Frustrated beyond belief

[CapRegEuph]

Alright, so I just bought KOTOR 2 and I have been experiencing plenty of graphical errors. I will include a screenshot to better explain my situation. I know people will ask, so here is my current computer set up:

 

AMD Athlon XP 2000+

MSI K7N2G Motherboard

PowerColor Radeon 9600 Pro 256 MB

1.25 GB Ram

Soundblaster Live! 5.1

30 GB Internal (Also have a 160 GB external)

Windows XP Service Pack 2

 

Now, I have updated EVERY DRIVER I can think of. Video, I have the most recent ATI drivers, and motherboard drivers, and sound drivers. I have also updated my KOTOR 2 game to the latest drivers.

 

My system should be able to run this game, correct? Well, let me get to what I have been having problems with.

 

For starters, I went to go create my first character and one of the models was missing an arm, another was missing a face except for the eyes. Very very strange. I thought maybe it would get better once the game started. I was wrong. Started playing the game and graphical errors up the wazzu, most textures being extened outside where they should be. Also, a lot of geometric errors. Weird stuff too, like the floor being transparent and my character missing certain body parts.

 

As you can see, my problem is very strange, and is also very annoying. I would concider myself pretty good with computers and junk, I have never had a problem like this before. If anyone has any idea of how to fix this, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

 

P.S. Here are some screenshots:

 

[213374U]

Maybe something got corrupted, try reinstalling. Or maybe your graphics card is overheating; do you have similar problems with any other games? With that hardware, you shouldn't have that kind of problems.

 

Also, it seems you're playing at a very low res. Any particular reason?

[CapRegEuph]

I have tried all the resolutions and all the refresh rates, no difference, same problem.

 

Also, I have NEVER experienced anything like this in any other game with my computer. I have played games such as Guild Wars, Half Life 2, stuff like that, never had a problem.

 

This will be my third time installing the game, I even reformated between the last time and this time, no difference.

 

Thank you for the input.

[GreasyDogMeat]

You may have already done this, but have you updated your graphics card drivers? I used to have an ATI card and I had a number of problems with the KoTOR series until I switched to NVidia. You may actually want to try OLDER drivers if you have updated. I remember going back quite a driver versions to find one that worked.

 

Sorry about the problem and not being much more help... good luck though.

[jaguars4ever]

@CapRegEuph: Just get a GeForce card and be done with it.

[aerowars617]

Oooh, I hope we dont see an Ati Vs Nvidia war going on here. (I have always had Nvidia ) )

 

But as GreasyDogMeat said, just look for the right driver, as drivers do make a difference. The original driver that came on my laptop (FX Go 5200), and the subsequent 4x series gave me some horrible graphics glithces in kotor II, for I would not be able to see anything other than horrible lines and distortions. with the 6x driver series, It fixed it and is now very playable.

 

Edit: Try downgrading KotOR II to version 1 (pre patch).

Edited May 29, 2006 by aerowars617

[LoneWolf16]

Perhaps you were unfortunate enough to wind up with a corrupted copy of the game? Improperly put on the disk or some such.

 

If at all possible, try another copy of the game. I don't exactly recommend rushing out and buying a second copy just because that might be the problem, but it's something to think about at least.

[Janmanden]

PowerColor Radeon 9600 Pro 256 MB

Hm... Is it an EZ edition, that 9600 PRO you have?

 

I have an ATi 9600, that was supposed to be a ATi 9600 PRO, but it was causing me no end of troubles on Win XP even though it worked flawlessly on Win98. It turned out to be similar to the european version of the PowerColor Radeon 9600 EZ, which happened to be a very faulty version...and so is mine.

[213374U]

Perhaps you were unfortunate enough to wind up with a corrupted copy of the game? Improperly put on the disk or some such.

 

If at all possible, try another copy of the game. I don't exactly recommend rushing out and buying a second copy just because that might be the problem, but it's something to think about at least.

Yep, I thought about that as well. I don't know about US retailers but over here, while they won't return the money, they are always happy to change your bad copy of the game for a new one.

 

It sucks when you get a bad CD.

[Dark Wastl]

Sometimes new drivers aren't the best. KOTOR and KOTOR II worked better on my PC when I used older drivers. Once I updated to the newest version the game would freeze now and then. I swichted back to old drivers and everything was perfectly fine again.

 

I experienced the "disappearing characters" in KOTOR. The game needed a certain version of openGL and somehow my system was always reverting to an older version of it even when I changed nothing on my system. I simply reinstalled the driver and the problem was gone for a while.

[CapRegEuph]

Thanks for all of the replies. Since the common opinion is that its faulty drivers, what drivers would you recommend? Also, would Omega drivers be a better choice? Also, would reverting back to old drivers cause problems with my other games?

 

Thanks.

[CapRegEuph]

Alright, I tried the newest Omega drivers, but I got the same problems. Actually, I think that made it worse.

 

Don't worry, I uninstalled my ATI drivers first, then restarted, then installed the Omega drivers.

 

 

Everyone keep brainstorming, hopefully this can be resolved.

