the new console systems coming out... They will basically be high end PCs packaged as a stand alone gaming system with the ease-of-use that consoles generally market themselves on.

     

    The specs for the XBox II... Even if just speculation... Are insane. A possible P4 3.0 GHz chip, ATI Radeon X800 type of GPU... 512+ of RAM. That IS a high end gaming rig any way you slice it and the only thing beating it is possibly the PS3's new chip and current AMD64-bit chips.

     

    But I have to admit that if developers USE that technology, hopefully, we will get more sophisticated games on the consoles and it really will be a choice of what do you want to play and on what instead of "this kind of game for this kind of platform".

  17. Well why is it writen in OpenGL if its also on the Xbox - surely that means they would go Direct3D for compatiblity?

     

    Because the Aurua Engine is OpenGL based.

     

    Also, people forget that the XBoxes integrated graphics card is a GeForce 3. Ergo, it's native Nvidia technology. Nvidia does better in OpenGL. Counter-Strike for Xbox is also OGL since the original Half-Life Engine is OpenGL.

  18. Basically, it is an OpenGL issue at the core of why ATI cards do really baddly in the KOTOR series (I and II).

     

    ATI has just dropped the ball on their OGL drivers since 4.2 and is as if they don't even care anymore.

     

    I use a CAD program that runs on OGL and gives a diagnostic of how many vertices (triangles) are being rendered per second and ATI usually clocks in at around 22 million and Nvidia (since I swap cards in and out of my rig to test) around 55 million. That is a huge difference when we are talking gaming specs and not just design (CAD; Maya) specs where fill-rate counts.

     

    In all of the recent Catalyst drivers, the ATI OGL driver has maintained around 22 mil, but never actually surpassed that. Nvidia keeps going up believe it or not.

     

    The irony to all of this is that ATI does better in D3D/DX9c Pixel and Vertex shaders that a majority of games are rendered with. If it wasn't for John Carmack and Doom III... OGL would pretty much be dead from a development stand point and we wouldn't have the problem with the KOTOR series because it would have more than likely just been done in D3D and everyone (who owns an ATI 9xxx card and above) wouldn't have as many problems, driver or compatibility wise.

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