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Slow KOTOR II Performance


Riff1

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I have been having this problem with both KOTOR games on my computer, and have never found a solution.

 

I get slow performance in my game, no matter what I do. I never get more than 20 FPS in all areas of the game. If I set all the options to the lowest they can go, I still get the same crappy framerate as if I set them the highest they can go. I have fiddled and mingled with every option singularly, so know that the solution wont be something like "turn VSNX off". I switched to the Omega drivers, put the atioglxx.dl_ file in the game folder, ran with 4.11 drivers, ran with the latest drivers, and added Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1 and Enable Truform=0 at the end of the swkotor2.cfg file, and none of those solutions will still fix my crappy framerate. I have a 120 MB Radeon 9200, 1.8 Ghz P4 processor with 640 MBs of Dual-Channel RAM, and even though I get good framerates at games like FarCry and DOOM 3, KOTOR and KOTOR II both perform like crap no matter what I do. It's like its got a 20 FPS cap set or something. I've looked around a bunch of forums, and the only other person who had this problem was a Mac user, and the people who responded didn't have a solution for him.

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

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I have been having this problem with both KOTOR games on my computer, and have never found a solution.

 

I get slow performance in my game, no matter what I do. I never get more than 20 FPS in all areas of the game. If I set all the options to the lowest they can go, I still get the same crappy framerate as if I set them the highest they can go. I have fiddled and mingled with every option singularly, so know that the solution wont be something like "turn VSNX off". I switched to the Omega drivers, put the atioglxx.dl_ file in the game folder, ran with 4.11 drivers, ran with the latest drivers, and added Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1 and Enable Truform=0 at the end of the swkotor2.cfg file, and none of those solutions will still fix my crappy framerate. I have a 120 MB Radeon 9200, 1.8 Ghz P4 processor with 640 MBs of Dual-Channel RAM, and even though I get good framerates at games like FarCry and DOOM 3, KOTOR and KOTOR II both perform like crap no matter what I do. It's like its got a 20 FPS cap set or something. I've looked around a bunch of forums, and the only other person who had this problem was a Mac user, and the people who responded didn't have a solution for him.

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

This engine ins't the best... A simple fog effect kills my fps on my Radeon x800xl ;)

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I switched to the Omega drivers, put the atioglxx.dl_ file in the game folder, ran with 4.11 drivers, ran with the latest drivers, and added Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1 and Enable Truform=0 at the end of the swkotor2.cfg file, and none of those solutions will still fix my crappy framerate.

 

Can you post the file? The proper file is swkotor2.ini and the Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1 line should be under the [Graphics Options] section, not at the end.

 

Also, atioglxx.dl_ is a compressed file. You must type the command

expand atioglxx.dl_ atioglxx.dll

to get it to work.

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How would I go about expanding "atioglxx.dl_" ?

 

 

You should type that code in MS-DOS prompt.

 

 

Note: You'll get atiolxx.dl_ when you unpacked some of your catalyst drivers which you download.(for now i'll assume it's catalyst 4.11)

(But I think you know it already, good luck :- )

 

 

 

 

Although I know those things, I still can't play KotOR2.

How ridiculus. :-

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Make sure you have Soft Shadows disabled. They really kill performance with ATI cards. Other than that, you've addressed the two major issues that affect performance.

 

Try reducing AA/Anisotropy perhaps. *shrug* In the best resolution for me, 1600x1200, I only get around 70 FPS tops with my X800 XT and I'd say 50-ish is more usual. I don't recall if I measured FPS in lower resolutions, but I think I was getting similar performance.

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*sigh*

 

Even with the atioglxx.dll in my folder, I'm still getting about 5 FPS on the Onderon merchant quarter. One thing I did notice- was that this atioglxx.dll improved performance in smaller areas- where as bigger, more populated areas like Onderon still remain unhindered. Soft shadows aren't making a big difference in performance (no option ever did), but I'd like to thank you guys for at least helping me out for a FPS imrpovement in some areas.

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ya, the engine is just slow.

 

i never drop below 50fps on half-life 2 at full detail, and yet with kotorII i never get more than 30fps. i think it has something to do with it being made for xbox. cuz halo pc does the same thing, i usually never get more than 30fps out of it. yet my computer a custom built awesome-o rig.

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ya, the engine is just slow.

 

i never drop below 50fps on half-life 2 at full detail, and yet with kotorII i never get more than 30fps. i think it has something to do with it being made for xbox. cuz halo pc does the same thing, i usually never get more than 30fps out of it. yet my computer a custom built awesome-o rig.

 

Halo for PC has Shader Optimization problems that Microsoft and Bungie never corrected once the PC release was out. This is the main reason why it runs so slow even on top-of-the-line rigs, regardless of video card.

 

Also, people are forgetting that just because the KOTOR games graphics aren't on part with HL-2 or Far Cry that they should automatically get 100 FPS. People forget that not only is the engine rendering the graphics, but also running multiple AI strings for the NPCs on each level as well as combat mathematics, etc, etc.

 

For example, the Refugee Camp on Nar Shaddaa. It is a huge area with multiple (vertical) levels along with about 50 NPCs in total all with AI functions associated with them like patrolling certain zones, triggering dialoge choices, combat, etc.

 

KOTOR I and II are CPU intensive games more than anything else.

 

Yes. The game has optimization problems that need to be fixed. I am not disputing that.

 

However, the main point I am trying to make is that just because the graphics look like 2001 graphics that doesn't mean you should automatically expect 100 FPS and realize where the possible slowdowns are occuring on various systems.

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ya, the engine is just slow.