 

My cousin had this game, and I borrowed it to play it, and when I installed it on my computer it had the same problems. The game worked fine on his computer. I have since then reformatted, so don't worry, I didn't reinstall over that one.

 

So I have done at least two clean installs, with two different copies of the game, both had the same problem. I don't think it's my discs, thanks for the suggestion though.

[Hassat Hunter]

Dunno if it helps but did you try re-installing the latest DirectX?

 

Also use DXDiag (run- Dxdiag) to see if any problems show up on ANY of the tabs...

[aerowars617]

Attons model reminds me of my old problem on my Laptop, where my whole screen was literally like atton in that picture. What solved my problem was a newer driver, although 1) mine was another graphics card, and 2) you are trying that to no avail. This just shows that the graphics card/driver is having difficulty in rendering parts of the game.

[CapRegEuph]

I ran the Direct X Diagnostic, no problems anywhere. I did all of the tests too, they all came up clear.

 

So if KOTOR 2 just doesn't like my video card, what do I do? Is there any way I could contact Obsidian and get them to release an update that would solve my problem?

 

Thanks.

[vaxen83]

You have updated K2 to its latest version for fixing certain bugs and errors in the game, haven't you?

[DarkAngle]

I had a similer problem. U know how I resolved it? I played iot without hitch on a 3 year old dell that i had in my closet! Worked like a charm!

[aerowars617]

I had a similer problem. U know how I resolved it? I played iot without hitch on a 3 year old dell that i had in my closet! Worked like a charm!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Like they say "Old is Gold", the best games around are the classics.

[CapRegEuph]

See, this is what I was afraid of. That the game really just does not like my video card. Why is that? Shouldn't Obsidian be notified of it? I really think it's sad if I have to resort to putting an old video card in my computer just to play this one game. What about all my other games? Now they will have to look worse just so I can play this one game. Is there any way I can get a hold of Obsidian and get this fixed?

 

All I know is that the game package said that my system would be able to play this game, and it can't. I hope this can be resolved somehow. If not, Obsidian should say that the game will not work with the PowerColor Radeon 9600 Pro 256 MB. Sorry if I sound upset, but I am.

Edited May 30, 2006 by CapRegEuph

[Hassat Hunter]

In the splash screen select Configure, then Scan Hardware. If they ask for more info select YES; then save the info as *.txt and paste it here...

 

Would really help us help you...

[CapRegEuph]

Here it is:

 

[sWKotOR]

ReportDateTime=5/30/2006 10:47:17 AM

SysInfoVersion=v1.00.60

GameExists=1

GameVersion=v2.10.427

GameInstallLocation=C:\Program Files\LucasArts\SWKotOR2\

 

[OS]

Name=WinXP

Version=Windows XP v5.1 build 2600 Service Pack 2

Service Pack=Service Pack 2

Status=Pass

 

[swapFiles]

C:\pagefile.sys=1920

 

[CPU]

CPUCount=1

CPUSpeed=1664

CPUFamily=6

CPUModel=6

CPUStepping=2

CPUVendor=AMD

CPUName=AMD Athlon XP 2000+

Status=Pass

 

[Memory]

RAM=1280

Status=Pass

 

[Disk Free Space]

C: (NTFS), UNICODE=8.37GB

Status=Pass

 

[CD-ROMs]

DriveLetters=D:\,E:\

Drives=ASUS CD-S520/A,_NEC DVD_RW ND-3520AW

 

[Video]

Video Card Name=RADEON 9600 Series (Omega 3.8.252)

Video Memory=512

Desktop Resolution=1280x1024x32 @ 75Hz

DirectX=DirectX 9.0c (4.09.00.0904)

OpenGL Version=2.0.5819 WinXP Release

OpenGL Vendor=ATI Technologies Inc.

OpenGL Renderer=RADEON 9600 x86/MMX/3DNow!/SSE

ATI Driver=6.14.10.6614

Vid Card Status=Pass

Vid Card Driver Status=Pass

GL Status=Pass

DX Status=Pass

 

[Audio]

Sound Card Name=NVIDIA

Edited May 30, 2006 by CapRegEuph

[Hassat Hunter]

[dufflover]

Whenever you uninstall/re-install drivers you should use "Driver Cleaner" - it'll make sure of a good clean driver install.

 

Your CPU is relatively a little low but that's just a minor observation and I'm sure it should work fine anyway.

 

Hey it says you have 512MB video memory...huh?

 

Oh well at least you can still play some Pazaak for some stress relief "

 

Weird...hope u get it working

[jedidotflow]

I don't know jack about computers but I just had to say that your game looks seriously creepy. That whole Atton pic? That was very f-ed up. 'Exile in Surrealand"

 

On topic, as stated before, I don't know jack about computers. I can only wish you good luck and hope that it gets resolved soon.

[CapRegEuph]

Well, I tried the Anisotropy solution and it worked! But only for a little bit I played about 15 minutes in one section and no graphical errors at all. As soon as I went to another section (I mean, had to go through a loading screen) I got this...

 

 

Just when I thought that had fixed it..

 

I tried a ton of different graphics configurations in the advanced panel, none fixed it though...

 

Thanks for the suggestion though!