 

i never drop below 50fps on half-life 2 at full detail, and yet with kotorII i never get more than 30fps. i think it has something to do with it being made for xbox. cuz halo pc does the same thing, i usually never get more than 30fps out of it. yet my computer a custom built awesome-o rig.

 

Halo for PC has Shader Optimization problems that Microsoft and Bungie never corrected once the PC release was out. This is the main reason why it runs so slow even on top-of-the-line rigs, regardless of video card.

 

Also, people are forgetting that just because the KOTOR games graphics aren't on part with HL-2 or Far Cry that they should automatically get 100 FPS. People forget that not only is the engine rendering the graphics, but also running multiple AI strings for the NPCs on each level as well as combat mathematics, etc, etc.

 

For example, the Refugee Camp on Nar Shaddaa. It is a huge area with multiple (vertical) levels along with about 50 NPCs in total all with AI functions associated with them like patrolling certain zones, triggering dialoge choices, combat, etc.

 

KOTOR I and II are CPU intensive games more than anything else.

 

Yes. The game has optimization problems that need to be fixed. I am not disputing that.

 

However, the main point I am trying to make is that just because the graphics look like 2001 graphics that doesn't mean you should automatically expect 100 FPS and realize where the possible slowdowns are occuring on various systems.

 

Yeah, that's correct.... You cannot compare a rpg with a game like HL2... HL2 is a very 'simple' game, while KotOR2 is pretty complex

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ya, the engine is just slow.

 

i never drop below 50fps on half-life 2 at full detail, and yet with kotorII i never get more than 30fps. i think it has something to do with it being made for xbox. cuz halo pc does the same thing, i usually never get more than 30fps out of it. yet my computer a custom built awesome-o rig.

 

Halo for PC has Shader Optimization problems that Microsoft and Bungie never corrected once the PC release was out. This is the main reason why it runs so slow even on top-of-the-line rigs, regardless of video card.

 

Also, people are forgetting that just because the KOTOR games graphics aren't on part with HL-2 or Far Cry that they should automatically get 100 FPS. People forget that not only is the engine rendering the graphics, but also running multiple AI strings for the NPCs on each level as well as combat mathematics, etc, etc.

 

For example, the Refugee Camp on Nar Shaddaa. It is a huge area with multiple (vertical) levels along with about 50 NPCs in total all with AI functions associated with them like patrolling certain zones, triggering dialoge choices, combat, etc.

 

KOTOR I and II are CPU intensive games more than anything else.

 

Yes. The game has optimization problems that need to be fixed. I am not disputing that.

 

However, the main point I am trying to make is that just because the graphics look like 2001 graphics that doesn't mean you should automatically expect 100 FPS and realize where the possible slowdowns are occuring on various systems.

 

Yeah, that's correct.... You cannot compare a rpg with a game like HL2... HL2 is a very 'simple' game, while KotOR2 is pretty complex

 

Good points I suppose. Still.. I can't help but get alittle upset when I'm getting 30FPS while looking at a wall lol :)

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As a programmer I can tell you that the slow performance is probably due to lack of optimization. They had very little time to do a lot of stuff. Optimization is among the last things you do so it always suffers.

 

I have a computer that should play the game just fine, and it is fine with some exceptions. For instance the refugee area in Nar Shadaa I get around 9 FPS if I look in the wrong direction. Although there are plenty of NPCs walking around it is obviously not the AI causing the slowdown because when I look away from the people they still move and do AI calculations but does not cause a slowdown.

 

I would guess they have no / or an ineffective algorithm for deciding which parts of the scene to draw. It should not be so slow. There is no excuse. Maybe they only use plain 3D clipping with a z-buffer?

 

Comparing the game to Half-Life 2 is valid because HL2 has awesome graphics and sound plus realtime realistic physics. You dont think that requires a lot of calculations? Still most people will tell you it runs like a dream.

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As a programmer I can tell you that the slow performance is probably due to lack of optimization. They had very little time to do a lot of stuff. Optimization is among the last things you do so it always suffers.

 

I have a computer that should play the game just fine, and it is fine with some exceptions. For instance the refugee area in Nar Shadaa I get around 9 FPS if I look in the wrong direction. Although there are plenty of NPCs walking around it is obviously not the AI causing the slowdown because when I look away from the people they still move and do AI calculations but does not cause a slowdown.

 

I would guess they have no / or an ineffective algorithm for deciding which parts of the scene to draw. It should not be so slow. There is no excuse. Maybe they only use plain 3D clipping with a z-buffer?

 

Comparing the game to Half-Life 2 is valid because HL2 has awesome graphics and sound plus realtime realistic physics. You dont think that requires a lot of calculations? Still most people will tell you it runs like a dream.

 

At least KOTOR2 runs better than EQ2! Now that game is an example of a real mess.

 

I do agree with you whole heartedly though. KOTOR2 really seems to be an example of how not to make an OpenGL game, with all its graphical and performance issues. I don't subscribe to the "blame the hardware manufacturers" mindset. The drivers we are using on our NV & ATI cards are extremely refined, the result of years of development. Granted there are some bugs because this is a technology that is developing daily, but KOTOR2 is 3 yr old tech and should be refined more than it is.

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This engine ins't the best... A simple fog effect kills my fps on my Radeon x800xl :(

 

Well I do have some problems with fog effects and I have an Asus 6800 Ultra running at 570/1.2... Then again, I run on the highest settings at 1280*1024 so if it slows down for a few seconds, I don't really care too much.

;) woah buddy... 470? or 570? :blink: woah?!?!

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